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“There’s no saying that a love match can’t be made over time.”
“That is not possible.”
“Did it go so poorly last night?”
Oh, the questions she wished to put to her sister-in-law! But the thought of formulating into words what had occurred… No, it would be best if she and Osborn did the bed things again so she may be less overwhelmed and better able to understand what had transpired. “It was rather odd, but I would not be averse to doing it again,” Beatrice allowed herself to admit. “It was unexpectedly not terrible.”
“Rousing praise.” Charlotte’s eyes gleamed with devilment.
Beatrice grabbed her by the hand. “Do not tease him with that, Charlie, please do not.”
Her sister-in-law laced their fingers and squeezed her hand. “You called me Charlie, at long last, so I shall honor your request.” Beatrice suspected there was a caveat in there somewhere, she knew not why. “I do fear for the children’s manners. I want them to be free and play but also to be somewhat civilized.”
“A governess would fulfill those requirements.”
Bernadette ran over and threw herself across Beatrice’s lap. “I would welcome a governess,” she said. As ever, her brother was not far behind.
“Would you?” Beatrice gave her a tentative hug. “A governess would urge you to sit beside me like a young lady.”
Bernadette wedged herself in between Beatrice and her mother. “I would like to learn more things and also proper manners. I would like to be Miss Humphries.”
“Have I not taught you proper manners?” Charlotte sounded cross indeed, but Beatrice saw the twinkle in her eye.
Tarben mimed spewing tea, and the footmen grinned.
“You have taught them many wonderful things, Charlotte,” Beatrice said, “primary among them that they are well loved and need not stand on ceremony with their mother and father.” Tarben looked relieved Aunt Beezy had not rung a peal over his head. “This is a precious thing, my dears. However, there are a variety of situations in which society may call upon you to behave impeccably.” She rose and stood in the middle of the room. “For instance, it is vital to master the appropriate form of greeting your monarch, and I believe I can aid you in this.”
“Have you curtsied to the prince regent himself, Aunt Beezy?” Bernadette asked, struck with awe. Ursella appeared as if from the ether and joined her siblings in ranging before their aunt.
“Oh, I have, Bernadette.” Beatrice smoothed down her skirts. “I have, indeed, and I would be honored to instruct you.”
***
With nothing better to do and no task given him explicitly, he followed after Ben and thus found himself in the grove, irritated beyond words. How had Madam known this place existed? He knew she had not wandered this far, and yet Ben had been given the job of tidying the clearing. She could not know what it meant, nor that its disuse was meaningful. Had Ben volunteered to take it on? Did no one think to ask him his opinion?
Hypocrite, his bear snorted.
Your vocabulary broadens apace, Arthur huffed.
“Are you well, brother?” Ben lifted a fallen tree trunk with ease. The central area for the fire was cluttered with piles of ash; trees torn from their roots littered its circumference. “Thought you’d be in better spirits this morning.”
He did not miss the lack of privacy that came with living in a—in a not-sleuth. His bear rolled his eyes and then his entire body. “I was only doing my duty,” he began.
“Better late than never.” Ben tossed the stump onto a pile of others.
“She—Her Grace—wants a cub.”
“And when the cub comes?” His brother took up a branch and used it to rake up the smaller branches. “You’ll still carry on like this? Without asentio, without the comforts of a sleuth?”
“This,” Arthur snarled, “is the only way to keep us safe.”
“It keeps us apart, for certain.”
“You were there, Ben, when our father was slaughtered. How can you expect me to behave any differently?”
“I expect you to do exactly that.” Ben gave him his back, a taunt to Arthur’s essential self, showing his lack of fear of the great predator Arthur was. “To embrace your destiny, to stand for your family, to fall in love with your wife.”
“To endanger each and every one of you.” Arthur bent and tossed a clutch of twigs onto the pile.
