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“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Thank you, Jenson.”
“Will there be anything else, Your Grace?”
“No, Jenson, thank you. You may go.”
Bertram barely waited for him to leave before he was taking the back stairs to the nursery. He found George jumping up and down on his bed.
“Papa!” his eyes lit up so bright that it broke Bertram’s heart. He looked so like Victoria in that instant.
“George!” he said in the same tone, “I came to find out if I can join you on your walk.”
His son grinned with delight. “Of course, Papa.”
Mrs. Haversham was smiling shyly when he turned to her. “Why don’t I take him today and you can have the afternoon to yourself.”
She hesitated as if she wasn’t entirely sure he could manage his own child before nodding. “Yes, Your Grace.”
“Good.” He held out a hand to George, “Shall we go?”
“Yes!” George, unlike his nanny, was quite excited to go with his father. They left the estate, exciting a lot of commentary along the way from the servants to the guards.
Bertram was annoyed by it as it implied that he did not spend a lot of time with his child, without the presence of others. He frowned, trying to think if it was true or not but he couldn’t be sure.
As soon as they left the manor estate, however, it was just the two of them. George chattered happily as they walked, and Bertram listened with a half-smile on his face, relishing the peace of the afternoon. The road was deserted which added to the tranquility and George ran from side to side, searching for interesting looking insects.
Bertram largely let him run around as he pleased, only making sure he kept within sight. The sound of carriage wheels approaching had him calling his son to his side. “We wouldn’t want you to get run over, eh?” he smiled down at George, who looked less than impressed.
They both turned to watch the black and gold carriage approach and Bertram’s heart sunk when he recognized the insignia. The carriage stopped right in front of them and the curtain was pushed aside so that Lady Perrin could open the window. “Well, well, look who we have here. How serendipitous that we should meet, Your Grace. Especially after your unfortunate accident the other day.”
Bertram’s eyebrow quirked. “Accident.”
“Well, if you want to split hairs I suppose it was more of an assassination attempt.” Lady Perrin waved a hand dismissively.
Bertram’s eyes narrowed. “And how did you know about that?”
