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“You needn’t share it,” Henry said drily. “Thea has been miserable enough for both of you, and it is beginning to wear.”
I stopped walking and both of my brothers turned back to face me. “She has been miserable?”
James laughed. “Undoubtedly. She has done nothing but mope and complain about the parties we are to attend. She smiles for any guests who come to call, but the moment they leave she returns to her morose melancholy. It is . . . quite depressing, actually.”
A smile curved my lips. “If she is miserable without me, then perhaps she will soon see reason.”
“I do not think you need to worry about that. She and Felicity are hatching some plan, and they will not allow me to know what it is about, but I have a hunch it involves you.”
“A plan?” Why did the sound of that make me increasingly excited? “Perhaps I should make a point of attending the next ball you have on your calendar so I can see her.”
“You could,” Henry said. “Or you could—”
“If you tell me to let her win one more time, I am going to throw your books into the lake.”
“Which books?” Henry asked, disturbed.
“Which lake?” James asked, amused.
I scowled and kept walking, my brothers falling into step beside me. “Any of them.”
“For the sake of my books—whichever ones you are threatening—I will not say it aloud. But I do think returning now will be too soon.”
“I do not wish to play games. I want to have a discussion with her, to communicate and know what she is thinking.”
“This is not playing games,” James added. “It is proving you respect Thea enough to give her what she asked for.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “I wait until she comes to me, then? What if that day never arrives?”
Henry and James shared a look. “It will come. And, in the meantime, can we discuss the land agents you’ve met with thus far?” James asked. “Haversham told me you met with his younger brother, and I wondered if he presented well. Evidently he has a good head for numbers.”
“But a lousy reputation among the money lenders,” Henry said. “I heard he is over his head in debt.”
“Blast. I liked him.” We turned the corner and continued down the street toward the green park at the end. The sunshine and cool air was rejuvenating, and the hope my brothers had placed in my heart was encouraging. “What of Finch’s nephew? He’s a bit young, but he recently studied new irrigation techniques I found interesting.”
“He wouldn’t bring wisdom then, but perhaps ingenuity?” James mused.
“That was the measure I took.”
We meandered into St. James’s Park, talking of the various candidates I’d interviewed and then of the two houses. My brothers offered advice and gave me much to consider, but still I did not know what to do. My father, had he been alive, would have appreciated the grandeur of Kellinger. But Bumpton—as clumsy a house as its name—could not very well be out of consideration quite yet. I could not remove from my mind the way I’d felt Thea’s presence when I’d stood on the front portico beside Henry and looked out over the fertile land.
My heart hurt, so it was with great pleasure that I welcomed a distraction in the form of two ladies coming toward us. Miss Marianne Hutton and her mother, Mrs. Hutton, who also happened to be James’s godmother, both smiled at us, and the proper pleasantries were exchanged.
“How is your mother?” Mrs. Hutton asked. “I have been meaning to schedule a visit since the debacle last year.”
“The debacle turned out to be a bit of a blessing,” James said, referring to his marriage. It was at Mrs. Hutton’s ball that he’d been caught alone with Felicity before they had married.
The matron smiled up at him with adoration. “That it did. How is your Mrs. Bradwell faring? I did not have much of an opportunity to speak to her at Marianne’s ball.”
“She is well.”
“We are greatly looking forward to Miss Northcott’s ball,” Mrs. Hutton said warmly. “Her mother was my dear friend years ago when we were just girls ourselves, and it has done my heart well to see Miss Northcott. She looks like her mother did at her age.”
“Will you also attend the ball, Miss Hutton?” Henry asked, surprising every member of the party. His eyes were bent on the young lady, and his mouth was trained in a faint smile.
She met his gaze with what appeared to be determination. “I intend to, yes.”
“Then might I be so bold as to request that you save a set for me? I care not which.”
