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Will struggled to repress a smile. “Mrs. Kendrick never shrieks, no matter the provocation.”
“I’ll try to keep provocations to a minimum, regardless. Speaking of which, no one heard me come in last night?”
“I don’t believe so, sir.”
“Let’s keep it that way. And if any of the servants should ask about the battered state of my clothes, just say I slipped and had a fall in the muck.”
Thoroughly used to the wide variety of Kendrick antics, Will nodded. “Of course, sir. And I’ll see to your coffee and breakfast immediately.”
“Just coffee, please. I’ll grab a roll to take along with me.”
As he turned to head to the dining room, Braden didn’t miss the butler’s sigh. Everyone from Logan on down to the kitchen maid thought him underfed. At home, someone was always trying to shove cakes, scones, and assorted delicacies down his throat. It was nonsense, since he was perfectly fit. But he was used to being compared to his older brothers, who were exceptionally brawny men who looked more like Highland warriors than men of the city.
He quietly stepped into the elegant dining room, its formal nature softened by the view out the bay windows to the city gardens. Although it was a bit grand for Braden’s taste, Donella insisted they eat their meals together there as a family, on a regular schedule. When Braden had objected that his work defied scheduling, his sister-in-law countered that he needed a more orderly lifestyle, more rest and food, and more leisure time with family. Any attempt he had made to explain the average physician’s day had been firmly refuted, which was typical Kendrick behavior. Wayward family members were to be alternately cajoled and bullied into line. All in their best interests, of course.
But Kendricks also excelled at ignoring each other when it suited. Over the years, Braden had become a master of that family attribute.
Seated at the head of the table, Logan glanced up from his copy of theCaledonian Mercury. “Glad to see you slept in this morning, lad. I’m sure you needed it. What time did you get in last night, anyway?”
“Oh, sometime after midnight,” Braden replied as he perused the generous breakfast laid out on the mahogany sideboard.
“It was just after two o’clock, Uncle Braden,” said Joseph, seated to the right of Logan.
Braden mentally sighed. Logan’s son was thirteen. But he was exceptionally bright and incredibly observant, sometimes inconveniently so.
Logan frowned. “Son, were you reading late again? Staying up half the night isn’t good for you. Besides, you read so much during the day.”
“Yes, but that’s for my studies, Papa. And I’m readingRobinson Crusoeright now. It’s a bang-up adventure, you know.”
“Yes, I know, but—”
“And you gave it to me, remember? It was your favorite book when you were my age. You said I should read it.”
“Ouch. Hoisted on your own petard,” Braden said as he took a seat on the other side of the table.
“Lad runs rings around me,” Logan ruefully replied.
Joseph gifted his father with a beatific smile. “Mamma says it’s because I’m so smart.”
“Smartest one in the family,” Braden added.
“No, that would be you, Uncle Braden. Mamma says that, too.”
“Och, not true. You’re the smartest Kendrick of all.”
Joseph was greatly advanced in his studies, and when not studying, the lad was usually found with his nose deep in a book. Braden had recently started tutoring him in chemistry, at the boy’s request. Given how ably his nephew picked up complex formulas, Braden suspected he would grow up to be a scientist, or even a physician.
Logan adopted a comical expression. “Hang on, what about me? I do run a rather large and successful business. Can’t be a dummy and do something like that, you know.”
Joseph patted his father’s hand. “Of course not, Papa. But everyone knows that Uncle Braden is the smartest of the brothers. Uncle Nick and Grandda always say so.”
“Splendid. Well, I hope I’m good for at least something around here,” Logan said with mock complaint.
Joseph went back to slathering butter on his scone. “You’re good at bashing heads. Uncle Nick says you’re the best when it comes to that.”
Given that Logan was a veritable giant whose fighting skills had been honed in the wilds of Canada, that statement wasn’t an exaggeration.
Logan snorted. “Thank you, son. I’m also very good at sticking to the point, which is that you stay up half the night reading.”
