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“Good. I’ll expect you back here in a fortnight.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now go eat dinner. I saw Slorach and Arundel shuffling into the dining hall. No doubt your sister is there as well.”
“Thank you, sir.” Will walked out of the office and into the hall of the old farmhouse. He would be back in two weeks. He just didn’t know whether he’d be asking for another assignment or tendering his resignation.
He nodded at Baron’s new clerk, a man sent up from Whitehall to replace Miss Murray—Mrs. Kelly. Now Baron had him forgetting she’d married Cal. The Kellys were still in London, still keeping a watch on the group of Irish separatists who were now in hiding. Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell had managed to take about half a dozen into custody, but Cal’s contacts and experience with the separatists led him to believe there were more.
Will stepped into the chilly spring afternoon and started across the yard to the dining hall. This far north, the weather was cold and damp and would have felt like winter to him if he hadn’t been here in the winter and experienced the bitter cold. He would take this milder version of the cold any day.
He walked into the dining hall and the smells and sounds brought him back to his time training here almost immediately. Without even thinking, he made his way to the dining table he and the other agents he’d trained with always shared. Lucy saw him first.
“Will!” she cried and all but tackled him as she flung herself across the room to embrace him before he could even make it halfway to the table.
When he was able to peel her off him, he kissed her cheek. “It’s good to see you too. Are you all here?” He made a show of counting her limbs and fingers until she shook him off.
“You’re not amusing.” But she was smiling at him with those dimples that had charmed everyone since she’d been a toddler in bows and ruffles.
“I’m not trying to be amusing. Knowing your history with explosives, I genuinely feel the need to make sure you haven’t blown any bits off.”
“Do not talk to me of explosives,” she said, her mouth turning into a pout. “How are Mama and Papa?”
He took her arm and led her back to the table where the others were smiling at them. “I assume they are fine. Hasn’t Mama written?”
Lucy stopped midstride. “You were in London for all those weeks and didn’t call on them?”
“I was on a mission.”
She rolled her eyes. “You are hopeless.”
They’d reached the table now and Duncan and Hew had risen to shake his hand. Hew looked as polished as ever, despite the rustic accommodations. His jaw was neatly shaven and his hair neatly combed. Duncan’s hair was a bit long, and he had the beginnings of an auburn beard. Both men looked hale and hearty and glad to see him.
“Hail to the conquering hero,” Hew said, slapping him on the back. “I have a bottle of brandy in the bunkhouse. You’ll have to come back and have a celebratory drink with us.”
“That hardly seems fair,” Lucy said. “Margaret and I aren’t allowed in the men’s quarters, and we want a drink.”
Miss Margaret Vaughn had risen from the table like everyone else when Will entered, but she looked as though she’d rather be reading the book in her hands than drinking with any of them.
“We’ll sneak you in,” Will said.
“Better to bring the brandy to the farmhouse, and we can toast with Baron too,” Margaret said, ever practical.
“That is a better idea, Miss Vaughn,” said Hew. “But not as much fun.”
Will sat in his old spot. Beside him, Duncan smiled broadly. “It’s good to have you back. Not sure what you’ll do to top saving the queen. Your next mission can’t begin to compare.”
“At least he’s had a mission,” Lucy said. “We’re still waiting.”
“Don’t mind her,” Duncan said. “She’s peeved because Mr. Powder banned her from his classroom.”
Will gave his sister a chiding look. “What did you blow up this time?”
“Nothing!” She crossed her arms. “Very big,” she added quietly.
Everyone laughed and Will sat back in his chair, listening as everyone caught him up on all that he’d missed while he’d been away. He realized he’d missed all of them too. Their group felt like a family. Of course, Lucy was his family, but Duncan and Hew were more like brothers than friends and he even had a soft spot for Miss Vaughn.
How could he leave all of this when he’d only just found all of them? And yet, how could he give up Emily? He couldn’t imagine his life without her either. He tried to imagine Emily with his friends as they drank brandy in the farmhouse thatevening and then again after the men moved to the dormitory and he sat in the front room of D Building. D Building was where Will, Cal, Duncan, and Hew had been assigned when they’d first arrived at the Farm. D Building had two rooms. The front room, where he sat now with Hew, had a large hearth, several worn chairs and couches, and a couple of round tables. The paintings on the wall were truly awful, but Will admired the effort to make the place more like a home. A door at the back of the front room opened to a large bedchamber, equipped with another hearth and four beds.
