CHAPTER FIVE
Dev could hear the laughter as he walked down the long hallway of his uncle's home three mornings after the night he had kissed Lilliana Braithwaite. The nursery was on the top floor and rightly so, considering the noise coming from inside it. Reaching the doorway, he leaned on the frame and looked inside.
“If seventeen frogs hopped seventeen miles and they covered five miles per hour, then how long would it take them to reach Ambrosia Pond? Which I happen to know is the biggest pond in Europe.”
His younger siblings were seated around a table; Somerset perched with one leg beneath her. Warwickshire sprawled, looking like Cambridge, long legs taking up the majority of room under the table. Dorset, who rarely sat still, bounced in her chair. Each was silent as they thought through what their tutor, Mr. Linues, had asked them.
Dev had always believed his sisters should be schooled as thoroughly as his brother, and until they had arrived in London and accepted their aunt and uncle's support, he and his elder siblings had undertaken that task. He also knew his views were very different from the rest of society’s. His uncle surprisingly had followed them and employed Mr. Linues, a young man with a solemn demeanor behind which sat a wry sense of humor.
“How many frogs are there, and is the road often used?”
“There will be no delaying tactics to put your sisters off, thank you, Master Warwick.”
Dev laughed silently. His younger siblings, like their elder brothers and sisters, had lively intelligence. It was only recently he, Cam, Essie, and Eden had found out that they also shared their heightened senses. It had been a blow, as they'd believed them untouched; now, however, they had to teach them how to live with the gifts they had.
Nodding to Mr. Linues, Dev quietly withdrew and went to hunt out his sister. He and Cam lived next door in the other house their uncle owned on the street. They spent most of their time here, especially now their aunt and uncle were away traveling the countryside. It was a beautiful home filled with rich colors and lush furnishings, but more importantly it had plenty of food, and growing up this had not always been the case.
“Breakfast has just been served, my lord.”
“Pennyroll.” Dev nodded to his uncle's butler as he appeared before him. “Do you know the location of Miss Sinclair?”
“She is in the breakfast parlor, my lord.”
Excellent; he could eat and talk to his sister at the same time. He hadn't slept well again, his dreams plagued with visions of Lilly in his arms, her lips pressed to his. Lilliana naked beneath him as he made slow sensual love to her. Lilliana sitting draped across his thighs while he kissed her breasts.
“I shall have another place set for you at once, my lord.”
Nodding, Dev kept walking. Bloody woman. He’d been better off thinking her a simpleton; at least then he had known peace. Since finding out she was not who he had originally thought, she had taken up residence in his head. Then there was the matter of that night he had found her on the street.
He thought he had everything straight in his head about that, but then, he wished she would confirm it.
“Surely the hour is too early for such a scowl, brother?”
“Morning, Essie.” Dev walked around the table to kiss his sister and then picked up the plate the maid had just placed on the table. Heading to the sideboard, he began to lift covers. Once his plate was full, he seated himself across from his sister.
Essie was the gentlest of the Sinclairs and the most comfortable to be with, in Dev's opinion. He’d amended that to usually, after their conversation three nights ago. She rarely raised her voice and could actually sit still and silent for longer than two minutes at a time. They ate in companionable silence until Dev had cleaned his plate and rose to refill it. He then watched his sister savor a mouthful of food before swallowing.
Her heightened sense was taste. She could tell any ingredient with just a mouthful. She could also taste fear, anger, and other emotions, especially if they were being experienced by one of her siblings.
“What plans do you have for the day, Essie?”
She looked better with each week that passed since that bastard had broken her heart. The dark purple bruises beneath her eyes had faded and the strain in her pretty face had eased. The sadness was still there, Dev could see it in her eyes, but her color was stronger, healthier. He checked his siblings over at least once a month, had done so since he was old enough to understand his gift. He knew what color they should be and knew if they were sick or troubled. Essie was a bright pink, but for a while, some of her color had lost its strength.
“I'm going out, Dev.”
“An enjoyable entertainment, depending on where it is you go to.”
He watched Essie as she put jam on a piece of toast, pushing it to the corners slowly, avoiding his eyes.
“Oh, I thought to purchase some new gloves.”
She was still not looking at him, and he knew her well enough to know she was not telling him the truth. He just needed to push a little harder. Like Cam, Essie could not lie worth a damn.
“Gloves, now that is an exciting prospect. Is that all you plan to purchase?”
“P-perhaps a bonnet.”
“For which occasion?”
Her knife landed on her plate with a clatter as finally she looked up at him.
“I cannot tell you where I'm going, so don't ask.”
“Are you in danger?”
“No, of course not!”
Relieved, he continued, “Are you meeting someone I have no wish for you to meet?”
“Um... well, as to that, I am not entirely sure.”
“Even more intriguing.”
“Could we discuss the weather instead?”
She gave him a pleading look that failed to move him.
“Just tell me, Essie, you know I'll get the information eventually.” Which he would. She could never keep anything from him.
“No.” She shook her head. “I cannot, as I have promised.”
“Then I shall simply forbid you from leaving the house, or follow you, and you know with my sight I will find you.”
“You cannot forbid me from leaving the house,” she scoffed. “I will simply ignore you and leave anyway. Besides, you do not usually need to know what I do during the day.”
“Not entirely true,” Dev said. Since she'd had her heart broken, he'd been much more diligent.
She picked up her toast and proceeded to break it into bits on her plate.
“It is not that I do not want to tell you, but that I have promised not to speak of it to anyone.”
“Because it will put someone at risk?”
She nodded, and a small kernel of thought entered his head.
“Risk of exposure to society or another kind of risk?”
“The first.”
“So it is a person of noble birth that you are protecting?”
“I have no wish to discuss it further.”
“However, you will.”
Her sigh was loud.
“It is a good deed this person is doing, and I simply wish to help her. I assure you there is nothing nefarious at foot here, Dev.”
“You don't have a nefarious bone in your body; however, there are plenty of people who do. Now, as, if my hunch is accurate, this outing concerns Miss Braithwaite, then let me assure you I would not feel comfortable if you are visiting somewhere that houses her children,” he lied.
He had no problem with his sister seeing Lilliana; the problem lay in the fact that he wanted to see her too.
His sister chewed her lip.
“Let's hear it.”
“I am going to drop some things to her, and as I know of her house, I am taking them there.”
“Her house?”
“Well, she did not directly tell me of her involvement, other than acknowledging that she visits there, but I believe there is more to it than that. She certainly seemed knowledgeable about it when we spoke on the matter.”
“And where is this house, and what will you and Miss Braithwaite be doing there?”
He was subjected to a very frank appraisal from his sister, her green eyes telling him his casual question was anything but. However, she chose not to needle him, a heroic gesture for a Sinclair.
“It is in Temple Street, the house I told you I saw her at. It is a place for sick or injured children who have nowhere else to go. I told her I knew of it and she was not pleased. But after I explained I wished to help in any capacity, she organized for me to visit today.”
“Essie, I—”
“I am not proposing to leap recklessly into danger, Dev. I asked Miss Braithwaite, or rather Lilliana, as she told me to call her, if I could help with caring for the sick children. Dev, I want to do this. I miss healing like I did at home.”
“You know it's only because I worry about you that I am concerned.”
Again he was subjected to a steady look. He wondered when she had perfected that, as it hadn't had quite that degree of penetration before. Perhaps after that bastard broke her heart? Did having your heart broken mean you found determination in the face of so much pain? The idea of her suffering made him feel sick.
Her sigh was loud and long and it made him smile.
“I know it is and I love you the more for it, brother. Yet I need to do things, Dev, and I truly care for these children, as it seems does Lilliana. I have our little ones, yet they do not need me all the time, and when Aunt and Uncle get back they will want to spend time with them also.”
“Are you lonely without Eden?”
She thought about that one for a while. He watched as she lifted her cup and drank slowly. She was so slight he could wrap his fingers around her wrist and they would overlap.
“Sometimes, and yet I visit with Emily often.”
“Really, do you not find that hard?”
It was James's half brother Tolly who’d broken Essie's heart. As James was married to their sister Eden, it tended to complicate matters, or so he had thought. Tolly had wooed Essie but his intent had been to get at his half brother, a feat he had nearly accomplished. After Tolly died, James and Eden had taken his sister, Emily, in to live with them.
“I like Emily, and am glad she has a family now. She loves Samantha dearly, too.”
Dev smiled as he thought about Lady Samantha Raven. Although their mothers were different, the Duke and his sister were raised by their father. He had mistreated them both terribly. She had been timid, but now, he was pleased to say, she was anything but.
“It is hard for Emily, as not only is she illegitimate but also born into poverty, and explaining this to Samantha is not easy.”
“James is convinced that he wants Emily to enter society, yet I wonder how hard that will be for her.”
“The bastard child of a duke,” Essie said. “Very hard, I should think, even with all of us and James's title behind her.”
“Greetings, fellow Sinclairs,” Cam said, entering the room. “Is it not a day of incredible beauty? Let me at the food!”
“Why, suddenly, do I have indigestion?”
“Harsh, brother, and unnecessary,” Cam said, giving his sister a kiss before walking to the sideboard and sniffing loudly.
While to most this would be bad manners, the Sinclairs were used to it from their brother, as his heightened sense was smell.
“You do realize that your shirt points will blind you should you impale yourself upon them.”
“I'll have you know,” Cam said around a mouth full of ham, “that I am considered quite an arbiter of fashion.”
“By who?” Dev said as Essie giggled.
“Many. In fact, Lord Cooper asked if he could have the name of my tailor just last night.”
“No doubt so he could avoid him at all costs.”
“Jealousy is an ugly trait.” Cam sat with a plate overflowing with food. “What are you two discussing?”
“This and that,” Dev said.
“My favorite topic of conversation.”
“We were discussing what I am doing today and then moved on to Emily,” Essie added.
“Now there's a thought to spoil a perfectly good day,” Cam groused.
“She is a lovely young lady, Cam, and it wouldn't hurt you to be nicer to her.”
“She is about as interesting as a dishrag, Ess, and looks little better. The woman looks at me as if I am about to ravish her whenever I draw near. Seriously, you can tell her that her virtue is safe with me.”
“That is nasty, Cambridge, and not worthy of you!” Essie snapped.
Dev kept out of the discussion brewing. Essie was more than capable of handling Cam, and in fact it was nice to see her spirit.
“I don't like her. How she can be James's sister is beyond me.”
“What's not to like?” Dev had to ask. “Emily is polite and well-spoken; in fact there are few women who are easier to converse with.”
Color filled Cam's cheeks as he shifted in his seat. Dev and Essie kept their eyes trained on him, enjoying his obvious discomfort.
“She called me a man of little sense and no morals.”
“And the problem with that statement is?” Dev drawled.
“Go to hell.”
“What did you do to her, Cam?” Essie asked, ignoring her brother’s blasphemy.
He looked at his food then at his cup of tea then back down at his food before answering. “Why do I have to have done anything? The woman's a termagant.”
If you wanted to survive as a Sinclair, you learned your siblings’ weaknesses and exploited them when the moment presented itself. Cam's biggest weakness was that he hated silence. Therefore, Essie and Dev stayed silent and continued eating.
“I won't tell you.”
Dev swallowed his smile and winked at his sister. They would not have to wait long.
“I told her that she would never find herself a husband looking the way she does!”
Now that, Dev hadn't expected. “Cam, you are an idiot!”
“It came out wrong,” he said, looking sheepish.
“One wonders how that could come out right,” Dev said, lowering his fork. “Remember, brother, make sure your brain is engaged before your mouth.”
“It was early,” Cam said, waving around his fork. “I hadn't eaten anything for hours.”
“Now that I seriously doubt,” Essie said, getting to her feet.
“The woman has a way of getting under my skin. It's all that meek-mannered stuff; it grates on me.”
Dev, who had also risen, looked down at his brother long enough that the younger Sinclair lowered his eyes.
“Miss Tolly has had a life even you could never understand, Cambridge. She has been subjected to poverty and starvation and most probably ridicule. Her nature is, I am sure, a direct result of that.”
Cam squirmed in his seat as Dev continued.
“She is now related to us by the union of our sister to her brother. Therefore she is family and under our protection. I will say nothing further, only that were one of our sisters treated to such shabby manners you would likely seek retribution.”
Cam sighed then looked at his brother. “You do that better than any person I know.”
“Do what?”
“Serve up a scolding without raising your voice. I am now duly shamed and will seek to apologize with haste.”
“Excellent. Now, Essie and I are going out. The children are with their tutor until lunchtime. If you want to join them, I'm sure they will welcome your presence.”
Cam thought about Dev's words then nodded. “I wonder if they've had story time yet.”
Essie laughed as she followed Dev from the room.
“I don't believe I invited you to accompany me to visit with Miss Braithwaite, Dev. Perhaps you dancing with her and that other incident that happened the other night will go some way toward changing your dislike of each other. However, I don't think she'd want you knowing about the house in Temple Street.”
Following his sister silently down the stairs to the front entrance, he thought about his words.
“It is my duty to ensure your safety, sister, and to do that I need to see where it is you go. Starting with Temple Street.”
Essie scoffed, then snorted as she put on her jacket, hat, and gloves.
“Do you honestly believe I will fall for that line? You are interested in Miss Braithwaite, no matter how much you deny it.”
Taking his time, he too put on his hat and gloves before answering.
“I have no idea what you are referring to. There is also the small matter of her choice of clothing. I could never befriend a woman who wears mustard and brown together.” Dev faked a shudder.
Essie looked at him for several seconds and then, smiling, she patted his hand and walked out the front door. Dev followed, not liking the look on her face one bit.