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Dear Mr. Jay,
I did not know you were a member of Society until your last letter. Rose never mentioned it. I am glad to know I have supporters of my new station, and would enjoy meeting the man who saved me from making a fool of myself in Eastridge. If you are up to it, we should meet.
Lord Eastridge
Dear Lord Eastridge,
It is likely that Lady Rose did not tell you I was a member of Society, just as it is also likely that she didn’t tell you that I am a lady.
Does the fact that I am not a man bother you?
Jay
By the time they’d reached Alicia’s apartments, Reuben had allowed his mind to move from Rachel and focus on Rose. He feared her reaction, yet there was no way to keep her from the truth. She had a blood sibling and how that would affect her, no one knew.
Stonewhire had entrusted all his libraries to her, and had also settled a lovely dowry on her head along with all the other gifts he’d begun to give her. Would that all change? Rose had always been a strong girl. Even though, as a baby she’d been ill, she’d pulled through, and when her and Lord Obenshire’s relationship began rocky, she prevailed. But her relationship with her father was fragile.
He was a blackguard. He enjoyed women. He’d never hid the fact that he’d been unfaithful to his wife, yet in his own way, had always been faithful to Rose. He’d sent the Home money, so she wouldn’t go hungry, and when she’d became old enough for work, she’d become the youngest employee at the Montgomery Library in Mayfair, a position that had later allowed her to give her input on how the library should be managed.
He’d been grooming her to take over. Without true heirs, Rose was all he had.
Until now.
Reuben hadn’t spoken to Stonewhire himself, since the man had been absent from London circles since before the papers released their most recent glimpse into his personal life. Neither had he tried to hunt the man down. His concern was for Rose.
They found Rose in the sitting room, and when she spotted him her smile turned even higher, and she stood to greet him. She was in his arms in an instant, his emotions different, yet equally high, as they’d been when he’d held Rachel.
“How was the continent?” he asked.
“Lovely!” Rose took his hand and led him farther into the room.
Reuben’s eyes passed over Rachel’s lady’s maid, who tried to make herself appear invisible in the corner, and met the gazes of his brothers, Chris and Nash, before nodding a greeting at an obviously anxious Alicia and Alexandra. Alex’s husband, Lord Chantenny, put on a blank face that said he’d rather not be bothered, but he held his son in his arms, the baby sound asleep. Reuben’s brothers, for the most part, seemed calm. Nash was smiling. Chris never smiled, but he didn’t seem worried or particularly upset, either. Reuben knew that to be a lie.
The last man he looked at was Obenshire. Gerard de Gray stood in a corner and smiled dotingly whenever his wife looked at him, but otherwise he looked ready for a Paddington Fair Day, which always centered around a public hanging.
Reuben was sure had Stonewhire been here, he’d have found more than one man ready to see him executed.
He sat where Rose placed him, and then watched her cross to a chair and begin to tell him all about Italy.
He’d seen it before, but he didn’t let on in the least. He wanted her to be happy for just a few minutes more. If he could box her into a world where nothing bad ever happened, he would, but those days were long gone. He couldn’t protect her from this.
“Reuben,” Rose asked. “You look quite dashing. I hope you’re ready for Harley’s party in a few days.” Rose and Gerard had made sure to arrive just in time for the event. Harland Upton, Lord Wint, was Alexandra’s cousin. He’d also been quite taken by Rose, but the two had formed a friendship once it was clear that Rose’s heart belonged to Gerard.
Reuben wasn’t looking forward to a party, but knew he had to attend. Harley— as his sisters called him— had been kind to Alexandra and had accepted her as family, even knowing the circumstances of her birth. That, alone, made Reuben like him.
“Did you go anywhere special today?” Rose asked.
Reuben nodded. “I had a meeting with the Duke of Yall.” He avoided meeting Chris’ eyes. They would speak of his meeting later.
Rose touched her cheeks. “My, how our circles have changed. A duke? A prince who is the king’s cousin, no less?” She sent a teasing look to Nash and said, “I seem to recall a dinner at this very house two years ago, when you said that none of us had an ounce of nobility in our blood.”
Nash smiled sheepishly. “I suppose I was wrong.” He was a handsome man and built like a bull, only taller. His body said he was deadly, and Reuben knew his brother was. Nash was ginger, but one could tell only under the brightest of lights. Otherwise, his hair was simply dark. His eyes, however, were like clear Grecian seas, a calming blue. Reuben had heard him be compared to a Viking, and was sure the fact that he was also a boxer didn’t help dissuade the rumors.
Reuben remembered the dinner Rose spoke of, and recalled that Nash hadn’t been the only person to state their lack of nobility. The conversation had started with the memory of how, as children, Elizabeth Best had called them ‘ladies’ and ‘lords’. No one had been prepared for how right she was.
Alicia delivered good news. “I’ve raised enough funds to hire more staff.”
“People are still giving?” Chantenny asked. “With every scandal that falls into the papers’ hands, I always fear this place will soon close.”
Reuben worried, as well.
Alicia didn’t.
Before Reuben had known what a lady was, he’d thought the word fitting for Alicia. As a child, she’d always been kind, even though she’d grown up with both her parents. She was beautiful and graceful, with pale skin, blond hair, and blue eyes that spoke loudly of love and warmth. She was the perfect caretaker for the home, but Reuben was glad she’d soon be finding time for herself. She was still young enough to marry and have children, and he wanted that for her.
He saw movement, and his eyes flashed to Rachel. She was sitting as close as she could to Rose, as if ready to catch her friend if she fell.
Reuben had noticed other women try and get close to Rose, in the hopes that it would bring them closer to him, but with Rachel, he knew the friendship was genuine, for he could spot a liar from a distance, and in her, there was no deceit. So innocent, she probably didn’t know where to begin at being evil. In the hallway, she’d lied, but not maliciously. Just like before, she always wanted to appear strong.
The last member of their close party came in. Miss Mary Frances Best. Reuben remembered as a child, one of his teachers at the Home saying that Mary Frances was old enough to have been friends with the prophet Moses, for no one knew her age. She simply always was, it seemed.
With the help of a gleaming black cane, she fell heavily into a wingback chair and sighed, with her eyes closed.
Rose turned toward her. “Miss Mary Frances! I’m so very glad to see you. You won’t imagine…”
Mary Frances waved her off and then looked at Chatenney. “It’s time to tell her.” Frances was never gentle when it came to news.
Rose turned to look at her husband. Reuben noticed her hands tense on the chair arms. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?” She looked around the room and seemed to take note she was the only one who wondered at the question.
She looked at Alexandra then. “Alex, what’s going on?”
Alex took her hand, and looked at Chris.
Though no one ever made it official, Chris oversaw their family. All matters flowed through him, since he was the one who’d put them all together.
Christmas was a name that should have brought joy— especially when they added the fact that he owned London’s most popular toy store— yet, while as a child, there had been times when Reuben had been sure that Christmas was happy, he’d stopped being of ‘good cheer’ many years ago. Few recalled the date, but Reuben did. He was also the only one who knew the reason why.
But it was fitting that Christmas saw to family matters. Reuben had been away at war and Nash had gone to prison, leaving Chris as the only choice.
And Chris, while Reuben was sure he loved with his whole heart, could be just as gentle as Mary Frances.
Chris spoke swiftly. “You remember Ellen Boyd?”
Rose frowned. “Ellen? Of course, I do. She helps with the children’s Christmas performance.” Ellen had been a Best Child, but she’d not grown up in Paddington. Miss Best had three locations. Ellen grew up in the worst one in St. Giles.
“Ellen is your sister.” Chris said plainly.
Gerard crouched by Rose’s chair, and waited.
Rose frowned, as she tried to come to an understanding of what Chris was saying. Then she pulled in a breath and her brows cleared. “She is Stonewhire’s daughter?” She knew what sort of man her father was.
“Yes,” Chris said.
Rose looked around the room. “How do you all know?”
“The papers,” Reuben said.
Rose blinked and laced her hands on her lap. “I want to see it.”
Alicia reached for a paper that had been placed under a book on a side table, and gave it to Rose.
Rose opened it, and Rachel took her arm as she read.
She read quickly, likely the fastest reader in the room. Then she looked up. “Where is he?”
“We don’t know,” Chris said. “He’s…”
“We’ll find him,” Reuben vowed.
Gerard moved in, then, and took his wife in his arms. “There’s no need to worry. Stonewhire had made known to the entire world his love for you. Nothing has changed.”
Rose smiled at him with tears in her eyes. “I know, but what of Ellen? Poor girl. Stonewhire is missing? I hope she doesn’t think he’s vanished because of her.”
Of course, Rose would be more worried about Ellen, than the loss of any inheritance.
“He left before the story was in the paper,” Alicia said. “I spoke with Ellen and told her she had no need to worry.”
“Is she here?” Rose straightened. “I want to see her.” She smiled tentatively. “I have a sister.”
Alex hugged her first. No one would replace Alexandra as Rose’s sister, but to people who had very little family starting out in life, Rose seemed glad to welcome more. She’d already taken her cousin William into her fold. His father, however, who’d tried to kill Rose to gain her inheritance, had been put on a ship, to live out what remained of his days.
There were more smiles all around, and many tears, and then Rose turned to Reuben. “I had an idea, but now that this has happened, you are not allowed to refuse me.”
Reuben grinned. “I refuse you nothing, Rose.” He’d give her whatever she asked for, just as he’d given her the name “Rose” when she’d been a baby, declaring it so, since the moment he held her in his young arms.
“I thought a fine way to for you to make more friends amongst the beau monde would be to host a party for your birthday, and since you brought that rather large property…”
Reuben regretted his promise immediately. The only reason he’d secured the property had been because of its proximity to the park. It had cost him nearly all his earnings, but it was worth it. Its size hadn’t mattered. After living in camps with earth under his feet, and the sky over his head, he liked the outdoors and his space. There was very little of that to be found in the city.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Alex said. “And we could introduce Ellen to society at the same time.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Rose said. Then she turned to Rachel. “You must help.”
“Oh, I would love to!” Rachel’s smile was just as large as the others. “But it’s right around the corner, so we must act quickly.” That she knew his birthday didn’t seem to bother anyone in the room, except for him. He recalled telling it to her, years ago. Had she recalled it all this time?
She seemed right at home amongst Alexandra and Rose, in Alicia’s less than fashionable sitting room. There wasn’t even a window. Neither woman had been born a lady like Rachel, but the girl didn’t seem to care in the least.
The thought of her fitting in with his family pleased him, but that was only because Rachel, like Rose, was important to him.
But the two made him feel very different, though he would keep that to himself.
Chris pulled him away while the women began to scheme for ways to ruin Reuben’s life.
“What did Yall want?” Chris asked.
“Official business,” Reuben said. “Nothing about the Coalition, but we do need to find that diary before anyone else does.” That was the main goal of the coalition. If they could find Mary Best’s journal, they could ensure that every person, rich or poor, remained in their place. Already Reuben had two men guarding Alicia and the Homes. Chris had paid for watchmen at the other locations.
Chris nodded. “Whoever has the journal, is releasing them without much care, now.” He turned and looked at the women. “Will this party get in the way of whatever Yall needs of you? I’ll have it cancelled, if need be.” He was much better at breaking the hearts of their sisters than Reuben was, having had more practice at it.
Reuben thought on that and decided it wouldn’t hurt him at all. And as a fact, it was more likely that the party would help him, more than anything else. He needed to find an assassin amongst the beau monde, and what better way than to bring most of them together? “Word of such a party is bound to gain me more invitations, in the hopes that I return the favor.”
Chris frowned. “And this pleases you?”
It didn’t, but for this particular assignment, he had no other choice.