CHAPTER TWENTY
“What is he doing in my home?”
Hayden bellowed the words at Helen, suddenly feeling so unhinged he wondered if the top of his head might blow off.
“I thought the two of you should talk.”
“Talk!”
“Yes, talk,” she calmly stated, “and it should happen here rather than at Wallace Downs in front of your daughters.”
“How dare you interfere!”
“You were anxious about how to proceed and couldn’t reach a decision, so I proceeded for you. Don’t shout at me.”
Wallace leapt to his feet, and on seeing Hayden—his old enemy—he appeared more stunned than angry. “You’re alive? Why are you alive? It’s not possible!”
Hayden ignored the question, and Helen replied for him. “It’s a very long story, Mr. Wallace, one that Lord Middlebury will be delighted to tell you about over the coming months and years.”
Wallace moved toward Hayden but didn’t approach all the way. He studied Hayden as if he were a venomous snake that might bite.
“You visited Wallace Downs, didn’t you?” Wallace voiced the remark like an accusation. “You spoke to Millie. She told me about it, but I didn’t believe her.”
There was another man in the room, a dark-haired fellow about Hayden’s age. He was staring back and forth from Hayden to Wallace. He was completely perplexed, and he said, “Would someone like to explain what’s going on?”
Hayden focused in on him, and he was bristling with fury. “Who the hell are you?”
“Hayden,” Helen said, “this is your brother-in-law, Christopher Stanton. He’s married to your sister, Catherine.”
“What?”
Hayden heard the comment with no difficulty, but it rattled him. Although he understood Catherine was twenty-four, in his mind she was still the adolescent girl she’d been that final Christmas.
Mr. Stanton frowned at Helen. “You called him Hayden. Is this Hayden Henley?”
“Yes, Mr. Stanton. This is Catherine’s brother, Hayden Henley.”
“Whoa!” he muttered as she continued.
“He’s Lord Middlebury now.”
Her mention of his title had Wallace butting in. He said to her, “It was you who wrote me, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Hayden interrupted to roar at Helen, “You wrote him a letter about me?”
“Yes. You asked for my help, and I gave it.”
Wallace disregarded their petty squabble and complained to Helen. “When you claimed the earl wanted to confer about my marriage to Abigail, you meant him.” He pointed a disparaging finger at Hayden. “Not Jasper Henley. Him!”
“Jasper has stepped aside,” Helen said, which was putting it mildly.
“He stepped aside?” Wallace snidely retorted. “You make it sound so amicable. I could swear Jasper’s wife shot him a few minutes ago.”
“Jasper and Desdemona are a little upset—as you can imagine—but they’ll come to terms with it. They have no choice really.” Helen was blithely nonchalant as she gestured to Mr. Stanton. “Would you join me in the hall, Mr. Stanton? Mr. Wallace and Lord Middlebury have important matters to discuss privately.”
Mr. Stanton peered over at Wallace. “Are you all right to be alone with him?”
“I won’t kill him,” Wallace said, “if that’s what’s worrying you.”
“It is worrying me actually,” Stanton replied.
Hayden scoffed. “As if he could kill me now. I’m not an untried green boy these days.”
“No one is killing anyone,” Helen commanded like a grumpy schoolteacher. “No one is punching anyone. No one is committing an act of violence. You will have a conversation like two rational adults.”
“Are you sure they can manage it?” Mr. Stanton asked.
“Of course they can.” She glowered at Hayden, then Wallace. “You have sisters to apprise and daughters in common. You have custody arrangements to review, and you must figure out how you will announce Hayden’s return at Wallace Downs.” She glanced at her father, then at Hayden. “Would you like Simon to stay and serve as your arbitrator?”
“No,” Hayden said as Wallace said, “Yes.”
“No!” Hayden stated more firmly. “Get him out of here.”
“I will,” Helen said, “but if voices are raised, I’m sending him in. When I told you there is to be no quarreling, I wasn’t joking.” She waved to her father and Mr. Stanton. “Simon? Mr. Stanton? Let’s go.”
She went to the door and tapped her foot until they obeyed her and slinked out. She cast a severe glare at Wallace, then at Hayden.
“I won’t allow either of you to leave until you resolve some of the bigger issues. I don’t care how you resolve them or which you select. Just resolve what you can. You’re family.”
“We’re not family yet,” Hayden countered. “I have two weeks to talk Abigail out of this.”
“You’re wrong, Hayden,” she said. “Your sister wed him by Special License months ago.”
“What?” he fumed.
“They’re having a ceremony in September to repeat the vows in church. He’s your brother-in-law, despite how fervidly you wish he wasn’t. Now finish this so I can look at your wound. And don’t you dare faint before I tend it. I’ll be so annoyed if I have to pick you up off the floor.”
With that snotty remark deftly hurled, she strolled out and shut the door with a determined click.
He and Wallace were both standing, and they warily studied each other. Hayden had only ever seen Wallace twice in his life. Once when the man had strutted up out of the blue, hit him, and challenged him to a duel. The other time was when they’d squared off over pistols that cold, gray morning on Marley Field.
He was amazed to so clearly remember details of Wallace’s face, but he’d forgotten other things. They were roughly the same height, had the same broad shoulders and long legs, were able to display the same imperious arrogance.
If they’d been acquainted as boys, might they have been friends? Wallace was from a rich family, his ancestors comprising a lengthy string of famous soldiers who’d grown wealthy off their centuries of pillaging in the King’s army. He probably knew all of Hayden’s boyhood chums.
In the years Hayden had been away, he’d obsessed over the duel and its aftermath, but he hadn’t pondered Alex Wallace as a person with a past separate from the battle they’d waged.
Wallace broke the tense silence. “An interesting woman, your housekeeper.”
“A damned busybody—who needs to learn to mind her own business.”
“I agree.”
Wallace walked to the sideboard and poured two whiskeys. He came back and handed one to Hayden, then he took his own and sat on the sofa.
“Might I suggest you sit down too?” Wallace said. “Or you’re likely to fall down. You look thoroughly spent, but then, you were just shot.”
Hayden was flagging and felt like a whipped dog. He’d have liked to remain on his feet, but he was quite miserable. His head was aching, his wound throbbing, and his knuckles were swelling again from punching another cousin.
He eased onto a nearby chair, and he drank down the whiskey in a single swallow. Wallace went over, grabbed the bottle, and refilled his glass. He placed the bottle on the table between them, realizing this was a chat that would require copious amounts of alcohol.
“So,” Wallace started, “you’re alive and you’re home.”
Though Wallace had to be dying of curiosity, Hayden wasn’t about to explain his ordeal or the painful road he’d traveled. He changed the subject.
“Where are my sisters?”
“They’re all at Wallace Downs, preparing for the wedding.”
“Sarah too?”
“Yes, with her husband and mother-in-law.”
“She’s married as well?”
“Yes.”
The news was more distressing than it should have been. He ought to have been relieved, ought to have been ecstatic that they were safe and settled, but with their all being wives, it underscored how much he’d missed while he was away. It left him angrier than he already was.
“Who is her husband?” he asked.
“A fellow named Nicholas Swift.”
Hayden scowled, thinking he knew Swift. They might have attended school together. It wasn’t a common name. Could it be the same man? It was more news that was distressing, and he felt dizzy and disoriented, as if he was up in Heaven and gazing down, trying to make sense of all that had occurred after he’d departed for Italy.
“Is she happy?”
“Disgustingly happy.”
“Good,” he murmured.
He gulped down his whiskey and filled his glass a third time. It was the very worst moment to become inebriated, but it seemed the very best moment too. He didn’t want to be in his front parlor with Alex Wallace. He didn’t want to be covered in blood, with his arm aching and his spirits at a low ebb.
He wanted Helen to march in, clean him up, then send him to bed. Perhaps even to tuck him in. Since the day his mother had passed away, he’d never had a female tend him. Would she sit with him and hold his hand? Would she keep watch through the night to be sure he was all right?
“What now?” he asked Wallace.
“I guess we should decide how to muddle forward,” Wallace said. “I won’t fight with you over any issue. It would upset Abigail.”
“No, I would never upset her.” It was risky to mention Wallace’s ex-wife. The tart had caused so much trouble, but Hayden did it anyway. “What happened to Eugenia?”
“I divorced her. You never heard?”
“No, I’ve never heard much about you at all.”
Which wasn’t precisely true. Simon Barnes had insisted Wallace suffered all kinds of difficulties after the duel, but Hayden hadn’t necessarily believed him.
“Over this past summer,” Wallace said, “Eugenia moved to America. I didn’t like her to be around the twins.”
“Why?”
“She was awful to them, and after she’d visit, they’d be extremely disturbed. I bribed her to go away and leave them alone.”
“Have they always resided with you?”
“Not for the first six years. I finally took them away from her. She couldn’t care for them, and they were wallowing in squalid conditions.”
“And I wasn’t here to help them.”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. The law and the Church consider them to be mine. Their situation was my responsibility—and I failed them.”
“Just so you know, I wasn’t aware Eugenia had had a child. A friend wrote us when we were in Italy. She claimed Eugenia had lost the baby, but now, I’m wondering if my mother didn’t lie to me about it. All this time, I had no idea I was a father.”
“It must have been quite a shock to stop by Wallace Downs.”
“Yes. I’m still reeling over it.”
“I can imagine.”
Hayden could have bitten off his tongue rather than inquire, but Wallace had had such a major impact on his life, yet Hayden possessed very little information about him.
“You had some legal problems after the duel,” he said. “You were banished?”
“Yes, for five years, and I was kicked out of the army. I was jailed too. My property was almost forfeit over a fine that was levied. Apparently, a commoner such as myself can’t shoot at a viscount.”
Hayden snorted. “It’s generally frowned upon.”
“I paid a very steep price for my stupidity.”
“As did I.”
“You survived.”
“Barely.”
They stared and stared, and Hayden blurted out, “I want my daughters.”
“That’s a very brazen request. I know nothing about you, and I’m not about to hand them over to a stranger.”
“I’m their father,” Hayden spat.
“So am I,” Wallace countered.
“I want them!”
“We’ll talk about it.”
“I won’t bother talking. They should be with me. They should grow up at Middlebury.”
“Your sister will have an opinion about that. She intends that they grow up with her at Wallace Downs, and Sarah’s mother-in-law will have to weigh in. She’s become a grandmother to them. I’ll only do what’s in their best interest, and it doesn’t matter what you would like to have happen.”
“I’m their father,” Hayden said again. “I am what’s best for them.”
“We’ll talk about it,” Wallace maddeningly repeated.
He rose and went to the door. Hayden was too exhausted to follow him, but he listened as Wallace spoke to Helen.
“He’s about to collapse. Why don’t you get him upstairs and into his bed? His wound should be cleaned and bandaged. He could probably use a doctor and a hefty dose of laudanum too.”
“You haven’t been in there very long,” Helen complained, “but you haven’t been shouting. What have you decided?”
“We’ve come to an understanding. My brother-in-law and I have a room at the coaching inn in the village. We’ll stop by in the morning, and if Henley is up to it, we’ll ride to Wallace Downs together.”
Hayden didn’t feel they’d resolved anything, and he forced himself to peer over at them. “I didn’t agree to that.”
“Be silent, Hayden.” Helen didn’t so much as glance in his direction but kept her focus on Wallace. “There’s no need for you to pay for a coaching inn. Please stay here. We have a thousand bedchambers in this monstrosity of a house, and they’re nearly all empty.”
There was a lengthy pause as Wallace pondered her invitation. Ultimately, he said, “This was a lot to take in.”
“I know.”
“I expect we’ll be more comfortable there. We’ll check on him at ten tomorrow.”
“He has the constitution of a war horse,” she said. “Once I nurse him a bit, he’ll be good as new.”
“I’ll hope that’s true. We’ll see you in the morning.”
Wallace and Stanton marched off, and Helen left too, being the polite person she was and escorting them out. When she returned, her father was with her, observing all with a keen interest. Hayden staggered to his feet.
“I have to lie down,” he told her.
“Won’t you tarry for a minute to tell me what you discussed with Mr. Wallace?”
“No.”
“What about Desdemona? Won’t you tell me about that either?”
“No. Robert is out in the stables with her, but Will and Tom can watch her. Send someone to fetch him.”
“I can wash and dress your wound.”
“I want Robert,” he coldly seethed.
He wasn’t angry with her precisely, but maybe he was.
It seemed so cheeky of her to have brought Alex Wallace to his home. She’d usurped so much authority and had overstepped her bounds in a hundred different ways, but with how poorly he was feeling, he was afraid he might be mistaken.
He was anxious to ask Robert what he thought. He couldn’t have her gazing at him with those big green eyes of hers. He could never think straight when she did.
He started out, and at his refusing to oblige her, she was extremely annoyed.
“So just like that, you’re heading upstairs?” she fumed.
“Yes, just like that. I’m exhausted and—as you’ve noticed—your cousin almost killed me.”
“I want to tend you!”
“And I want Robert to do it! Send for him.”
He pushed by her and stomped off.
* * * *
“Could you ever have imagined such an ending?”
“No.”
Alex was riding down the lane with Christopher, having just departed Middlebury Manor. His mind was awhirl, his perplexity profound. He was so dizzy and off balance he could barely stay in the saddle.
“Are you positive it’s him?” Christopher asked.
“It’s him all right.”
“Where has he been all these years?”
“I’m guessing it hasn’t been anywhere pleasant. He’s quite tattered around the edges.”
“Well, in the man’s defense, he was just shot. He’s a tough cur. I’ll say that for him.”
“I counted a dozen weapons strapped to him in various spots,” Alex said. “Why would he carry so many?”
“They obviously didn’t help him with Desdemona.”
“A decade ago, he was so irritating. Women threw themselves at his feet, and he strutted about like a vain peacock.”
“Sort of like you.”
Alex ignored the taunt. “We were both so young when we fought. I, at least, had been trained as a soldier, so I’d endured plenty of brawls and rough living. He was fresh from university, and I doubt he’d ever so much as engaged in fisticuffs before we crossed paths.”
“You dueled with him anyway? That makes it sound unfair.”
“You know about my temper, and Eugenia was driving me insane with her wild antics. She was so out of control.”
His mother had convinced him to marry Eugenia, and he’d proceeded without argument. She’d seemed pretty and vivacious, but she’d quickly altered into an unrestrained, unruly strumpet who couldn’t tamp down her worst urges. Gradually, it became impossible for her to behave morally.
When he’d sparred with Henley, he and Eugenia had been at the very beginning of her collapse, and he hadn’t realized how appalling it would grow to be. Eventually, he’d viewed her as being an ideal candidate for an asylum, but those places were horrid, and he’d never had the heart to lock her away.
“What did you two talk about?” Christopher asked.
“Not much.”
“Not much? He’s been dead for ten years, and the last time you saw him you tried to murder him. You were secluded in a parlor with him, and you didn’t talk about much?”
“He’s demanding custody of my daughters.”
“They’re his daughters too,” Christopher cautiously said.
“Only because he fornicated with my wife. Once—if you believe her.”
“Will you give them to him?”
Alex scoffed. “Absolutely not. He’s not the cock-sure dandy he was back then. He’s a mature and shrewd man, a very changed man, and I’m predicting he’s had some incredibly difficult experiences. Should he even be around children?”
“With him sitting there wounded and bleeding—and scarcely noticing—he definitely appeared to be dangerous.”
“I agree, so I told him it was a brazen request, and he’s a stranger to me. I’m not about to hand them over.”
“I bet that didn’t go over very well. He’s not the type to take no for an answer.”
“No, he isn’t,” Alex said, “and we have to learn more about him.”
“He’s a member of the family—like it or not.”
“I don’t like it,” Alex groused.
“What will Abigail’s opinion be about him? What about Catherine and Sarah? This is all too much to absorb. How will you tell them? And what about breaking the news to the twins? That will be particularly tricky.”
“Remember when we left home yesterday? They were standing out by the road, hoping he’d ride by.”
“He wasn’t a ghost.”
“No.”
Alex was quite alarmed about Henley and what the twins would think of him. Alex was close to them, but he wasn’t close either. They lived in their own world where they had their secrets and schemes they never shared with adults.
When they were young and still with their mother, the conditions had been dreadful. Then, after Alex had obtained custody, he hadn’t improved their situation. Yes, they’d been fed and housed and clothed, but he hadn’t actually cared for them. He’d hired nannies and governesses, and it was how he’d met Abigail. She’d been working for him and tending the twins.
They resided in the manor now and were part of the family, but they hadn’t forgotten the period when he’d kept them at arm’s length, when they’d stayed with his sister, Faith, over in her cottage.
He’d been pompous and distant and had hated to fuss with them. They’d been Hayden Henley’s daughters, and they looked exactly like him. Every time he’d glanced at them, he’d been vividly reminded of their father. It had been a petty attitude, and he was ashamed of himself for it.
He’d blamed them for his wife’s adultery. After all, they were the shocking proof of Eugenia’s madness and licentious habits, but they weren’t responsible for the sins of the negligent parents who’d created them.
Abigail had once confided that, when they were little, they hadn’t known Henley was dead. No one had bothered to tell them, and they’d been waiting for him to arrive and fetch them. They’d persuaded themselves that he wasn’t aware of where they were, and after he discovered their location, he’d come for them.
It was a painful story, but it was a perilous story too.
From how they’d been hiding in the woods, watching for Henley—their portrait tucked into a pouch for him to have—it was obvious they were on pins and needles, eager for him to claim them.
If Henley sauntered up the drive at Wallace Downs, Alex had no doubt they would be ecstatic. Would they beg to leave with him? Would they beg to move to Middlebury?
Alex could refuse to let them, and he imagined Abigail would be on his side, but if the girls were adamant about traipsing off with him, how could Alex prevent it?
They weren’t tiny any longer. They were about to celebrate their tenth birthday. Even if he could stave off a change of circumstance for the moment, he couldn’t manage it forever.
He snorted with disgust. For years, he’d been aggravated by their presence. Now their father had appeared—their other father, their real father—and Alex was furious to suppose he might have to give them up. Perhaps he was as deranged as Eugenia had always been.
“Why are you fuming and snorting?” Christopher asked.
“My life has meandered in the oddest directions.”
“This is the oddest direction of all.”
“You’re right about that.”
They had reached the main road. If he turned to the left, it would be to the village and their coaching inn. If he turned the other way, it would be to Wallace Downs. He reined in and stopped.
“Would you do me a favor?” he inquired.
“If I can.”
“I should head home. I had assumed we could travel with Henley tomorrow, but I shouldn’t stroll in the front door with him when his identity hasn’t been announced. I should prepare everyone first. Especially the twins.”
“That’s probably a good idea.”
“Would you remain here tonight and check on him in the morning? If he’s in better shape, could you escort him to Wallace Downs on your own? Would you mind? Or would that be too much?”
Christopher shrugged. “No, I don’t mind. The trip will give me many hours alone with him. I’ll be able to pry out details as to where he’s been.”
“It would be helpful.”
“He’d likely be more open with me than he would be with you. You’d just glower and insult him, then you’d both be in a snit for the whole journey.”
“You know me well.”
“I realize you’d never admit it,” Christopher said, “but you and Henley are an awful lot alike.”
“Don’t even say it.”
“I might send a note to that housekeeper, that Miss Barnes? She had an intriguing relationship with him.”
“She bossed him around as if they were married.”
“Maybe I can wrangle a supper invitation. I’ll charm her and learn what I can. I’ll pester her father too. Between the two of them, they’ll have a thousand interesting tales to share.”
“What a perfect plan. I wish I’d thought of it.”
“If he’s ill or feverish in the morning, should I tarry until his condition improves and bring him later on? Or should I come to Wallace Downs immediately? What is your preference?”
“Do what you feel is best,” Alex advised, “but don’t delay too long. I don’t want you in trouble with your wife.”
“When she hears this news, she’ll be glad to have me tarry so I can become friends with her brother.”
“Anything is possible.”
“Deep down, he might not be so bad,” Christopher claimed.
“Don’t get your hopes up.”
“I mean, we’ve all accepted Nicholas. If we can accept him, we can accept anybody.”
“True.”
Before marrying Sarah, Nicholas had been the most debauched cad in the world. He’d dragged her off and eloped with her, but so far, it had worked out.
Could they figure out how to interact with Hayden Henley? Could Alex figure it out? His wife and her sisters would be elated about Henley. His daughters too, so he had to rearrange his opinion or he’d wind up on the opposite side of the fence from his whole family.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.
“If not tomorrow, then a day or two after that. Tell Catherine not to fret.”
“I will. Good luck.”
Alex trotted off, and Christopher hollered after him, “And Alex?”
Alex glanced over his shoulder. “What?”
“We have to call him Middlebury, hm? Not Henley, but Middlebury.”
“I suppose so.”
Gad, what a mess!
He spun and kept on.
* * * *
“You didn’t murder him,” Robert said.
“I considered it.”
“No, you didn’t, so I guess you’ve matured.”
Robert was in the sitting room of Hayden’s bedroom suite. Hayden was seated on a chair, his shirt off, his arm balanced on a table. Robert stood over him, a bowl of bloody water and a few soiled rags shoved off to the side.
Hayden gestured to his wound. “What do you think?”
“You’ll live.”
“Will you stitch it?”
“It’s not that deep.”
The shot had seared his skin, his shirt catching fire and burning him in spots. It was a bit blistered. Robert held up a bottle of whiskey and waved it at Hayden.
“Grit your teeth. Don’t cry like a baby.”
“Have I ever?”
“No.”
Robert had witnessed Hayden as he’d endured the most brutal of punishments, and he’d never uttered a peep. He had a higher ability to tolerate pain than any person Robert had ever met.
He poured liquor over the injury, stoically observing as Hayden hissed and cursed, then Robert wiped away the residue.
“Is once enough to disinfect it?” Hayden asked.
“Should be.”
“Bandage me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Robert had doctored so many men in his life that he could have earned an income as a physician. He finished up, then Hayden went into the bedchamber and returned with a clean shirt.
As he pulled it on, Robert glimpsed his ruined back, and he concealed how it startled him. Hayden’s scars were hideous to view, and Robert always forgot how badly he’d been maimed. Most of it had happened before they’d crossed paths, before Robert had taken him in hand and calmed his worst impulses.
He was better now. Not great. Not perfect. But better.
Robert plopped onto a chair and motioned Hayden over. He poured the remainder of the whiskey into two glasses so it could be put to good use. They clinked them together in a toast.
“Survived again.” Hayden grinned his cocky grin.
“You have to stop walking so near to death’s door. My poor heart can’t abide many more of your close calls.”
“It was nothing,” Hayden blithely claimed.
“What will we do with Desdemona?”
“I’ll deliver her to her husband as I’m heading to Wallace Downs.”
“Will you also deliver the warning—in no uncertain terms—about his forcing her to behave?”
“Yes, or he won’t receive a financial settlement from me. A threat about money will garner his attention.”
“You’re insane to pay him a farthing.”
“I’m not cruel.”
“No, but he doesn’t deserve your generosity.”
Hayden shrugged. “I’m expecting he won’t be able to control her, and she’ll try to kill me again. Then I won’t have to cough up a penny.” He tapped a finger on his temple. “I’m being cunning like a fox.”
“That’s not funny. If she’d aimed a little straighter, I’d be digging your grave.”
“Well, she didn’t, so don’t worry about it.”
“We can’t risk her sneaking back here.”
“I’ll be more careful in the future.”
“Is that supposed to make me assume you’ll be safer?”
“No, but if I ever see her again, I’ll shoot her on sight, and I won’t wait to discover if she has a pistol.”
Robert scoffed. “You wouldn’t shoot her. Don’t pretend that’s a plan.”
Hayden grinned again. “I might.”
“What did you and Wallace discuss?”
“Not much. I told him I want my daughters.”
“What was his reply?”
“He refused.”
“Of course he did. I wouldn’t give a pair of young girls to you either.”
“He will though. Eventually. You know I always get my way in the end, and besides, they want to live with me rather than him.”
“Why would you think so?”
“They’ve always wanted to be with me. They’ve always hoped I’d fetch them.”
“So you say.”
“Yes, so I say.”
Robert never mocked Hayden’s perceptions. He had an uncanny knack for predicting what would occur. If he imagined they would ultimately live with him, they probably would.
“Will you travel to Wallace Downs?” Robert asked.
“Yes, in the morning.”
Robert figured he’d be invited to ride along, but he wasn’t, and he tamped down his aggravation. “You’re taking Desdemona with you?”
“Yes. I’ll dump her in Jasper’s lap.”
“Please scare the life out of him for me.”
“I can do that. I’m much more terrifying than you are.”
“And will you tell him she should be in an asylum?”
“I’m sure he knows.” Hayden filled his glass again, wincing as he moved his arm.
“Is your wound hurting?”
“Not enough to fuss over.”
“Would you like some laudanum? I can check with Miss Barnes. I bet there’s a bottle in the kitchen.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Fine, go ahead and suffer.”
“It puts me to sleep, and I can’t wake up. I hate to be incapacitated.”
“Don’t we all?” Robert grimly inquired. “Maybe you could use a good night’s sleep. If you intend to ride all day tomorrow, plus deal with Desdemona and Jasper too, you should have some extra rest.”
“One night of slumber won’t fix anything.”
“Matters will be stressful at Wallace Downs. You’re never in the best of shape when events are stressful.”
“I’ll stagger through.”
Robert never liked Hayden to be distressed, because he lost his temper and made dreadful decisions. Nor did he like the notion of Hayden being with Alex Wallace or reuniting with his sisters and Robert not there to deflect some of the drama and upheaval. He didn’t doubt there would be plenty of both.
“I might join you at Wallace Downs,” he said, “once you’re situated.”
“You’re welcome to come, although it will likely be incredibly boring.”
“I’d like to see these daughters of yours.”
“You won’t believe how beautiful they are.”
“Will it be all right for me to leave Miss Barnes here alone?”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain? What if Desdemona slinks back?”
“She’s out to kill me. Not Helen. Helen is perfectly safe.”
“Her father will be skulking around—and her sister.”
“Don’t worry about them. They’re harmless.”
Robert spit out a caustic laugh. “Simon Barnes is a shameless roué, and that Becky…well… she’s no better than she has to be.”
“You should keep Will away from her then.”
“I’ve had a talk with him.”
“It would be awful for him to be ensnared in her trap. When he’s older, you’ll be able to find a high match for him. It shouldn’t be with her.”
“He understands that, and he’s too smart to be caught by her.”
“Is he?” Hayden snickered. “He’s sixteen, and when I was sixteen, I don’t remember fretting over being caught by a pretty girl. My concerns were a tad more carnal than that.”
Robert could hardly argue the point. He’d been just nineteen himself when he’d begun sniffing after Mildred Farnsworth.
“I’ll chat with him again.”
Robert filled their glasses, and they sipped their liquor, enjoying the companionable silence.
After a bit, he asked, “What’s your plan for Miss Barnes and her family? Have you thought about it?”
“I’m debating,” Hayden admitted. “Sometimes, I wish she could stay forever, but I usually come to my senses very fast.”
“If you want my opinion—”
“I don’t.”
“She’s in love with you.”
“She is not.”
“You have to be careful with her. She’s not a doxy, and I like her. You shouldn’t hurt her.”
“Because of how she and I met, it feels like I’m connected to her, but our bond has to be severed. We can’t go on as we have been.”
Robert peeked at the door to be sure it was tightly shut before they continued. He hadn’t forgotten when they’d been on Tenerife and Miss Barnes had strolled up as they were disparaging her.
“She’s been working here,” Hayden said, “so she’s in charge of the house, and we’re friends, but she presumes too much.”
“You let her presume. It’s your fault.”
“I can’t deny it, but hasn’t she stepped far out of bounds? Take for instance her writing to Alex Wallace.”
“I told her it was a mad scheme.”
“I was wondering if she’d consulted you. What is your view of her inviting him? Should she have proceeded without asking me? Should she have sprung it on me like that? I recognize she was trying to help, so I shouldn’t be angry, but I’m quite vexed.”
“She shouldn’t have, but it seems to have been very effective. You and Wallace resolved a few issues.”
“No, we didn’t. We simply agreed I’ll return to Wallace Downs, but I would have returned anyway. Now that I’ve learned my sisters are there, I won’t delay. If Desdemona hadn’t shot me, I’d be most of the way there already.”
“After all of this is finished, how will you ever separate yourself from Miss Barnes?”
“I have no idea. I can’t picture her leaving.”
“It’s not as if you can pay her a severance and send her on to her next post.”
“No,” Hayden said, “and she’s not a woman who should be out on her own and fending for herself. We figured that out in the Canaries. Trouble follows her like a magnet to metal.”
“Her father is a huge burden. If she allows him to tag along, he’ll keep imperiling her.”
“But I doubt she’d ever abandon him. She’s so accursedly loyal.”
Robert studied Hayden, his stern gaze digging deep. Did the cocky prick realize how much he fancied her? Would he ever realize it?
“After you’re settled,” Robert said, “you intend to hunt for a bride.”
“Yes.”
“Have you reconsidered about proposing to Miss Barnes?”
Hayden hesitated for an eternity, then he murmured, “No, I haven’t reconsidered.”
“You’re still determined to have a princess?”
“Why shouldn’t I hope for that?”
“Even when you’ll have two daughters to raise—which I predict will be extremely difficult—you’re eager to have a snooty aristocrat?”
“They’re not all bad. You’ll meet my sisters. You’ll see.”
Robert sighed. “You’ll have to rid yourself of Miss Barnes before you start searching.”
“I know that.”
“In the meantime, you should have mercy on her and find her a position somewhere else. She’s become too attached to you.”
“No, she hasn’t,” Hayden claimed. “She’s aware of my feelings.”
“Is she?” Robert dubiously retorted.
“Yes. We have an understanding.”
“What is it? She acts like your wife—tending you, feeding you, cheering you, counseling you—but when push comes to shove, you’ll inform her she has no role? You’ll demand she depart?”
“Yes, but I’ll be kind about it.”
Robert might have chastised and scolded, but why would he? Hayden could be moved on some topics, but on others—such as those ingrained in him as a rich, spoiled nobleman’s son—he couldn’t be dissuaded.
Poor Miss Barnes…
How would she weather the pending tribulations? She wouldn’t be employed at Middlebury much longer. Where would she go? How would she support her father and sister? For of a certainly, that pair of sluggards would never support themselves. It would all and always fall on Miss Barnes’s slender shoulders.
He downed his whiskey and stood. “I’m sick of listening to you.”
“You don’t have to tarry.”
“No, I don’t. Get yourself to bed.”
“I plan on it.”
“Should I send Tom up? He could sleep on the floor so you can call to him if you need some assistance.”
“I don’t need him,” Hayden said. “I don’t need anyone.”
“That’s what you think.”
Robert stomped out and didn’t glance back.