“It’s very dear of you, to make life so exciting!” She reached up and kissed him hard on the lips.
Hal chuckled and kissed her back, feeling breathless and excited himself. He felt a pang of guilt and wondered how and when it would be best to tell her of his main reason for the trip.
Later, when they were upstairs in the parlor, her knee resting against his, her head tucked on his shoulder, he kissed her hair.
“Hestony…I will have to visit my solicitor when I am there. There are some…matters…I must settle with him.” His stomach twisted painfully, and he felt his voice catch in his throat. He didn’t want to have to tell her, to scare her like this.
Hestony twisted her neck to look up at him. She nodded. “I understand. If there’s trouble, you would tell me, wouldn’t you?”
“I wouldn’t want to worry you,” he admitted.
“Is it something like the trouble that affected me?” she asked.
Hal swallowed hard. It was uncannily like that trouble. He closed his eyes. “Well…money has also gone missing, admittedly. But we’ll find out where it is and set it straight. It’s nothing big,” he added.
When he opened his eyes, he found her looking into them. It was a level gaze, not a frightened one. Hal felt fresh respect for her. She nodded slowly.
“Whatever it is, we’re facing this together,” she said slowly. “I just would feel better taking someone else along with us.”
“Anyone,” Hal said swiftly, without much thought.
He forgot about her request until later. Hestony was in the wardrobe-room, discussing with her maid what she wished to take to London. Hal was in his office, drafting another letter to his accountant, outlining some measures they could take. He looked up to see his father in the doorway.
“I’m trying to decide which coat to pack for London. Is it cold there, already?”
“Father?” Hal shot to his feet. “You’re coming with us? To London?”
His father shrugged. “Hestony asked me,” he said.
“She asked you?” Hal exclaimed. How was this possible? His father and Hestony had barely spoken, as far as he knew! In his mind, at least, his father was not the sort of person anybody would turn to as a confidant.
His father lifted one shoulder in an elaborate shrug. “Well, she did. So – what am I to take? My greatcoat, or a lighter day-coat?”
Hal felt his fist clench in annoyance. He sighed. “Take both, Father. We’re only going for a week…there’ll be more than enough room in the luggage for both of them.”
“Full of advice, you are,” his father replied with a dramatic sigh. He grinned at Hal, though. “I’m quite excited about it. It’s been years since I’ve been to London.”
Hal sat down heavily, thinking about that after his father had gone. It was the first time in years that he’d been anywhere outside Ellington House. If Hal thought about it, his father had stopped going to London soon after his mother died. Trust Hestony to convince him otherwise!
“Whoever this person is, who’s trying to harm us, I only wish they knew how much they’d helped us.”
Hal shook his head. It was a wonderful irony that this trouble seemed to have united Hestony and his father, and convinced his father to go to London.
He went upstairs to pack his own suitcase. He took a greatcoat, just in case.
The next morning, they found themselves on the road to London. Hal leaned back in his seat, looking out of the window, his heart swelling with pride as Hestony slept, her head against his shoulder. Opposite him, he could see his father’s head, his entire focus buried in the novel which rested on his lap. Hal smiled to himself. His father had never enjoyed coach-trips.
They broke the journey in Cambridge, and again the next evening. By the third morning, they were in London.
“It’s getting colder,” Hestony commented, as Hal reached up to help her step down from the coach.
“You see?” Lord Carisbrooke jumped down, greatcoat shivering in the breeze. He landed and looked up at Hal reproachfully. “I told you it was cold.”
Hal looked from Hestony to his father and back, feeling his heart full of joy. He just laughed.
“Well, it’s true. It’s just as well we’ve missed the autumnal rain.”
“Yes.”
Hestony slid her arm through his and together, they walked up the steps to Ellington Place. Hal looked up at Mr. Lanford, standing in the doorway waiting for them. He met Hal’s eye and Hal could see the worry on his face.
“I’ll go upstairs and have a wash,” Hestony said, pressing her lips to his cheek fondly.
“I’ll be there directly,” Hal said, smiling at her. He turned to Mr. Lanford, who looked at his boots.
“How bad is it?” Hal asked.
“It’s quite bad, sir.” Mr. Lanford made a face. He twisted his knotty fingers together, his cheeks drawn.
“Is there enough for a ball?” Hal asked him directly. The last thing he was going to do was deny Hestony the party he’d promised her.
Mr. Lanford frowned. “Um…if we delay the payment of the grocer, then yes.”
Hal swallowed hard. “Well, then. We’re not going to pay the grocer.”
The butler’s face was pained, but he bowed his head and nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Hal went upstairs, bumping into his father on the stairs. His father raised his brow. “Is it bad?”
“Yes,” Hal replied.
“We’re still having the ball, yes?” He gave him a hard look.
Hal nodded. “Yes.”
“Good.”
Hal raised a brow, but inside he was pleased. He was glad that his father was Hestony’s champion. The thought lurked in the back of his mind that he might have to face Lord Osburne in a duel. At least he knew that she would be safe.
Upstairs, he tapped on the door and then opened it. The scent of roses hit him, and he smiled as he found himself falling into Hestony’s grin like a warm bath.
“My dearest,” he murmured. “I love you.” It struck him anew, seeing her there.
“Oh, Hal…” She held him in a warm embrace. “I love you, too.”
They spent the afternoon planning the ball, which would be held on the last day of their stay. Hal headed to Goldsmith Street at three o’ clock, leaving Hestony safely ensconced with his father, playing cards.
“Don’t let him bankrupt you,” he warned, teasing them both.