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“W hat time did Thompson arrive? I know Marksman came around four.” Richard asked Mr. Walters as the man placed a plate of food before him.

He briefly wondered what Lady Emma preferred for breakfast, though he had seen her choices at Duncan’s table, but with her injuries, at least initially, her mouth would have been sore.

Would she customarily choose different items?

If the lady became the mistress of his household, how would things change?

As he patiently chewed his food, he also wondered how they might fit together, in more ways than one.

Would they converse over their meals? Did they share common interests?

Despite enjoying the pianoforte with Lady Theodora, Richard had wished his partner had been Lady Emma—rubbing shoulders—reaching across each other.

Flirting and teasing. But not in a sisterly manner , he thought.

Walters warmed up Richard’s coffee. “About five of the clock, sir,” the butler said as he stepped to the side to wait for additional orders.

“I know I am not required to say this, but permit them their sleep. Both Marksman and Thompson performed a service for me last evening.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I hold no idea when I will return from this celebration today. Hopefully, not too late. I could use a complete night’s sleep.”

Soon the meal was finished. Richard returned to his quarters to claim his watch and his gun. He told his valet, “I must see Sir Hunter is where he is required and in a timely manner.”

“I rewound and set your watch, my lord,” Mr. Kane said. “There is an extra handkerchief in your inside pocket. Do you require anything else, my lord?”

“The gift for Sir Hunter and Miss David?”

“Delivered to Miss David’s parents’ house for the reception, my lord.”

“And what did I purchase for them?” Richard asked.

“A new watch fob for Sir Hunter, as you requested several weeks back, and a crystal serving bowl for the couple.”

“Engraved?” he asked as Kane adjusted Richard’s cravat.

“Both, sir.”

“You are invaluable, Kane. I am confident I do not pay you enough,” Richard said with a grin. “By the way,” he teased, “what do I pay you?”

“As you just said, my lord, not enough.”

Their teasing was often part of their routine, and they were both smiling largely as Richard crossed to the door. “Once they rise, please assist Lords Thompson and Marksman as needed. As for me, I do not plan to go out this evening, so after the festivities, I will return.”

“I understand, my lord.”

Though his carriage was outside his home, Richard told the driver, “Discover some place near the church, but with an easier route to Lord David’s house for the reception.

I will walk the three streets to the church.

I imagine as long as the guest list of those Lady David meant to invite, there will be carriages galore letting off passengers along the street before the church. Congestion galore.”

“Aye, sir.”

Richard stepped closer to ask, “Is my house still being watched?”

“A different man, my lord, but one is still attempting to look inconspicuous while being obvious to all.”

“Likely he will follow me then,” Richard said before setting off at a leisurely pace in the direction of St George’s of Hanover, and the man who Mr. Bould had indicated followed Richard at a distance.

Just to irritate the man, Richard stopped briefly to converse with Lord and Lady Downer, who also had chosen to walk the short distance to the church.

“Lady David and I attended the same private school near Bath,” Lady Downer said as her husband placed the woman between him and Richard.

Lord Downer asked, “If I recall accurately, you have known Sir Hunter for most of your life, is that not correct, Orson?”

“Like your lovely wife and Lady David’s connection, my lord, Sir Hunter and I met at Harrow and continued to be steady mates afterwards,” Richard assured, though as he considered all his recent obligations, he could not help but wonder if his relationship with the baronet could continue as it once was.

He did not think Miss David would take well to Lady Emma’s independent personality, for Miss Elizabeth David, like her mother, rarely had an opinion all her own.

“How lovely that you have remained strong allies,” Lady Downer asserted.

“You have been blessed twice over, my lord,” Lord Downer observed. “You earned four ‘brothers’ as part of Lord Macdonald Duncan’s family, as well as Sir Hunter’s allegiance.”

Richard looked left and right before they stepped down from the curbing to cross the road. He also glanced behind him to view the person following him on the opposing side of the street. The man ducked into a store front, though Richard knew better.

He said, as they walked together, “It was advantageous for all of my steady companions that Lord and Lady Duncan were kind and made a place for each of us in their home.” He smiled as he said, “I recall quite easily how many meals were set twice in an evening, when we were growing boys and starving for more than food to fill us. Most of us were in danger of being unfairly displaced by those we thought to trust and could not. They meant to claim our peerages as their own. That being said, I speak with some authority in saying each of us would wish to know more in life than what we lost.”

“Naturally, you would,” Lady Downer affirmed.

They were nearing the church, so Richard said, “You must pardon me. I am to report directly to the church office to receive my instructions for the day. I imagine Sir Hunter has a list of tasks for me to address. Enjoy your day.” With a bow of parting, Richard walked in the direction of the rector’s office near the back of the church.

“There you are!” Sir Hunter exclaimed when Richard was admitted to the office with a knock at the door.

Richard glanced at the mantel clock. “Is this not the place and the time upon which we agreed?” he asked in a teasing tone.

“It is,” Hunter said with an answering grin. “I thought you might be delayed by Lady Emma Donoghue.”

“Why should I be?” Richard asked with a shrug. “The last time I saw the lady, she had partnered with Lord Duncan in a game of cards. I understand she has joined friends to finish her recuperation.”

Hunter studied him and so Richard made a point of appearing casual. “I had hoped that...” Hunter began.

“The lady requires time not only for her bruises and cuts to heal, but also to learn to trust people, in general, again,” Richard claimed. All of which was absolutely true.

“Perhaps in the future,” Hunt suggested.

“This is not about me today,” Richard said in a boisterous tone, in order to change the subject. “Today, I am to see you walk the plank for the last time.”

“We have shared many happy moments,” Hunt declared, “especially on that rickety dock on my father’s land. How very often we ended up in the water! It is impossible to count.”

“You have repaired that structure and more on the property you inherited,” Richard declared. “I am honored to call you one of my best friends. Surely my longest-standing friend.”

“We both suffered with the loss of our parents. I am glad we had each other as boys and now as men. You were the brother I never had,” Hunt declared.

Richard slid his arm around his friend’s shoulder. “And you were the brother I never wanted.”

“You dog,” Hunt said with a laugh.

Richard asked, “What do you require of me today? I am to be your fetcher and retriever. After all, I am a ‘dog.’”

Hunter glanced to where his valet carefully lifted his cravat scarf to avoid any wrinkles. “You should retrieve the ring from my uncle’s inside pocket and then rejoin me here. The ceremony is to start in a bit over half an hour.”

Emma had dozed on and off during the journey to Buckinghamshire, while her two companions had slept more soundly than she thought possible in a moving carriage, but she supposed men’s constitutions were different from those of women in more ways than one.

She should be concerned about sharing a house, or rather a “lodge,” as Lord Beaufort termed it, with two strangers, but she held few choices.

These two gentlemen were associates of Lord Orson, and Emma had come to depend upon the man, likely more than she should.

“ Who else am I to trust ?” she asked herself.

Emma wondered if she had ever been as attracted to a man as she was to Lord Orson.

For a moment, she studied, first, Lord Beaufort, and then Lord Graham.

Beaufort’s features were perfection. Dark blonde hair and a fair complexion, in an Irish fashion.

Dark brown eyes. Nearly black. Moved with the ease of an animal.

Instantly, an image of a lion pacing back and forth in a cage caught her imagination.

“The Tower of London,” she murmured, though she wished to shout the return of a memory, for she had begun to fear such would never happen, and she would be required to begin again with creating friendships and experiences.

In the memory, she had been surrounded by members of her household staff, and they were at the Tower of London, visiting the menagerie.

She had paid for their admission. Her maid?

Was the woman walking beside her in the image her maid?

Emma was not assured, but she thought it was so.

“Her name?” she breathed the question. Emma wished she could remember the woman’s name, but the lady walked beside her and she had a frown displayed upon her face.

Why was the woman frowning when the others were laughing and smiling? Had her maid disapproved of the adventure or had something happened that day which had the woman’s disapproval all over her face?

“You are frowning deeply,” Lord Graham observed from his corner of the carriage.