Page 21 of The Labours of Lord Perry Cavendish

“With your history, it’s hardly surprising you don’t like travelling,” Adam said gently.

As Perry wondered what that meant, he remembered something Jonny had said the day before.

“Is that why you decided not to go to Italy?” he asked.

To his surprise, Jonny seemed uncomfortable with the question, and Adam shot him a sharp glance.

“Italy?” Adam said. “With Jasper and Sam? You considered it then?”

“I considered it and decided against it,” Jonny said. He screwed up his nose and added, “Not for me.”

“But you’d have been going with friends,” Adam argued. “You know they would have looked after you.”

Jonny laughed. “As if I’d impose myself on them.”

“It’s hardly imposing when you’re invited.”

“It was a kind offer, but they really didn’t know what they were letting themselves in for,” Jonny said. “I probably saved our friendship when I declined.”

He gave a rueful chuckle, but Adam didn’t join in, and Perry had to wonder why Jonny hadn’t told Adam about this before. It seemed clear that Adam knew something about it.

Curious, Perry asked, “Why do you dislike travelling so much?”

Jonny glanced his way and shrugged. “Where to start? I have a weak stomach, for one thing. I get horribly sick in closed carriages, and the moment I set foot on a boat, I’m fit for nothing. And then there's all the bother of luggage and tickets and being harassed at ports and inns. Not to mention the sheerboredom—all those hours and days and weeks when you can’t accomplish anything.”

“Funnily enough,” Perry said. “Those are all the things that I’d probably find enjoyable about it. I like being on the road, especially when I’m the one driving, and I enjoy arriving in new places and seeing how they’re different from what I’m used to.” He offered Jonny a sympathetic smile. “The culture in Italy would be wasted on me, I daresay, but I could certainly deal with all the travelling well enough. It’s a shame we can’t swap bodies for a few weeks.”

“Well,” Jonny said gravely, “I certainly wouldn’t mind enteringyourbody, Peregrine.”

Adam snorted with laughter, and Zander chuckled. It took Perry a moment or two longer to get the joke, but when he did, he laughed too, even as his cheeks flushed, and he thought,I don’t think I’d mind that either.

It was an effective distraction. Once they'd all stopped laughing, Jonny changed the subject, and the conversation moved on.

It was only much later, when Zander was telling a story Perry had already heard, that something Adam had said earlier popped uninvited into his mind.

“With your history, it’s hardly surprising you don’t like travelling.”

Perry frowned.

What history had Adam been referring to, he wondered?

8

Jonny

They drank a great deal less that night than the evening before. Lysander had an early rise the next morning, though he was hopeful that all the harvesting would be complete in another few days.

“Come on,” Adam said to Lysander just after ten o'clock. He stood and held out his hand. “Time for bed and sleep, my lad.”

“It’s so early,” Lysander grumbled, but he set his hand in Adam’s and rose to his feet, already yawning.

“What about you two?” Adam asked, looking between Perry and Jonny. “Are you going to bed now or staying up a bit longer? I can ring for more wine, if you’d like?”

Jonny glanced at Perry in query. Perry met his gaze briefly before glancing at Adam and saying, “I’m quite tired myself. I think I’ll retire once I’ve finished this.” He held up his nearly empty wine glass.

Excitement and nerves churned in Jonny’s belly. He wasn't sure whether Perry meant to retire alone or if he hoped Jonny might join him.

Lysander yawned again, drawing Adam’s attention back to him.