Page 37 of Twelfth Night Sorcery (The Cambion Club #2)

With every day that passed, Valance missed Honora more.

He missed her cheerful conversation and her habit of listening to him thoughtfully even when he rambled too long.

He missed her many questions and the suspense of not knowing what she would ask next.

He missed her quiet presence by his side while he read or worked on his runes.

He began to consider that he might, just possibly, be more than a little infatuated with his wife.

Lovely thought that might be in some ways, in other ways it seemed unfortunate.

He had promised Honora her freedom once he had an heir.

Given that promise, falling deeply in love with her might only set him up for heartbreak.

But he could not help missing her, longing for her, and thinking ahead to his return.

If he could, he would have left as soon as Dora was comfortably settled at the Abbey.

But he had promised his mother he would meet with his steward while he was in the country.

His steward told Valance that some of his tenants wished to speak to him too.

It had been so long since his last visit that he felt he owed them some of his time.

Their requests for repairs and improvements were all quite reasonable, but it took time to listen to them, come to an agreement, and pass his instructions on.

Next, it turned out that the boundary fence between Carrington land and the Valance estate needed to be repaired.

The actual repairs could be safely left to the stewards to manage, but Sir Roderick suggested Valance might like to ride the property line with him, inspecting the fence and keeping an eye out for any trees that ought to be felled or stiles that needed to be repaired.

How could Valance refuse such a reasonable request?

The weather cooperated, giving the two landowners a fine day for an afternoon ride.

They had a pleasant conversation about recent innovations in agriculture (a subject on which Sir Roderick was much better informed than Valance), and startled several foxes, prompting Sir Roderick to discuss the need to hunt the land more often.

Having lost his father to a hunting accident, Valance did not care for the sport, but he understood the need to protect local henhouses from the vulpine population.

All this time, Valance did his best to keep a watchful eye on Dora.

He did not trust her to stay out of trouble.

But if he had imagined she would don men’s clothing and go galloping off to the nearest boxing match the moment his back was turned, he was mistaken.

Instead, she capably acted the part of a dutiful, well-mannered young lady of genteel birth.

Only the mischievous twinkle he sometimes saw in her eyes suggested otherwise.

He also apprehensively watched Dora interact with Peregrine. She was as curious about the meteorite spell as Honora had been, and being a sorcerer, she could be of practical assistance fine-tuning the formulas.

Valance had no objection to his best friend working magic with Honora’s sister.

He knew perfectly well that Peregrine had always wanted the help of a sorcerer with this particular project.

He would’ve offered to help Peregrine himself if not for clear memories of past failed collaborations.

But the way Peregrine and Dora smiled and laughed together after dinner each night suggested their interest in each other might go beyond collegiality.

He tried talking to his friend about it. “You will behave properly around Miss Hart, won’t you?”

“Of course,” Peregrine said cheerfully. “When have I not behaved properly?”

“I mean,” Valance clarified, “you won’t let her get into any trouble while she’s here?” Valance could not forget Peregrine’s offer to take her to a boxing match, or his suggestion that he could help her buy a pair of Hessian boots. Oil on fire! Surely Dora did not need such encouragement.

Carrington chuckled. “What kind of trouble do you think she will get into right under my mother’s nose? She seems like a well-behaved young lady, and I would guess her to be quite intelligent. And I rather like her haircut. So very practical, isn’t it?”

That did nothing to assuage Valance’s concerns. “I think,” he said sourly, “you should remember that she is—” he had been about to say ‘my sister-in-law’ until he remembered that only Lady Carrington and Sir Roderick were supposed to know Dora’s identity.

“That she is what?” Peregrine waited, a look of expectant curiosity on his face.

“Just out of the schoolroom,” Valance finished. “I believe she is only eighteen or nineteen.” Peregrine must be a good four years older than her.

“Well, you need not worry. I will keep an eye on her for you. I shall take care not to let her run up any gambling debts or elope with any scoundrels. Not that there are any scoundrels hereabouts. Really, Valance, I can’t imagine what trouble you think she could get into in so sleepy a corner of the country.

” Peregrine’s smile looked positively benevolent.

But Valance still worried. He tried talking to the dowager Lady Carrington about Dora. She, too, chuckled at him.

“Oliver, I have already raised five children. Five quarrelsome and adventurous children, as you very well know! I am sure I can handle Miss Hart. She is just Hannah’s age, you know. But I like seeing what a responsible man you have grown into. Sir John would be very proud of you.”

“That’s neither here nor there,” Valance said hastily.

He did not want to become maudlin about his guardian’s untimely death.

In his opinion, Lady Carrington’s tendency to become sentimental about her late husband was one of her few flaws.

It was certainly understandable that she still missed the husband she had loved so much.

But Valance did not want to become teary-eyed over a man who would have affectionately teased them for being mawkish.

“I suppose,” Valance admitted, “you are used to dealing with unconventional young women.”

So far as he could remember, Abigail had never worn, but she had organized a reading group to discuss the work of Elizabeth Montagu and Mary Wollstonecraft.

The local gentry had become so appalled by what their daughters began repeating from these meetings that they sent the vicar to Carrington Abbey to protest. No one knew what Sir John said to the vicar, but he never called at the Abbey again.

“I most certainly am used to it.” Lady Carrington smiled, and Valance wondered if she, too, was thinking of Abigail’s youth. “I believe your sister-in-law will do very well here, Oliver. You have nothing to worry about.”

Valance cleared his throat. “And—forgive me for speaking plainly, madam—you won’t let her spend too much time alone with Peregrine?”

Lady Carrington raised her eyebrows. “I cannot imagine what harm you think Peregrine would do her!” Her usually warm voice plummeted at least twenty degrees in an instant.

“My son is a gentleman, and he knows how to treat a young lady with respect.” She paused and narrowed her eyes.

“Or do you mean to imply that the son of a baronet is not good enough to court your sister-in-law? Because I must say, Oliver, I did not expect you to treat your childhood friend—”

“You mistake me! I meant no such thing.” He was not sure what horrified him more: the fact that he had offended Lady Carrington or the fact that she seemed to view a match between Dora and Peregrine as both possible and acceptable.

“If anything, it would be Miss, er, Hart who would not be suitable, given her background.”

“It is not her fault she is illegitimate.” The steely glance Lady Carrington directed at Valance indicated she had yet to forgive him. “In any case, I have nothing to say to the matter. Peregrine has his own fortune and can marry—or not—to suit his own tastes.”

Valance sighed. “Miss Hart is quite young. It will be at least two years before she comes of age, and there is no saying whether her legal guardian would approve a marriage before then.” Dora’s current estrangement from her guardians might prevent her from marrying even the most respectable suitor.

“That is an important consideration,” Lady Carrington granted. “But, of course, she could always petition Chancery for permission to marry. I believe it is the court’s responsibility to handle such situations.”

His eyes widened. Goodness, she was taking this seriously! He could think of nothing more to say, so when she changed the subject, he let her do so. But he kept worrying.

*

Valance ended up staying at the Abbey for an entire week.

That was longer than he’d planned, but new things kept popping up to demand his attention, and then Lady Carrington (the younger, not the elder) asked him to stay for her dinner party.

The day after the dinner party he set out for London, quite relieved to be on his way back to his wife.

He spent the drive making notes for a new set of runes he wanted to experiment with.

Between one thing and another, he had not had the time he liked to devote to his magic.

He had temporarily abandoned his attempt to perfect a rune for fire.

Instead, he was working on a general cancellation spell, one that could be used to undo different types of magic.

He was still working on the new rune when the carriage pulled up in front of his townhouse.

Valance closed his notebook and sprang down from the carriage with a renewed step. He was going to see his wife again after a week’s absence. He wondered if she had missed him even half as much as he missed her.