Mary Blayney - [Pennistan 03] (26 page)

Wilson came to the door promptly.

“Either Magda is up there with you or you have been spending so much time with her that you are beginning to bark like she does.”

“Yes, sir, Your Grace. I’m sorry, but Magda followed me here. We din’t have no choice but to keep her with us since we din’t know how long you would be.”

“You make it sound so reasonable, Wilson. How unusual that it has never happened before.”

“I have a way with animals, sir, Your Grace. I like them and they like me.”

That was true, but Meryon suspected that Wilson had deliberately brought Magda. While he mulled over an answer, Wilson decided they had finished conversing and without waiting to be dismissed he gave a brisk nod, closed the door, and climbed back up onto the driver’s seat.

Elena tried to hold back her laughter but a little giggle escaped. “You must like that groom very much or else you would have fired him on the spot.”

“His family needs the money. His father is north looking for work.” When she merely raised her brows he went on. “Yes, I like the boy. He has an answer for everything, a natural intelligence that I would hate to see wasted.” Meryon wondered if the boy could read and write. “Alan Wilson reminds me of Rexton and the accident of birth.” Meryon called the picture of his golden-haired son to mind. “Wilson’s father has been gone for months, if not a year, and the boy had been earning money doing God knows what until I hired him. I don’t think Rexton could find his way from here to Penn Square. My son’s current talent is asking questions to which no one knows the answer.”

“I think we do what we have to do, Meryon. It could be that your son would surprise you.”

Elena shifted back to his side of the carriage, but did not close the space between them. “I was on my own at fourteen.”

“Good God. You were still a child.” He could easily believe that Bendas had allowed that, but had no idea why. He kissed her and drew away quickly before it could become something more. He did want to hear her story.

“I began singing before I said my first words. My mother wanted to give me singing lessons. Her husband insisted it was a waste of money. It was a constant source of conflict between them.” Elena was quiet a moment, then drew a deep breath as if it would give her strength.

Meryon clenched his fist at his side and waited. This
was her story to tell. “When I was fourteen my mother died. A few weeks later her husband asked me to sing for a friend and he did not like the song I chose. The next day he told me to leave the house, to sell my talents on the street.”

“With no reason given.” That explained the upset at Georges’s story about the girl who played the piano.

“He did not need to give me one. His word was law.”

Now Meryon did reach out. He gathered her into his arms, sitting her on his lap, rocking her as one would the child she had been.

“I am so sorry for the little Elena, but I also know that struggle was part of making the glorious woman you are. Believe me when I say that the woman before me is as lovely and as honest as the sun is hot.”

“I had an ally. My godmother. She gave me a home without hesitation and we eventually settled in Rome. And the rest is much happier than the beginning.”

She kissed his cheek, and as the carriage rounded a corner she slid from his lap to sit beside him. He relaxed his fist and took her hand and held it.

“That rather dour story is by way of telling you that children will call on resources that we do not even suspect they have. Lord Rexton is your son, Meryon, and that tells me he is thoughtful, observant, and kind. Even kindness stands one in good stead in dark times.”

“I would argue that but I have seen it too, when Garrett took care of Olivia. His kindness saved her life at some cost to himself.”

———

E
LENA WANTED TO
tell him how sweet and dear he was, but was sure he would consider it an insult. Instead she cupped his chin in one hand and framed his mouth with her lips.

There was nothing but the two of them, no past, only this all-consuming present and the hint of a future. A little moan escaped her as she gave in to the delicious feeling that reminded her of their lovemaking.

He ended the kiss with his own sound of regret, holding her a moment longer. She saw something in his eyes that was more than passion, less than commitment, but filled with love.

“I suspect that you know more of the mean part of the world than I do, Elena, and I would have taken it all on myself to spare you that. But Gabriel has yet to invent a way to travel into the past.”

Elena leaned her head on his shoulder. Did he know that it was not possible to rescue everyone? “Beggars must approach you every day.”

“Yes, and giving them a coin now and again is not a long-term solution.”

“Your goal being to save England’s future one boy at a time.”

He laughed, which surprised her.

“Oh my, you are learning not to take every word I say as an affront.”

“I have been taught by a master. You. Besides we now have a better use for our passion than arguing, do we not?” They spent a long moment proving it to each other.

This time Meryon moved to take the seat opposite
her. “I am going to propose a bill to give monetary and educational assistance to widows and orphans.”

“That sounds very ambitious. Admirable, make no mistake about that, but much too expensive to gain support in these times.”

“Yes, I know.” He did not seem at all daunted by her criticism. “It’s both the best and worst time to make such a proposal. I accept that it will not succeed this year or even next year. I plan to send a letter to William Wilberforce.”

“Will his support help you?” The name sounded familiar but she could not place who he was.

“He may lend his support. His ideas are very progressive. But what he can teach me is how to persevere. His efforts to outlaw the slave trade took more than fifteen years.”

And who will teach you patience?
She did not ask him that. Nor did she ask him if he had any idea what a cause like this would cost him in heartache and despair. He had been part of Parliament for years now. He knew what it would take.

They rode the rest of the way in silence. As soon as the carriage slowed at the house on Bedford Place Elena’s maid opened the door.

“What in the world?” Elena could make no sense of it. Tina had wrapped herself in a knitted shawl, totally inadequate against the cold night air and not at all like her usually careful appearance.

“I’ll come in with you. Signora Tinotti looks upset.”

“No, no. It is most likely some domestic upset that
would have you rolling your eyes.” Tina would be truly hysterical if something terrible had happened.

Meryon hesitated, then took her hand and kissed it quickly. “Send word if you need help and if not I will see you tomorrow, soon after four o’clock.”

The boy lowered the stairs for her, the dog over his other arm.

“I will take Magda now, Wilson,” was the last thing she heard Meryon say.

W
HAT HAPPENED
, T
INA?”
Elena asked as soon as she closed the door behind her.

“Where were you, signora?”

Tina sounded like the disgruntled mistress, rather than the servant. It appeared to be a rhetorical question as Tina did not wait for an answer.

“Mia has disappeared. She was with Lord William in the salon with the governess as chaperone. That stupid woman tells me that Mia excused herself and went upstairs and then Lord William announced he was going to leave and would the governess explain that he remembered a promise he must act on. When the governess went upstairs to tell Mia, the girl was gone!”

“William and Mia left together?” Elena was not sure if the two of them together made it better or worse. Better,
much better, she decided. Mia alone in town at night was a horrifying thought.

“The stupid butler had gone off to have his supper, not at his post, and did not see either one of them leave.” Tina spoke as though supper were an indulgence the butler was not worthy of.

“If I know Mia,” Elena paused, and after a moment’s thought went on, “and William, they timed their departure so that no one would stop them. What time was the butler off for supper?”

A rap at the door, followed by its opening, ended their discussion. Mia and William came stumbling in. Mia was giggling and William was trying to shush her with whispers that were loud enough to be heard across the street.

“Are you two drunk?” Elena asked, shocked not so much at their behavior as at William’s hand in it.

Mia stopped so fast that William ran into her back and the cloak she wore enveloped them both. The girl turned and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you, my lord. That was such a grand adventure. It is worth whatever punishment Elena contrives.”

At least, at the
very
least Elena would be grateful that Meryon was not here to witness this disaster. She had no idea what he would think but her mortification would have been unbearable. “Mia, you make it sound like I spend my days and nights thinking of ways to punish you. As I recall you promised that with your come-out so close you would be on your best behavior.”

“I said I would
try
, and, truly, I did try.” Mia bit her lip and tried to look penitent.

“Go to your room, go to bed, and I will talk to you in
the morning when I have had time to devise an appropriate discipline.”

A rebellious expression replaced Mia’s remorse, but Elena saw William’s slight nod and Mia was solemn again and halfway up the stairs.

“Elena, I can explain,” William began.

“Not here.” Elena held up her hand to stop his babbling. “Come into the salon. Now.”

He followed her with a cheerfulness that seemed to belittle the seriousness of the situation.

“Shall I bring some refreshment, signora?”

“No, Tina. His lordship will not be staying long.” Elena pulled the door closed.

“What were you thinking?” She tried to keep her voice level but when she did that hysteria crept in and hysteria was not what she was feeling. So she yelled at him. “I am furious with you, do you hear me?” There was no doubt he could hear but he was smart enough not to say that.

“Elena, I know how it looks but you have to let me explain.”

“I don’t
have
to do anything. With one sentence I can forbid you this house.” Elena walked over to her Canaletto but even his blue sky could not calm her.

“Yes, I know. But if you do that, things will grow worse.”

“Is that a threat?” She faced him, all but seeing red.

“Oh, God, no. It’s only that—” William stopped, and when he began again, he was pleading. “Let me explain and you will, I hope, understand why I went with her.”

“All right.” She sat down and smoothed her skirts, and
when he would have sat beside her, she raised her hand to stop him. “Do not sit. You have behaved like an unconscionable schoolboy and you will stay standing while you explain.”

Was that barely restrained annoyance she saw on his face? If it was, he did not give voice to it and stayed where he was, in front of her, slapping his gloves against his leg. Finally, he tossed his gloves on the table and began.

“I came to see Mia yesterday evening for our regular English lesson. Tina’s governess was with us as chaperone which, mind you, is as good as having a statue on guard. She sat on the other side of the room, reading, and as long as Mia spoke quietly, the woman showed no interest in what we were talking about. We could have been planning to visit Napoleon on St. Helena and she would not have known.”

“So this began last night?”
Visit Napoleon? Do not put ideas into Mia’s head
.

“Oh,” William said with resigned insight. “I think it’s been brewing in Mia’s head for longer than that, but she first told me about her plan last night.”

“Go on.” Was he going to try to shift the blame onto Mia? How very ungentlemanly. On the other hand, the girl most likely had instigated whatever it was that had her out and about town so late in the evening.

“She told me she was planning to sneak out, dressed as a boy, to see what London was like at night.”

“Dear Mother of God.”

“Yes, well.” He paused and seemed lost in thought. “Now that I say it aloud, I must admit that I think she
was trying to shock me into doing exactly what I offered to do.”

Elena waited, beginning to feel that William might have been more dupe than accomplice or, worse, instigator.

“We discussed it awhile. I did try to talk her out of it, but there is a look she will give you that says there are no words that will change her mind.”

Elena had seen that expression, a kind of disinterest with a distinct sparkle in her eye.

“Finally, I told her that I would come back tonight with a coach and take her, dressed as a boy, to see some of the buildings and great city houses that were hosting parties.”

“You idiot.”

“Yes, well …”

Elena half listened as William went on, noting that he did not try to defend himself, which, Elena decided, was to his credit.