Page 82 of The Secret Life of the Elusive Governess
“Ah Nicholas, m’boy, come here and give your sire an embrace. I am getting old, you know,” Peregrine called over.
Nicholas looked a little unkempt with his shirt out of his breeches, his waistcoat a little lopsided, and his long jacket completely missing. It was evident that he had gotten dressed in haste to see his grandfather.
The child ran over to him and threw his arms around the older man. “Have you brought me another present, Grandfather?”
Ah, the minds of children, they think all adults are equipped with trinkets of one sort or another. I must speak to Nicholas about these expectations though.
Peregrine’s eye was sly, “Perhaps, if you tell me what level of Latin you are now?”
Blast! Why did I not think the old fox would find a way out of my distraction?
“I can decline more verbs than the last visit, Grandfather,” Nicholas said to Moses’ relief, “I am much more fluent now. I can read a whole page of Barlaam and Josaphat in Latin with minimal errors.”
“Wonderful, my boy.” The Earl smiled, “It seems as if Miss Robins is doing a pleasing job.”
The boy huffed, “Can I not speak of my lessons now…please?” The politeness was tacked on like an afterthought, “I would rather see what you brought for me.”
“Why did you expect that I carried something?” Peregrine teased.
Nicholas’s face fell with marked disappointment, only to have his grandfather chuckle.
“All right, all right,” Peregrine smile, “Be patient little one.”
Resting his cane on the edge of the chair, Peregrine reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a little drawstring bag made of velvet. Curious himself, Moses leaned forward as the Earl pulled out a compass made of burnt brass that had a thin golden chain attached to a tiny ring.
“This, m’boy, is a sailor’s compass,” Peregrine said while dangling the trinket from the chain. “My grandfather’s father earned it after a perilous trip to India. It was once owned by a Maharaja who hated those of the West and gave my grandsire a series of increasingly hard tasks to complete. Do you want to hear it, m’boy?”
“Yes!” Nicholas emphatically declared as he scrambled onto the seat beside the Earl.
Moses sat back, watched and listened to a decidedly action filled but fanciful tale. There was no possible instance Lord Alaric Edge, a fat man of decidedly sedentary nature—as seen by the portraits in Peregrine’s study—could have tamed a wildcat or roped two elephants into a double harness, but he would never disabuse Nicholas of his delight.
“And that, m’boy, is how the name Edge is respected in the subcontinent to this day,” Peregrine finished with a flourish.
Something was nagging at Moses however.Not once has he asked to see Lavinia…that is decidedly odd.
“Peregrine,” Moses interrupted, rather brusquely, “Are you not going to inquire of Lavinia?”
“I would rather not,” Peregrine replied in a sphinxlike tone, “As you have said, she is in mourning.”
But wouldn’t that be the best time to offer comfort?
“As you wish,” Moses did not like the way the Earl had answered him before he had resumed his tale. It felt like a providential way of using Lavinia’s circumstances to hide something.
It slightly boggled the Duke to find a way to get the man out of his home before he came up with craftier ways to ask about Caroline. Thankfully, Fate smiled on him and the butler announced the arrival of his steward, Mr. Reddington.
“I am sorry to break this get-together,” Moses said, without a trace of remorse, “But I will need to attend to my steward. Peregrine, if you desire, you may finish the tale in a sitting room.”
The Earl’s eyes narrowed slightly as if he was accusing Moses of planning the interruption, before his face went placid. “There no need, Moses, the tale can be finished another day.”
He then stood, and rested his hand on Nicholas’ head, “Take care of the compass, m’boy. It is your heritage. Oh, and…” he fished in his inner pocket once more and took out another small pouch. “This a gold-trimmed handkerchief for little Josephine. Please give it to her in my absence.”
“Will do.” Moses replied while taking the pouch, “Please, let me walk you out.”So you won’t ask any of my people any inappropriate questions.“Nicholas, go to your midday meal.”
With a hug to his grandfather and farewell to both men, the boy left, and Moses accompanied his father-in-law to the foyer. While descending the stairs, Moses spotted his wife, clad in her white silk robe, approaching them but did not say a word.
As they made it to the landing, and he shook Peregrine’s hand, Moses saw her come to the railing on the staircase and rest a hand on the balustrade. Her expression was a look that he had never seen before—it was hard, stony even, and before the man was out the door, she was gone.
What was that look for?
