Page 66 of The Moonstone Major
“Oh dear,” Chloe said with a broad grin, “the entire house, mine to do with as I please? What agony!” She fell back against her pillows and laughed. “I could wail and declare I will miss you terribly, but I don’t think you would believe me. So I will stick to the truth. Time alone would be bliss.”
Phoebe gave her a sisterly tickle. “I’m delighted you won’t miss us in the least.”
Chloe gave her a quick hug. “Of course I’ll miss you. But I have a new project I am undertaking that will require all my concentration.”
“Ah, those hidden boxes Fionn Brennan mentioned last night?”
She nodded.
“Or is the real project Fionn himself? I hope this is not a ploy on your part to have him propose.”
“I do not need to scheme against him. He will come around in time because I know he loves me, even if he is too thickheaded to admit it. All I wish to do is go through each and every one of those boxes. I’m sure they contain important documents concerning Captain Arundel. The biggest question for me is, why did the captain choose to reveal them to Fionn and not us? And why now?”
“That is a fascinating puzzle. Oh, drat. I would love to help you, but I won’t be able to do anything until we return from Falmouth. Hen can’t either because she has the annual St. Austell Grange tea party to prepare for next week. The entire village will descend on her, and she’s fallen behind in the planning.”
“I’m sure Prudence and her Mr. Weston will help out. They are both quite capable, and Prudence certainly has time on her hands,” Chloe said of their cousin who had married Cain’s estate manager for practical reasons but seemed to have fallen in love with him over time.
It was a good match, proof that two people could be quite happy even if theirs had not started out as a deep and abiding love.
But Chloe knew herself too well. She thought too much with her heart. For this reason, she could not marry anyone but Fionn. “Well, I’ll stop over there to help her once I finish at the cottage, but it won’t be tomorrow, because I want to get a solid start on those boxes first.”
“Will Fionn go through them with you?”
“No, he’ll be gone by the time I arrive, and I will be gone by the time he returns. Even though Mrs. Hawke makes for a proper chaperone, tongues will wag if it becomes known we were at the cottage together, especially with you and Cormac gone.”
Phoebe now sank onto the bed beside her. “That is wise. Just remember this is how it ought to be. You are to leave if he returns early.”
“He has to oversee the hospital construction, not to mention his regular work as fort commander. I’ll probably be gone hours before then.”
“All right. But do not be angry with us if Cormac insists on Prudence keeping you company while you are at the cottage. Hen can manage without her. It is more important that your reputation is protected.”
“Nonsense, I need no such thing. Let her help Hen with her party. I hope your stubborn husband doesn’t insist on it. First of all, Fionn is irritatingly honorable. He is never going to take a step out of line because that might lead to a forced marriage, and we all know this is the last thing he wants.”
“Chloe, if he doesn’t want to marry you, then how can you be all right with this?”
“He does want to marry me, but it must be on his own terms. He’s so worried our marriage will fail because of who he is…which is entirely the point, because he does not know who he is. I’m wondering whether Captain Arundel revealed those boxes to him because they concern him.”
“Well, Imogen did see a resemblance between them.”
“It must mean something. And little Imogen is never wrong about these things. She picks up on everything.” Chloe threw off her covers and scrambled out of bed. “I’ll help you get them ready for your trip and see you off before I head over to Moonstone Cottage. But what about your boys? Are you going to take them with you?”
“Yes, we are taking the entire entourage. Their nannies are quite excited about the excursion. We’ll all manage. Our boys are always better behaved when playing with Ella and Imogen. Besides, Cormac and I would miss them too much if we were apart from them even for a day.”
By late morning, the girls gleefully piled into Cormac’s shiny black carriage along with Phoebe and Cormac, and their two boys Cormac jokingly referred to as the devil twins because they were little imps. The carriage was an imposing, highly polished conveyance with the Burness crest emblazoned on it and led by a pair of sturdy matched grays.
Chloe stood in the courtyard and waved to them until they disappeared from view.
The nannies, Phoebe’s maid, and Cormac’s valet rode behind them in an impressive second carriage that was also piled high with all their bags. One would think they were leaving for a month and not a few days.
More important, this left Chloe free to do as she wished for the next three or four days. Well, she was hardly going to throw wild parties. She had those documents to read and also an upcoming recital to coordinate.
Oh, and a request had been made for Lady Dowling.
Chloe would seek her out later today, for a mere message asking for her assistance at the recital might be politely declined. Requests were much harder to decline when made face to face. The woman was not a recluse and would likely be in town later today to take tea at Mrs. Halsey’s shop. Chloe and the girls had often seen her there.
She resolved to take a ride into town in the late afternoon to seek Lady Dowling out. This way, she could also stop in at the fort to talk to Fionn if she had any news to report on her findings.
Since the documents had to be old and musty, she chose to wear one of her sturdier muslin gowns, a pretty forest green that was unadorned save for a fichu that demurely covered her bosom and was held in place with a cameo brooch.
