Page 70 of The Moonstone Hero
“Is that so? You know, I never asked you… Are you married? Or have a sweetheart?”
“No to both, but I always hold out hope. Do you ever read poetry, Lord Mersey?”
“No. Lady Ella read some to me while I was recovering.” Caden chuckled. “I was bedridden and could not escape. But it was all right.”
“She read you Shelley, didn’t she?And the sunlight clasps the earth. And the moonbeams kiss the sea.All the young ladies swoon over that poem.”
“Stafford, you are an extremely astute fellow. Why have you not run for office? The House of Commons could use a man as intelligent and wily as you.”
“No, it isn’t for me,” Stafford said with a mock shudder. “Come on, I’m sure they are all waiting for you downstairs. Are you going to give the same speech you have been giving everywhere?”
“Actually, no. I think it is time I gave my grandfather and his smug friends an apoplectic fit.”
“Naughty boy. What are you going to do?”
“York is a fully garrisoned city, and there will be plenty of officers in attendance. It is time to press the need for the military and not politicians to control the battlefield.”
“Oh, that will have your grandfather turning purple.”
“He brought along these generals thinking they are in his pocket, but he is about to have a rude awakening.”
Stafford frowned. “Are you sure? They might be very comfortable sitting in his pocket.”
“Then I will be the one to have the rude awakening, won’t I?”
Stafford helped him up. “It is not your style to walk in unprepared. What have you done that I don’t know about? And how did you manage to hide it from me?”
“That would be giving away my secrets, wouldn’t it?”
*
Ella peered throughthe display glass at the latest merchandise to arrive at Miss Harrow’s elegant shop. “You say you have just received a supply of cameo brooches from Italy?”
Miss Harrow nodded. “They are stunning. You will love them. I have not had time to put them out yet, but I know the entire stock will sell out within hours when I do. In truth, I prefer this sort of merchandise. It appeals to everyone and is more affordable. A lady on holiday in Moonstone Landing will purchase a cameo not only for herself, but for her daughters, sisters, a gift for a friend. I expect most will leave here having bought more than one.”
“Oh, I am eager to see them. Please do show us.” Ella had been coming in here weekly for the past two months, and had collected eightAlways in my heartnotes so far. Elmer and Imogen always accompanied her on these weekly outings, for the lad took his responsibility quite seriously and was not going to shirk this important duty assigned to him by Caden.
But summer was coming to an end, and Ella’s parents had arrived to pick them up. They were to spend one more week at Westgate Hall, then return to London. This would be their last visit to Miss Harrow’s shop.
“Mama would love a cameo,” Imogen said.
They both gasped when Miss Harrow opened up the black velvet boxes of neatly arrayed brooches. They were so delicately carved. Most were in the shape of a lady’s face or depictions of Olympian goddesses and classical muses, every detail finely pronounced, even to the intricate curls on the subject’s head. “Goodness, you were not exaggerating. They are exquisite,” Ella said.
She chose one of Erato, the muse of love and love poetry, who was depicted from the shoulders up. The full-body carvings of the muses revealed too much of their voluptuous bodies, since the artisans crafting these beautiful designs did not see fit to provide them with more than a thin cloth that somehow never covered their ample breasts. Those etchings were beautiful, but her parents would never allow her to wear one of those, since she was young and not yet married.
Elmer paid for the brooch out of the funds Caden had provided. It was a bit of a ceremony they went through every week. Imogen was the keeper of the money and would hand the funds over to Elmer, who in turn would make the purchase, request the card be inserted, and then hand the gift box over to Ella, who was standing right beside him all the while.
She thought the whole thing silly and did not want to use any of Caden’s money at all, but she was outvoted. Elmer took his responsibility very much to heart, and Ella could not disappoint him.
“Now, I will use my own funds to purchase a brooch for Imogen, another for Elmer’s mother, and—”
Elmer gasped. “Oh, my lady! No, that is far too generous. Don’t you agree, Amos?”
His cousin was standing guard quietly in the corner as always, his arms folded across his massive chest, saying nothing.
Imogen chimed in. “You have been so helpful to all of us, Elmer. Please let us do this for you. And I am sharing in that gift for her.”
“But—”
