Page 21 of A Family Of His Own
On his feet, he paused, then looked at Diana. “I will also write to my aunt directly and will leave instructions with my solicitors here and also send word to my London firm regarding my will and the arrangements for the children.”
The clocks whirred and bonged for one o’clock. Fellows nodded to himself. “I’ll start on the letters now.”
As he turned to leave, presumably for his study, Toby also rose. “Do you have any maps of Austria and Europe?”
“I do, yes.” With his head, Fellows indicated the study. “Come. I’ll get them for you.”
They left Diana still sewing.
When Toby returned, maps in hand, he found her on her feet.
She showed him the repaired bear. “I’d better take this back before Evelyn wakes and finds him gone.”
He nodded. “You’d be wise to get what sleep you can.”
As she bustled past him, he hesitated, then turned and said, “Also”—he waited until she stopped and looked back, one fine brown eyebrow rising—“if you can find a gold ring, something that will pass for a wedding band, that will help with our disguise.”
Her expression was cloaked in shadows, but her nod was all practicality. “I collected my mother’s jewelry from the house before we left. There’ll be something there that will suit.”
He dipped his head, and she turned and walked off, bear swinging from one hand.
Relieved that she seemed unperturbed by the prospect of their impending charade, of pretending to the world that she was his wife, he went to the table and spread the maps upon it.
He sat and settled to assess the myriad routes, comprising combinations of road, rail, river, and sea, by which he—with a wife, three children, and a maid in tow—could travel from Vienna to London. He was reassured to discover that at virtually every town, he would have options regarding which road to take.
Even with a family with him.
“Not,” he muttered, “something I imagined I would ever have.”
He could almost hear Fate cackling.
* * *
The following morning,Toby was on high alert as he oversaw the loading of the Fellows coach. Dawn had only just broken, and although the coach was drawn up at the curb in front of the house, those in the neighboring houses had yet to stir, and there were few others in the streets. Few people to take note of their departure.
Once more garbed as a wealthy businessman, Toby helped the footman hoist the larger bags up to Gunter, the coachman, who was packing the roof rack. Smaller items were handed to Helga inside the coach, and she placed them in the luggage racks above the seats.
In the small hours, Toby had returned to the hotel at which he’d been staying, got two hours’ sleep, then packed, paid his shot, and walked back to the Fellows house.
As he tossed his bags and others up to Gunter, he constantly scanned their surroundings, but saw no one who wasn’t a local. He wondered how long their luck would hold.
The children came out to make sure their bags were inside the coach or on its roof. Fellows came with them, and Toby wasn’t surprised to see that all three children were somber and subdued. From Roland’s expression as he took in the scene, then looked at his father, Toby suspected the older boy had some sense of the gravity of what was going on, and his brother, Bryce, was picking up on his older sibling’s concern.
Although Evelyn, clutching Rupert to her small chest, matched her brothers in seriousness, she seemed otherwise untouched by any premonition. When she spotted Toby, she smiled her brilliant smile. “This is going to be so much fun!” She rocked from heel to toe. “It’s lovely of you to take us to visit with Papa’s auntie.”
Toby managed a smile in return. “It will be a pleasure to travel with you, poppet.”
A gruffwoofhad her turning, and she clapped her hands. “Here’s Bruno, too!”
Being led out on a lead by the footman, the terrier mix was a last-minute addition to the traveling party. On being informed that morning of their unexpected journey, the children had dug in their heels over taking the dog, who was, apparently, their constant companion.
Both Fellows and Diana had been inclined to argue and might even have issued a veto had Toby not stepped in to readily agree. He was very accustomed to dogs, and having some idea of how much the animal might help the boys, especially, to come to grips with the parting and the loss yet to come, he’d caught Fellows’s eye, then Diana’s, and both had shut their lips on their protests, so Bruno’s bed and his toys and some food had been packed and were now lashed on the roof as well.
“Bruno!” As, straining on his leash, the dog reached her, Evelyn crouched, wound one arm around the dog’s shaggy neck, and hugged him. Then she released him and waved to the carriage. “Up you go. You don’t want to be left behind.”
To Toby’s amusement, the dog happily leapt into the carriage. Grinning, the footman leant inside and handed the lead to Helga, who sniffed but commanded Bruno to lie down.
As if to prove what a good boy he was, the dog immediately obeyed.
