Page 38 of A Duchess to Fight For
They rose and walked further into the park, admiring more flowers before turning back. To walk down the path near the benches, they upset every feeding bird. Once they were past the birdseed, the birds quickly settled behind them and continued to eat.
In the carriage, the ladies took off their bonnets and leaned their heads against the back.
“That was lovely,” Amelia murmured.
No one spoke. It was a companionable silence.
The ladies handed their bonnets to Mendon and walked to the parlour. Percy was just about to take his leave when Frederick came in.
“I thought you ran away from home,” he said with a smile.
“Did you enjoy yourselves?”
Amelia grinned at her husband. “We had a wonderful time. In fact, the next beautiful day we have, I’m going to make Percy take us again.”
“And you Louisa?”
“It was more than I imagined. Who knew Hyde Park was so beautiful and well maintained. Percy brought birdseed. I think we fed every bird in London. They came in droves.”
Frederick turned to Percy. “Did my ladies behave themselves?”
“They did. So well in fact, they earned another trip to Hyde Park on a day of their choosing. But, for now, I must move on.”
Percy said his goodbyes to Amelia, Louisa, and Frederick with a bow then left.
Frederick turned back to the ladies.
“I’m thrilled you got out and enjoyed yourselves. And you will do it again. Maybe I’ll join you if I am able.”
Louisa jumped out of her seat and put her arms around Frederick. “Oh, I hope so. It’s so beautiful.”
“We’ll see. We’ll see.”
He put his chin on the top of her head and hugged her tight. She hadn’t looked this happy since Barton walked into their life.
*****
“It’s been too quiet,” Frederick said. “I expected to hear from Barton by now. He has his insurance settlement, but I don’t believe he has given up on Louisa. I don’t understand.”
“I do,” Hobart said, shaking his head. “He’s doing exactly what we’re doing. He’s working on getting something on you. Something so serious, you hand him Louisa.”
“Well, he won’t. He may have found by now that I’m a very boring person who has led a very boring life.”
Hobart laughed. “He could have saved himself a lot of time and energy. If he came to me, I would have told him how boring you really are.”
“If it helps save Louisa, I’ll take it.”
“Let’s wrap up this shipment, shall we? The whisky is crated, as are the fabric and lace. We were done crating the grain yesterday. I think we could do well with that in America, but let’s finish up with this shipment to India first.”
“Hobart, what is America offering us? I won’t come back with an empty ship. Either they can fill a ship with valuable goods or not.”
Hobart blew out a breath. “How about we make a run and come back with a ship half full? I think, Frederick, we’ll make more profit with a full ship there and an empty ship back than we can making it to India and back with a full boat both ways.”
Frederick looked at Hobart. “And that’s another thing. The turnaround on a ship to
America is three times the turnaround to India. Is the profit that much better?”
“I’d have to look into that. It’ll take some time. If I could line up enough cotton, tobacco, and wine to fill a ship, would you consider it?”
