Page 105 of Brave New Earl (The Way to a Lord's Heart 1)

“She came here to help you, and she ended up…rescuing both of us. She made us into a family.”

The angelic little face creased as if tears were imminent. Geoffrey still looked just like Alice in outline, Benjamin thought. But the specifics were all his own.

“She’s stuck in a storeroom,” Geoffrey blurted out.

Benjamin stiffened on the bench. “What?”

“I can’t get the bar off the door. It’s jammed.”

“You locked her in?” He stood.

“Ididn’t. It was the lady.”

“What lady? Never mind. Take me to her at once!” Benjamin remembered the stories Jean had told him about her childhood. She must be terrified.

Geoffrey raced off along the path. Benjamin ran after him, his boots crunching on the gravel. At the far corner of the house, Geoffrey plunged into a clump of bushes. Mystified, Benjamin went in after him. When he caught up, the boy was pushing at a bar set across a low door. “It’s stuck,” he said.

“Geoffrey?” called a muffled voice from beyond the panels.

“Jean?” said Benjamin.

“You’re here! Thank God. The candle burned out.”

Setting his son aside, Benjamin gripped the bottom of the bar and pulled. It resisted, then gave way with a scrape and clatter. He cast it aside and yanked open the door. Jean fell out into his arms. He held her, hands searching for any injury. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” she said. But her arms were very tight around him. And she was trembling. Benjamin looked down at his son. Geoffrey looked back with Alice’s celestial-blue eyes and his own wary resignation. “What the deuce—” began Benjamin.

Jean reached out with one arm and pulled Geoffrey into their embrace. The boy was trembling, too, Benjamin noted. He set aside his questions to simply hold them both. And Geoffrey let him.

It felt good. Wonderful, really. Like redemption, and peace, and the hopeful future. Benjamin might never have let go, but a tiny iridescent beetle dropped from one of the branches onto Geoffrey’s golden curls. Benjamin brushed it off. Jean pulled back a bit. And the embrace was finished, for now. “Come along inside,” he said. “And tell me how this came about.” He felt Geoffrey flinch.

Jean gazed at him. Something serious, Benjamin gathered. That was the bad news. They would deal with it together. That was the good.

• • •

Geoffrey stood before Mrs. Wandrell in that lady’s own parlor, hands behind his back. He was dressed in his best clothes and scrubbed to shining perfection. “I am very sorry for what I did,” he said.

Benjamin, posted behind his son, approved the tone. Geoffrey sounded contrite, unforced. He looked sincere. Jean would have been proud. They’d agreed she shouldn’t come along, however, because of Mrs. Wandrell’s disappointment over their upcoming marriage.

“It was wrong,” Geoffrey continued. “I want to make a-mends.” He stumbled slightly over the last word, even though it was his choice. “What shall I do?”

Mrs. Wandrell’s eyes flicked up to Benjamin’s, then down again. “Are you asking me to set your punishment?”

Geoffrey nodded. Benjamin reserved judgment. They’d see what she said.

“Huh.” The lady’s frosty demeanor eased slightly. “You told lies. And you shut me up in that dreadful place. For hours!”

Benjamin thought of pointing out that she wouldn’t have been locked up if she hadn’t been trying to wreck his engagement. Maliciously.Aftertrying to frighten a little boy and poison his relationship with his future stepmother. But he waited. Jean would have wanted him to wait. He was surprised that Geoffrey did the same.

Their reward came when Mrs. Wandrell added, “I wasn’t…entirely blameless. Still, what you did was very bad indeed.”

Geoffrey nodded again.

The boy was using his solemn angelic look, Benjamin noted. It was usually effective.

But Mrs. Wandrell seemed to recognize the expression as well. She did have children of her own. “What is your favorite thing to do?” she asked.

“Ride Fergus. My pony.”

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