Free Home Is the Sailor by Lee Rowan Page B

is something so serious I dare not suggest it, even to you, until I have some basis for my suspicions. But Will, I thank God you’re here with me, because there is no one else I could trust to guard my back.”
     
    They stood there for awhile, enjoying the closeness even though they dared attempt no more. Finally Davy drew back with a strained laugh. “I daresay I’ll tell you to forget this in the morning,” he said. “My mother would say I need a good night’s sleep, and no doubt she’d be correct. Pleasant dreams, Will.”
     
    After one more chaste kiss, they returned to their separate beds.
     
    * * * * *
     
    The actual meeting with Ronald, the following morning, was put off once again. Davy came into Will’s chamber with his own cup of chocolate, and they dawdled through their morning toilette, glad of the hot water but dismissing the offer of a shave from the late Viscount’s valet, James. Davy made no mention of his worries of the night before, instead chatting lightly of what they might do during the day, which had dawned chilly but fair. Will expressed a strong preference for a walk rather than a ride, but they agreed that the ladies would have the last word on that matter.
     
    At last, wearing their everyday uniforms, they made their way down to the dining room, where Lady Amelia and Miss Winston were enjoying a cup of tea following their meal. The footman minding the buffet invited Lieutenant Archer and his guest to sample baked eggs with a new cheese sauce Cook had concocted.
     
    “Have you tried it yourself, Gavin?” Davy demanded of the footman.
     
    “Oh, certainly, sir. You know she would never feed anything to the Family until she’d got it just so.”
     
    “Of course,” he said with a smile. “I’d forgotten. I see you survived in fine fettle, too. Game, Will?”
     
    “Certainly, thank you.” Will was fond of eggs in almost any form, and perfectly willing to eat whatever was set before him. He was pleased to see that the dish was accompanied not only by cheese sauce, but ham, sausage, warm seed-cake, and three kinds of jam.
     
    They settled down beside the ladies, and Will applied himself to the eggs, which were surpassingly delicious, while Davy divided his attention between his relatives and his breakfast. “How are the parents?” he asked. “And where are our sisters?”
     
    “Mother is still asleep, and Anne has not come down as yet. Poor Genie awoke with a sore throat, and Nurse decreed she must spend the day in bed. But Father was up early. He summoned Ronald to break his fast with him, and then took him out to see Thomas Legge.”
     
    “The estate manager,” Davy explained to Will. “My father employs one, of course, though he generally keeps poor Legge on a short leash. In practice he’s more an overseer than a manager—Father himself makes all but the most minor decisions.”
     
    “That had begun to change,” Lady Amelia said. “Father gave over the Four-Acre field to Mark, to try some experimental planting.”
     
    Davy set down his fork. “He gave over control? You cannot mean that!”
     
    Both ladies nodded. “It’s true, Cousin,” Jane said. “Hard as it was for him to stand back, he said that if Mark meant to be head of the family one day, he would have to make his own mistakes. And he was very proud to see the progress your brother made.”
     
    “You know his way,” Lady Amelia added. “Never to say a kind word to our faces, but heap praise upon us when others are in earshot.”
     
    “Or not, as the case may be,” Davy said dryly. “I suppose I should pity poor Ronald. He’ll be happy to be called Viscount, but the only thing that interests him about the land is knowing what game it provides him for hunting.”
     
    “Truly, you should have a little sympathy,” Jane said, assuming a look of piety. “Most men hereabouts prefer hunting to farming.”
     
    Davy shook his head in mock sorrow. “Alas, I cannot. Most men prefer play to