Free Sari Robins - [Andersen Hall Orphanage] by More Than a Scandal Page B

quite dogged.”
    “Are you saying she might cause me trouble if she’s not satisfied with what she’s being told?”
    “I’m afraid so.”
    Marcus shrugged. “If she becomes a nuisance, I’ll deal with it.”
    “What the blazes does that mean?” his father cried.
    “No matter what you think of me”—Marcus hated the injury he heard in his voice—“I don’t harm innocents.”
    Dunn’s cheeks reddened. “I didn’t believe that for a moment, Marcus. I simply…well, I didn’t know what you meant.”
    Marcus ignored the old hurt of how poorly his father always judged him. They rode along in stilted silence.
    Dunn shifted in his seat. His brow furrowed and his lips pinched as if he was fretting over something.
    Marcus girded himself for another round.
    After another few moments of shifting, Dunn peered at Marcus from the corner of his eye. “I…well, I was wondering how long you suppose you might be in England.”
    Marcus looked away. Once he’d accomplished his mission he’d be on the next swift boat headed to Portugal. Or better yet, Spain.
    “I was hoping to take a visit to some of our cousins,” Dunn added. “It’s been a long time since you’ve seen Aunt Amanda or Uncle Phillip. Charles has a few babes of his own…”
    Adjusting his stiff legs, Marcus offered, “Granted, it has been a long time, but I don’t know that I have the luxury of an extended stay—”
    “Aunt Tizzy just sent me a letter…” Dunn handed Marcus the reins and reached into his inner coat pocket.
    Marcus clicked his tongue and encouraged the horses to a swift canter. His father frowned, but did not otherwise reproach him. Dunn scanned the missive and Marcus noticed that his father had to hold the paper with his hand outstretched very far to read it. Then he gave up and pulled out his gold-rimmed spectacles. Marcus shifted in his seat, not wanting to recognize his father as anything but indomitable.
    “Here it is.” Dunn read from the page, “Phillip seems even more forgetful of late, oftentimes becoming disoriented while walking about even in our own garden. He’s recovered, but has not quite been himself since the fall. Then there’s the issue of his wheezing. I do worry that he is not long for this world and don’t know how I will copewithout him.” Dunn rested the paper on his knee. “It goes on with more along the same vein.”
    “If I recall, Uncle Phillip has always had one ailment or another…”
    “Yes, but this sounds more serious. And I would hate for you not to see him before he goes.”
    Marcus sighed. “I haven’t seen him in seven years. Will it truly make a difference now?”
    “Family is important, Marcus.”
    The unspoken rebuke about their rift hung in the air between them. Dunn had never been very good at veiling his meaning.
    His father sighed. “Someday you will learn to appreciate the importance of family.”
    “Let us first see how things progress in town with my mission,” Marcus replied. “Thereafter, we can discuss Uncle Phillip.”
    Dunn shifted in the seat. “Yes, of course…thank you.”
    They rode along in silence, the tension now having eased a bit. As if Marcus had conceded something. He wondered if it was like that with most fathers and sons, a combative relationship of advances and retreats. He’d been around so few lads who’d had fathers while growing up that he really didn’t know, but somehow he suspected that other fathers and sons knew how to communicate without verbal bloodletting. In truth, it did not matter. Marcus would only have to suffer through this reunion for a short time, then all would be back as it should be. Him, free in the field, his father shackled to his large brown desk. The thought of resurrecting the status quo somehow lifted Marcus’s spirits.
    The sun was well matched with a refreshing breeze that pressed against Marcus’s cheeks and caused the whiteplume to whip about on his shako. He was enjoying the jaunt, despite the ache in his