by Wendy Vella
“I wish to replenish my medical supplies, Dev. May I use the carriage, please?”
“London is not a place for a young lady to travel about alone, Essie.”
They were seated at the breakfast table, Lilly, she, and Dev, and their three younger siblings.
“How fortuitous that I am not a young lady then, Devon.”
She watched his jaw clench briefly, while beside him Lilly gave her a wink, then continued to eat her eggs.
“You are my younger sister, and as such my responsibility.”
Dev had always taken his responsibilities as head of the family seriously.
“And yet I live in Oak’s Knoll without you. How on earth did I survive without my big brother watching over me?”
“You had Cam with you, two Hemples, and a maid,” he snapped.
Dev sat across from her, close enough to Lilly so he could touch her if he wanted. The three younger Sinclairs were engaged in consuming their food and insulting each other. Something of a Sinclair sibling tradition.
“Raise your head, Warwick, I have no wish to listen to you slurp your food directly from the plate.”
“Why must I, Dev, when there is no one to see?”
Warwick needed a haircut, Essie thought as his fringe fell over his eyes. Peas in a pod. The three little Sinclairs would grow up to look just like the older ones.
“We are here, and as we are the people who love you, I should think we are more important than anyone.”
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?” Dev questioned his little brother.
“Be telling one of us off, but notice when another is doing something you do not like?”
Lilly snuffled, and received a sharp look from her husband.
“Plenty of practice is how. Now lift your head.”
“Cam has arrived and is hungry,” Warwick said, hoping to distract his brother. “He said to tell someone to replenish the food.”
“It wouldn’t matter how much food there was, he’d still need more,” Somer said.
“Uncle says he has hollow legs,” Dorrie added.
“Highly likely, girls, so I suggest you eat up before he arrives.”
“Yes, Dev,” they said in unison.
“If only every member of this family was as accommodating as you two,” he said, smiling at them.
“Universal adoration is not good for anyone, but most especially not you.”
“Hear, hear.” Lilly lifted her teacup to Essie.
“You are not leaving this house without one of us,” Dev continued with the dogged determination to remain on task that had always infuriated his siblings. He had a fiendishly good memory also, and never forgot a conversation. “The places you will go are not safe, therefore I will not allow it.”
“Dev,” Essie sighed. “I will have my maid and your carriage. Surely they will suffice?”
“God’s blood, my hunger is savage this morning.” Cam wandered in, yawning loudly after those ominous words. His lodgings were next door to their aunt and uncle, in a house gifted to him. He looked like an eligible young gentleman should, and Essie was sure if any unwed young ladies were present they would sigh at the sight he presented.
“Good morning, heathens,” he said, picking up the twins and kissing them loudly, which made them giggle. He ruffled Warwick’s hair. “Which Roman emperor was defeated at the Battle of Chrysopolis?” he threw at them as he made his way to the loaded sideboard.
Essie looked at Dorrie, Somer, and Warwick. Her siblings, like the elder Sinclairs, were sharp-witted and could hold a great deal of useless information in their heads. Challenging them was something she, Eden, Cam, and Dev did often, as boredom led to trouble. She knew this, as the elder Sinclairs had been no different.
“I know!” Lilly said.
“Licinius I, who reigned from 308 to 324,” Dorrie said quickly, before Lilly could beat her.
“He was executed by Constantine I,” Warwick added, with his mouth full of food.
“Do you know that you three are more intelligent than any number of the adults I know?”
Somer and Dorrie smiled at Lilly’s compliment. Warrick continued to eat.
“Tell your sister she is not leaving this house without a companion, namely you.”
Cam’s eyes switched from Dev to Essie as he settled into a seat with a loaded plate.
“I’m sure there is an inch of room there.” Essie pointed to Cam’s plate. “Surely you could have crammed something else on it?”
Cam frowned. “Perhaps you are right. I shall be sure not to make the same mistake when I replenish my plate.”
“Don’t try and change the subject, Essex.”
“I gather you are the sister concerned, as the other one is married to an overprotective duke, and these two would never leave the house without company?” Cam indicated the twins.
“Dev is being overprotective yet again. I will take my maid, and I merely wish to visit apothecaries. I need supplies that I cannot source in Crunston Cliff. I have no wish to have one of you accompanying me and constantly moaning about the time I am taking. Therefore, at age twenty-seven, I feel more than capable of going out alone. After all, just last week I treated Mr. Bundle’s boil, and it was situated—”
“Essex!” Dev thundered. “You will keep the rest of those words inside your head, if you please. We are eating.”
Essie popped her last piece of toast in her mouth and chewed slowly.
“Therefore, I feel more than capable of entering a few establishments. Plus, and I repeat for possibly the fourth or fifth time—”
“At least ten, surely?”
Essie smiled at her sister-in-law before continuing. “I will have your driver, Bids, watching over me, and we all know how studious he is in that duty.”
Dev looked at her, those amazing green eyes of his seeing everything. She knew he had switched his vision and was seeing if her color was healthy. He did that often with his siblings. Strong color meant a healthy person, pale meant something was not as it should be.
“At least your color is good now. When first you rejoined us, it was weaker. Of course, as yet I have not been given the reason why.” He glared at Cam, who ignored him and continued to shovel in food.
“Dev.” She reached across the table for his hand and squeezed it. She felt the usual jolt she always did when she connected with one of her siblings. “I need you to let me go now. I am old enough to live alone at Oak’s Knoll, and more than capable of a trip to some stores. Please,” she added.
“It’s only because I love you.”
“And because I have terrible taste in men.” Essie tried to lighten to mood, but saw Cam scowl. He had kept his word and said nothing about Max, and for that she was grateful, because really, what was there to say? “So I will go, and then I will return,” she added quickly.
“Very well.” Dev sighed as Lilly leaned into him. “But two hours, and no more. If you are longer, I will come looking with Eden. Now please excuse me for a few moments, there is a matter I must attend to.”
That threat had been used often on the Sinclair siblings, as Eden could hear a great distance. She was hell to play hide-and-seek with.
She watched him leave the room as he did everything… with purpose.
“He worries about you two, you know,” Lilly said.
“I can understand worrying about her, because I do that.” Cam nodded to where Essie sat. “But why me?”
“He needs to worry about someone other than me, so as you two are not settled into happy unions, I’m afraid it will stay that way until you are.”
Cam snorted. “He’s worse than a father.”
“Why do you worry about me?” Essie questioned her brother. “There is no need, surely?”
He raised a brow, and his silence told her he was alluding to the business with Max.
“I am fine, for pity’s sake. I am rarely without a family member watching over me, and while this may surprise you, I am actually qu
ite intelligent. Some days I even put on matching shoes.”
“Do you really?” Cam drawled. “That is exceedingly clever of you, and I must say this look is a better one than your attire at Oak’s Knoll. Why, you almost look pretty.”
Lilly laughed as Cam continued to needle Essie.
“Essie is one of the most beautiful ladies in all of London.” Warwick lifted his head to utter these words, before lowering it to his plate once again.
“Thank you, darling, that is quite the loveliest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
“What are you after, you little toad?” Cam lunged across the table at his little brother and tickled him under the arms until the boy was squirming.
“Tonight we go to Aunt and Uncle’s ball,” Dev said, reentering the room. “So have mercy and return in time to have a rest, so she will not yell at you if you yawn.”
“Of course, although I do not need my beauty sleep like some,” Essie said.
“I hope you are not referring to me?” Cam said, grabbing Dorrie and hauling her into his lap, making the girl shriek. “As we all know I am beautiful no matter the situation.”
“Christ,” Dev muttered. “I’m sure her screams could burst an eardrum.”
“How exciting, a ball,” Essie lied, getting to her feet. She loathed society functions, but this one she knew she must attend.
“Your enthusiasm is overflowing, sister.”
“It’s all right for you, Aunt will not be thrusting any available man with good teeth into your path, as it is quite acceptable for you to still be unwed. Whereas I am practically on the shelf, but unlike other women, happy to be there.”
“Aunt means well, Essie,” Dev said. “And you are too pretty to be on the shelf.”
“Besides, that rules out Tickersly,” Cam said. “His teeth are missing in the front.”
“And Culliver, his are crooked,” Dev added.
“Yes, thank you, there is no need to outline all the undesirable men. Your sister is no fool,” Lilly interrupted.
“Well, actually—”
Essie glared Cam silent.
“I will have Grace get your dress ready, Essie,” Lilly said before the conversation could continue. “And we, your family, will be there to ensure you dance with no one unsuitable.”
“Thank you, my most favorite of sisters-in-law.” She kissed Lilly’s cheek, then her siblings’. “I love you too,” she whispered to Dev, and then left the room.
“She’s your only sister-in-law!” he roared as she walked down the hall.
Family, she thought. You had no time to be maudlin surrounded by so many of them.
She went to her room, got her bonnet and gloves and slipped on a spencer, then made her way downstairs. It was there she found Eden. Humming softly to herself, she was rearranging the flowers that had just been arranged by one of Dev’s staff.
“Hello, sister,” Eden said without looking up. Of course she had heard Essie approach.
“Hello, sister.”
Giving the flowers a last tweak, she turned to face Essie as she walked down the stairs. Eden, as always, looked beautiful in a long coat in pale peppermint. She wore a cream dress beneath, the skirts exposed through the opening below her waist. Her bonnet matched the coat and she looked as she always did, exotic, intriguing, and beautiful. Eden was all those things and more. Outspoken and vivacious, she was the Sinclair men fawned over and liked to look at. Pregnancy had merely enhanced the allure that had brought the Duke of Raven to his knees.
“Why are you rearranging flowers in Dev and Lilly’s entranceway?”
“I’m waiting for you.”
Sighing was really the only thing she could do. So she did, loudly.
“Dev sent word, didn’t he? What did he do, stand outside on the road and roar your name?”
Eden slipped her gloves back on.
“Don’t be silly, he would never make such a spectacle of himself. He went into the gardens behind the house and roared.”
Eden snorted.
“It was no hardship, and as I was lolling about in the breakfast room annoying James while he attempted to read his morning paper, it was a welcome distraction.”
“Where are Emily and Samantha?” James had two half sisters that had come into his life late.
“Taking lessons. Emily asked if she could join in, as she wanted to continue her learning, and James thought it a wonderful idea.”
“It is,” Essie agreed.
“I missed you, Ess, and therefore we shall spend a lovely day shopping for your supplies, as long as there is a cup of tea and delicious treat at the end of it.”
“You wish to spend the day shopping for herbs and other medical supplies?”
“Lovely,” Eden said, with absolutely no enthusiasm.
“Come along then, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Eden, how lovely to see you. This is a surprise!”
Essie looked up at her eldest brother, who was leaning over the railing looking down at them. The satisfied look on his face had Essie itching to stomp up the stairs and give him a piece of her mind.
“You could at least try and sound convincing,” she said.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“You are happy for Eden to accompany me, but not a maid?”
“Eden has excellent hearing,” he replied.
The sisters snorted, and then Essie lifted her nose in the air and led Eden outside. Her brother’s laughter followed her.
They climbed into the carriage and were soon rolling through London to their first destination. As Eden was with her, she had left Grace behind.
Midmorning had the London streets busy enough that the trip to the first store was a slow one.
“So I have waited for you to tell me, but it seems I must ask.”
“About what?” Essie looked at her sister.
“Whatever you left behind in Oak’s Knoll.”
“I left nothing behind, I was merely tired.”
She was subjected to the Sinclair look from the only gray eyes in the family.
“Beth Brunt came and saw me the day before we left.” Essie decided on a half-truth. She was not lying if she omitted all details about Max, surely?
Eden’s eyes softened. She, Essie, and Beth had played together as young girls. Those days had seen Beth happy and healthy; she was no longer either of those things.
“She has miscarried many times, and is thin and weak, and that brute of a husband of hers will give her no peace!” Essie felt the anger again.
“Oh no, Essie. That is so horrible.”
“Murray Brunt came to Oak’s Knoll that night to tell me to stay away from her. He called me a witch.”
“Dear Lord, did he threaten you?”
“He tried, but I had Bertie and Josiah with me, and a patient was also there, so Brunt was all bluster.” See, not a lie; she had told the entire truth without bringing Max’s name into it.
“What patient?”
Damn.
“A man, you don’t know him. He and the brothers got rid of Brunt. Plus Myrtle, who chased after him growling savagely.”
“What was this man’s name?”
“I told you, it was Murray Brunt.”
The thing about a Sinclair was that they were relentless in their pursuit of answers until they were satisfied, and could rarely be deviated from their course. Essie did not like to lie to her siblings, for no other reason than they always knew when she was. She would do so otherwise in a heartbeat, if the lie was only a small, insignificant one.
“As you very well know, I did not mean that fool. I want to know the patient’s name.”
“I don’t like to talk about my patients, you know that.”
Eden leaned forward and gave Essie the full force of her glare.
“You are evading answering me, and I want to know why?”
Essie looked out the window as she felt the carriage slow.
“Wonderful, we are here!”
&nb
sp; Opening the door, she clambered out with more haste than elegance. Eden followed, looking as if she were royalty.
CHAPTER TEN
“We must walk up the lane, Eden, as it is too narrow for the carriage.”
“I have not finished with this conversation, Essie.”
“I have.”
“I will find someone to watch the horses and accompany you, your Grace, Miss Sinclair.”
“No need, Bids. We are quite capable of walking the short distance to that shop you see there.” Waving a hand down the lane, Essie did not make eye contact with Dev’s driver. The man was a terrible worrier.
“But—”
“Honestly, Bids, there is no need for all this fretting.”
“You never know who’s lurking about, your Grace.”
“We will scream should some miscreant approach. Will that ease your fears?”
“Very well, your Grace.”
Essie could see he wasn’t convinced, but she and Eden struck out anyway.
“His poor wife is expecting their first child any day now, and can you imagine what he is putting her through, Essie?”
“Oh dear, yes I can.” Essie knew Bids would be smothering his wife with concern. “I shall have a chat with him, and try to reassure him.”
The air was not as clean as in Crunston Cliff; in fact it was filled with the scents of chimney smoke, cooking, and many others, all mingling to create an odd yet strangely invigorating aroma.
She climbed the two rickety steps that lead to Mr. Riley’s Apothecary Shop, then opened the door and entered.
“Good morning to you, Miss Sinclair.”
“Good morning, Mr. Riley. This is my sister, the Duchess of Raven.”
“Your Grace, it is an honor.” The man bowed deeply.
“If you will fill this order for me, I shall see what else you have that may interest me.” Essie handed him her list.
