by Alice Kirks
Bridget’s heart beat a little faster at the mention of the Nott family. “You want to directly invite the two of them over for an afternoon picnic?” Bridget clarified. “Are you certain that would be a good idea? I had such a hard time convincing Papa to allow us to even see them that I am not sure they would do well to come here together.”
Deborah rolled her eyes at her sister. She looked especially pretty today. in a teal dress with her soft hair drawn up and away from her graceful neck. Her eyes also seemed to have a glint in them that they did not ordinarily.
“Tut, tut, Bridget,” Deborah chastised her, “do you not trust me enough to know that I already thought of this and have planned for it?”
Bridget chuckled. “I should have known better,” she admitted, taking Deborah’s hand and squeezing it. “I apologise for questioning you. Do go on.”
Deborah slipped her hand out of her sister’s grasp and clapped them together in front of her face. “Well,” she said delightedly, “I have been trying to think of ways that we could encourage Father to take our courtship of the Notts seriously. I thought long and hard about it, and I finally came to the conclusion that father will only allow us to be with Lord Miles and Lord Geoffrey if he can be convinced that the good character that he thought they both possessed is restored.”
Bridget nodded along with her sister. “I can see how that would make Father fully accept our courtship, yes,” she agreed. “But how will a picnic convince him of that?”
“I want to leave that to be a bit of a surprise for you, sister,” Deborah said, reaching forward and running her hand along Bridget’s cheek. “If you promise me that you will not ask too many questions, I can promise you that all of our problems will be solved by this picnic.”
Bridget’s brow furrowed as she stared hard at her sister. “Even the disagreement that Lord Geoffrey and I had the other night?” she asked doubtfully.
Deborah’s look softened. “I’m sorry, sister,” she said sadly, “but I cannot promise that will be resolved. However, I can tell you that I am going to work my hardest to ensure that it does. Will that please you?”
Bridget nodded, hopeful and yet saddened. She knew that there was no way that Deborah would be able to ensure that her issue with Lord Geoffrey was resolved, but for some reason she had desperately hoped that it would be included in her promise. She did not want to have an uncomfortable discussion with him, but she knew that she needed to. She was not going to allow the man who could potentially be the love of her life to speak to her as he had done the other night.
“All right,” Bridget finally relented, “I shan’t ask you any questions, and I shall trust that you have a wonderful idea that will solve almost all of our problems!”
Both girls laughed, and then Deborah went on. “Thank you ever so much, Bridget, and I know that all the planning and well-intentioned scheming that I shall be partaking in over the next few days will make the both of us happier than we could have ever imagined!”
Deborah gave her sister a quick peck on the cheek, and then raced away. Bridget laughed as she watched her sister disappear into the house.
Bridget picked up her book once more, and allowed herself to be transported to another world. She found that it greatly helped to calm her nerves about the picnic if she did not have to think about it for very long at all.
Chapter 32
Merely days before the picnic, Lord Geoffrey had to take a trip to the courthouse. It was the day of Henry’s sentencing, and while Geoffrey had initially wanted to go on his own, he knew that Miles would be there whether he liked it or not. Geoffrey’s dream the other night where he had admitted to himself that he did indeed wish to spend the rest of his life with Lady Bridget had encouraged him to turn over a new leaf with his brother.
That was why, on the morning of the sentencing, he found himself standing in front of his brother’s door, his hand raised and poised to knock. He was going to invite Miles to travel with him to the courthouse. It was not much, but perhaps it was the olive branch that the two brothers needed to begin their reconciliation.
But just as he was about to rap on the door, Geoffrey stopped himself. Of course he did not want to travel to the courthouse with Miles, for he did not feel that his brother deserved any sort of sympathy. However, he knew that if there was one thing that his mother and father would have wanted, it would have been for the two of them to work out their problems and get along. He knew that Miles had been struggling since the deaths of their parents, and that his behaviour stemmed partly from his inability to deal with his emotions. And so, that was why Geoffrey went ahead and knocked on Miles’ door.
As soon as he had finished, the door flew open and Miles was standing there, looking peeved. “What is it, brother?” Miles asked, annoyed. “Have you come to make further slights against me?”
Geoffrey took a deep breath. “No,” he said simply. “I wanted to invite you to ride with me to the courthouse. We do not have to speak... but I thought it would be more convenient.”
For a split second Miles’ facade faltered, and Geoffrey got the slightest glimpse of the old Miles; the one who did not hate him. However, it was quickly replaced by the new, vengeful Miles, who responded, “Why would I want to do that? We have multiple carriages; why should I force myself to be in the same space with you when I could avoid it?”
Geoffrey put up his hands in surrender. “Frankly, I do not care if you accept my offer or deny it, brother,” he explained dejectedly. “I simply wanted to offer.”
Geoffrey was in no mood to verbally spar with Miles today, and his answer to him showed that. He walked away from his brother down the hall, thinking that his easy attempt at some sort of reconciliation had failed.
But then, Miles called after him, “I’ll only do it if we take the phaeton.”
Geoffrey stopped where he was in the hall and a tiny smile crept across his face. “Very well,” he called to his brother, and then continued down the hall. “I shall meet you in the phaeton in ten minutes.”
Exactly twelve minutes later, the two brothers were seated in the phaeton and the driver was telling the horses to get a move on. Miles and Geoffrey sat in silence for a long time, each looking at the view from their side of the carriage. Geoffrey did not want to be the first to speak, as he felt that because he had reached out and offered Miles a ride with him it was now Miles’ turn to take a step towards reconciliation.
And, much to Geoffrey’s surprise, Miles was the one to start the conversation. “I bet they’re going to let him off easily,” Miles said, sounding rather bored. “While he’s not a nobleman, he is related to us, so that must be worth something. Frankly, I don’t even know why we have to go.”
“I’m afraid they’ll be harsher on him to make an example of him,” Geoffrey responded, looking towards his brother. “They won’t want anything like this to happen in the county for a long time, and so I fear that they might be harder on him than they would ordinarily.”
Miles nodded, but did not draw his attention away from the countryside rushing by the carriage. When he said nothing more to Geoffrey, Geoffrey returned to admiring the view. He looked up at the clouds above his head, and silently prayed that the heavens would not open up when they had decided to take the open-topped carriage. The clouds did look quite ominous, but if Miles could start a conversation with him, Geoffrey was certain that the clouds could do their part, too.
“Did you ask her to marry you yet?” Miles asked out of the blue.
Geoffrey whipped his head around to look at his brother, who was unexpectedly staring right back at him. “I’m sorry?” he clarified.
“Lady Bridget,” Miles said, as if Geoffrey was an idiot. “Did you ask for her hand in marriage yet?”
Geoffrey furrowed his brow and shook his head slowly. “No...Why on earth would I do that?”
“Come off it,” Miles encouraged him. “You’re in love with her, this whole mess is getting sorted, why haven’t you done anything about her yet?
”
“What happened to you making a serious try for her?” Geoffrey asked. “Here I was thinking-”
“Stop playing the fool, you great maggot,” Miles snapped at him. Geoffrey shut up, but he was mightily offended at Miles’ word usage. “You know damn well that the only reason why I went after Lady Bridget was because I knew that you wanted her. I don’t have a ghost of a chance with her, because it is so plainly obvious that you two idiots are meant for each other. Whether or not you leave me the other family living and land... she’s yours.”
Geoffrey was dumbfounded. “Where did all this come from?” he asked.
Miles shrugged. “I guess I’m being the bigger person, which is not hard around you,” he said sarcastically.
Geoffrey let out a scoffing laugh. He was finding it hard to believe that the brother who so vehemently hated him for so long was now telling him that he’d better get on with marrying the girl that he loved, because Miles was no longer going to stand between them.
Geoffrey decided to meet Miles in the middle. “The second dwelling and the land is still yours, you know,” Geoffrey informed him.
Miles’ face changed from a look of bemusement to shock. “You’re actually going to give it to me?” he asked disbelievingly.
Geoffrey nodded. “All I ask is that you answer me two questions: why did you not attend Father’s funeral, and why don’t you take advantage of the freedom to choose the career that you have been afforded?”
Miles looked thoughtful for quite some time. So long, in fact, that Geoffrey worried if he was ever going to answer.
But finally, Miles said quietly, “I wanted the easy way out.” He shifted in his seat anxiously and crossed his arms in front of his chest. It suddenly struck Geoffrey that while Miles was an adult, he was still a young man in many ways. He needed to be taught a lot of life lessons still, and as Geoffrey watched his younger brother, he began to look upon him with more sympathy.
“I thought that I wanted what it seemed like you had,” Miles continued. “From where I stood, it looked as though Father had set you up for a life of ease and contentment, whereas I would have to struggle through everything on my own. I also thought that Father left you the position of magistrate and the estate because you were his favourite son.”
Geoffrey shook his head vehemently. “It’s because-” he started to say, but Miles interrupted him.
“I know; would you let me finish?” Miles said angrily. Geoffrey shut up and nodded for Miles to continue. “You’re the eldest son, I get that now. I didn’t know all of the annoying stuff that came along with getting what you got, and now having sat back and watched you flounder with it all... I no longer envy you.”
Geoffrey couldn’t help but laugh. “I would not go as far as to say that what I’ve done since Father passed was ‘flounder’, but I understand what you are saying,” he explained, still chuckling. “And to think, I envied you because you had the freedom to do what you wanted in life... if only Father had known what his secrecy about our respective life positions would do to us.”
Miles finally allowed himself a quiet laugh. He then said, “You envied my life? Why on earth would you do that?”
“Because,” Geoffrey explained, “if I were in your shoes, I would have sought a life of adventure. I would have worked my way across the globe, taking every opportunity that came my way. While I appreciate the life that Father has left for me, I thought that I would much prefer a life that I chose for myself.”
Miles nodded slowly, and then returned to looking off the side of the carriage. “I do not share your ambitions, Geoffrey,” he said quietly. “The truth is that I am a horribly simple man who wants nothing more than to live in the same house with the same wife and be well taken care of for the rest of my life.”
“A wife like Lady Deborah?” Geoffrey pressed.
Miles turned back to his brother and gave him a hard look. But when Miles saw that Geoffrey was not teasing him, and was rather genuinely asking him if he saw himself settling down with Lady Deborah, he relaxed.
“I do not believe a great woman like Deborah could forgive me for my deplorable behaviour towards her,” Miles explained.
“You shouldn’t concern yourself with making forgiveness your goal right from the start,” Geoffrey encouraged him. “The best place to begin would be with an apology, and then go from there.” And then, he added, “That is, if you are serious about courting her.”
Miles looked at his brother as though he had a second head growing out of his neck. “Certainly I’m serious,” he said defensively.
Geoffrey put his hands up in surrender and Miles backed down. Another long pause followed between the two brothers. When he couldn’t stand the silence anymore, Geoffrey prompted Miles, saying, “You never answered my second question.”
Miles kept his head facing the outside world. “I don’t want to,” he said rather petulantly.
Geoffrey rolled his eyes and said no more. He did not have any time to anyway, as the carriage pulled up in front of the courthouse seconds later.
Both Nott brothers descended from the carriage simultaneously, and walked side-by-side up the stairs and into the vestibule. Geoffrey was feeling slightly soured that Miles had not answered his second question, but hoped that he would in time.
Chapter 33
After Miles and Geoffrey had taken their seats in the audience of the court, the judge, Henry, his lawyer, and the oppositional lawyer entered. Miles and Geoffrey stood immediately, until the judge clapped his gavel down upon his desk and said, “You may be seated, gentlemen.”
As Geoffrey took his seat again, he looked over at Henry. His cousin looked a fright: in the few days that he had been locked away he had sprouted a scraggly-looking beard, and his hair was in disarray. He was still wearing the same clothes that he had been picked up in, and Geoffrey was certain that he could smell him from where he sat in the audience.
Henry looked up and caught Geoffrey’s eye. The poor man looked positively defeated, and Geoffrey felt very badly for him. Even though he’d had many frustrations with his cousin, he knew that all of his actions had been out of the goodness of his heart and for the betterment of his community. Geoffrey felt especially guilty because he had done such a poor job of taking care of those under his jurisdiction that his cousin had had to step in and steal from the rich to make sure they were seen to. If he had only been able to do his job properly, he thought, all of this could have been avoided.
“May I have a review of the charges?” the judge asked.
The oppositional lawyer stood up and read, “The accused, Henry John Partridge of Surrey, is accused of theft, intrusion, and social disruption.”
“Social disruption?” Miles asked, loudly enough that everyone in the courthouse could hear. He sunk down slightly in his pew when he realised the volume of his speech.
“Social disruption,” the oppositional lawyer finished, looking at Miles strangely.
The judge nodded along with what the lawyer was saying, and then asked, “And how does the defendant plead?”
Geoffrey looked to his cousin and silently hoped that he would not be a fool and would admit guilt to his crimes. There was no way that he could escape punishment, and so the better route, Geoffrey thought, was to admit outright to his wrongdoings.
Henry looked towards the floor, shuffled his feet, sighed and said, “Guilty.”
Geoffrey let out a breath that he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. He was happy to see that it seemed his cousin was beginning to make the right choices.
“Very well,” the judge said, satisfied. “And what punishment is recommended?”
“One year’s sentence in the county jail, plus six months of service to the community,” the oppositional lawyer said confidently.
