Page 12 of The Wallflower Manifesto
Would it be any different now?
CHAPTER 5
Abe knew that old adage about killing two birds with one stone. He didn’t disagree with it, but he thought it rather lacking in ambition.
Why not three birds? Why not seven?
Abe thought seven birds with one stone was a much more compelling result. Not that he’d ever throw a rock at a bird. What sort of person did that?
If he wanted to doom some birds, he could just throw Freddy at them.
“Why are you following me?” he said to the rock in question as they rounded the corner onto Bow Street.
It was going to be hard to kill any birds at all today with the lordling in tow.
Freddy grimaced, loosening the cravat at his neck. It was a warm morning, and the slick of rain on the pavement rapidly returning to the sky was not making it any more pleasant. “I’m accompanying you, not following you. I need to talk to Silas, andgoing through Cresson is my best bet while he’s all tied up in whatever lawyerly nonsense is currently keeping him away.”
Abe didn’t respond. He didn’t like to bicker before he’d had coffee.
The Cuckoo’s Nest was a small eatery nestled among the solicitor and barrister offices that lined the blocks near the courthouse. It had a red sign above the door that stood out beautifully in the mostly white, marbled buildings on either side of it. And, most importantly, they served a hearty breakfast for a mere four shillings.
Freddy would be buying today, whether he realized it or not. How was that for an extra bird in the hand?
Or was he mixing adages now?
Abe had a standing weekly breakfast here with Cain’s law clerk, Joseph Cresson, who just now was seated at their regular table with his back to the door.
It was a lucky thing that Cresson was obsessively early, because the rest of the tables were full. Abe and Freddy garnered many sidelong glares from waiting patrons as they squeezed past the line and made a beeline for the table.
Cresson, of course, was oblivious, his nose almost touching the table as he scribbled into one of the journals he always had in his jacket pocket.
Last week, Abe had caught him doodlingCain & Cresson, Partners at Lawin various renditions of an outdoor business sign before the younger man had slapped the cover shut with a hand that was turning just as red as his face. It was one of thosemoments where the teasing would have been too easy, so it was best ignored altogether.
He flicked the younger man’s ear as he approached, bringing Cresson up to a straight spine and a slightly affronted expression.
“Morning!” he said cheerily, sliding into his usual seat and raising two fingers to the first serving girl who caught his eye.
Freddy took the chair next to him, giving Cresson a lopsided smile and extending his hand. “Mr. Cresson,” he said, with far more dignity than Abe had expected, given their short history together. “A pleasure to see you again.”
“Lord Bentley,” Cresson replied, a wariness in his eyes as he shook the offered hand. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“Yes, we’re all very surprised and pleasant,” Abe said impatiently, waving his hand. “Bentley wants to speak to Cain, so he invited himself along this morning. Do they have kippers today?”
“Sausages,” Cresson answered with a nod down to his empty plate and a shift in his glance to Freddy. “Mr. Cain is afield for a few days with a new client, I’m afraid. It is important business that has taken much of his time, but I will certainly alert him of your query when he returns.”
“What’s so important?” Abe asked, hope of new assignments sparkling in the air. “Something in the country, you say?”
“A rather large estate dispute out in Reading, though I imagine most of the case will be handled here in London. It is all very exciting.” Cresson’s face flashed with boyish enthusiasm. “Thereis speculation that Mr. Cain may be invited to take the silk if it goes well!”
“So young?” Abe replied, genuinely impressed.
“What does that mean?” Freddy cut in, discontent on his brow at being excluded, even as a plate heaped with gorgeous food was set in front of him. “What silk?”
“It’s the term for joining the King’s Counsel,” Cresson explained in a tone that suggested he could talk about this for days. “It is a great honor, and a necessity on the path to a judge’s seat. In fact …”
Freddy narrowed his eyes, a slight frown on his face as Cresson rattled off historical precedent.
Though he didn’t say it, Abe suspected that Freddy thought his half brother did quite enough judging already and it was only bound to get worse if he was given a robe and wig.
