Page 87 of Miss Delectable
“The children just… They come along, and I have more room than I need, and that has nothing to do with anything.”
Ann smiled at him, and the idea that he must bid farewell to her, and to those sweet, knowing smiles… He pet the cat, who commenced rumbling.
“What has your sword to do with the stolen goods?”
“My sword was left at the warehouse in place of the purloined champagne. The stolen sword tells me that somebody violated my household, where I billet those self-same children. The watchman who was drugged was old and frail, Ann. He’s not fit for anything more vigorous than sounding the alarm, and whoever took the champagne could just as easily have tossed Nicolas into the river. I am being warned, repeatedly, that I and those I care about are in danger.”
“And thus you are leaving for France?”
She posed the question calmly, while presiding over her pretty tea service in this genteel parlor full of the contented purring of an overfed feline.
This is what I thought I was fighting for.England’s domestic tranquility; the good, dear people at home; the quiet, honorable values that made John Bull the equal of any man the world over.
“In Spain, I gave up my field command without complaint and contented myself with battling reams of paperwork, Ann. When the Hundred Days came, I accepted that I was not welcome to rejoin the fight. As I tried to establish my business here in London, I grasped that doors to certain regimental homes were closed to me. I have accepted my lot and tried to be grateful for it.”
“You deserve none of those slights.”
“So fierce, and you don’t deserve Jules Delacourt’s meanness, but you aren’t wasting your powers taking him on, are you?”
“I cannot, or somebody wholly innocent of wrongdoing could end up gashed by an accidental knife, burned with a spilled pot of glaze, or out of a job because Jules considers that sort of cruelty an expedient means of punishing me.”
“Punishing you for being good at what you do. And I sense that somehow I have stumbled into the same sort of trap, Ann. Horace Upchurch was my commanding officer when that board of inquiry was convened. He did what he could for me, and even he is telling me to leave London.”
Ann petted the cat, who’d draped himself across Rye’s thighs. “Uncle isn’t one to advocate retreat, but he’s put distance between you?”
“Yes.” Orion watched her hand stroking gently over soft, soft fur.
“You did not want me to know that my own uncle has suggested you leave Town.”
“I was surprised to learn that Upchurch was your uncle. I should be grateful he hasn’t disparaged me in your hearing.” If Ann did not cease petting the damned cat, Orion would have to continue this discussion upstairs.
“This is all so unfair and awkward.”
Wasn’t it just? “Complicated,” Rye said. “I have retreated and retreated, and every wise general knows to be gracious in victory. Somebody is determined to see me not only defeated, but routed and hounded from the field.”
Ann lifted the cat onto her own lap, and the beast, after peering about with a disgruntled air, settled in to knead her skirts.
“You fight,” Ann said. “You fight for those boys, Orion. You fight for that old lady among the émigrés. You fought for your sister in as much as you could, and you have fought for Hannah. By hiring old Nicolas, you struck a blow against the prejudice he faces in London, and I am certain his wages are generous.”
“That’s not fighting.”
“I fight too,” Ann said, stroking the cat, who peered at Orion with feline smugness. “I fight for the scullery maids and footmen, for the idea that a woman’s recipes are as valuable as a man’s. I fight for my own independence, or I have tried to.”
“You have been victorious for ten straight years, Ann. A setback is not a defeat.”
“I don’t want you to go,” Ann said, setting the cat on the floor. “But I know exactly what you are doing, Orion.”
“Then please tell me, because my perspective on the whole situation is far from clear.”
“You are punishing yourself,” Ann said, “because your sister had to marry to get your family out of debt and so your father could afford to buy a commission for you. Now you think that somebody who would drug an old man, commit a hanging felony, and menace children would also come after me. Perhaps these malefactors are already in league with Jules. We don’t know.”
“Hush,” Rye said. “Please hush.” She’d named his worst fears and had done so calmly.
“You are leaving England rather than risk embroilingmein your troubles, and I could become embroiled all too easily. I am a squire’s daughter plying a lowly trade at an arguably improper venue. I have family who would be tainted by any scandal, family you have reason to respect. You leave to protect me and to protect them.”
“I have a few allies,” Rye said. “My cousins will keep their eyes and ears open, particularly among the former military. I may be able to return in a year or so.” By then, Ann might well be cooking for some baron in Derbyshire or a retired general in Somerset.
Ann rose, and thus Rye was on his feet as well. She slipped her arms around his waist. “I esteem you greatly for protecting the whole world, Orion. Me, the children, my family, émigrés, very likely your friends as well. I only wish there was a way I could protect you.”
