Page 85 of Miss Determined
“Be serious. I have no idea what Purvis would do to Phillip or the assorted other potential victims in my absence.”
And Trevor did not care that he would be first among those victims. Lissa turned her mind to the conundrum of how a good man could defeat an evil one without resorting to evil himself.
“You labor under a misconception,” she said slowly. “You believe that if something is unpleasant, it’s your duty to uncomplainingly put up with it until your tolerance is exhausted. Your father’s legacy, no doubt, but, Trevor, it’s not retreat to search in the direction of what has meaning for you or to abandon that which does not. You are entitled to pursue your own dreams. That, too, should rank as a worthy obligation.”
Hadn’t he told her the same thing, and wasn’t it fitting that she should give the words back to him when dreams were crumbling all around them?
“You have meaning for me,” he said, “and thus here I am, when I ought to be…” He heaved a sigh and moved away. “I don’t know what I ought to be. I needed to tell you what is afoot, and I need more time, and I have only a week.”
Lissa brushed his hair back from his brow. “Do you know what I miss most about my brother?”
A guarded look. “Brothers are not my long suit.”
He’d soon be an expert, if all went well. “Gavin is not on hand to jolly me past my blue devils. I have nobody to confer with when the steward wants to know whether to put a field in barley or oats. Nobody to make up a fourth when Mama and Grandmama are in the mood for a hand of whist, and Diana cannot be bothered. Gavin wasmy friend, and now he’s not there. A brother should be there.”
“You sound like Sycamore Dorning.”
“I like and respect Mr. Dorning, at least in small doses.”
Trevor went to the tray, fixed Lissa a cup of tea, and brought it to her. “As do I. He knows a few things about having and being a brother, whatever his other myriad shortcomings.”
Sycamore knew about being family, a challenge Trevor had limited experience navigating.
“Go to Berkshire,” Lissa said, sipping a perfect cup of China black. “Consult with Phillip. Discuss, argue, share a pint and a pie at the Arms. Purvis’s scheme has arguably affected him most of all. Your father has been gone for years, and Purvis kept you and your brother apart even after the old marquess’s death. Phillip might have questions about that. I’ll go with you, and Mama can be packed—”
“You cannot come with me. If Purvis learns we’ve traveled together, he’ll wreak no end of mischief. Can you instead convey developments to Sycamore and Jeanette?”
“I can.” The equivalent of lighting the Dorning signal tower. “Should I call on Miss Brompton?”
Trevor began to pace. “Good thought. If you could also look up Purvis’s sister. He claims she was ruined by my father, and if so, I owe her some sort of acknowledgment, some atonement.”
“After all these years?”
“Have you forgotten the ill usage you suffered in your earlier Seasons?”
“I haven’t forgotten, but I’ve certainly put it behind me. I’ll do as you ask, though. What else?”
Trevor came to a halt by the unlit hearth. “Call on Kettering and his lady. I have to make a stop there before I can leave for Berkshire, and I will warn him to expect you. He’s a powerful ally, has the ear of the Regent, and so forth. Even Purvis would hesitate to twist Worth Kettering’s tail.”
Purvis did not hesitate to ruin heirs, heiresses, and the occasional blameless marquess. “I will make that call.” She took another fortifying sip of tea. “Is there anything more I can do? Mama and Grandmama will want to help as well.”
Trevor remained by the hearth, his expression hard to read. “I love you. The words come easily when the moment is passionate, but right now, I am in the biggest muddle of my life, and I could not love you more. I love you, and I will always love you.”
Lissa saluted him with her tea cup, feeling exactly the same tide of emotion. “We are equal to this challenge, and we will not be bested. I love you too.” The moment did not call for fatuous beaming, but rather, for courage and determination.
Though some luck and hope wouldn’t have gone amiss either. A lot of luck and hope.
Trevor pushed Jacques to do the entire distance to Berkshire in little over half a day. The hours in the saddle were spent raging, fretting, missing Amaryllis, and pondering what was to come.
All to no avail. When Trevor paused at the foot of Lark’s Nest’s front steps to remove his spurs, he still had no idea what to say to… his brother.
“You’re back.” Phillip himself opened the door. He was attired in his usual worn homespun, cuffs turned, an ink stain on his right wrist. “I suppose you’d best come in. How is Lissa?”
“I left the DeWitt ladies well and thriving. You aren’t surprised to see me.”
Trevor passed over his hat and hung his spurs on a hook next to another worn pair that could have been their twin.
Phillip gave Trevor’s greatcoat a thorough swatting and hung it on another hook. “I waited years to see you, and then there you were. I landed in that awkward position of finally having what I’d wished for and having no damned idea what to do about it. Luncheon is on the sideboard, and the kitchen always prepares too much.”
