Page 5 of Love in a Mist
“Do you remember the few weeks we spent here at the end of our first year at Cambridge?” Lucas shot Kes a quick look. “The end of the first year formostof us, that is.”
Niles, another of their band of brothers, smiled at the memory. “I thought the late duke was going to string us all up by our thumbs.”
“We were being rather ridiculous,” Henri acknowledged. “But the more annoyed the duke grew, the more Stanley enjoyed it.”
“I don’t think it was a matter of enjoying it,” Kes said. “He realized within minutes of our arrival that His Grace was less critical of Aldric when he was focused on being vexed with the rest of us.”
Stanley had understood people and had cared deeply for the happiness of the Gents. And he had done so much for all of them. He’d been the heart of their brotherhood in every imaginable way. Theirs was a family that couldn’t be ruined, he had said. But losing him had shattered them all.
Aldric pushed down the surge of guilt he felt at the reminder. What a foolhardy thing for Stanley to do, going to war. The day he’d told them all that he was joining up and going to fight, Aldric had pulled him aside. He’d wanted to talk to him privately.
“You must know, Stanley, that you are no soldier. That isn’t to say that you aren’t brave, because you are. Or that you aren’t daring, because you most certainly are. Or that you are lacking in ingenuity or fortitude or any of the other things that make for a good soldier. But you must know that this isn’t a battle you are meant to fight.”
“Lucas’s brother James is going. I can’t let him rush off to danger without someone to look after him.” While Stanley’s reasoning was sincere, Aldric knew him well enough to see that it wasn’t the entirety of it.
“If you go, I very much fear you will not come back,” Aldric said. “I cannot shake the strength of that suspicion.”
A long moment stretched out between them. And in that heavy silence Aldric sensed that Stanley felt the same foreboding that he did.
“Look after the Gents while I’m gone,” Stanley eventually said. “They deserve to be happy, every last one of them. But they’ll likely need help claiming that happiness. Who better than the General to see to it that they set their feet firmly on that path?”
“Who better?” Aldric scoffed. “The Highwayman, that’s who. Stay here with us, Stanley, and help them yourself.”
But he just smiled. “I’ve battles enough to fight. And when we’re all together again, I’ll have a great many adventures to tell you all about. And you can tell me of the brilliant strategies you employed to help these brothers of ours avoid disaster.”
Aldric shook his head firmly, almost frantically. “Benicks ruin families, Stanley. If you leave them in my keeping, they’ll fall apart. Everything will go wrong.”
Stanley looked deep into Aldric’s eyes, holding his gaze with a heaviness he seldom allowed himself. “I’ve not stopped believing in miracles, my friend. Don’t you stop.”
Aldric had dedicated himself the past eight years to helping his brothers-by-choice to piece themselves back together, to find their own happiness, and embark on their futures.
Only Digby’s future was still unsettled. Once that was seen to, Aldric would take the departure Stanley had offered him on the day he’d joined the Gents. He would step away from this brotherhood before his failures and his family ruined everything.
The Gents continued their reminiscing, regaling their wives with stories they had likely shared before. Their adventures had been entertaining enough that, even after hearing them recalled dozens of times, they were still deeply diverting.
While they were all enthralled with the memories, Aldric pulled from his pocket a letter he had reread many times over the past five days. It had arrived from the solicitor who had overseen the settling of Mother’s estate upon her death. The solicitor had explained that the letter had been left to his keeping with instruction to deliver it to Aldric upon the passing of his father.
He had immediately recognized Mother’s handwriting on the front, the way his name had been formed in the loops and twirls so specific to her. A lump had formed in his throat at the familiar sight. And that same achingly beloved hand had penned words of love in her native French inside. Two paragraphs full. He cherished those declarations, grateful for every syllable.
It was not, however, all she had written. The middle of the letter had been filled with a plea and instructions to go with it.
I hope this letter doesn’t prove necessary, as I would much rather be with you. I know enough of your father and am beginning tosee far too much of him in your brother to have any confidence that they won’t have left you in very difficult circumstances. Your ability to change those circumstances is limited, my dear Aldric.
Crofton will be the Duke of Hartley now. I am ashamed to say that my own son, the boy I attempted to raise well, will not merely carry on whatever thoughtlessness you have been subject to. He will also, I fear, add to it. I did try, Aldric. I wanted him to be a good man.
A rush of sadness washed over him once more as he reread Mother’s pained words. He hadn’t been overly amicable with his brother since they were children. Holding this letter and the proof of the anguish Crofton had caused Mother made it difficult not to despise him entirely.
You have likely been left with very little, Aldric. Only that which Crofton cannot take away from you. Younger sons are too often relegated to complete dependence on indifferent family members. I could not allow that to happen.
I have left something for you that cannot be taken away. But the only way to safeguard it was to keep it in France. I need you, my dearest boy, to travel to Versailles. Among the gardeners, there is a family with the surname Chauvin. They have been given the keeping of this, my final offering to you.
Show them the miniature you have of the two of us together and identify your reason for seeking them out, and they will give you the gift I have left for you.
I suspect my soul is not at rest, worrying over you. This will give me some peace.
I love you, my Aldric. Please have hope, and please make this journey.
Your loving mother
