“And, Daniel …”
He glanced over his shoulder. “Yes?”
“It was so nice having you shower me with genuine adoration that I should hate to have it end abruptly. Please, be careful
.”
He smiled. “Not to worry.”
“I won’t worry,” she told him. “So long as you come home without any more holes in you.”
Her words gave him pause. Home. As long us you come home … Suddenly home wasn’t Sussex House but wherever Miranda was. “I am coming back.”
She turned to face him. “Take care of yourself.”
Daniel nodded, then walked out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and out the front door to the street in his stocking feet. He climbed into the coach Rupert had at the ready, and propped his feet on the opposite bench.
Reaching up to pull the curtain at the window, Daniel saw a coach roll to a stop at the house across the street. The coach looked familiar. He stared at the man exiting the house across the street and blinked in recognition, then quickly dropped the curtain and called out to Rupert with the address he needed. “Take me to Albany.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“One finds many companions for food and drink,
But in a serious business a man’s companions are few.”
—Theognis, c. 545 B.C.
“Where the devil have you been?” Jonathan, eleventh Earl of Barclay, greeted his cousin, Daniel, as soon as he walked through the door of Barclay’s Albany apartments. “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
“It’s good to see you too, Jonathan.” Daniel shook hands with his cousin and let out a groan when Jonathan clapped him about the shoulder.
“You had us worried.”
Daniel smiled. “I had a bit of trouble on my return from France.”
“I surmised as much,” Jonathan told him. “You need to shave, and you look as if you haven’t slept in days.” He looked down at Daniel’s feet. “And where the devil are your boots?”
“At Sussex House,” Daniel answered, “and since I’ve no intention of returning there for a while, I need to borrow a pair of yours.”
“Sit down.” Jonathan gestured toward a leather chair. “I’ll get you a pair.”
Daniel sank down on the chair and put his feet up on the matching ottoman while Jonathan disappeared into his bedroom and returned with a pair of tall boots. One of the nice things about having a cousin the same age and weight and approximate height was that he knew Jonathan’s boots would fit.
Jonathan set the pair of boots on the floor beside Daniel and grinned.
Daniel looked up at him. “Thanks.”
Jonathan shrugged. “It’s rather nice to be able to loan you something for a change.”
“That’s good to know,” Daniel drawled. “Because I also need a place to stay.” He lifted one boot and leaned forward to pull it on, only to be brought up short by the stiffness in his back.
“Leave ’em off for a while,” Jonathan advised. “So long as you’re staying, I’ll help you put them on later.” He studied Daniel. “Aunt Lavinia was right. You have been avoiding her.”
Daniel nodded. “Quite right. I’ve been avoiding Mother, Weldon, Travers, Malden, and everyone else at Sussex House.” He looked at his cousin. “Especially Mother and Malden.”
Jonathan sent him a questioning look.
“I’m avoiding Mother because I don’t want her to ask questions I can’t answer, and I’m avoiding my valet because he cannot keep a secret and I can’t hide this one from him.”