Chapter Fifteen #2
Benjamin rose on his toes to watch the lady’s retreat, again enjoying the sway of her hips as she made her way down the long hallway.
To the child he said, “Now that is a part of the female anatomy of which we should have studied more thoroughly in medical school.” The child gurgled, whether in approval or not, Benjamin was not confident.
“Trust me. Someday, you will wish you could appreciate the action yourself. For now, let us have a look at the room,” Benjamin announced as he carried the child close to the nearby window.
“This bit of fluff is called ‘a tie-back’ or as we men call it ‘a gold tassel.’ Women always prefer the more sophisticated names.” He teased the child with the gold threads until the boy finally caught them and attempted to put them in his mouth.
“No, let us find something more appropriate. I am convinced these have yet to be cleaned.”
Benjamin continued to stroll around the room’s perimeter, pausing periodically to pick up an object and show it to the boy. “Candlestick,” he said, “but missing a candle.
Your aunt’s sewing basket.” The child reached for the basket and the colorful thread, but Benjamin kept it out of reach.
He could only imagine what a child might do with such a temptation.
They stopped before a stretch of cloth hanging over the back of a chair.
Benjamin did not know exactly what the item was, but he thought it might be the sleeve of a woman’s dress.
“Your aunt is very handy with a needle.”
As they made their way about the room, Benjamin stopped at each portrait and held the child so the boy might see the images.
Finally, they had circled the room, and Benjamin shifted the child in his grasp so the boy could lie along Benjamin’s forearm.
“That is better, is it not?” The babe fussed until he caught Benjamin’s finger.
His small hand encircled the finger, holding on tightly as he jabbered sounds no one would call words, but sounds that delighted Benjamin, nevertheless.
“Perhaps we should consider a position for you as a solicitor or a barrister,” Benjamin said with a smile.
“You will mesmerize all the judges. I guarantee it.” He sighed, “Though, in truth, I would not mind the idea of your studying to be a surgeon. One better than I am. By the time you are of age, I am confident my skills will seem like something the Celts would have used to treat wounds and burns and such. There are so many wonders in science and the means to save another person’s life.
I wish I could return to the classroom and learn it all over again.
” He glanced down to the child, whose fussiness had quieted, but the boy’s eyes were still on Benjamin’s features.
“What do you see, Boy? Sometimes I wonder what the world sees when they look upon me. I am not speaking of whether they consider me handsome or not. I am not one who knows conceit when I look in the mirror. I leave that up to my brother Beaufort. Just, when someone first takes my acquaintance, how does he perceive me?”
“I can answer,” a very feminine voice responded, and Benjamin looked up to view Miss Whitchurch standing in the open doorway.
“There is no need,” Benjamin said in embarrassment, for he had been caught in a bit of whimsy. “The child is going to sleep again.”
However, the lady ignored his protest. “You are a man who loves his family, both the one with whom you share blood and the one who adopted you. The way you hold the child speaks to your devotion and your humanity.” She smiled, and her eyes spoke a language Benjamin did not yet know.
“Your mind amazes me. How it can separate ideas. Analyze them. Keep them all straight and available with a blink of your eyes. Your mind never stops, and sometimes I fear interrupting you, for I would be denying humanity of a man with a great vision.”
“I would not call my vision ‘great,’” he protested.
“Assuredly my vision is not as great as the goodness of your heart. However, though I still hold my doubts, I will take your words as a compliment. It is difficult for one to evaluate his or her own strengths and weaknesses,” he said as he observed her slow, steady approach.
“That heart which you have praised,” she said with a sigh, “often leads me into chaos. Just as it did earlier when I charged into my sister’s dilemma, without thoughts of the boy’s future. Someone must be here for him.”
He corrected, “I disagree. Your ‘heart’ permits you to enjoy even the smallest of life’s pleasure.
You feel joy in the moments that others would ignore or consider them as an annoyance.
I envy you in that manner. If my wishes were to be granted, I would wish that you would never change.
” Feeling uncomfortable from speaking so honestly, he suggested, “The boy is falling asleep again. Bring along his basket. We may keep a close eye on him while we enjoy our meal.”
As they walked through the halls together, Benjamin added this moment to his memories of when he and she were perhaps more than acquaintances or even simply friends.
When they stepped into his portion of the double house, her gaze darted up to catch his, and he felt the warmth of her hand through his sleeve.
“I am happy to claim your notice, my lord, but please set the child’s safety before mine.
Both the child and Cassandra require your attention more than do I. ”
“I am capable of protecting both you and the boy, but I cannot do so if you regularly go racing after shadows. Having an element of London attempting to pull you away at the least provocation places both you and the child in more danger. Please, in the future, demand that the shadows come to you and announce themselves without an element of secrecy. You must know by now, surely you must know, what I do, I do all for you.”
They had just sat to their meal when a knock could be heard at the main door.
“Expecting company, my lord?” she asked as she reached for the child’s basket in preparation for a retreat.
Benjamin caught her hand to stall her withdrawal. “I am not ashamed of your presence in my home,” he told her. “In fact, it is a better place since your arrival.”
He rose, and she followed, as Patterson led two of Benjamin’s brothers into the room.
“We thought you might wish to supper with us at White’s,” Beaufort announced with a lift of his eyebrows. “But I see you have company enough.”
Benjamin hoped Beaufort’s insinuation did not mean they all thought he was having an affair with Miss Whitchurch.
Benjamin meant to propose when the time was right and pray the woman would accept him.
“Assuredly, I did not expect you, but you are always welcome in my home.” He gestured to the lady.
“Beaufort, you recall Miss Whitchurch, do you not?”
“Naturally. It is pleasant to encounter you again, Miss Whitchurch,” Beaufort said with a bow.
The lady shot Benjamin a quick glance, but she responded as would any well-bred lady. “A pleasant occurrence for me also, my lord.”
“And another of my brothers.” Benjamin gestured to Aaran. “Lord Graham, Miss Whitchurch.”
She curtseyed again. “An honor, Lord Graham.”
“Mine as well, Miss,” Graham said with his usual amiability.
Benjamin looked to Patterson. “Two more plates for my family.”
“Yes, my lord.” Patterson rushed away to inform the kitchen of the additional portions.
Meanwhile, Benjamin gestured to the seat beside Miss Whitchurch and the one on his right. “Please join us.”
Beaufort held Miss Whitchurch’s chair for her, and Benjamin wanted to swat his brother’s hand away.
Once Graham was settled, he asked of the babe asleep in the basket. “And the child?”
“Miss Whitchurch’s nephew,” Benjamin explained in a tone indicating he would tolerate no disparagements, though, in reality, Benjamin knew neither Beaufort nor Graham would be cruel to the lady nor turn their backs on an abandoned child.
“Oh, grand,” Beaufort declared. “So, you located your sister, after all.”
The child stirred, and Benjamin laid a firm hand on the boy’s chest. “No need to worry, Boy.”
“He seems to like you,” Beaufort remarked as the child quickly settled again.
“His lordship has a calming effect on my nephew,” Miss Whitchurch assured.
Graham remarked, “Thompson has a soft touch, but a firm outcome in mind. I have seen him assist thusly in surgeries and always with very ill patients. What he did for Lord Duncan, none of us will ever forget. He saved our father.”
“Mr. Rheem removed the bullet,” Benjamin protested.
“But it was you who had Duncan already under the laudanum and had cleaned the wound before Rheem arrived. You were prepared to do what was necessary if Orson could not locate the surgeon. Moreover, it was you who watched over Duncan night and day for a week, tending to his fever. Never leaving his side,” Graham countered.
Miss Whitchurch said softly, “You must not convince me of Lord Thompson’s goodness, my lord. The child and I would have been living on the streets if not for his lordship’s rescue.”
Benjamin did not wish to share what had occurred between the lady and him, but he could not keep secrets from these men, who had privately pledged their loyalty by sitting at his table and not pressing for an explanation.
“A few weeks back, I was searching the grounds of the Lyon’s Den for the missing button from the coat.
If you recall, Beaufort, when you previously took Miss Whitchurch’s acquaintance, she was hoping to learn news of her missing sister.
The Den’s patroness had suggested that Miss Cassandra Whitchurch had met a woman who offered her a position in a great house in one of London’s more influential neighborhoods.
“Some time after we parted ways, Miss Cassandra Whitchurch gave birth. The young lady left the child in Miss Whitchurch’s care.
A letter said Miss Cassandra had been dismissed from the great house because of her condition and that a man had told her of a cook’s position at an inn near the docks.
Clues in the letter had Miss Whitchurch believing that man was Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s Titan.
Miss Whitchurch returned to the Den where we encountered each other again. ”
“I see,” Beaufort remarked with a lift of his brows.
“No, you do not,” Miss Whitchurch declared. “Nothing untoward has happened. I have been working twelve hours overnight for Mr. Sustar. He has developed a large patronage thanks to some special work I performed for Lady Cunningham.”
“Lady Cunningham?” Beaufort asked. “The Scottish countess?”
“Do you know the lady?” Miss Whitchurch asked.
“Only by reputation,” Beaufort assured. “Lord Cunningham is not a fan of our Graham, both being Scottish and all.”
Graham, always stoically truthful, said, “Cunningham believes my half-brother should have the family title, not me, and his lordship often speaks his preferences in my presence.”
Miss Whitchurch’s hand caressed the sleeping child’s head as she said, “We should not think we know a person’s worth from his title or lack thereof. Because of my sister’s foolish choices, this child will forever suffer ridicule.”
“Not if Thompson has a say,” Beaufort assured.
“I do not know the entire story, but I can say with all honesty that if Thompson means to protect you and the boy, you are in the best of hands. That being said, you have also earned the protection of all of Thompson’s brothers, as well as Lord Duncan.
Few in the United Kingdom would dare to threaten you. ”
“Mr. Jonas Betts is the boy’s father,” Benjamin explained diplomatically. “Lord Betts has relieved Mr. Whitchurch of his vicarage.”
“No further explanation is required,” Graham assured. “Lord Betts should take his son in hand. Could either of you imagine what Duncan would do to us if we were so… so…? Well, you know my thoughts on Betts. He aligns himself with Lord Cunningham in the Lords.”
“Miss Whitchurch and the child, along with a wet nurse, are staying in the other half of this house until we are able to locate her sister,” Benjamin explained.
“The kitchen in that half of the house is still in disrepair, and so we dine together, but, even if the kitchen was in shape, I would insist upon Miss Whitchurch’s presence at my table.
I am concerned for her safety and thus that of the child. ”
Graham placed a hand on Benjamin’s arm. “We are brothers, Thompson. We might tease you if you were foolish enough to wear a Beau Brummell-style cravat, but never speak ill of your choice to serve others. As few do, we know your heart. We will defend and protect Miss Whitchurch and the child, as we would you. Name it, and we are your servants.”