Hunting the Hero (25 page)

CHAPTER 21

CONSTANTINE STRODE THROUGH the Hall and rushed up the stairs, impatient for them to be on their way. The New Year had come and gone and the weather had finally cleared enough to make travel possible. He’d woken alone again and was rather put out. He’d wanted to begin today with a kiss or maybe even a little more than that. The gleaming black traveling carriage was almost ready to spirit them away. All he needed was Meredith’s presence and his children’s cooperation to make the journey pleasant.
 

Meredith had not been quite so easily led away from the children these last few evenings as she had been at Christmas. Since the feast, her mood had swung from happiness to wary watchfulness. He’d had to work hard to convince her that his daughters would be fine if they woke to find her absent. He couldn’t go every night without having the woman in his arms.

He eased the door to the nursery open, catching Meredith and Poppy cuddling beside her cot. The sweet bond that had formed pleased him. He’d wanted Meredith to love her future stepdaughters as much as she would their children. “Happy New Year.”

Willow ran to him, bouncing on her toes. “Please, Papa. Where are we going?”

“Not yet, my sweet.” He kissed the top of her head. “You know I like to surprise you.”

She set her hands to her hips. “Can you not whisper?”

He leaned down close to her and grinned. “No, because Miss Clark has devilishly good hearing and I want her to be surprised, too.”

He’d told no one of his destination just to be sure it remained a mystery. The only one who might guess was his coachman. He alone knew how far the beasts pulling the carriage would have to travel.

“Oh,” Willow said and nodded. She looked past him to Meredith. “Papa’s surprises are the best, but he never likes to tell.”

Meredith snorted as if she did not believe a word of it.
 

Constantine saw Willow’s warmest coat laid out on the bed and helped her into it. “Where’s your scarf and gloves, sweetheart?”

Willow gestured under the bed. “Maisy keeps sneaking them. Tell her to stop, Papa. She’ll make them dirty.”

When Constantine glanced under the bed Willow shared with her sister, he found Maisy lying with her head pillowed on the scarf and gloves. “Come out, little one,” he whispered. “Time to go. You don’t want to be left behind without Miss Clark to tuck you in at night, do you?”

Her little mouth fell open as if that thought had never occurred to her. Maisy scurried from her hiding place and threw the scarf and gloves at her sister. Meredith sent him a look that said thank you and hurried to dress the wriggling child in her warmest and best clothes while he finished with Willow.
 

When Meredith was done, Constantine scooped up Poppy, and since Maisy was dressed, he caught his middle child’s hands. “I’ll deliver these two downstairs. Do you have everything you need?”

Meredith’s expression turned glacial. “Given I’ve no idea what to pack for, I suppose I must be ready.”

“Patience,” he said with a laugh. “You’ll learn to like my surprises.”

He hurried out, more pleased with himself than he had been in years. He could not wait to see how Meredith took to his sisters. He was sure, given her love of his daughters, that they could find common ground with which to build a friendship.
 

He delivered Maisy into a footman’s hands at the main door. “Make sure she’s tucked under a warm blanket and stays there.”

Maisy was hurried out. She always liked to be first into the carriage.

“Excuse me, my lord,” Cunningham said as Constantine returned inside from the carriage to wait on Meredith and Willow. “But might I have a moment of your time before you depart? There is an urgent matter I wish to bring to your attention.”

Mrs. Smith stepped close to take Poppy from his arms, and the disapproving expression she cast at Cunningham told Constantine she knew all about the matter. He groaned, wishing that any unpleasantness might wait till he returned. Reluctantly, he waved an arm toward the drawing room, ushering the man before him so he might say his piece. “What seems to be the problem?”

Cunningham appeared to have swallowed a raw fish. “It has come to my attention that a person in your employ has been sneaking from their bed at night.”

He almost groaned aloud but held it in. Cunningham was the biggest prude. Constantine cared little for becoming involved in affairs between servants. “Are you certain?”

“Yes, my lord. I’m afraid I am, and the timing couldn’t be worse.” His mouth pinched as if he’d tasted something tart. “It’s Miss Clark, my lord,” Cunningham confessed at last. “She has abandoned her post for the past two nights and I’ve not been able to determine with whom she might be meeting or where she has gone. A woman like that…” Cunningham left the rest unsaid.
 

Constantine pinched the bridge of his nose. He had hoped Meredith’s absence from the nursery might have gone unnoticed, but it seemed that she was right and he was wrong about being found out. He might have to set the record straight, at least as far as Cunningham went, before Meredith lost the staff’s good opinion. “Miss Clark did not abandon her post. If the children were sound asleep, then they needed nothing from her.”
 

Cunningham frowned. “Nevertheless, her place is with the children.”

“Her place is where I say it is.” He drew in a deep breath. “With the children, and with me. Miss Clark will be allowed considerable latitude for the foreseeable future, Cunningham. The reasons will become apparent in good time.”

“I…” Cunningham’s frown turned into shock.
 

“Try not to worry. When we return, I hope to have good news. Do you have any further questions about the matter?”

Cunningham’s skin turned pasty white. “No, my lord.”

“Excellent.” Constantine left the butler grappling with the idea and returned to the main door just in time to intercept his governess and eldest daughter.
 

“Mama never liked Papa’s surprises very much,” Willow told Meredith as she skipped to the door and into the waiting care of a footman who urged her to walk down the stairs instead of skipping and helped her into the carriage.

Meredith took Poppy back from the housekeeper. “Now then, Miss Poppy, shall we humor your father and join your sisters?”

“I’ll take her,” Constantine told her. Yet Poppy was none too happy to lose her grip on her governess and grumbled, straining toward Meredith. Constantine understood her feeling exactly. He felt the same way every time Meredith left his side.
 

He gestured to the door. “Come along, Miss Clark, we’ve many miles to travel today.”

Her eyes rolled as she passed him. Constantine laughed, catching the startled expression on Cunningham’s face as he walked to the door. He hoped by the time they returned, Meredith would have agreed with his hopes for the future and Cunningham might have reconciled himself to his new mistress’s identity. In fact, if he showed Meredith the least sign of disrespect the man would be out on his ear before he finished protesting.

Constantine followed Meredith to the carriage and waited until she was settled before passing Poppy in. When he joined her, he was seated beside the governess. His youngest had claimed the window, forcing Meredith to the center. He didn’t mind that arrangement at all.

When the door shut, he made sure everyone was snugly tucked beneath thick quilts. When the carriage lurched off, he waved and then faced forward. No more looking back. He pulled the blankets tighter around Meredith. “Let me know if you grow chilled.”
 

Meredith faced him. “Tell me where we are going?”

“Oh, no.’ He grinned at her persistence. “Not until we stop for the night. It would spoil the surprise.”

Her lips pressed together, her gaze narrowed. “So the journey will take two days?”

“At least,” he confessed. “But it depends on the roads, the weather, and the tempers of three little misses and one fetching governess. I hope there will be few long faces during the miles ahead.”

Her face grew pinched. “You’re asking for trouble, you know.”
 

He shuffled a little closer. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Her glance skittered toward his daughters and she sighed. “What did Cunningham want with you this morning?”

“A misunderstanding. Nothing to worry about.”

She glanced down at her hands. “Mrs. Smith was rather cool with me this morning, too.”
 

He caught her hands in his. “Meredith, will you trust that I know what I’m doing? Cunningham will come around. So, what shall we talk about today?”

“I’m not telling you my name.”

“How about we exchange information about our childhoods? For instance, I got my first hound when I was three. Lovely rascal, followed me everywhere. My mother hated him jumping onto her lap and licking her face.”
 

“I’m not surprised. Did you not know how to train the beast?”

“I learned, but that is a story for another day. Your turn now. Did you have a pet when you were young?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

She looked at him and fluttered her lashes. “He used to growl horribly at people who annoyed me.”

Constantine laughed. “Well, I am grateful you no longer have the beast at your side as I plan to annoy you for some time to come.”

“I’m not.” Meredith turned to the window and leaned her head against the squabs. “I could have used his teeth a time or two in the early years. He never failed to protect me.”

Constantine squeezed her hand tightly. It was on the tip of his tongue to press for more information, yet the beginning of a journey was no time to demand answers. He wanted nothing to spoil her mood. They had hours left in the carriage. Many more in a charmingly warm little inn he’d discovered on similar journeys. When Meredith faced his sisters, he wanted everything to be perfect. He wanted her to like them. After all, if she refused him the gift of her name and connections, his might be the only family she would have when they married.

~ * ~

Meredith let out a relieved breath as the carriage clattered into a small inn yard at an unmarked village. The trip so far had been slow and thankfully without incident, but despite their best efforts, the children had not always enjoyed themselves. She soothed the sleeping child in her arms as Maisy and Willow clambered out after Constantine. She forced herself to remember her lessons. Be calm. Be a lady. Yet if not for the sleeping child, Meredith feared she would lose her temper and shout at Constantine for keeping their final destination a secret. Her nerves were at their limit. Constantine would like seeing that.

His sunny smile when he poked his head through the doorway only increased her irritation. “The inn has wonderfully comfortable beds.”
 

“You’re not sharing mine tonight,” she warned. She would remain with the children to teach him a lesson. Meredith did not care for surprises, and according to his hints, she had another day of not knowing their final destination. She did not appreciate being absconded to parts unknown. If their relationship was to continue, in any form, Constantine would have to cease planning further surprise events.
 

She wriggled along the bench to the door and slid Poppy into his outstretched arms. Constantine had been rather better equipped to deal with the girls on a long trip than herself, making up endless games and convincing them to nap. But then he’d likely done such journeys before and knew better how to keep his daughters entertained in confined spaces.
 

Meredith stepped out of the carriage after him and glared, little caring if anyone saw her do it. “Where are we now?”

“Another surprise.” He urged her toward the inn. “Come inside where it’s warm. Mrs. Lamb’s company will soothe you after such an arduous day.”

Constantine’s attempts to tease did not improve her mood. She would… Meredith stumbled. In the act of taking a step, she had glimpsed something she recognized. The once-bold red paint on the inn door struck a chord of her memory. She glanced around her, trying to discover why the place felt familiar.
 

She glanced at the door again, at the lion’s-head knocker placed squarely in the center, and her heartbeat slowed. Her legs trembled.

“Meredith?”

She gave her head a little shake to dismiss the coincidence and then stepped into the inn. She was imagining a resemblance to a place she’d been before. A gray-haired woman was waiting. “Welcome back, my lord. You must be tired from your journey.”

Constantine smiled over the sleeping form of his youngest. “Two rooms for the night, if you please, Mrs. Lamb. The largest and warmest chamber for my daughters and their governess. A smaller chamber will be sufficient for myself.”

“Of course, my lord.” The lady reached for Poppy and led the girls toward the stairs. “Will you be staying long with the duke?”

A clammy chill had swept her skin. It could not be. She could not have returned her by mistake after all her efforts to avoid the location. Yet Mrs. Lamb’s hair had grayed quite a lot in the intervening years since Meredith had last glimpsed her. She was almost certain it was the same woman. Meredith paused, holding on to the nearest object for support as she gathered her courage. “Will you tell me now where we are going?”