She shrugged.
“There’s no reason they cannot live here as well. There’s room.”
“Perhaps. But… you will need to be in London some. After your grandfather…”
Dies. Yes, he would. The House of Lords was not an obligation he could ignore. “Most members of the ton split their time between the country and London.”
She nodded, nibbling her lip.
“You do not have to think of this right now. Despite his protestations, Grandfather is hale and hearty.”
“You never know. My father was hale and hearty, too. Then suddenly…”
He cupped her cheek. “You’ve enough to deal with at the moment. Leave these plans for another day.”
“I cannot.”
“You can.”
“I cann—”
“Plans do not solve every conceivable problem, present and future.” His parents had planned to extend the gardens the following year. His older brothers had wanted to go to university. His sisters had looked forward to a trip to Brighton in the summer. Death had laughed in all their faces. “Do you remember the time you planned to run off with the Romany? I believe that plan had three different stages, and each stage had five different tasks?”
She bristled. “Excellent memory.”
His eyebrows bounced up. “That one never even made it past stage one.”
“I’m insulted.”
“Do you remember the one to find Grandfather a new wife?”
She scowled. “That was a good one.”
“If I remember correctly, it ended in much embarrassment for my grandfather and the good Lady Eugenia in an assembly room at a spring dance.”
She winced. “Must you recallallmy failures? I knew at the time only that the lady was unmarried and quite nice. I knew she and your grandfather were good friends. Is it no wonder I encouraged them to dance.”
“What else did you do, Caro?”
Her cheeks flamed red. “I announced to the entire assembly that your grandfather should marry Lady Eugenia.” She buried her face in her hands and groaned. Her voice was muffled when she added, “Perhaps I should not have been so forceful. They were rather good at laughing it off, though.”
“I told you about her preferences. That very morning before the dance. I believe we were walking alone in the garden. The roses were pink, the sky yellow, your gown as white as your wide-eyed innocence.”
“Yes, yes. So you did.” She sat upright. “But I did not know what youmeant. How was I to know that ‘she’s very close with her live-in companion’ meant anything other than friendship?”
“Perhaps I should have been more forceful. Still, you should have set sail for a different course. Your plans are written on stone tablets with no way to change them.” Life was not like that.
“They’re just that good,” she said. “Except that once, of course.”
He tilted his head.
“Or twice.” She sat taller. “My plans have improved with age.”
He pulled her onto his lap—his favorite place to have her—and several scones spilled to the ground, spoons and saucers, too. “Everything about you has improved with age.”
“The longer I am at Hawthorne, the more gaps I see in my plan for it.”
“Then find solutions. Later. No plan necessary. No lists, no tasks.”
