“Well, really!” Elinor stared. “Are you hiding food in your coat, by any chance?”
Benedict laughed. “If only I’d thought of it…but no, it’s only my famous charm holding him here.”
“Hmm,” said Elinor, expressively.
The footman had already retreated, and Sir John moved away, too, waving to the others as they approached. Elinor crossed her arms as she gazed up at her traitorous dragon and tried not to let her mouth twitch. “You’re going to have to come back now, whether you like it or not,” she told him. “I’m the one who feeds you, remember?”
Benedict grinned. “You can leave him a moment, if you like. I think…yes.” He swung his leg over his horse and jumped down with Sir Jessamyn still tucked against his chest. “Here we are. I don’t mind holding him for a while. Let’s just hope history doesn’t repeat itself, eh?”
“I beg your pardon?” He was standing very close now, grinning down at her. Elinor felt her heartbeat speed up and her thoughts scatter. She reached desperately for her fleeing wits.
“The first time I met him,” Benedict said. “Don’t you remember what happened?” He heaved a mock-tragic sigh. “My poor waistcoat…”
Dizzy and tingling, it took Elinor a moment. Then she remembered, and groaned. “That was only because he was frightened! If you hadn’t…”
Wait!
She slammed her mouth shut. Benedict was looking down at her from only half a foot away. She said, “Isn’t that what you told me? You said that the first time you met Miss Tregarth and her dragon…”
“I told you that she’d fallen in the mud,” Benedict said. “I don’t recall telling you what her dragon did next.”
“Well, it was obvious, wasn’t it?” Elinor said. “I mean, we all know how Sir Jessamyn reacts to frightening situations.”
“Do we?” His grin had widened, but it wasn’t a triumphant smirk; instead, it felt oddly intimate. He looked as if they were sharing a private joke. His voice softened. “Last time we spoke about it, you were still denying that hewasSir Jessamyn. Remember?”
“I…” Elinor took a jerky step backward, breathing quickly. She needed air, and space to think. Being close to him was too dangerous. It made her brain stop working.
Before she could say anything, though, either to save herself or to dig herself deeper, he looked past her and breathed a quick warning.
“Careful!”
A rattle of hoofbeats swept up behind her, and the others arrived in a happy rush. Mr. Armitage swung himself down first, and then lifted down a bright-eyed Penelope. She tipped her head back and laughed with pleasure, while Miss Armitage watched with a fond smile and Millie stared in blatant envy.
“Oh, Papa, it was wonderful!” Penelope cried, as Mr. Armitage turned to help his sister.
“I’m glad, puss.” Sir John chucked her under her chin affectionately as he moved past her to assist Millie. Sir John’s next words might have been meant as a whisper, but his voice was trained to boom; Elinor heard the words clearly. “And you’ll be very pleased with what I did while you were out.”
Elinor swung around, all of her confusion dropping away. Every instinct she had was shrieking a warning.
“Whatdidyou do while we were away, Sir John?” she asked.
“Oh, well…” He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “It’s nothing you’d be interested in, ma’am, only—”
“Did it have to do with your visitor?” she said. “The gentleman who left just as we arrived?”
“Well—”
“Papa!” Penelope breathed. She seized his arm with a glowing face before he could reach Millie’s horse. “It was him, wasn’t it? The physician from London!”
“Physician?” Miss Armitage said. “Is someone ill, sir?”
“I wouldn’t exactly say—”
“You did it.” Elinor shook her head. Shock and horror mingled so strongly that for a moment, her whole body felt numb. “You really did it,” she said to both of them together, her uncle and her cousin, standing side by side. “I can’t believe it. You actually summoned that physician to declare Lady Hathergill mad.”
Chapter 24
“Shh!” Sir John hissed.
