“Even I wasn’t offered that when we first became betrothed,” Mr Aubrey muttered. Still, he sank onto the couch across from them, his long legs outstretched, and made no move to open the book that he had carried all the way.
It was easier to tell the full story a second time, after practising first with her own family. Sir Toby made it easier yet by letting out cracks of delighted laughter at more than one point, and by shaking his walking stick in victory at the end. “Good riddance to both of them, I say! But d’you mean to tell me the law hasn’t got involved with any of this at all? You only had Chalmers mouth a bit of legal-sounding gibberish and Sir Gareth and his man actually believed it?”
“Not everyone was raised to analyse numbers and legal jargon over their family breakfast table,” Mr Aubrey said wearily.
“And you see where it got them? Fools!” Sir Toby chortled to himself for a happy moment, shaking his head. “You know Sir Gareth may come back, though, once he’s had time to think it over. His man may be better at advising him on smuggling and thuggery than on legal contracts, but at some point, he’ll still want to come back and gather up whatever goods he can steal from the house, if only to fund his flight to the continent.”
“Chalmers has initiated legal proceedings,” Mr Aubrey said. “He’s passed on all of the relevant information to the trustees at Miss Thomas’s bank and to her father’s solicitor. It may yet stretch out in a court, but Sir Gareth won’t dare to appeal once a writ is issued for his arrest on charges of dragon-smuggling by the actual excise officers. Mr Parry and I have written a joint letter to the gentlemen in charge of His Majesty’s Royal Commission for the Licensing of Dragons, and the results of that should follow soon. Miss Thomas won’t take the blame for any of it, of course, but her uncle will soon become a wanted man ... only a bit later than we led him to believe, in order to meet his deadline.”
“Cunningly done, indeed.” Sir Toby beamed at his grandson. “I knew you could do it, lad. If you ever found the courage to venture out beyond the safe bounds of your hidey-hole, you’d find the wide world more appealing than you thought. Learning to enjoy the sunlight at long last, eh? I’ll wager you’ll see a good deal more of it from now on, with this lass by your side.”
Rose’s eyes widened with instant horror. “Oh, no, haven’t I made everything clear after all? Mr Aubrey has been a hero in every way, but as I told you, it was never any more than the pretence of a betrothal, and only for appearance’s sake. That was why he didn’t want to tell you, and what sent you here in such a hurry to save him, wasn’t it? You must have feared that I’d trapped him and he would find himself bound to a dowryless disaster.”
“Ahem,” said Mr Aubrey.
Rose forced a smile as she waved down whatever gentlemanly defence he was preparing to offer. “I promise that was never my intent. No matter what my aunt or uncle may tell you, there will be no insistence on a marriage. They may be deeply disappointed in my decision ...” She swallowed over the knot of that oncoming truth. “But even if I’m no longer welcome in their home, one of my sisters is shortly to be wed. I’m sure she and her husband would be willing to take me in until I find a greater purpose to my life.”
“If I may ...?” Mr Aubrey began.
His grandfather spoke over him, green eyes sharp. “A greater purpose, eh? So you think you can find a better husband than my grandson?”
“What?” Rose gaped at him. “Sir Toby, forgive me, but ... what utter rubbish!”
Mr Aubrey sighed heavily, but his grandfather let out another loud crack of laughter. “Rubbish, eh? What makes you think that I’m not right? I know my grandson if anyone does – certainly better than either of his dizzy-headed parents – and I can tell you, he’ll never take the notion to squire a pretty lass like you to the sort of balls you might enjoy or help you rise any higher in society. Why, you couldn’t even rely on him to recall your birthday. Quite a dull sort, really, with his nose always buried in one book or another. He’s more likely to forget even to come to supper because he’s lost himself in reading or—”
“Then I’d bring supper to him,” Rose said fiercely, “because I respect the important work he does, and I beg your pardon, sir, but perhaps you don’t know your grandson as well as you imagine. I have never in my life met a gentleman so deeply principled, so kind, so—so interesting, in every possible way! If there was ever a man a lady could put her faith in – not to recall tiny, insignificant details like dates or names, but in all the deeper ways that truly matter – it would be your grandson.” She recalled the moment he had promised never to keep secrets from her again, and her eyes stung with sudden, helpless tears.
Mr Aubrey would never wager away his family’s future without giving his wife any say in that decision – and if Rose knew one thing for certain after the events of the past week, it was that he would be the steadiest support any lady could ask for whenever life’s inevitable catastrophes did arrive.
“No one would make a better husband than your grandson,” she finished, voice tight, and blinked ferociously to hold back telltale tears.
When her vision finally cleared, she found Sir Toby studying her with a mischievous smirk on his face. “Well, in that case, lass, why not do us all a favour and marry him yourself?”
Rose couldn’t speak. She only gaped in disbelief.
But Mr Aubrey surged to his feet in a sudden, impatient motion. “Enough! This is why I didn’t want the news spread to you in the first place, Grandfather. I knew you’d get overexcited and try to take over. I told you I had it all in hand, didn’t I?”
Sir Toby waved his walking stick dismissively. “So you say, lad, but just look at the girl now – she’s ready to give you up at a moment’s notice! Do you really want to let her slip out of your grasp so easily? I’m telling you ...”
But as Rose could have told him, his grandson could only be pushed so far. There was a hidden core of steel beneath Mr Aubrey’s gentle demeanour, and it sounded in his voice now.
“What I should like is the opportunity to have a word in private with my fiancé now that all crises are past, without anyone else speaking for me. Do you think you might be kind enough to grant me that much?”
“Oh, very well, if you insist.” Shaking his head dolefully, Sir Toby pushed himself to his feet with the aid of his walking stick, waving away Rose’s attempt to offer help. “No, no, I have this, lass. I’ll just go and find your aunt and uncle, shall I? I’ll wager we can have quite an interesting conversation, now that I have all the facts.”
Whistling under his breath, he strode briskly from the room, his walking stick cheerfully tapping an accompaniment to his passage.
The moment the door fell shut behind him, Rose’s silence broke. “I am so very sorry,” she said urgently. “I never meant for you to be put into such an uncomfortable and unjust position. I’ll speak to my aunt and uncle tonight and make it clear that no matter what they or your grandfather think—”
“May I have my own chance to speak first? Finally?” Mr Aubrey’s tone was mild, but his gaze was unbending.
Pressing her lips together, Rose nodded. She had to clasp her hands together to hold herself back as he shifted to sit on the sofa beside her, where his grandfather had perched only a moment earlier.
She wanted, hopelessly but undeniably, to fling herself into the comfort of his arms and weep. Instead, she sat ramrod straight. Plenty of time for weeping later, when he’s gone.
“Do you recall,” Mr Aubrey said, “how I asked you, a few days ago, when you would ever consider yourself worth defending?” His long fingers rapped an impatient rhythm against his knee. Unmistakable irritation sounded in his voice.
Caught off guard, Rose blinked up at him. “What has that to do with anything?”
