This was true. The Duke’s coats were made by Hawkes or Weston, and it showed, even if he did not display them to any great advantage. In the end he resorted to borrowing a couple of Matthew’s older coats, noting with satisfaction that they were a touch large for him and rather worn. He looked wonderfully ordinary. Waters wrung his hands in the background as the Duke admired his nondescript appearance in a full-length glass, and left in a huff when he expressed his intent of wearing his Wellington boots, which were informal and comfortable and had always grated on his valet’s soul. All his linen was of the first quality but hopefully that would not be as obvious as coats were: he took just a few changes, intending to buy more and plainer items, along with toiletries and so on, because everything he had was embroidered or embossed with the Severn crest. He also appropriated aPaterson’s British Itineraryand a copy ofThe Traveller’s Oraclethat belonged to Matthew, on the grounds that his need was greater.
As he put his luggage together, realising there was an art to packing and wondering whether Waters was too offended to help, his uncle came in.
‘You cannot be going ahead with this, Severn.’
‘It is a wager.’
This ought to be a clincher to a man of Lord Hugo’sgeneration, but he shook his head. ‘It is a nonsensical wager. I shall tell Leo to retract.’
‘I beg you will do no such thing. I shall come to no harm, and it will be an interesting experience. And it is my choice. I am above the age of majority after all.’
He said it with a smile, but he’d had to make similar reminders too many times over the last year. If he was of Lord Hugo or Leo’s temperament he might have saidHow many times must I tell you?orWill you remember my place and yours!He could not imagine saying such a thing to his uncle, and so the comments never stopped.
Lord Hugo snorted. ‘You are your own master, but you are also Severn, and I wish you would consider your position. This is cursed rash behaviour. You will find it extraordinarily uncomfortable, hobnobbing with the scaff and raff, and sleeping in damp bedsheets. I have no doubt you will catch a chill. And the vile sustenance available at ordinaries will not agree with you. It is very well for the common sort, but I repeat, you are Severn.’
‘It doesn’tsoundvery well for the common sort,’ the Duke remarked. ‘Should I not know the hardships my fellow men undergo, that I may strive to alleviate them?’
His uncle eyed him menacingly. ‘Don’t give me that Quakerish clap-trap. I see you are determined to be defiant.’
‘You mean, to carry out my intention?’
‘That’s what I said. Oh, curse it, boy, you have not the knowledge of the world of a child, and I am not easy in my mind. If anything happened to you, my brother’s son . . . He entrusted you to my care.’
‘Nobody could have fulfilled his request with more attention,’ the Duke said sincerely. He would, in fact, have been very happy with rather less attention. ‘But it is time I learnedto care for myself. I do not wish to be, as Leo said, held up by a scaffolding of service all my life.’
‘Nonsense,’ Lord Hugo said. ‘You are not anything of the kind.’
‘You don’t think Leo was right, sir?’ the Duke said hopefully.
‘Of course he was right; naturally you will not manage for yourself. I meant to say, you are quite wrong in your understanding of your position. The service, the attendance, all that – it is not a scaffolding. ItisSevern; that is the point. You cannot be Severn and live in a cottage on pease pudding. Your position must be filled.’
‘My position is filled, whether I like it or not.’
‘I should hope you like it, since you are the most fortunate man in England. I dare say it is hard that you had so little time to be Harmsford,’ Lord Hugo added, sounding slightly less brusque. ‘My brother died too early, and ermine is a heavy weight on young shoulders. You could have got all this independence out of the way if you had succeeded later on. But here we are, and you have your duty.’
‘I do have my duty,’ the Duke agreed. ‘And I am truly not going to live in a cottage on pease pudding. But I also have my wager, which I intend to win, so if there is nothing else, sir—’
Lord Hugo scowled. ‘And suppose you fail and people say Leo set you on to this recklessness? I did not coddle you for twenty years in order to have my son blamed when harm comes to you! Good Lord, it was bad enough when that young oaf persuaded you to climb the Great Oak. You might have been killed when you fell, and the world would have called it his fault!’
‘I landed on him,’ the Duke pointed out. ‘I have alwayscounted it an act of great loyalty that he broke my fall, especially since I broke his arm.’
It had no effect, nor had he expected any. Lord Hugo had always taken his responsibility for his orphaned nephew stiflingly seriously. The Duke sighed. ‘Uncle, I proposed the wager and Leo can hardly be blamed for taking me up on it. I am looking forward to my adventure and I shall come to no harm. This is a civilised country under the rule of law. Pray do not fret.’
‘I do notfret,’ Lord Hugo said indignantly. ‘If I am concerned, it is because I have more regard for your rank and station and safety than you seem to.’
The Duke let that pass. ‘I will – no, I can’t write to you here, in case anyone should observe the superscription. But I shall think of you, and send at once upon my re-emergence into Polite Society.’
‘You are a feckless young fool,’ Lord Hugo told him, surrendering without grace. ‘And you will take a goodly sum with you – a hundred pounds at least – and the address of your bank, and your card-case . . .’
He finally departed, still muttering, and the Duke had about five minutes’ peace to go over his immediate plans before Leo came in.
‘If you’re on a mission from Uncle Hugo, go away,’ the Duke told him. ‘I shall not withdraw from my wager, or let you do so.’
‘He did tell me to,’ Leo admitted cheerfully. ‘I told him I thought this lark would do you the world of good. I shan’t enquire as towhyyou so badly want a month unsupervised, dear coz, but merely extend my good wishes in your endeavours.’
The Duke’s eyes flew to his face. Leo grinned, a littlesheepishly. ‘It occurred to me this morning that you might have taken the opportunity of my foul temper to carve yourself a little freedom, and I don’t blame you: in your shoes I’d have run mad years ago. Just come back safely, or my father will never forgive me. Sev?’
‘Mmm?’
