Toby wasn’t fooled. Bruno would do anything not to be left behind.
“Evelyn!”
The little girl turned and saw her father holding out his hand to her. She flung Toby a last smile and skipped up the path to grasp her father’s hand. Fellows drew the three children back to the porch, where a chair had been set for him to rest.
Toby saw Fellows gather the children to him and looked away. The pathos of the moment was inexorably building.
Diana, dressed for traveling in gray skirts and matching jacket-coat, bustled out of the house, carrying a hamper of fruit and cakes that the cook had thrown together at short notice. Toby stepped back from the coach doorway, surveying the street and park again while Diana handed the hamper to Helga and leant inside the coach to confer with the experienced maid.
When she stepped back, her gaze went to the small gathering on the porch. From her expression, she was as sensitive to the moment as Toby was.
He followed her gaze and saw Fellows speaking earnestly to the children, patently seeking to reassure them even while saying goodbye for what Roland, at least, seemed to understand would be the last time.
Toby felt something in his chest constrict as he saw the older boy solemnly nod as if accepting a commission from his father. Without consciously deciding to do so, Toby found himself making a silent vow to do all he could to help the three children deal with what was to come.
He was a trifle shaken by how powerfully that vow resonated inside him.
Seeking distraction, he looked at Diana and saw her throw off her own sadness, shaking it aside as she drew her gaze from the porch and plunged back into her self-appointed role of chief organizer.
Despite the weariness and sadness in her eyes, she’d been tireless in marshaling the household to satisfy his wish to leave at first light.
He had already thought of her as being like his sister Pru, and with her innate bossiness, she was demonstrating the accuracy of that comparison. Luckily, her liking for being in control didn’t bother him; he’d been dealing with Pru—working around her—all his life. And in this situation, having a bossy chief organizer was proving critically helpful in getting them underway.
Diana did her damnedest to keep her thoughts fixed on the practical aspects of packing the coach and leaving. She and Adrian had woken the children at an early hour, and she’d done her best to reassure all three with the straightforward explanation that she and Adrian had agreed on to account for the sudden journey, namely that she and Toby had to leave for England today and had agreed to assist Adrian by taking the children with them.
She’d got the children moving by regaling them with vague tales of the adventures that might befall them during the journey. Evelyn was delighted, her attention caught, as was Bryce’s, but at nine years old, Roland was harder to distract.
Diana had stood beside Adrian as he’d explained to the three that she and Toby would stand in Adrian’s stead throughout the journey and that he wanted them to trust and obey her and Toby as they would him. Bryce and Evelyn had no hesitation in agreeing, but Roland, she’d been sure, had understood the implications. His lower lip had quivered, but Adrian had taken Roland’s hand and pressed it, and his older son had swallowed his tears and agreed to look after his younger brother and sister.
And leave his dying father behind.
No such words were spoken, but for an instant, that understanding had shone in Roland’s eyes.
When Adrian had opened his arms to his children, Roland had hugged him tightest of all.
Finally, the last of the bags was secured on the roof, and Gunter dropped onto the box seat and picked up the reins.
On the porch, Adrian stood and, ushering the children before him, slowly stepped down to the path and made his way to the coach.
Diana ruthlessly refused to let herself think about this being the last time she would see Adrian. The last time he would see his children and they, him. If she allowed the understanding to rise in her mind, her sorrow would drown her.
And she couldn’t afford to cry. For the children’s sakes, she couldn’t afford to let her mask of excited eagerness slip.
On reaching the pavement beside the coach, Adrian bent and, with an effort, hoisted Evelyn into his arms. He hugged her close, and smiling happily, she hugged him back.
“Goodbye, Papa!” She placed a smacking kiss on his cheek.
Adrian drew in a breath and looked at Diana.
Keeping the lid slammed on her own emotions, she smiled and reached for Evelyn. “Come along, miss. It’s time to get into the coach!”
“Yay!” With Rupert dangling from one hand, Evelyn went to Diana, leaving her father’s arms for the last time.
Diana gathered the little girl in and hugged her, then with Toby’s steadying hand beneath her elbow, she climbed into the coach.
Toby saw Diana settle the little girl by the window on the other side of Helga, who was ensconced in the middle of the rear-facing seat, and struggled to put the right face on, to find the right expression for a truly sad moment that simply had to be.
Before the carriage’s open door, Fellows bent and spoke with his sons.
