He glanced up and found Marcus watching him with an odd expression. “What?”
“You’re sure you’re not in love with her?”
“No, of course not. Good God, Marcus, you grew up in the same house I did. Do you think I’d commit the folly of marrying for love?”
Marcus gave him a thoughtful look, then transferred his gaze to the scenery passing by. “I didn’t think it, no.”
Just over an hour later, Nash, Maddy, Lizzie, and the children set off for Firmin Court, leaving Marcus and his groom behind. It was rather a squash, three adults and five children in a chaise built for four, but it was also built for luxury, so was roomier than usual.
Nash would have ridden, but Marcus had put his foot down there, refusing to be marooned without transport. Nash could borrow one of Harry’s horses if he needed one, Marcus pointed out. Besides, Nash needed to watch out for Marcus’s new upholstery.
To Nash’s dismay, Mrs. Matheson had given the children a large midday meal and, with Marcus’s dire threats in his ears, Nash watched as Henry grew progressively quieter and paler with every bounce and jolt of the carriage. It was an extremely well-sprung carriage, but the road was rough and rutted.
Just as Nash was about to say something, Maddy said, “Are you feeling unwell, Henry?”
“I’m all right,” Henry mumbled. Nash wasn’t convinced.
“Henry always gets ill in carriages,” Jane told Nash.
“And on boats,” John added. “They’ll never let him in the navy if he gets seasick all the time.”
“I will too join the nav—” Henry turned almost green and clapped his hand over his mouth.
“Stop the carriage!” Nash roared and lifted the boy out of the carriage and onto the side of the road.
“Don’t worry,” he told Henry after the lad had rid himself of his meal. “Many quite distinguished naval officers suffer frommal de mer.” He gave Henry a handkerchief to wipe his mouth.
“Who?” Henry muttered skeptically. He was mortified.
“Admiral Lord Nelson, the late Hero of Trafalgar,” Nash told him. “Suffered from terrible seasickness his entire life.”
“Truly, sir?” Henry made to return the handkerchief. It was revolting.
“Throw it in the ditch,” Nash told him and, with an air of great daring, Henry did. “Admiral Nelson had a foolproof cure for seasickness, too.”
“What was it?”
Nash winked. “He used to tell people, ‘You’ll feel better if you sit under a tree.’ ”
It took Henry a moment to work it out, then he gave a wobbly grin. “It’s a very good joke, sir.”
“Good lad,” Nash said. “Now, I think you’ll find the movement easier if you’re up on the box with the driver. John, too,” he added, noticing John hanging out of the carriage window. “And perhaps, if you ask him nicely, Hawkins might show you how to hold the ribbons.” He glanced at the coachman who nodded.
“Happy to take the lads, sir,” Hawkins said. “Like old times with you and his lordship, it’ll be.”
“Hawkins taught me how to drive when I was a boy,” Nash explained to the boys as he helped them up.
“They’re in very reliable hands,” he told Maddy as he climbed into the carriage again. “It’s a fine day, and they’re well rugged up.”
“Thank you, it’s the perfect solution,” she agreed. “Henry is so ashamed of his weak stomach. Now he’ll be so excited about riding with the coachman, he won’t give it a thought.”
“What about the rest of the children? Do they suffer like Henry?” he asked. How many he could fit on the roof?
“No, only Henry. You’re very kind to be so concerned.”
Nash inclined his head modestly. He was more worried about Marcus’s upholstery but she didn’t need to know that. “Excellent.” He rapped on the roof for the carriage to continue and relaxed back against the very comfortable squabs.
With the crowding of the carriage ameliorated, the girls and Lizzie spread out and snuggled into the luxurious fur rugs provided. Soon their excitement wore off and they slept, lulled by the rocking of the carriage and the steady rhythm of the horses’ hooves. Lizzie slept, too. She’d been up before dawn, milking.
