But I must ask. What are your plans for the governess? Why insist on a tour?”
Jerome shrugged. “I realized that I’ll never find what we’re seeking in this fortress without help.”
“Interesting that you chose the governess rather than the housekeeper or the girl,” Vaughn said, crossing his arms over his embroidered waistcoat. “I thought you considered Miss Walcott the enemy.”
“I find it less likely by the hour. However, if she is the enemy, it is in our best interest to keep her close, to learn her secrets. And if, as I suspect, she had no part in creating this mess of a will, she’d make an excellent ally.”
“Perhaps,” Vaughn allowed. “But it was obvious tonight that our cousin has no guile in her. You’d be more likely to learn the truth from her with greater ease.”
“Somehow I doubt that. Samantha is obviously too innocent to know anything useful. And the staff might have taken exception to my questions. Miss Walcott, as a governess, will be used to questions, and our uncle may very well have confided in her. Besides, she implied earlier that she came to this position from somewhere more impressive. Perhaps she knows more about Samantha’s mother.”
Vaughn shook his head, but he let the matter drop. However, the way his cousin looked at him told Jerome that Vaughn knew exactly how feeble Jerome’s excuses sounded.
Adele woke early the next morning. Normally she’d have spent an hour in the library dealing with business before waking her charge. An estate the size of Dallsten Manor generally boasted a steward to manage things, but Lord Everard had never found time to hire one. In fact, Adele wondered at moments whether he preferred that fewer people knew about the manor. Regardless, like so many other things, the duty of management had fallen to Adele. Yet surely that duty was Jerome Everard’s now, and she doubted he’d need her help. Besides, she didn’t particularly want to remind him about that tour.
So, Adele asked Maisy to bring breakfast to her and Samantha in the schoolroom. Then she woke her charge early, helped her dress and marched her straight down the corridor, intent on reaching the safety of the schoolroom before anyone else was even awake and stirring.
Ahead of them, a man exited one of the bedchambers and started down the corridor. Adele stiffened. Even from the back, she quickly recognized the platinum hair and the confident walk.
Beside her, Samantha gasped. “Papa!” She was dashing down the corridor before Adele could stop her. Heart hurting, Adele hurried after her, catching up with her just as Vaughn Everard turned, and Samantha skidded to a stop.
Dressed in a forest green coat, his sword causing one of the long coattails to flare, he swept them a bow, one hand behind his back, the other outstretched to the side. “Cousin Samantha,” he greeted her as he straightened. “Were you looking for me?”
Samantha shook her head, gaze on the floor, and Adele was certain the girl was fighting tears. Samantha must have hoped they’d all been wrong when she’d seen her cousin down the corridor, anything if that meant her father was still alive. Adele started to lay a hand on the girl’s shoulder in comfort, but Vaughn shook his head as if to suggest another approach.
“It’s all right to cry, you know,” he said softly to Samantha. “Someone should grieve his loss.”
How kind. Adele offered him a smile, which he returned briefly before bending his head to look at his cousin again.
Samantha nodded, raising her gaze to meet his. “Do you?”
“Assuredly. Uncle was like spice to me. Without him, I find life rather bland.”
Adele could imagine that. When her father had died, she’d felt as if the light had left her world for a while. But she’d found another Light. Gratefulness welled inside her. But it would take time, Adele knew, for Samantha to reach that point in her grief.
“Your father is still alive,” Samantha pointed out to Vaughn.
“He is,” Vaughn agreed, “but he is also very bland. He cares only for his books and his studies. Sometimes I wonder how he managed to woo a beautiful, sought-after actress.”
“Or a gypsy princess,” Samantha said, her lips curving.
Adele and Vaughn both returned her smile.
“Ah, but that was a different father,” he said, “one who understood the lure of the exotic, who was willing to brave the call of adventure. Someone more like me, or Uncle.”
Was Jerome also one to brave the call? Did beauty and position matter as much to him? Was he just as willing to run off with an actress or an heiress? Or a governess?
“Was my father so adventurous?” Samantha asked. “He never seemed particularly so to me.”
Vaughn’s chin wiggled back and forth, as if he were chewing on his thoughts before sharing them. “Perhaps,” he said at last, “children never see the spirit of adventure in their own parents.”
Samantha put her hands on the hips of her sprigged muslin gown. “Well, if he wasn’t adventurous, how did he die so suddenly?”
“Samantha,” Adele chided, with a quick warning glance at Vaughn, as well. “Your eldest cousin said this was not a topic for discussion.”
To her surprise, the swordsman agreed. “Your father never told you anything about his life in London, so obviously he thought there were some things you shouldn’t know.”
Adele recognized the look in Samantha’s eyes as the girl raised her chin. “I’m certain he would have told me sooner or later. Perhaps he was waiting until I was old enough. You’ve no right to keep it from me.”
“That is quite enough, miss,” Adele said. “I suggest you apologize to your cousin.”
Samantha’s dark eyes filled with tears once more, and she thrust out her lower lip just the slightest, even as her lashes fluttered. “I’m so sorry if I offended you, Cousin Vaughn.”
Adele nodded, satisfied, but her charge wasn’t finished.
“I loved my father so much,” she murmured, and she did not even glance at Adele before continuing. “I must know how he spent his last moments. Won’t you tell me, please?”
“Samantha Everard!” What was the girl thinking, to behave so boldly?
But Vaughn didn’t seem to mind. He merely chuckled. “Oh, you’re an Everard all right. Uncle must have delighted in you.”
“Mr. Everard, I must ask you not to answer that request,” Adele said, trying to recover her proper governess’s voice.
He didn’t seem to be listening to her any more than Samantha was. He leaned closer to her charge and lowered his head until they was nearly nose to nose. Adele braced herself for his answer. When he spoke, his voice was no more than a whisper.
“There we stood, Uncle and I, as the enemy drew closer. We knew we’d have no rescue that day. We’d seen our comrades fall one by one, friends he’d had for years, boys I’d known since childhood.
“‘Stay with me, lad,’ he said. ‘I’ve been through worse, and
