this year. Once the Season starts—”
“I beg you not to speak of it. The mere idea of the Season throws me into deep melancholy.”
“You could just visit a brothel,” Kevin said. “Inappropriate, and uncomplicated. There are several that would celebrate your arrival as Uncle Frederick’s heir.”
Nicholas turned to Chase. “What do you say? We can show young Kevin here how it is done.”
Kevin smiled slowly. “I am always grateful for your concerns about my education.”
Chase smiled too, but his mind did not. He did not want to go to a brothel with Nicholas. A month ago, maybe. But not now. “I regret that I have a late appointment and can’t join you.”
Nicholas’s eyes lit. “Damnation, look at that smirk. He has already found his inappropriate woman.”
“Well, he does get around town a lot.”
“I do,” Chase said. “Both of you should try it. It is better than brooding.”
“I do not brood,” Nicholas said. “I worry. There is a marked difference. Yesterday I spent the day reading letters from men offering to be my head land steward for all the properties. I require a new one.”
“Any who seemed worthy?” Chase asked.
“Hell if I know.” Nicholas laughed. “How does a man who has never farmed know if another man is good at farming? I will have to rely on references, from other men who have never farmed.”
They were back to the will. Chase didn’t mind, although the hour respite had been welcomed.
“Will you be returning to France soon?” he asked Kevin.
Kevin shook his head. “The reason for being there has disappeared under current circumstances.”
“How so?” Nicholas asked, truly interested.
“It will bore you.”
“Not at all.”
Kevin leaned in. “You know that I have been developing a small piece of machinery that increases the pressure and velocity of steam put out by a steam engine.”
“I know it, but I’ve never understood it.”
“I found a man in France who has another piece of machinery that if matched with mine will refine the process. If you put them together it will be a device that every engine will have to have. It allows a far wider application of the engines. I was in France trying to convince this fellow to sell it to me, or at least sell me the right to use it. I spent weeks there, working on him, earning his trust. He finally named his price, but of course I can’t pay it.”
Kevin’s sharpness and tenacity impressed Chase. He had always been thorough in whatever he took on. Six years younger than Nicholas and four years younger than himself, at twenty-seven Kevin had long ago left his youthful friends to their pursuit of pleasure and embarked on a quest of sorts.
“How much does he want?” Chase asked.
“Eight thousand. It is worth far more. Especially to me, or anyone else who devises what I have. I came and asked Uncle Frederick, but—”
His expression suddenly lost its intensity. He swallowed the slip along with some ale.
When did you come back? Chase hoped he would not have to ask.
Silence slowly beat out time. Finally, Nicholas made a display of stretching and yawning and raking his hair. “Now, about those inappropriate women,” he began.
“No.” Kevin held up his hand. “You may as well know. It is bound to come out. Once I had that calibrator in my sights I hopped on a packet and came back. I met with Uncle Frederick. He was not convinced. He said I could have it created again here, for a fraction of the cost. That may be true, but what was saved in money would be lost in time. I had also made promises not to steal the design. Still, he would not agree. It was a disappointment to me, of course.”
“So you returned to France.”
Kevin nodded. “I hoped to salvage something of the arrangement. However, the price remains the same. It is just a matter of time before someone else finds him. He knows he has something of value.”
“When did you return from France that first time, to speak with Uncle?” Nicholas asked, sparing Chase the question.
“Three days before he died. I went to Melton Park when I learned he was not in town. I sent a note when I arrived and asked to meet him in the park.” He blinked hard. “We had a bit of a row out there among the naked trees. I started back to town that evening.”
“It is understandable that you did not share this widely,” Chase said. “It would be best if you continue not doing