other, can we not find our way through the rest?”
“Perhaps.” It took all her will to resist him. “Let us talk again after you meet this man and learn more about him.”
“I want ye to be there as well.”
Her heart twisted. He needs me. “But how will we explain my presence?”
“I don’t need to explain to anyone.” Turning, his eyes burned through the space that separated them, scorching her heart. “Say ye will come.”
Nora nodded. “Yes. I will come.”
* * *
After a night of fitful sleep, Lennox awoke before dawn to find a message from the Duke of Aylesbury peeking under his door.
My friend will join us in the garden at nine o’clock this morning. Sandhurst.
Suddenly Lennox could not bear to stay indoors another moment. He dressed quickly and went outside, walking away from the Thames and into the heart of the city. The grand manor houses of the Strand gave way to twisting streets crowded with carts and horses, shouting vendors, and half-timbered shops, taverns, and chapels. And everywhere he looked, people stared back, clearly intrigued by his Highland garb. As he drew near the Fleet River, the stink of summer filled his nostrils, and Lennox found himself longing for the fresh, misty air of Skye.
By the time he found his way back to Weston House, it was nearly nine o’clock. The sky was hazy on this warm morning, and, in the distance, the River Thames was dotted with wherries and the white sails of tilt-boats. A tall, broad-shouldered figure waved at him from the knot garden that spread between Weston House and the water. Lennox had imagined he might go inside and wash up, but it seemed he’d run out of time.
Sandhurst, looking elegant yet relaxed in a buff doublet, walked forward to meet him. “I rather feared you’d changed your mind,” he said with a trace of irony.
“Nay. My only intention was to explore London for a bit, not run away.” Lennox didn’t know how to explain that setting off on a solitary journey had always been his solution to life’s thornier challenges. “I felt the need to clear my head.”
“That’s understandable.” Sandhurst gestured toward a small table and chairs in a shady corner of the garden. “I thought we might sit outside, away from the bustle of the household.”
“I very much want Nora to join us for this meeting,” Lennox said. “Will you excuse me for a moment?” Without waiting for Sandhurst to reply, he went up the steps to the manor house. To his relief, Nora was standing in the hall, under a portrait of Cicely that dominated the far wall. Nora looked so lovely, slim and straight in her favorite simple gown of blue silk, her lustrous coppery locks set off by a French hood edged with pearls. When she looked at him, her eyes were tender.
“Ye are here,” he said.
“I am.”
“Thank God ye are better at following a schedule than I am,” Lennox said, longing to take her in his arms. “I will confess that, after struggling to reach this day, I now dread it.”
“All will be well.” Nora reached up to touch his cheek. “I can feel it.”
As they went back outside to the gardens, Lennox stopped at the sight of a fine barge gliding up to steps that led down to the Thames. “Ach,” he muttered.
Sandhurst was waiting for them at the edge of the gardens. No doubt he was perplexed by Nora’s presence but was too fine a gentleman to say so. “Good morning, Nora. It’s nice to see you,” he said kindly. “Excuse me, won’t you? I will welcome our guest.”
Lennox was grateful for Nora’s calming presence at his side. Together they walked toward the table, where servants had laid out a bowl of cherries and a plate of cheeses, ham, and savory buns. He had never felt less like eating.
An older man was disembarking from the barge, accompanied by a stocky servant wearing livery of gold velvet. Lennox stared as Sandhurst went forward to greet his friend, and as soon as they started to walk up the lawn, he knew that the man was indeed his father.
“It’s him.”
“Yes.” Nora was nodding soberly. “Without a doubt.”
Chapter 22
The man who was walking toward them was so much like Lennox that Nora felt a shiver run down her spine. He held his head slightly cocked to one side as Lennox did when he was assessing a situation. He was the same height and moved like Lennox, if perhaps a bit more