did you come?” Aunt Tabetha asked with a sniff.
“Because he asked me to.”
Colin scowled. “He really did send for you, too?”
They were circling like vultures, Dan thought with distaste, and some unease, for it seemed the old man, who’d always seemed indomitable to the point of indestructible, could indeed be on the way out. Or else, he wanted them all to think that. Old Baron Miserly was a master manipulator.
The door opened once more. Waits, the baron’s valet, who was even older than Griffin, entered and bowed.
“His lordship requests Mr. Stewart’s company.”
Daniel took a last mouthful of coffee and stood, picking up his toast to eat on the way. “I don’t imagine he put it quite like that,” he said wryly, remembering to bow briefly to his aunts. “Bring me that wastrel now! seems more likely.”
Waits permitted himself a faint smile. “I cannot remember his lordship’s precise words, sir.”
“Yes, you can,” Dan said, following him from the room. Actually, he was glad to see Waits, who was likelier to have sensible information about the old man. “How is he, Waits?”
“He’s been sinking,” Waits admitted. “Seemed certain he was going to die.”
“Is that why he sent for us all?”
“I believe so. But having done so, he appeared to rally.”
“Probably at the thought of us all at each other’s throats,” Dan observed.
An unidentifiable sound escaped Waits’s throat. “I could not say, sir. I will say the fact that you did not come agitated him.”
Dan cast the old valet a twisted smile. “I told him I wouldn’t come back without my mother.”
“And yet, here you are,” Waits observed.
Dan sighed. “Here I am. Wondering if blood is indeed thicker than water, or at least more powerful than common sense.”
Waits was wheezing by the time they reached the top of the staircase, and Dan reflected it was just like his grandfather to send the old man all the way down for him, rather than have a sprier footman or maid carry the message. Dan curbed his impatience and his stride to allow Waits a slow walk along the winding passage to his lordship’s rooms.
There was an antechamber, where once Lord Myerly had dealt with barbers, tailors, doctors, and anyone else he chose to summon to his presence. Dan’s unease increased to see the old man was not in his chair by the fireplace. Waits led him through to the bedchamber.
It was faintly musty and gloomy since just one shutter had been opened a crack. Dan was sure the old man had only allowed in that much light to save on candles. The curtains of the huge bed were open, and Lord Myerly sat propped up on a fine array of pillows. He looked tiny, causing an uncomfortable twinge in Dan’s heart. He really wasn’t well.
“You came,” his lordship observed in a shaky but still somehow gloating tone.
“Only for your money,” Dan said, staring down at the old man.
“So now you’ll accept my conditions for making you my heir?”
“Lord, no. Just give my mother a livable allowance, and I’ll get out of your hair for good. You can leave the rest of your money where you like.”
“Why, thank you,” mocked the old man. “I’ll bear that in mind. So, you’ve said your piece. You can go now.”
“Thanks,” Dan said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong with you, apart from spleen?”
“I’m old. I’m dying. I’m allowed to be grumpy.”
“You were born grumpy.”
“And you were born insolent! What do you mean crashing into my house with some kind of monster?”
“I thought he’d amuse you. Shall I bring him up?”
The old man’s eyes gleamed.
“Don’t send poor old Waits,” Dan begged. “Send a footman.”
His grandfather flicked a glance at Waits, who inclined his head and headed to the door.
“If they’re frightened of the dog, tell them just to open the door,” Dan advised. “He’ll run straight up here—providing the dining room door is firmly shut.”
“So,” his grandfather asked, fixing him with a suddenly piercing stare, “what have you done since I last saw you two—three?—years ago?”
“I lost at cards,” Dan replied. “Won at dice. Then lost again.”
“I heard you seduced a cit’s daughter.”
“Well, I didn’t, and I’m surprised you pay attention to such vulgar gossip.”
“Why did you lose your position, then?” the old man demanded. “You must have done something to the girl.”
“I never touched her. Why would I do anything so stupid?”
“Like father, like son,” the old man mocked. “He went in for a bit of seduction, too.”
“Actually, he went in for a bit of marriage,”