by Wendy Vella
Essie found a laugh. “I’m telling them you said that.”
His smile fell away, and the look that followed was suddenly serious, not something she usually saw on this brother.
“That is the first genuine smile I have had out of you today, sister, and it pleases me to see it.”
“Oh, there is much to plan now before we leave! Excuse me, brother, I have lists to write.”
“Again it is just you and I, Myrtle. But then, you always were my one true love.”
Essie was smiling as she left the room.
Essie drew her eyes from the passing scenery to look at her brother, who was lounging on the opposite seat. No easy feat when you were over six foot, but he always managed it. They had finally reached London, after many last-minute preparations.
“Mrs. Toots has assured me she will watch over my patients until I return, and Mrs. Beadle, Josiah, and Bertie know enough to help should they be needed,” Essie said as the carriages entered the outskirts of London. “My fear is—”
“Enough, sister!”
Essie’s eyes widened at Cam’s harsh words.
“God’s blood, Ess. I have watched you rush hither and yon doing what you feel must be done. I now know more than enough about every ailment of the residents of Crunston Cliff, and believe I could have done without picturing old Mrs. Lemon’s festering sores. Please, I beg of you, allow me some peace, so I may arrive in London in a pleasant humor.”
Essie poked out her tongue.
“I know you worry, and that is entirely natural, but Crunston Cliff survived without you when last you came to London, and it will survive now. Should there be an emergency then they will ride to the next village and get help there. Now have mercy on me, and shut your mouth.”
Essex huffed out a breath, then gave her brother a rueful smile.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Being my brother. Loving me, when I know sometimes I do not make that easy.”
His smile was gentle, and she wished others saw what she and the rest of their family did, the man with a big, generous heart.
“Compared to the rest of our family, my sweet, loving you was never difficult.”
She gulped down the tears.
“If you cry I may revise that opinion.”
She saw the changes in him that she had not taken the time to notice earlier due to her preoccupation with her patients. Cam had put on weight, but it suited him. His hair was still overlong and stood off his head in a tousled mass. He wore clothes effortlessly, like their elder brother, and Essie was relieved to see he did not have silly high collars and overly bright waistcoats. He was a handsome man, and she knew that he would be a wonderful husband one day.
“I love you,” she said softly.
“Love you right back.”
She took the hand he held out to her and squeezed it.
“Look at that silly animal.”
Myrtle was seated beside Essie, her head out the window, tongue hanging from the side of her mouth.
“The children will be pleased to see her.”
“Undoubtedly.”
Her eldest brother lived on the same street as their aunt and uncle, and James and Eden. People thought it odd that they were living that way, but it suited them. The youngest Sinclair siblings could flit between houses whenever they wanted to see a particular family member.
“You know that Dev and Lilly buying that huge house at the end of the street has made us even more peculiar in the eyes of society,” Cam said.
Essie shrugged. “We have always been different, Cam, and I don’t remember you caring what people thought of us before.”
He waved a hand about. “I don’t care, and I’m so highly regarded I could walk about wearing pink satin with feathers in my hair, and I would still be universally loved. I was merely alerting you to the facts.”
“You are not universally loved. Pitied, more likely.”
“Harsh, sister, but I understand that your hurtful words spring from the well of jealousy inside you.”
She was still laughing as the carriage drew to a halt, as she was sure was his plan. Cam did not like to see his family hurting in any way.
“Before we get out, Cam. I must ask you to promise not to mention this business with Max, as there is really nothing to it.”
“Of course, if that is your wish. After all, you know how much I love keeping secrets from Eden and Dev.”
“Idiot.”
“I’m sure my back has a permanent crick in it from several days of travel.” Cam arched as he stepped down.
“Essie, Cam, Myrtle!”
Looking up the large brick-fronted house, Essie saw the faces of her twin sisters. Aged ten, Somerset and Dorset were frantically waving down at them.
“Pull your heads back inside, you hoydens!” Cam scolded them. “You’ll bloody well fall and land on me if you lean out any further.”
They giggled and retreated.
“I see they are still shy and retiring,” Essie said, slipping an arm through Cam’s. She took Myrtle’s lead in the other.
“I don’t know how we shall present them in society when the time comes. Timid little dormice that they are,” he drawled.
Dev and Lilly’s house had needed a great deal of work to bring it up to scratch after they’d purchased it. Months later, it was now as they wanted it to be, an extension of the love they shared. The warmth of the house wrapped around them as Cam lead her upstairs, their feet sinking into patterned carpets. Walls were in peach and gold, and paintings of landscapes hung in shadowed alcoves.
“It’s so lovely, don’t you think, Cam?”
“It is, and suits the mighty Lord Sinclair.”
“He and Lilly are so happy now. It is so wonderful after the lives they both lived.”
“Aye, I cannot disagree with that, sister.”
“Essie!”
She caught her youngest brother, Warwickshire, when he ran at her. Bending, she hugged him close. He had grown, she realized with a pang of regret that she had not been here to witness it. Next came the twins, and they hugged her together, like they did everything
Arms around them, she followed Warwick into the room where the rest of her siblings waited. Myrtle was adding to the mayhem by barking and turning circles.
“Essie.” Devonshire Sinclair was the eldest of their clan, and had carried the weight of responsibility for them for many years after the death of their parents. Tall and broad shouldered, he had the Sinclair dark hair and stunning green eyes, and to Essie he was one of the most handsome men in England—alongside Cam. She pushed aside Max as he slipped into her head. He would never be anything to her now. In fact, she doubted she would ever see him again.
“Dev.” She leaned into him as his arms closed around her.
“What has happened?” He held her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes, as only an elder sibling who had known you since birth could do.
“Nothing, I am merely tired from traveling.”
The hand that cupped her cheek was warm and made her eyes close.
“No, there is more to this than fatigue, but I will not pursue the matter now. There will be time later.”
“There is nothing more. Now, let me tell you how lovely your house looks, and that I am so happy for you and Lilly, Dev. When is the baby due?”
He didn’t speak immediately, just lowered his head and kissed her forehead.
“I’m so pleased you are here.”
“As am I,” she managed to get out around the lump in her throat. “And I am sure I shall say this more than once. Please do not worry. Lilly is strong, and everything will be all right.”
Dev exhaled loudly. He was one of the strongest men she knew, until it came to his wife or family. Then he was irrational and fiercely protective.
“Will you tell her that she must rest and not overdo things, Essie?”
“Do not listen to him, Essie. I told him not to make you come to London, but of c
ourse my words were ignored.”
Lilliana Sinclair was a beauty. She had thick blonde hair, eyes the color of lavender, and she and Dev were the perfect match in every way. After turbulent beginnings, they had forged a bond that Essie knew would never break.
“Hello, Lilly, and please do not give it another thought, as I was coming to London anyway.”
The smile, if possible, made her more beautiful.
“You are glowing,” Essie said, tamping down the bite of jealousy. She would never carry a child, but she had no right to be bitter when those she loved did. “And I am very excited about one day soon meeting my niece or nephew.”
Nephew, Essie thought. Lilly carried a boy, but she kept that to herself.
“I am healthy as an ox, but still your brother worries.”
“That is what I am supposed to do, my love.” Dev slipped an arm around his wife’s waist and kissed the top of her head. “It is my job through the confinement, I believe.”
The love they shared was so strong, she felt it settle over the room.
“Excuse me while I see to refreshments.” As Lilly excused herself, Dev pulled Essie to his side.
“She seems in excellent health from what I could sense, Dev.”
“Does she?” The relief in his voice was clear for everyone to hear.
“I never thought you one for vapors, Dev. Are we to carry smelling salts for you too?” Cam drawled.
“I am not having vapors, brother, it is concern for my wife. One day you will know the difference.”
“Not for many years, is my fondest wish.” Cam’s eyes brushed over Essie. “This love business is far too painful for me. I will remain a self-centered, perfectly eligible, and may I add, highly sought bachelor for many years to come, thank you.”
“I can see the baby’s color.” Dev said the words quietly, so only Essie and Cam heard. Their younger siblings were playing cards at the table, loudly, like they did everything else.
“You can see the color already?” Cam whistled.
“It is my match,” Dev said, and Essie heard the wonder in his voice.
The Sinclairs were not like other people; they had heightened senses. Supposedly this anomaly came about centuries ago, and while Essie liked some aspects of her gift, she loathed being different from other people, and having to hide that fact.
Dev’s gift was sight. He could see things from great distance, and also at night. He also saw people in colors when he changed to his other sight. Eden had the gift of hearing, which was why she wore earplugs, as she could hear someone whisper from some distance away. Cam’s was smell, and Essie’s, taste. Each had other variations on that sense that had evolved over the years. Essie would sometimes taste fear or danger seconds before it happened. If she touched an expectant woman, she could tell they were carrying a babe and the sex of that child. The only sense they did not have was touch, but Lilly had that, and they knew this was why she was now wed to Dev.
“What am I to have, Ess?”
Essie smiled up at Dev. “That is for me to know only, brother.”
He laughed, a deep rumble of joy. “Very well.”
“She will bloody well tell me what I’m having!” Shortly after those words reached them, in through the door came the Duchess of Raven, formerly known as Eden Sinclair. Dark haired like all of them, Eden was the only sibling to have gray eyes. At her side walked her husband, the Duke of Raven. With Dev’s build, he had dark hair and brown eyes, and had once been a serious, conflicted man with little reason to smile. Eden had changed that.
“Eden!” Essie hurried to hug her sister. She felt the babe, and acknowledged her niece silently. “You too are glowing. Cannot one of you carry a greenish tinge and look off-color, like so many women in the early months of their pregnancies.”
“She has a greenish tinge in the morning for an hour, if that helps,” James said, kissing Essie’s cheek.
“Oh it does, immensely.”
Eden made a pffting sound, and took Essie by the shoulders as Dev had done. She inspected her thoroughly.
“What has happened?”
“Nothing has happened.” Essie smiled. “I am just weary from traveling.”
She watched her sister’s eyes lift over her head, and knew Eden shared a brief look with Dev and Cam.
“Lilly is approaching, and tea will arrive shortly,” Eden said, still studying her.
“Excellent, I’m famished.” Cam stepped to Essie’s side and accepted a hug from Eden.
“When are you not famished?”
“When I sleep.”
Essie left her siblings talking, and went to see Warwick, Somer and Dorrie, who were reacquainting themselves with Myrtle, who in turn was loving the attention. She did not like lying to her siblings, but in this she would stand firm. No one need know she had once again made a fool of herself over a man, and that this one she had only known for two days.
Chapter Nine
Essie had been in London two weeks before she decided to venture out alone. She had hoped the memory of Max and what they had shared would have eased by now, especially since she had left Oak’s Knoll, but it had not. In fact, she worried for him constantly. He had no money or home, and was staying she knew not where, and surely that would not help him heal. Was he even now lying somewhere, mad with fever?
She worried about infection, she worried that he had no one to love, and she hated that she worried. He was nothing to her. He had not even told her he was leaving for pity’s sake. That alone should be enough to force the man from her head. He had wanted nothing more to do with her.
She had spent the days since arriving in London with her family, reading and playing with her younger siblings, and venturing to the park that lay a five-minute walk from Dev and Lilly’s house to run Myrtle, or for a picnic. She had visited with her aunt and uncle and generally caught up on family news. For now, she had managed to avoid the questions about what had upset her, and for once Cam had held his counsel. She had no doubt he had done so under duress, as Eden and Dev would have questioned him relentlessly.
“I wish to replenish my medical supplies, Dev. May I use the carriage, please?”
“London is not a place for a young lady to travel about alone, Essie.”
They were seated at the breakfast table, Lilly, she, and Dev, and their three younger siblings.
“How fortuitous that I am not a young lady then, Devon.”
She watched his jaw clench briefly, while beside him Lilly gave her a wink, then continued to eat her eggs.
“You are my younger sister, and as such my responsibility.”
Dev had always taken his responsibilities as head of the family seriously.
“And yet I live in Oak’s Knoll without you. How on earth did I survive without my big brother watching over me?”
“You had Cam with you, two Hemples, and a maid,” he snapped.
Dev sat across from her, close enough to Lilly so he could touch her if he wanted. The three younger Sinclairs were engaged in consuming their food and insulting each other. Something of a Sinclair sibling tradition.
“Raise your head, Warwick, I have no wish to listen to you slurp your food directly from the plate.”
“Why must I, Dev, when there is no one to see?”
Warwick needed a haircut, Essie thought as his fringe fell over his eyes. Peas in a pod. The three little Sinclairs would grow up to look just like the older ones.
“We are here, and as we are the people who love you, I should think we are more important than anyone.”
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?” Dev questioned his little brother.
“Be telling one of us off, but notice when another is doing something you do not like?”
Lilly snuffled, and received a sharp look from her husband.
“Plenty of practice is how. Now lift your head.”
“Cam has arrived and is hungry,” Warwick said, hoping to distract his brother. “He said to tell someone to repleni
sh the food.”
“It wouldn’t matter how much food there was, he’d still need more,” Somer said.
“Uncle says he has hollow legs,” Dorrie added.
“Highly likely, girls, so I suggest you eat up before he arrives.”
“Yes, Dev,” they said in unison.
“If only every member of this family was as accommodating as you two,” he said, smiling at them.
“Universal adoration is not good for anyone, but most especially not you.”
“Hear, hear.” Lilly lifted her teacup to Essie.
“You are not leaving this house without one of us,” Dev continued with the dogged determination to remain on task that had always infuriated his siblings. He had a fiendishly good memory also, and never forgot a conversation. “The places you will go are not safe, therefore I will not allow it.”
“Dev,” Essie sighed. “I will have my maid and your carriage. Surely they will suffice?”
“God’s blood, my hunger is savage this morning.” Cam wandered in, yawning loudly after those ominous words. His lodgings were next door to their aunt and uncle, in a house gifted to him. He looked like an eligible young gentleman should, and Essie was sure if any unwed young ladies were present they would sigh at the sight he presented.
“Good morning, heathens,” he said, picking up the twins and kissing them loudly, which made them giggle. He ruffled Warwick’s hair. “Which Roman emperor was defeated at the Battle of Chrysopolis?” he threw at them as he made his way to the loaded sideboard.
Essie looked at Dorrie, Somer, and Warwick. Her siblings, like the elder Sinclairs, were sharp-witted and could hold a great deal of useless information in their heads. Challenging them was something she, Eden, Cam, and Dev did often, as boredom led to trouble. She knew this, as the elder Sinclairs had been no different.
“I know!” Lilly said.
“Licinius I, who reigned from 308 to 324,” Dorrie said quickly, before Lilly could beat her.
“He was executed by Constantine I,” Warwick added, with his mouth full of food.