"I ran into Mr. Browning at Kew Gardens."
A resonant silence fell, the significance of which only Silas and Helena seemed to understand.
"Ah."
Fenella was close enough to feel his tension.
Helena's gaze sharpened on his face. "He said he'd invited you on the camellia collecting expedition to China next year, but you'd said no."
For once, there was no hint of humor in Silas's face. "London offers too much entertainment for me to forsake it at present."
"Really, Silas? That's hard to believe. Ever since you were a boy, you've talked about hunting new plants in the East and how you'd devote your life to exploration and discovery."
"Well, priorities change when one grows up," he said with unaccustomed brusqueness. "My colleagues at the Horticultural Society will have to manage without me while they grub around beside the Yellow River for pretty little flowers. I find this subject tedious in the extreme. Let's go back to interrogating Fenella about her new beau."
"No, please," Fenella said fervently.
"Silas, do you really want to go?" Caro moved around the sofa until she could see his face.
"I don't want to leave you, my darling." He smiled, but Fenella saw it was an effort. "It's no sacrifice to stay."
"But this is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Caro said urgently.
"It's a pity they don't take ladies on scientific expeditions," Fenella said.
Helena's lips curled in a sardonic smile as she continued to study her brother. "But this expedition is different. It's a diplomatic mission as much as a plant hunt. Mr. Browning is taking his wife. So are Sir Richard Bentley and Lord Parrish."
Caro brightened. "Silas, you know I've longed to travel. Perhaps we could…"
His expression closed, and he suddenly looked much older than the lighthearted man Fenella thought she knew. "I've said I won't go, Caro. If you like, I'll take you to Italy after Christmas. That will placate your yen for adventure."
Caro stared at him with dismay. "Ladies can go, but only if they're wives. You're not taking up this wonderful chance to see China because you can't take your mistress." She stopped, her mind clearly making connections. "Of course you can't. If it's officially sanctioned, you'd create an international scandal if you turned up with your doxy in tow."
Fenella's protesting "Caro" clashed with Silas's savage "You're not my doxy." He leaped to his feet. "If you don't mind, this isn't a discussion I want to have before witnesses." He shot his sister a savage glare that made Fenella wince in sympathy. "Congratulations, Hel. You wanted to cause trouble and you've succeeded."
Helena remained stalwart under his blistering anger. "You know, Silas, if you and Caro married, you could be off to Peking tomorrow, and nobody would raise an eyebrow."
"Marriage isn't for us," he said in a stilted voice, although his eyes continued to threaten murder.
Helena clicked her tongue with disapproval. "For shame, to trifle with a lady's feelings and reputation."
"Helena…" he said on a growl of warning.
Caro straightened, her face drawn with misery. "It's my fault we're not married. You all know that. I swore I'd never take another husband."
Helena made an impatient noise. "Why on earth not? Freddie was undoubtedly a blockhead. So what? You and my brother are in love, and my brother isn't a blockhead—most of the time."
"Thank you, dear sister," he bit out.
She sighed. "Well, it's stupid. Just because Caro's a coward, you're going to miss out on fulfilling a dream. Even more asinine, it's Caro's dream, too. She always said she wanted to see the world and break out of her old, stale, dull life. A trip to China does that in spades."
Silas extended his hand to Caro. "Come, my love. I'll take you home."
Caro didn't shift, and Fenella who knew her so well, read the battle going on inside her. It was a battle she understood much better since she'd met Anthony and discovered she, too, was trapped between the past and a beckoning, risky future.
"Helena's right, you know," Caro said slowly.
"Why would I want China when I have you?" Silas asked with a fair approximation of his usual good nature.