His fingers dipped into his pocket and touched the ribbon nestled there. Leaving Elizabeth behind was going to be harder than he expected and the knowledge that she’d soon be traveling in the opposite direction sat ill with him. He feared he would await the first news of her successful journey and new life very anxiously. A circumstance that he’d never considered possible when they’d begun their affair.
Leopold snapped his fingers before Oliver’s face, breaking him from his thoughts. “I said why are you packing a book on America?”
“I hadn’t finished reading it,” Oliver answered as he swung the satchel over his shoulder and looked about him to check that he hadn’t forgotten anything he needed. After weeks of planning, he couldn’t imagine what might be mislaid but it paid to be vigilant.
“But you are not going to America, are you?” Leopold argued. “Surely your journey will not take you away for even longer.”
Leopold was still against his leaving and had not stopped arguing his case since he’d arrived. Oliver set his hand to Leopold’s shoulder and met his brother’s troubled gaze. “I will be back the moment I want to be.”
Leopold’s shoulder rose beneath his hand as he took a deep breath. “And where the devil were you last evening? I searched the abbey and couldn’t find you. No one could.”
A sliver of disappointment filled him at the idea that he was being hounded as if he were a small boy with no sense or freedom. He didn’t want his brothers keeping a close watch on his activities. They might discover he’d spent one last glorious night in Elizabeth’s bed and spoil everything that existed between them. “Can a man not have a moment of privacy without your whining? Stop being so difficult. It’s tiresome. Are we to argue, shouting through the carriage windows, as I’m leaving the estate, too?”
Leopold frowned. “You don’t know what it’s like beyond England’s borders. You could die and I’d never know where your body fell.”
Dear God in heaven. Not this again. Leopold was growing repetitive in his arguments. “I’m sure you already thought me dead before Tobias found me,” Oliver observed, struggling not to snap at Leopold’s ridiculous sentimentality. “People die every day, near or far away from loved ones. I will not live out my life in swaddling clothes according to your will. There is too much to see and do yet. I’d rather be dead than idle.”
Leopold’s face drained of color. “I never believed you dead. I always had hope.” He thrust his hand in his pocket and removed some papers. When he held them out to Oliver, his hand shook. “I took every avenue possible to find you. I even drew these in the hope that someone might recognize you as you are today.”
Oliver studied them in silence. His brother possessed a good hand at sketching and his attempts to draw them as they might be as older individuals were not without some success. His drawing wasn’t completely inaccurate, but he didn’t have a receding hairline and rather unflattering bags beneath his eyes like this. He returned them to his brother. “Then find your hope again and cling to it. I will be fine and return or write whenever I can.” Oliver gestured to George, who’d huddled by the window watching his preparations glumly, to come to him. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have farewells to make and a ship to meet in Portsmouth.”
He pushed George toward the doorway, ushered his brother out, and closed the doors behind him. “Keep out of my possessions. I will be back for them and will know if anything has been removed.”
“Oh, fine. Go. Just don’t think I’m going to stand on the front steps and wave a tearful goodbye,” Leopold said, weariness etched into every word. He slumped in
to the first chair they came to and didn’t appear willing to take a step farther.
Oliver handed his satchel to George and returned to Leopold. He leaned down and awkwardly hugged his brother around his shoulders. “I’ll be home before you know it, and I promise I will write often.”
Oliver turned away as his eyes watered. Foolish emotions like tears were an inevitable encumbrance at the beginning of any adventure and the sadness would pass in due time. He and George hurried for the stairs and the waiting small crowd below. Her Grace came forward first and embraced him without a word.
Blythe was next. “Be very careful, sir. Tobias didn’t risk his own neck just to hear of you in peril abroad.”
Oliver gave her a quick squeeze. “I will. Keep yourself well and him out of trouble if you can.”
When he came to Elizabeth, Oliver’s heart thudded and he didn’t know what to do. Nodding seemed an inappropriate farewell for a lover, especially one so tempting.
Elizabeth stuck out her hand. “Goodbye, Mr. Randall. I wish you smooth sailing and many wonders for your starved eyes.”
Oliver took her hand in his, noting the cold clamminess of her skin and the slight tremble that flowed through her. He stepped closer, tightening his grip to instill his warmth. “Farewell, Elizabeth. Take care of yourself and that clever boy of yours.”
He released her hand slowly, imprinting the moment on his memory. Her eyes grew glassy and he turned away rather than have his last sight of her be one of tears. She cried too much.
He turned for the front door and stepped into the light, eagerly striding down the stairs on his way to the carriage. Tobias waited beside the open door, his eyes downcast. Oliver tossed his satchel into the carriage and embraced his younger brother. “Thank you for saving me so I might have this adventure.”
Tobias tightened his grip. “Just don’t get into trouble this time. Save yourself rather than waiting for me to do the hard work.”
“You can be sure I will. I’m not as completely helpless as you all like to make out. I did spend ten years holding my own against a largely unstable element among the inmates. I’ve a trick or two up my sleeve for when I want to have my way. You merely caught me at a bad time. Besides, how do you think Rosemary learned to fight if not from one of us? I assure you, it wasn’t Leopold who taught her.”
Understanding dawned in Tobias eyes and he actually began to chuckle. “You sly old devil. I always thought Rosemary had been born with those skills. Leopold’s convinced you’re bound for trouble.”
He thumped Tobias’s shoulder. “Leave off the old bit. I’ll see you in a while.”
He glanced down at George and rolled his eyes. “Family. They always fret no matter how much you tell them not to.”
George wrapped himself around Oliver tightly. “Goodbye, sir. Don’t forget us.”
A lump formed in his throat as he returned the embrace. “Never, lad. Mind your mother and make her proud.”