LITMIR.BIZ

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care of the others. It was what he’d always done. How ironic that that particular talent would not be lavished on a family of his own. ‘You’ve done your duty splendidly this week, Ven. You can get tap-hackled to the gills now if you want. There’s no one to see, no one to judge.’ It would do Vennor good to get shamelessly drunk and let loose the emotions he’d kept on a tight rein since the news had come, but Eaton feared Vennor had other ideas.

      Vennor shook his head. ‘There’s too much to do. Father had important legislation in the House of Lords. It would be a shame to see it falter now. I will take up his seat as soon as it’s allowed. Until then, I mean to direct things from here so we don’t miss a step. It will be my tribute to him.’

      Eaton exchanged a worried look with Cassian. Going to work would only suppress the grief, ignoring it instead of dealing with it. Cassian leaned forward. ‘Why don’t you come to Cornwall with me and rusticate a bit in Truro? It’s what everyone expects and it will get those matchmaking mamas off your back for a while. As you said, there is a period of mourning to observe—it would be entirely natural if you didn’t take up the seat until next year.’

      ‘I expect it of me,’ Vennor cut in sharply. ‘Besides, there’s more than legislation to look after. If I am here, I can see justice done.’

      ‘Justice or revenge?’ Eaton questioned. In his opinion, Vennor needed distance from the crime if he was going to come to terms with his loss, not to immerse himself in it. ‘You needn’t interfere. The Watch will handle everything.’

      ‘And I will handle the Watch,’ Vennor answered firmly. ‘I will find my parents’ killers and bring them to justice.’

      Eaton’s gaze slipped unobtrusively around the circle gauging the group’s reaction. He wasn’t the only one concerned about Vennor’s course of action. The thugs who had mindlessly murdered Newlyn and the Duchess had left behind no clue. They might never be caught. He didn’t want Vennor disappointed. At what point did serving justice become an obsession? Would Vennor recognise that point when it arrived? How could he leave his friend alone to manage his grief, knowing that Vennor would obsess? Yet how could he stay away from Cornwall much longer? He had plans, too; his school, the musical conservatory, was set to open this autumn. His legacy was waiting. He’d not intended to stay in London long this year. He’d come up to town with the intention of supporting Marianne Treleven’s debut as a family friend, and then returning to Porth Karrek immediately. But it only took one look at Vennor’s face to make the decision to stay. His friend couldn’t be left on his own or he’d work himself into oblivion.

      ‘If that’s what you’re going to do, we’ll stay with you.’ Eaton scanned the group to see heads nodding in agreement. They would all put their plans on hold for their friend.

      ‘No, that’s not necessary,’ Vennor argued. ‘Eaton, your conservatory needs you. You cannot spare any more time away from home. I know what a sacrifice it would be for you, don’t tell me otherwise. My father would not approve. He supported your school and he’d not want it delayed on his account. You’ve devoted the last five months to preparing—you even cancelled your trip to Italy and I know how much that meant to you.’ Vennor shook his head. ‘I won’t have you throw it all over just to play nursemaid.’ He fixed Cassian with a stern look. ‘I won’t have you staying either. You can’t build your Cornish pleasure garden from London. Besides, your fathers will be here. I’ll hardly be alone.’

      It wasn’t the same, though, Eaton thought. When grief closed in, Vennor would want a friend his own age, not his father’s compatriots. Yet how like Vennor to think of others first. They all had their gifts and that was Vennor’s. He understood people the way Inigo understood money: intuitively. But Vennor could not be allowed to win this argument.

      Eaton was about to launch his rebuttal when Inigo settled it. ‘We’ll be here. Father and I have banking business. We would be staying regardless to see how Parliament handles some new investment legislation.’

      ‘Inigo can stay. I will allow that. Are you satisfied, Eaton?’ Vennor smiled his gratitude and the knot of worry in Eaton’s gut eased. Inigo would look after their friend with the same dedication with which he did everything else.

      In the wake of the decision, silence claimed the group. Brandy glasses were nearly empty again and the business of helping Vennor take on his ducal responsibilities was settled. Eaton was aware of the mantel clock ticking, loud and insistent, a reminder that it was time to move on, that there was nothing more that could be done now. It was time for the four friends to say goodbye and go their separate ways. He and Cassian would leave early tomorrow for their journey home to Cornwall. Inigo would settle back into his London habits. Vennor would establish new routines.

       Nothing would be the same.

      Vennor would be invested as a duke the next time they met, with the accompanying ducal responsibilities. Vennor would marry soon and that would change the equation entirely. This was a last moment, the ending of a chapter. Part of the adventure of living, Eaton supposed, although it didn’t seem very adventurous at the moment. On the contrary, it seemed sad. Something was being mourned in this very room as they took another step deeper into adulthood, another step further away from their childhood. A piece of Eaton’s soul rebelled at the notion. Hadn’t he lost enough already? Need he lose that, too? But it was inevitable that he would. It was the way of life for dukes. His friends would marry in time, not only Vennor. Would they all still be close even when their affections were shared with another beyond their circle? When a wife and family claimed their attentions? Their fathers had managed it. But perhaps that was because they all had wives and family in common. Eaton would likely never marry. Would that decision make him an outsider? They would never intentionally exclude him, but it might happen accidentally.

      Cassian shifted in his chair, casting a quizzing glance at Eaton. What next? They were all looking to him. He would have to be the one to do it. Among the four of them, he was the ringleader, the adventure master. A swift bolt of memory took him, of blue skies and rolling surf, of four boys who’d spent summers combing the Cornish beaches, playing at being smugglers, or pirates, sometimes soldiers fighting the French fleet, or treasure hunting. He remembered the summer he’d found the map, the last great summer before the trajectory and expectations of his life had subtly veered. Of course, the four of them had not known it would be their last, any more than Richard Penlerick had known when he’d sat down for breakfast a week ago that he’d not see his bed that night. It had been a good summer, full of real adventure, even if they’d never found the treasure. He must have led them through every tidal cave along the Porth Karrek beaches. There’d been bonfires and camp outs, nights of star gazing and the whispered secrets of newly minted adolescence. They had all looked to him then and they were looking to him now to take the next step, to help them say goodbye.

      Eaton raised his glass, searching for words against the emotion crowding his throat. They needed hope right now, they needed to know that as much as things were about to change, the things that mattered would stay the same, a piece of constancy they could cling to in a world that only promised uncertainty. He was suddenly hungry to be home at Falmage Hill, home in Porth Karrek surrounded by the familiar: his new school, his orangery, his favourite paths in the Trevaylor Woods, his science experiments, his hound, Baldor. He’d been gone too long. ‘It’s time, gentlemen. A last drink for the road. If there’s one lesson this week has taught us, it’s that life is surprising and short. We are guaranteed nothing. We already drank to the past, let us now drink to the future. Here’s to our pursuits. May all of them be served through the best of our efforts in the time that we have. My friends, here’s to making every minute count.’ Especially when every minute was all one had.

       Chapter One

       Porth Karrek, Cornwall —September 1823

      Every minute mattered now that the school’s opening was upon them. Eaton pushed up his sleeves and gripped the oak table. At the other end, his headmaster, the renowned composer

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