“You could be right.” Melanie stared at him a long moment then looked down. “I saw her yesterday afternoon, and while she appears content enough in her new home, she also cannot stop praising you for what you’ve done to help her. She might feel obligated to lighten the burden on you.”
She folded the letter and handed it back.
“I hoped you might be willing to visit her, break the news of Mr. Clemens’ proposal, and lend assurance she did not need to take it. Her elder children are almost of an age where they will be able to find work soon. I’d like to help them stay together.”
A brittle smile twisted her lips before she glanced over his shoulder. “Might I go with Walter, Valentine?”
He turned toward the door. Valentine lounged there, listening to every word of their conversation avidly. He nodded slowly. “Be back in one hour. Take the maid.”
“Thank you.” Melanie left to collect her bonnet and gloves while Walter fidgeted under Valentines curious gaze.
“No detours.”
“Of course not.” He wouldn’t dare ruin Melanie’s last night in Brighton by doing something she would regret. “I find I have to go to Oxford suddenly and I wonder if I might travel the distance with your sister tomorrow.”
Valentine’s shoulders sagged. “It would be a relief to have you travel with her. Her maid is going along as chaperone but it’s a long way.”
“Excellent.” He dragged his gloves back on. “You have saved me the expense and bother of hiring a carriage for the trip.”
Melanie rejoined them, wearing a warmer-looking coat today, and he was pleased she had listened to him.
Valentine nodded. “How long did you say you’d be staying in Oxford?”
Melanie appeared startled and he smiled tightly. “I’m not sure. My business depends entirely on someone else, but I am sure we can come to some arrangement sooner or later.” He gestured to the door as the maid presented herself. “Shall we, ladies?”
The maid smiled warmly, but outside she fell back a few paces. “I hear Oxford is perfectly dreadful at this time of year,” he mused.
“You cannot follow me to Oxford.”
“You cannot stop me, and I have your brother’s permission to see you safely home. He’s agreed to let me travel in your carriage.”
“To travel with me will call our connection into question.”
“With a maid too, remember.” He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m sure Miss Pond will beat me with your parasol if I overstep my bounds during the journey.”
“I know my duty, sir,” the girl promised.
He grinned, unsurprised by her loyalty to Melanie.
Once they were beyond sight of her home, the maid fell back a few steps more and he took a deep breath. “Imogen came to see me about you.”
“She did?”
“Your gift for the child she carries truly startled her.”
Melanie sighed. “I did not mean to make her uncomfortable but I wanted to know that she received the clothes I’d made for her children.”
He lowered his voice. “We should discuss Brahms, too.”
Melanie started to laugh softly. “And the mysterious Mr. Sandbottom? Could you not stop her from including you in her work with that description?”
“You discovered that too?” He glanced down at her in time to see a blush sweep her cheeks.
“Well, I would, since it was me who first described you that way to Imogen.” She glanced down at her hands. “It was very wrong of me to call you names, but in my defense I was only a girl at the time. I never thought of it again until I read The Recluse of the Sea. She describes you very well indeed. It is my favorite story.”
Melanie darted forward, headed toward Mrs. Clemens’ home at a fast walk. So fast he had to jog a few steps to keep up. “There are many months left until the child comes. Why would you give it to her so soon?”
“I thought it might be the only chance I have to know whether she could forgive me before I go home.”