“I wish to accompany you,” Lady Hester said, propped up against her pillows in her bed. Miss Grant picked up the tray on which sat the remains of Hester’s breakfast. The plate held an intact omelet. Cook would be most disappointed she had not tempted the invalid.

“No, you cannot come,” I said flatly. “You are not up to it.”

“I am up to it. I insist on accompanying you.” She looked across at me, her mouth held in the same obstinate line as Lord Evan’s when his mind was made up.

“I think my sister means that it is quite a distance and you are not well enough for such a journey,” Julia said more diplomatically. “Let us carry a letter for you.”

Us? I shot a look at my sister standing on the other side of the bed; did she think she was coming as well? I had imagined my reunion with Lord Evan a thousand times over, and every time it had been the two of us. Alone.

She met my frown with a tilt of her head: Of course I am going—you cannot meet a man by yourself.

Hester twisted the top of her sheet in her hands. “No. I must see him! You do not understand. It is imperative.”

“Dearheart, Lady Julia is right. You are not yet strong enough. I will go to meet your brother and speak to him on our behalf,” Miss Grant said, placing her hand over the frantic twisting of cloth. “You must not overexert yourself.”

Miss Grant too? This was rapidly becoming a crowd. “No, I am going alone,” I said. “It will be hard enough to leave this house without the Runners or Mulholland following me, let alone the entire household shifting itself.”

“No need to exaggerate, Gus,” Julia said. “I am sure you have a plan to hoodwink them all.”

I did, in fact, have a plan. But that was not the point.

Miss Grant directed her attention to me. “It is time Hester and I planned our future, Lady Augusta, and Lord Evan is crucial to those plans. I must speak to him as a matter of urgency. A letter will only create a delay that is not necessary.”

A good point. But I rallied. “What if you are seen?”

“There is going to be risk whatever we do. For me. For you. And especially for Lord Evan.” She straightened. “I am beginning to think you are trying to obstruct us. First you did not tell us you were contacting Hester’s brother and now you do not wish me to accompany you.”

I looked at Julia for support, but her mouth pursed: She is not altogether wrong.

Damn. I gave a truculent sigh; farewell to a solitary reunion.

“There is no obstruction, Miss Grant.” I smiled tightly. “Of course you may accompany us tomorrow. And my sister is correct—I do have a plan, so we must start making our preparations.”