“Jenny says that the last time she ever heard anything of him, he was on his way to Bristol. Perhaps if I can find him, if I can convince him I’m his son, he’ll allow me to stay with him. To ride with him on his travels.”

“But you don’t even know for certain that Gentleman Jim is your father! Jenny has never admitted—”

“She’s never denied it. And everyone who remembers what Gentleman Jim looked like says I’m the very image of him.”

“Yes, I know that, but no one has seen him in ages. What if you can’t find him?”

Nicholas’s jaw hardened. “I will find him.”

Maggie glared at him, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Confound you, Nicholas Seaton, you know there’s no time to argue!” She stamped her foot. “Oh, very well.” She reached into the folds of her cloak and drew out a small, heavily filled sack. “If you insist upon going, then you must take this with you.”

Nicholas eyed the sack warily. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes. Most of my pin money and all of the little tokens Papa has given me in the last several years. A shilling here, a guinea there. I daresay it has added up to a tidy sum. I was going to give you a few coins to sustain you until Papa returns from London, but under the circumstances I think you must take it all.”

No.” Nicholas took a step back from her. “It’s a king’s ransom.”

“Good. Then I’ll never have to worry about you freezing to death or going hungry.” She thrust the sack of money at his chest. “Take it. And take Miss Belle, too. Ride her as far as the crossroads and then set her loose. She can find her way back to Beasley Park from anywhere in the county.”

Nicholas swallowed hard as he accepted the money. “Maggie Honeywell, you’re an angel.”

At his words, the first tears spilled over onto Maggie’s cheek. She dashed them away with her hand. “I know I will never see you again.”

Nicholas stepped closer, and reaching out, caught her little cleft chin in his hand. It was an old habit. Something he’d done since she was a little girl. But this time the gesture wasn’t playful or teasing. He didn’t, as a brother would, give her chin an affectionate pinch and then let her go. Instead he gently tipped up her face so that her large blue eyes were forced to meet his. His thumb brushed away a tear, and then, before Maggie could guess his intention, he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her very softly on the lips.