Grave Consequences (Grand Tour Series #2) by Lisa T. Bergren Page B

began, biting my lip, then walking toward him, perching on the edge of the couch beside him. “What if I did return home now?” As much as I loved the tour, in these last days, things had become almost unbearably complicated.
    “To what gain? You’d have no funds for your schooling. And your father…”
    “Wallace Kensington is not going to force my papa out to the street. Not now. He got what he wanted. Me, on this tour. An opportunity for me and my siblings to come to know one another, find a measure of trust. But…” I looked to the window again.
    “Is it your home that calls you? The familiar? Or the fear of the unfamiliar ahead? Perhaps it is the idea of Pierre de Richelieu once again crossing paths with us? If it is that, rest assured—”
    “No. No,” I said. “I mean certainly. Pierre complicates things, in good measure.” But not nearly as much as Will.
    “Are you…are you falling in love with him, child?” the bear asked, lowering his gray, bushy brows in consternation.
    I choked and brought a hand to my chest, fearing for a moment that he’d read my thoughts about Will. “What? In love?” I laughed and shook my head. “No. Pierre is beyond charming. I think him attractive, enticing, even,” I said with a shrug. “But he is not the sort…”
    “You imagined as your husband?” he finished for me.
    “Exactly.” I had always pictured myself with someone far more…average—far less encumbered.
    “That is good. Matches made on tours rarely amount to anything good. But what of my nephew?”
    He asked it so steadily, I ran back over the words, certain I had misheard him.
    “W-William? What of him?” I returned, fiddling with my jodhpurs, too cowardly to meet his keen eyes.
    “Is he the sort of man you mean, Miss Kensington?”
    “Mr. McCabe, I don’t know what you are asking.”
    “I think you do.”
    I abruptly stood. What had begun as a pleasant session with a confidant had turned into an interrogation. “I don’t know what you’ve imagined, but—”
    “I hope we’re not interrupting,” Will said, entering the room with three others.
    The bear and I both jumped and glanced back to each other. And in that glance we both knew the same thing—I had feelings for Will. Deep feelings.
    “Look who has just arrived,” Will said, his tone carefully droll. He and Arthur and Felix separated to reveal the other.
    Pierre de Richelieu.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    ~William~
    He couldn’t bear to watch her go to him. He felt as if his heart were literally tearing in two as Richelieu took her hands and kissed her on both cheeks. He could hear the Frenchman murmuring, the delight in his tone. Cora’s meager words sounded bright, excited to see him again.
    “Do you mind if I escort Miss Cora for a brief walk on the veranda?” Richelieu asked the bear, after shaking his hand in greeting.
    “Not at all,” the bear said, gesturing them outward, obviously as eager for their reunion as they were. Will swallowed hard. From the salon windows, they’d be in plain view, giving them privacy, but not beyond propriety. How can I keep my eyes from straying to them?
    Arthur snapped a photo of the two as Richelieu tucked Cora’s hand around his arm, then bent to show Felix something on the back of the camera. Felix had purchased his own Autographic Kodak and was learning to use it. The two excused themselves to continue their tutorial, following Cora and Richelieu outside.
    “William Henry McCabe,” Stuart said, striding toward him with no shortage of fury, the cane in his hand shaking. “What have you done?”
    “Wh-what do you mean?” Will glanced to the empty doorway. He took the red-faced old man’s arm. “Sit, Uncle. You know such agitation isn’t good for your heart.”
    “Pour me a drink,” demanded his uncle, falling more than sitting down. Had he become so much frailer in the last week? I’ve hardly given him a moment’s notice , Will admitted to himself. His attention had been