“No, please.” Michael raised a hand. “Don’t hold back on our account.”
“Just try a little harder to be less protective,” Abby added.
“I have promised that we will try, but you must give us time.” Gabe frowned. “You must also talk to us about the men who interest you, Abby. We know more than you, and I will not have you falling prey to some fortune hunter.”
“A man like Daniel Dillinger is not right for you,” Michael added.
Looking at her brothers, Abby didn’t think they knew of her encounters with Daniel and had plucked his name randomly from the list of men they did not see as suitable for her to talk to. She hoped it was simply a matter of their encounter with him being still fresh in their minds. She would take no chances however, and ensure they suspected nothing.
“As I barely know the man, I don’t see how I could confirm or deny those words.”
“He and his brother are hard men and not from our world,” Gabe added.
“The world that is inhabited by those of noble birth only, do you mean?”
Michael looked uncomfortable. Gabe’s expression stayed the same.
“And yet, I’m quite sure I met the other Mr. Dillinger one evening with his wife, who I believe is a duke’s sister?”
“There are always exceptions, but you will not be one.” Gabe had a hard, unyielding look in his eyes. “As that path is a difficult one.”
“And I am too weak to traverse it? Or you will be too ashamed to call me sister?”
“Abby, you have said Dillinger means nothing to you, and yet your words would suggest otherwise,” Gabe said.
She’d been a fool to use Daniel’s brother as an example.
“And what if Zach falls in love with a woman who is not of noble birth? Will you allow that?”
“I have told you why I feel as I do, but as you have told me that Daniel Dillinger is nothing to you, I fail to see why we are continuing with this discussion.”
“I am attempting to make a point, Gabe. You cannot have these rules and expect that one day they will not be challenged.”
“Dillinger is not for you.”
“I think after your performance at the Smitherton flower show, there is every likelihood that should he see me, he will run the other way.”
“The right man will come along, Abby.” Michael tried to ease the tension in the carriage. “He will love you as you will him.”
“I don’t want undying love. Respect will do, and the rest will come. But I want a man with his own thoughts who will not be bullied by you lot.”
“Damn, and we want someone for you we can control,” Michael said, but Abby did not laugh as Gabe did.
“There is another matter I wish to discuss with you both,” she said.
They looked wary again.
“I want Dimity to come back and continue my piano lessons.”
“No.” Gabe folded his arms. “She is not a good influence over you.”
“And you are?” Abby snapped back. “For pity’s sake, Gabe, she is my friend and in need of money.”
“How do you know she is in need of money?”
“I met her today at the flower markets.”
“Was that a coincidence?” Michael asked.
“No, it wasn’t.” Abby was done with lying to them, at least on this subject.
“You deliberately set up the meeting with her today?” Gabe looked surprised.
“Why do you continually underestimate me? After all, I am of your blood.”
“There is that,” Gabe muttered.
“Please think about it, Gabe. I miss her terribly.”
“I don’t.”
“Only because she speaks her mind around you, and you are not used to that.”
“All right, I promise to think about it,” he conceded.
“Please, I really want this, Gabe.”
“Don’t push this, Abby. I’ve said I’ll think about it, and I will.”
“Very well, for now that is enough.” But she would have more to say on the matter if he didn’t reinstate Dimity soon.
“So will there once again be peace in the household?” Gabe held out his hand to her. “And will you once again be Abby and not that other person you became?”
“I’m not making any promises she will not return if you don’t start behaving. And now you can tell the driver we are stopping at Talbots first. You both need new jackets and waistcoats. I will order some more shirts also.” They looked horrified. Her brothers hated being fitted for clothes.
“Must we?” The breath hissed from Gabe’s throat.
“Yes, you must. I will not have my brothers walking about looking shabby. I will get the others here tomorrow.”
They were still muttering when the carriage stopped.
The tailor was ecstatic to see them, and soon had them draped in fabrics of different colors. She had to admit to enjoying the pained looks on her brothers’ faces.
“Now we deserve a large cream cake,” Gabe said, taking her arm as they left the store. “If I must drink tea from dainty cups and sit in small chairs, then at least I will have a cake.”
Her brothers rarely walked anywhere at a steady pace, so she had learned to walk fast to keep up with them, which was not always easy in a dress. They flanked her, Michael with a hand on her spine, and Gabe directing them around people.
Abby didn’t fight it; this was the life she’d always lived. Her small battles for independence she would continue to fight, but she would never stop them being honorable. They had faults, as did she, but she never doubted that inside, her brothers were good men, if a little misguided.
“Oh, Lady Abigail, how fortuitous to have encountered you today!”
They’d nearly reached the corner of the street that led to the one where her favorite tea shop was located when a voice stopped them.
“Keep walking,” Michael whispered as he pressed his palm into her back to propel her forward.
“Just raise a hand in acknowledgement,” Gabe said softly.
“Lady Carmichael, Miss Carmichael, and Miss Louisa, how wonderful to see you all.” Ignoring her brothers, she stopped and waited for the women to reach them.
“Damn
