Brothers at Arms Page A

tassel incident as an excuse to punish Joshua. He was beside himself with rage.”
    “Yes, I know, but Sophie could not have chosen a more effective way to discomfit him. One minute he was bullying Joshua, the next a blubbering child. It won’t be easy for you to be here with Kate if he goes to university.”
    “Don’t worry about that,” she said. “We must deal with the short term first. I doubt Matthew will cause problems at Rushmore. He’s too much in awe of Lord Cardington, but just in case, I will suggest Martha takes one of her sons as support with Kate’s care.”
    Tom nodded agreement. “Sidney, the eldest, has the right temperament, William Rufus, his brother, must stay here with the boys. When I am next in London, I will make enquiries about support at university, and a bear-leader for Matthew’s tour.” He yawned, and stretched out his long legs.
    “D’you know, Jane,” he said, “I’m looking forward to the next few weeks. I want to take the lads out driving, and renew my acquaintance with the estate. It is long overdue.”

C HAPTER 5
    When Joshua awoke the next morning, he could not wait to tell Charlie his plans for the day. A quick knock and he was through the door of the adjoining bedchamber. He stopped, perplexed as two tousled heads rose from the pillows.
    “Oh, sorry,” he said, backing out in confusion, wondering why Sophie was sleeping in Charlie’s bed when she had a room of her own.
    “It’s all right, Josh,” said Charlie. “You can come in. Sophie doesn’t mind.”
    Cautiously, he peered round the door, and sure enough, she was sitting up in bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes. He could not imagine entering his sister’s bedroom for any reason. That sort of thing just was not done.
    He stood, uncertain what to do until Charlie said, by way of explanation,
    “Sophie didn’t want to be alone. We shared a room back in Ireland to save on the linen.”
    Anxious to avoid looking at Sophie in her nightclothes, Joshua turned instead to the framed sketch of a dragoon officer in regimental dress, which stood on the bedside table by Charlie’s bed.
    “Who’s this?” he asked.
    “It’s our pa.” Charlie’s voice filled with pride. “He was a real hero, and that’s why I want to be a soldier.”
    “So do I,” said Joshua. “My father’s brother was an officer in the East India Company Regiment. When he died, Lucy and Julia came to live here.”
    “Then we will be soldiers together,” said Charlie, with a grin.
    It was Joshua’s dream come true. All he ever wanted was to be a soldier, and to have a friend.
    “What about Sophie?”
    Charlie was in no doubt about the answer. “She’ll come with us and follow the drum.”
    That was not quite what Joshua had in mind.
    Breakfast seemed to take forever. Joshua finished his repast easily enough, but the selection of food filling the heated trays in the dining room proved too tempting for Charlie to resist.
    “Can we choose whatever we like?” he said, awestruck.
    Receiving a nod of agreement from the attendant footman, he set to with a will, lifting one lid after another to inspect the contents.
    When her brother finished making his choice, Sophie followed behind and pointed to a couple of slices of bacon, a spoonful each of grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, braised kidneys, with coddled eggs – on one plate – because that was how she wanted it.
    At her second visit to the sideboard, she passed over the poached kippers, in favour of a rare slice of sirloin, which Hayton the footman did his utmost to dissuade her from eating.
    To no avail, because Sophie was determined to prove little girls did like red meat, with a thick crust of bread to mop up the succulent juices. She made no sound, other than to emit appreciative grunts of approval whilst licking her fingers.
    Charlie was ecstatic. “I can see Sophie is going to enjoy herself here, Josh. When we were in Dublin, Aunt Barleycorn would not let us have more than one slice of