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“What have you done to rile her up?” asked Jack, who was not so tactful.

“Bought a house,” Benedict admitted, dropping down onto an upturned box that doubled up as a chair.

Frank spluttered on his soup. “You did?”

“It was before we got married,” Benedict added defensively in the face of his brother’s incredulous stares.

“Is that what she meant yesterday when she said you were planning on sending her away?” Jack asked. “I thought that blow to the head had scattered her wits.”

“You’re what?” demanded Frank. “Why in God’s name would you do that?”

“It’s cutting off your nose to spite your own face, if you ask me!” Jack agreed.

“Because,” Benedict said, swallowing his mouthful of sandwich. “This isn’t a fit life for her. She deserves better.”

“So, you’re leaving again too, are you? Again?” asked Jack testily.

“The first time I didn’t have much choice about it,” Benedict reminded him. “I was in prison.”

“Well, when you put it that way, you’re not exactly a fit husband for her either, are you?” his younger brother responded. Benedict leapt off his box and Frank got between them. “I only meant,” Jack clarified, “that she married you in spite of your prison sentence, you bad tempered bastard.”

Benedict simmered down, just a tad. “She was in a tight spot,” he admitted, returning to his seat, and picking it up off the floor. “I took advantage of that fact.” He hesitated. “When I married her, she had no clue I’d be dragging her around the fairs.”

Jack whistled, but Frank shook his head. “That’s not really something you ought to spring on a person, Ben.”

“I know that. When I married her …” His brothers both looked at him expectantly, and he found he couldn’t say the words ‘I didn’t like her that much.’ He’d respected her, but he hadn’t liked her. Not then.

“You were scared she’d turn you down flat if she knew the truth?” Jack guessed.

Benedict decided to let that stand. “Something like that, maybe,” he muttered.

“Well, she seems to have taken to it well enough,” Frank commented, scratching the side of his face.

Jack snorted. “He coddles her something awful!”

“I do not!”

“That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Frank put in reasonably. “I wish I’d taken a leaf out of your book.” Benedict relapsed into silence.

“She ever said she’s not happy with this life?” Jack asked. “Cos if you ask me, she was hopping mad yesterday when you said you’d send her away.”

Benedict rubbed his eyes. “She can’t take over for Daphne outside the tent,” he said shortly. “If that’s what you’re thinking. And she’s certainly not picking up your cooking and cleaning.”

“She doesn’t even do yours!” Jack retorted. “Has she cooked you a single meal since you were wed?”

“I don’t expect her to,” Benedict retorted and saw his brothers both were taken aback. “That’s not why I married her.” They seemed at a loss of how to respond to that. “She was raised in a house with a cook and a maid,” he added grudgingly. “I doubt she’d even know where to start.”

“Oh,” Frank said lamely. “Well, she’s picking things up as she goes along, I daresay.”

Benedict shrugged. Such things didn’t concern him overmuch.

“How will you afford to keep her in such a style, with cookmaids and the like?” Jack asked. “You heard from Nat about any future fights he might be able to put your way?”

“No,” Benedict cut him off. “And nor is he like to. But I’ve a good sum of money put by. I need to make some decisions how to invest it and what line of business to go into.” Even as he said it out loud, he knew his words lacked conviction. What business did he know of except for boxing? Or want to know for that matter? He sat stock still a moment, letting this sink in.

Was that the reason why he’d never managed to settle on anything these last couple of months? He’d had enough opportunities dangled before him by Edwards, his man of business, and others keen for his input. Clem’s mad scheme about a theatre had been another, but nothing had appealed.

Sitting here in the tent, opposite his brothers, he experienced a moment of clarity. He didn’t want to be anywhere else. That was one of the reasons why he’d felt so bloody relieved when he’d joined them at Greenwich. He’d thought at the time it was the last minute escape from marrying Betsy, but part of it had been returning to the family fold all along. He felt dazed at the realization.