But…what if they did proceed as planned? Oliver mulled over the idea as the carriage pulled up to the entrance of Minsbury Park.
“Is something amiss?” Suzanna asked him when they alighted the carriage. “You have been quiet most of the ride home.”
He shook his head. “Just thinking of some things. I will be in my study if you need me.”
She gave him an odd look but said nothing more as he stalked back to his study, his mind going over the idea.
Theyhaddiscussed previously with Lord Rowley that the Viscount would accompany his daughters to London but with the delay, the Season could very well have passed by the time the Viscount returned.
In addition to that, Claire had already turnedeight-and-tenand next year, she would be nine-and-ten. Personally, he saw nothing wrong with that but no doubt, all the gossips would perceive that the delay might be due to somedeficiencyon her part.
That thought did not sit well with Oliver.
With long strides, he made his way to the library, where he knew his sister liked to sit and read for hours at a time.
When she saw him bursting through the door, she looked at him as though he had taken leave of his senses.
“I have a plan!” he told her excitedly.
She wrinkled her nose. “Pray tell, what has got you all worked up?”
“I am in charge of the girls, am I not?” he grinned at her.
“Yes,” she said slowly, looking suspiciously at him. “But I am not quite certain we are on the same page.”
He laughed. “Well, quite simply, we can proceed as planned and go to London by ourselves!”
“Without the Viscount? Are you mad?”
“No, I am brilliant and you have to admit that it is quite inspired!”
“Inspired by madness, more like!” she replied, shaking her head. “Although I do see the genius behind it.”
He grinned. “We can make the plans tonight and announce it to the girls tomorrow, when we check in on them. I will send word to Lord Rowley posthaste and inform him of my decision and assure him that he need not worry, for I will take personal responsibility for the girls.”
“One would think that you are far more invested in this than you should be,” Suzanna remarked wryly, although there was a twinkle in her eyes. She shook her head. “In any case, I see reason for it. Claire will have turned nine-and-ten by the next Season and the more we delay it, the harder it will be for her. You know how the gossips work…”
He nodded emphatically. “Quite so, which was what I thought earlier.”
“All right,” she agreed, smiling. “I will help you with this plan of yours. I shall send for Madame Woolworth once we arrive at the townhouse but do make certain you send word to the Viscount of your schemes.”
“Perfect,” Oliver smiled widely. “Let us wait until tomorrow to inform the girls of our plan. In a few days, the roads to London will be passable and we can be on our way.”
* * *
Oliver could hardly contain his excitement as he and his sister boarded the carriage and set off for Ranhold House. As he had promised Lady Suzanna, he wrote to the Viscount that he and his sister would be traveling to London for the Season. He was certain that the Viscount would agree.
He could not wait to see the expression on Claire’s face, when she realized that they were headed for London, after all. Her crushed expression yesterday made his chest ache in a strange way and he wanted to remedy that as soon as humanly possible.
“Oh for the love of God, Oliver,” Suzanna smiled exasperatedly at him. “One would think that it wasyoumaking your curtsey in Society. Claire has exercised better restraint on herself than you do right now.”
Oliver just laughed at his sister and waved her off. She might say these things but he knew for a fact that she had been up all night making lists and preparations for the trip to London. She had also written to Madame Woolworth herself to meet them at the townhouse as soon as they arrived in London.
“We must not waste any more precious time,” she had said to him. “With the Season upon us, the whole of London will be in a flurry and by then, it will be too late to have any gowns made when every debutante and her mama will be descending on the city like the plague.”
“One would think you are the mama and Claire the debutante,” he had teased her.
“Of course,” she had replied breezily. “I have always looked upon Claire and Trixie as my very own sisters and if you had been a female, I would have done the same for you.”
