“Nick!” She flung herself forward, throwing her arms around his neck. He barely kept the two of them on the sofa. “Do you really mean it? When? How?” Her elation darkened in an instant to suspicion. “Are you teasing me? Did you say that just to put me off wanting to go to Astley’s?”
He set her back on her side of the sofa. “Am I really so cruel, to dangle that before you only to pull it away?”
She pursed her lips.
He raised a brow.
Charlotte exhaled loudly. “No, likely not. But explain!” She bounced on the cushion, but stayed in her seat this time.
“I would like to bring someone to meet you,” he said, choosing each word with care. “Someone who could instruct you in all the ladylike ways you seem rather... indifferent toward.”
She rolled her eyes again, but they shone with eagerness now. “Who?”
“She’s a lady who’s helped other young ladies.” He paused, then committed himself. “She’s a governess, and I think she can prepare you to go into society.”
Charlotte fairly vibrated with joy. “Society! Oh,Nick.”
“I won’t let you go out until you can behave properly,” he told her firmly. “It’s not your fault you don’t know how—it’s mine. God knows I haven’t the first idea how a young lady should behave. But I believe this lady can help you, and then...”
“Then?” Charlotte prompted eagerly when he hesitated. “Then we shall go to the theater, and to Astley’s, and to shop in Bond Street?”
Miss Greene would know how to chaperone those outings. Nick quieted his misgivings and nodded. “Yes.”
Charlotte whooped so loudly he winced. “Yes! Yes, of course! When shall I meet her? Shall we go to her? Can I—?”
“I’ll bring her to you.” He rose. “If by chance you don’t like her, you must tell me honestly—but not in front of her. To her, I expect you will be gracious and polite.”
She glared at him in scorn. “Of course I will! You think I’m a true heathen, don’t you?” She leapt off the sofa. “I’m not. I can be a proper lady.” In demonstration she swept a very respectable curtsy. “When will you bring her?”
“Tomorrow, if she’s amenable.”
“What’s her name? Is she clever? Is she good-humored? Is she fashionable? Oh, I cannot wait to meet her!” She clapped her hands together, and looked like she might dance in pure excitement. “How did you find her? Is she a member of your club?”
Charlotte, Nick reflected grimly, had a lot to learn. “Her name is Miss Greene, and I met her by chance. She isn’t a member of the Vega Club.”
“Is she fashionable?”
He hesitated. The gown she’d worn to the Vega Club had been years out of fashion, with signs of wear. Who could expect a woman on governess’s wages—which likely hadn’t been paid at all in recent months—to be stylishly dressed? On the other hand, she had looked delectable in that old, too-snug dress. “I believe so,” was his cautious answer.
Charlotte seized his hand. “Then I’m sure I’ll like her. Oh, thank you, Nick! Bring her as soon as you can.”
He couldn’t help smiling. “I will.”
CHAPTERTEN
Emilia had been thinking about her argument with Mr. Dashwood since the moment he left. Was there another heir?Couldthere be one? After Lucy went to bed every night, she feverishly combed the family tree she’d drawn up, double-checking every note until she satisfied herself that it was extremely unlikely, if not strictly impossible.
Still, she worried. And as the days went by with no word, she worried more. When the solicitor’s note arrived at last, she almost wept with relief.
Thomas Grantham arrived early in the morning, before she and Lucy had finished breakfast, with two clerks in tow. He was a tall, rangy man with untidy blond hair and round spectacles, and a sharp-edged smile. “Mr. Dashwood has asked me to tend to this matter as swiftly as possible, so I hope you’ll forgive me for asking so directly for your materials, Miss Greene,” he said as he removed his coat and handed it to Henry.
“Of course, sir,” Emilia said brightly. Lucy was peeking wide-eyed around the dining room door, and Emilia didn’t want to worry her. “This way.” She led the solicitor and his clerks to the sitting room.
Grantham looked at the neat stacks of papers and books she’d arranged on the tables. “Very good, Miss Greene. Thank you.” And he maneuvered her out of the room, closing the door in her face.
Well. Naturally he wanted privacy to do his first examination. She went back to Lucy, who was bursting with excitement at the arrival of so many people and the prospect of progress. They talked in excited whispers, Lucy’s growing wild and irrational until both dissolved into laughter. When the meal was done and everything cleaned away, Emilia decided they should do lessons as usual, even though she had no real expectation Lucy would retain a word.
When they had finished history, arithmetic, and geography, she went back to the sitting room. A clerk stopped her at the door, assuring her they needed nothing. Nonplussed, she went back to Lucy, dragging her charge through French before venturing back to the sitting room.
