“It should.”
“Perhaps Miss Greene could steal the register from Antigua. I doubt an ocean voyage or two would deter her.”
Grantham smiled at his dry remark. “We’ll leave that as a last resort.”
Nick smiled back, grimly. He’d come too far to quibble over anything. Now all his markers were in the pot, and he had no choice but to play.
Vincere est totum.Winning was everything.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Emilia was not prepared for the speed at which Mr. Dashwood proceeded, once he decided to proceed.
He gave her barely a day’s warning before a wagon arrived in Charles Street to transport them to his home. Lucy was agog, running from room to room, scattering her few belongings around the house in a frenzy of certainty that she would forget something.
Emilia herself scarcely knew where to begin. Mr. Grantham had taken all her papers, and her wardrobe was pitiably small, but somehow a day and a night seemed impossibly short a time to uproot herself.
“Such a hurry, I’m sure I don’t understand it,” said Mrs. Watson under her breath as she bustled into the room. “There’s your pelisse, dear, I mended it for you.”
“Thank you.” Emilia smiled as she folded it into her trunk. “You didn’t have to do that.”
The housekeeper patted her arm. “I didn’t mind a bit, not when you’ve done so much to keep us all fed and under a sturdy roof! I hope Mr. Dashwood can do half as well.”
“The new Lord Sydenham,” Emilia reminded her. “And I expect he can do a great deal better.”
The woman pursed her lips. “We’ll see.” She and Henry were going with them, although Emilia didn’t know what to tell them about their future employment. Not for lack of trying to discover it; she’d sent Mr. Dashwood no less than three letters before realizing he was ignoring her.
Emilia had seen his house. Despite his lack of communication, she’d asked around until someone gave her the direction, and she and Lucy walked across London to examine it. It was impressive, gleaming pale stone and freshly washed windows overlooking the wide boulevard. In the morning sun it shone like a church. They’d stood on the pavement and contemplated it, Lucy wide-eyed and silent, Emilia wondering what she’d got herself into with the owner.
“Oh, Millie! They’re ready for our trunks!” Lucy ran into the room, her cheeks flushed and her braid coming undone. “I’m not finished packing, what shall I do?”
“Finish packing.” Emilia stowed her hairbrush and the small wooden box of keepsakes in the trunk and shut the lid. Her spare bonnet was already in the hatbox next to the trunk.
“I can’t!” Lucy gulped for air, looking frantic. “Are we really to take up residence in Mr. Dashwood’s home?”
Emilia sat on the bed and opened her arms. Without hesitation Lucy dived into her embrace, her thin arms going around Emilia’s neck as if she were still a child.
“We are,” she reminded the girl gently. “He’s now the head of your family, and he wishes to have you close. We saw for ourselves that his home is much nicer than this one.”
Lucy’s head was on her shoulder. “And Dorset?” she asked in a small voice. “Will he make us go there, too?”
“No,” Emilia answered at once. She would scratch out the man’s eyes before she let him send Lucy back to Dorset. “I told you, no one wants to go to Dorset, and Mr. Dashwood has never even been.”
“Are you certain?”
“Absolutely,” Emilia lied.
Lucy was silent for a moment. “Will I like it there, Millie?”
Emilia took a deep breath for courage. “I hope so—I hope you will try very hard to like it, and to be gracious to Mr. Dashwood. He’s your cousin, after all.” She hesitated. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, there will be another young lady in the household.”
Lucy’s head came up. “Who? Has he a daughter? Oh, who is she, Millie?”
“She’s his ward,” said Emilia, choosing her words carefully. She suspected Charlotte had a closer link to Mr. Dashwood, but didn’t want to say it aloud.
The girl bit her lip. “Will I like her? Will she like me?”
“That depends on how you comport yourself, I believe,” she replied in amusement. “I have met her, and she struck me as a very amiable young lady. Mr. Dashwood has engaged me to be her governess, too.”
