“Her sister certainly wishes for the girl to go out into the world more. The fashions are changing, you see. Waists are lowering, fabrics are growing more varied, and heavier. This girl is searching out fabrics at linen drapers and in the shops of all the modistes. She’s making notes of fashions and how they might be adjusted. She’s drawing pictures and giving elaborate descriptions about current fashions and the ladies who wear them and the events to which they are worn. It’s a letter campaign, full of excitement and ideas. She’s trying to convince her sister that new styles and heavier fabrics will help disguise the first, obvious notice of her condition, working to persuade her that a slow and careful gait can look elegant and not just different.”
He was listening. She could see it. But he hadn’t yet taken the point.
She moved to pick up a letter. “I wanted you to see that this young lady is more than a flirt and a careless gossip. She might have frivolous moments. I’m sure we all do. But she’s investing a substantial amount of time into this project and in trying to draw her sister into the idea, developing her interest, and coaxing her out of her nest.”
He nodded. “It is admirable. I grant you that.” He gazed across the cluttered desk. “It’s a lot of work and a fine cause. I wish her success.”
She relaxed. She hadn’t been sure he would see what she wanted to show him.
He gave her a pointed look. “You have a younger sister at home, do you not?”
There it was. She’d been worried that he eventually would begin to put pieces together and make connections—and it was the first thing out of his mouth.
“Yes.” She allowed herself to smile at the thought of her hey-go-mad sister. “Her name is Glory. Oh, and she’s a handful, that one. My brother is going to have a time taming her and I look forward to watching from afar.” She laughed. “Although, if he is smart he will just bribe her with a prime, blooded mare. Glory is horse mad. She’s probably riding hell-for-leather across the Downs even as we speak.”
She dropped herself into the desk chair. “But you have a sister as well.” She waved a hand over the collection of papers. “I’m sure you understand the urge to help out a sibling.”
He shrugged. “My sister is older than I. The relationship is different.”
“Are you two not . . . amicable?” The thought troubled her.
“We were friends once, when we were younger. Though she swears I was a terrible pest, she did relent to my pleading once in a while and consent to a game of spillikins or hoops. She also hosted elaborate tea parties for her dolls and learned that our cook would provide real cakes if she invited me.” He chuckled.
“What happened?”
“We grew older. I was sent to school. She married and became concerned only with her status amongst the ladies of the ton.” His mouth twisted. “I think that now she could give your sister-in-law a run for Most Shrill.”
Hope shivered.
“Yes. But it’s not all bad. She’s not thrilled with me at the moment because I don’t have the funds to fulfill her latest loan request, but as she’s married and gone, she’s not utterly furious with me for destroying her status in the neighborhood at home.”
“Oh. Your mother?”
“And my aunt as well,” he nodded.
“Because of the rumors?”
“No. Because I leased Greystone Park.”
She frowned, trying to understand.
“Not the entire estate. Not the dower house where my mother and aunt live. Not the farms or orchards or tenancies. Just the main house and the gardens. I leased them to a merchant named McNamara. He’s obtained a staggering amount of success with his shipping concerns. He has the money, and now he wants his wife and daughter to learn the ways of the gentry so that he might get a noble grandson. He decided to give them a trial run in country society before he launches them on London.”
Silently, she absorbed all this. Then she frowned. “But then where do you live?” He hadn’t said we when he mentioned the dower house.
“I took one of the empty tenant’s cottages.”
She blinked.
“It’s just temporary. The lease was only for a year. Not far to go on it now. My mother despised the idea—and she only grew angrier when she met Mrs. McNamara. But it had to be done. There were urgent needs on the estate and no money for this year’s seed, had I not done something.”
“You amaze me, Tensford.”
He laughed. “When my mother says that, she doesn’t mean it as a compliment.”
“I do.” She shook her head. “I greatly admire your ingenuity, not to mention your resilience and your commitment to your people.”
“Yes, well, my people are well worth it.” He picked up a rough sketch from the desk. “My own family may not be . . . close, but there are any number of devoted families at Greystone. And you speak of sibling connections? One of my tenants has a pair of twin boys. You’ve never seen such a bond. I swear, they can hatch a plot with just a shared look. No conversation required.”
She laughed.
He took her hand and pulled her from the chair. “I want you to know I understand what you meant to show me here. It is good to know that there are such family attachments in Society, too.”
She heaved a sigh. It had been a gamble, but he had responded just as
