His Lordship's True Lady (True Gentlemen #4)(44)
“I don’t care for jam. I like cinnamon.”
“A lady of refined tastes. Would you like to slide down that banister?” Hessian’s good spirits were to blame for that suggestion. This was what came of kisses in the park and sacked nursery maids.
“Slide down the banister?”
“You must never undertake to use of the banister when an adult is about, or even a servant, for they might think you should be tattled upon. A good polishing never hurt a well-made banister, and I have only the sturdiest banisters in my houses.”
Hessian deposited Daisy on the banister, and down she went, grinning the whole way. She scrambled unaided from the bottom newel post and spun around like a top.
“I shall tell Bronwyn and Avery! I shall come down to breakfast every morning on the banister!”
“Mind you, don’t let anybody see you. Decorum has a place in an earl’s household.” What would Lily think of this morning’s work? Hessian couldn’t wait to ask her—he flipped open his pocket watch—in about nine hours. “Let’s be off to visit your uncle.”
Daisy studied Hessian’s outstretched hand. “I don’t have any uncles.”
What could he say to that? “You haven’t any official uncles, but I’m sure Worth would love to be an honorary uncle to such a lovely little girl. I’ll thrash him to tiny bits if he says otherwise.”
“Boys like to fight. Mama said that, and Papa agreed.”
Daisy was mentioning her parents, and that was good. “I’m sure fisticuffs won’t be necessary. Now shall we be on our way?”
Daisy skipped half the distance to Worth’s house, and Hessian got a few odd looks for having a child clinging to his hand. He also saw a few smiles. She bolted from his side the instant she spotted Avery at the top of Worth’s main staircase, and amid much squealing and hopping about, the little girls disappeared to the second floor.
“And to think you said she was a withdrawn child,” Worth muttered as he led the way to his back terrace.
“We sacked a nursery maid this morning. The effect was invigorating.”
Worth paused, hand on the door latch. “You sacked a maid?”
“She had no compassion, no flexibility. Went maundering on about order, discipline, and stoicism. I ask you, when did Greek philosophy ever comfort an orphaned child?”
Worth’s expression was hard to read, as if he’d like to say something, but couldn’t quite find the words. His skills lay more with numbers, and God be thanked for those skills.
“I’m here to discuss a matter of some delicacy,” Hessian went on. “Consultation with a sensible family member might help me see the best way forward.”
Worth preceded him onto the terrace, where the Alsatian crouched like a sphinx on a patch of sun-warmed bricks. “I am ever ready to lend my counsel to your situation.”
“I seek the opinion of a sensible family member,” Hessian retorted. “Yolanda insists on rusticating at Trysting, so I was hoping Jacaranda might spare me a few moments.”
Worth propped a hip against the balustrade. “You just made a joke. A bad joke, but a joke nonetheless.” He scanned the sky. “No airborne swine. Interesting.”
They exchanged a smile, the like of which they hadn’t exchanged for years, then Hessian knelt to pet the dog.
“I’m considering offering for Lily Ferguson.”
The dog rolled to her back, tongue lolling, tail waving even in her undignified position. Hessian knew exactly how she felt. Life was sweet. What mattered dignity?
“You did mention this. I’ve barely started looking into Leggett’s situation, Hessian. When do you intend to begin paying your addresses?”
“I see no reason to hesitate. The sooner I’m engaged, the sooner the merry widows and blushing debutantes will leave me in peace.” And the sooner he and Lily could be married. No need to state the obvious.
“Andromeda Kettering, where are your manners?”
Worth’s stern tone provoked the dog to cocking her head, which made her pose all the more ludicrous.
“I have begun a few inquiries,” Worth said. “I’ve set my clerks to making others. They will gather the best intelligence, from other clerks, opera dancers, moneylenders, and pawnbrokers. If Leggett’s rolled up, he’s done a damned fine job of keeping it out of the clubs.”
Hessian rose, for the dog would let him scratch her belly until Michaelmas. “If he’s rolled up, won’t that become apparent during the settlement negotiations? Thanks to my brilliant brother, I have no need to marry an heiress.”
Worth took up tummy-scratching duty. “But you should marry wisely, Hess. If Lily is an heiress, where’s her fortune? If her fortune is gone, where did it go? Does Leggett have a gambling problem? Does Lily have an aunt in the care of a very expensive, discreet institution in Northumbria? You’ve waited this long to take another wife, you can wait a few more weeks.”
Hessian plucked a sprig of honeysuckle from below the balustrade. “I am torn between appreciation for your caution and impatience with what feels like needless dithering. I’m marrying Lily, not her dratted relations.”
The scent of the flower was sweet and soothing and put Hessian in mind of his baby niece.
“Hessian, at the risk of provoking your considerable contrariness, you aren’t marrying anybody yet. First, you must make an appointment with Leggett, then the appointment must go well, then the courtship ensues, and finally the lady—why are you looking at me like that?”