A Lily Among Thorns(39)
“I’ve also heard that you and my nephew were seen in a compromising position Saturday night.”
So they had been seen kissing in the hallway; it was all over London. She had known she shouldn’t, she had known it was stupid—but that was precisely the trouble. She had known, and she hadn’t been able to stop herself. For a brief moment, she hadn’t cared. Well, she would have to carry it off now. She would have to pretend that she was in control of this thing, that she had meant to do it.
Mr. Hathaway’s desk was a mess, covered in paper and books and even a pair of scissors and a few spools of thread. That’s no way to run a business, Serena thought. It didn’t make sense—the shop was obviously doing splendidly—but that slight feeling of superiority gave her courage anyway. “Also true,” she said calmly.
He harrumphed, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “What precisely is your interest in the boy?”
Serena raised her eyebrows back. “Your nephew is very charming.”
“I won’t stand by and see him made a May game of.”
“As much as I admire your plain speaking, Mr. Hathaway, it’s really none of your affair.”
“That boy’s welfare is very much my affair. Sol’s a dear lad, but he needs looking after. I doubt he understands that the likes of you don’t condescend to care for the likes of him. I’m sure you have your uses for him, and perhaps you even find him amusing. But when you’re tired of him you’ll toss him out on his ear and he won’t be able to bear it. I don’t know how far you are in his confidence, Lady Serena, but his brother was killed in Spain a year and a half ago.”
She was having trouble breathing again. How dare he? As if that were something she should be tactfully informed of by relatives.
“There were times . . .” Mr. Hathaway faltered, and though his face closed completely after a moment, Serena knew what she had seen. She felt infinitesimally more charitable toward him. “It broke my heart to see him.”
Serena would have laid odds that that wasn’t what he had been about to say.
“Now he’s finally back on his feet, and I’ve no desire to see all that undone by—I beg your pardon, my lady—a careless flirt. For the boy’s sake, end it now.”
She was silent for a moment. “So you are telling me you think your nephew is a milksop, Mr. Hathaway?”
Hathaway frowned. “Of course not, but he’s a sensitive lad, and—”
“He’s not a lad, Mr. Hathaway. He’s a man grown.” She paused. “I noticed your shop promises to match any color?”
He nodded stiffly.
“We both know it is Solomon who matches every color. Half the ladies in London are dying to have a gown colored by him, and you scolded him for it like a naughty schoolboy. I doubt you pay him a fraction of what he’s worth. Furthermore, both you and your son have had the gall to be puzzled as to what I could possibly see in him.”
Her nerves were buzzing as if she had just drunk eight cups of coffee, but it was a welcome change from the dead, dull feeling of a few minutes ago. “Solomon has decided he is willing to work for you under these conditions. Very well, it is none of my affair. But Solomon will also decide whether or not he is interested in a liaison with the Siren, and when I toss him out on his ear, I trust he will be man enough not to go into a decline.” She couldn’t resist a final scathing witticism. “Should he do so, however, I will be sure to have my chef send you an excellent recipe for a restorative broth. You can spoon-feed it to him while you read him the sermons of Hannah More.”
Mr. Hathaway made a noise in the back of his throat that might almost have been amusement. “That’s very generous of you.” He chewed his lip thoughtfully. “I also heard you haven’t taken a single lover since—well. In years.”
The buzzing in her nerves died out, leaving her feeling worn and tender. Christ, not this. “Or perhaps I haven’t taken any stupid enough to gossip about it.”
“You haven’t precisely been discreet about Solomon.” Mr. Hathaway looked at her speculatively. Serena knew her face was blank, but—her actions spoke for themselves, didn’t they? She’d been kissing Solomon in the hallway like an infatuated girl. Mr. Hathaway had to know how nearly impossible it would be for her to toss Solomon out on his ear. She had already tried, and failed.
This was exactly why she hadn’t taken any lovers since she’d come to the Arms. She’d known it would make her weak. She’d known it would make people see her as a helpless girl again.