As the Devil Dares (Capturing the Carlisles #3)(27)
Robert smiled, easily imagining her as a little girl who wanted to do just that.
“My wife cautioned me about letting Mariah get too attached to the company. But she was only a child then, and I enjoyed having her at my side. At the time I thought, what harm could it do, to let her see that side of life? To let her experience the world as much as she could?” His voice quieted as his face grew dark. “But then her mother died, and everything changed.”
Winslow fell silent as he tossed back the rest of his bourbon in a gasping swallow. Then he pushed himself out of his chair to refill his glass.
“Mariah followed me everywhere after that—around the house, to the offices, down to the quays. I think she was terrified that if she let me out of her sight that she’d lose me as well, so I let her. But by the time she turned thirteen, I knew I’d made a mistake. She was more comfortable with sailors than she was with society ladies, more interested in learning about shipping routes and auction houses than about running a household.”
Robert resisted the urge to state that she still was.
“I’d promised Beatrice on her deathbed that I’d raise our two girls into fine ladies who would be welcomed into any drawing room in England. And I had failed.” He returned to his chair but paused to glance out the window at the few snowflakes that were making a half-hearted attempt to fall. “So I stopped bringing her to the offices, forbade her to visit the quayside and warehouses…but it was Mariah.” He grimaced with exasperation. “So of course she defied me and came anyway.”
“Of course,” Robert mumbled against the rim of his glass as he took a sip to hide his smile. Her determination was one of the things Robert liked best about her. When she wasn’t using it against him, that is.
“I had no choice but to send her away to school, hoping Miss Pettigrew could make a lady of her. I’d hoped that years away with other young ladies from England’s finest families would turn her attentions to becoming a proper miss, with prospects for a good marriage. That she’d forget this nonsense about her running the company.”
Well, that certainly didn’t happen. As far as Robert could tell, her desire to do just that was as strong as ever.
“But when she returned, she was determined to have a real hand in running the company rather than simply offering advice whenever we’d discuss business over dinner.” He gave another bewildered shake of his head, and Robert sympathized with the man. “Her sister, Evelyn, has always been a handful, too, and I worry about her just as much. But Mariah—always so willful! Determined to let nothing stop her from getting what she wants.”
Robert shrugged a shoulder. “She is her father’s daughter.”
Winslow laughed. “If she is, then she’ll eventually listen to reason. She’ll understand that fine ladies do not run shipping companies, nor do they spend their days with urchins.” He arched a brow. “Oh, she’ll be angry at first. But in time she’ll come to realize the benefit of those new docks to the company, especially when she sees how much money she’ll have to donate. She’ll be able to support dozens of charities then, if she wishes. Besides,” he said, his lips curling into a pleased smile, “no gentleman wants a wife who spends her days among street urchins. Closing down that school will only make it that much easier for you to find her a husband.”
And with that, to earn the partnership.
The words hung in the air as plainly as if Winslow had spoken them aloud, the implication clear. For all that he was eager to bring Robert into the fold, the position was still tentative. Still wholly dependent upon a marriage offer for Mariah.
“The duchess has agreed to sponsor her,” Robert reported, erasing any doubts regarding the outcome of the season. “And I’ll get started right away on the properties.” And with that, erasing any doubts that he deserved to be Winslow’s partner.
“Good.”
“But understand that any influence I exert on my friends and family in Parliament will be completely aboveboard.” He wouldn’t compromise on that. Doing so would completely negate any strides he’d made toward proving himself worthy of his father’s pride.
“We’ll keep it between the two of us, then, until it becomes necessary to involve others.” Winslow stared down into his bourbon, watching as he swirled it in his glass. “Mariah also doesn’t need to know about the school. Not yet. For now, let her think the project is only about purchasing a few warehouses and stores.”
“Understood.” Not a difficult condition to agree to, given that the entire project was still nothing but rumor and speculation, with the possibility of disintegrating long before any of it came to fruition. No need to unduly upset her before they had to. If at all.
Winslow set down his glass and rose from his chair, ending their meeting as he lifted his overcoat and hat from the coat stand. “I’m going home. Ledford will be back at sundown to lock up.”
Robert followed him into the outer office. Through the wide window, he saw the snow coming down at a faster pace, but not enough to stick to the bricks and stones of London.
“Offering you the partnership was the best move I’ve made in a long time,” Winslow admitted as he signaled to his driver through the window that he was ready to leave. He opened the door, then paused to glance back at Robert. “Do not disappoint me.”