An Affair So Right (Rebel Hearts #4)(39)

“Miss Dalton, I’m sure you remember Lady Templeton.”

Theodora hastily curtsied. “My lady.”

“Ah, there you are at last.” Mama hurried across the room and took Theodora’s hands in hers. She leaned forward and kissed both his secretary’s cheeks with rather startling familiarity. Mama drew back, grinning. “He’s not dead yet, if that is why you frown so.”

Theodora visibly relaxed, even as she extracted her hands. “That is good news.”

“I know. Black does not become me.” Mama tilted her head to the side, assessing Theodora with a sly expression. “On you, however, it is a rather arresting color.”

Theodora glanced Quinn’s way. “Ah, thank you. Mama and I have only a few simple gowns we need. Lord Maitland has been very generous to pay for them.”

“Well, since the alternative is having you running around in a state of undress, I can understand why.” The corner of Mama’s lips quirked up. “Although, being a man, he may not mind that sort of thing.”

Theodora inclined her head. “Of course.”

Quinn was impressed that Theodora wasn’t blushing already. Mama really did like to tease family and their friends. “Why don’t you sit, Mother.”

“Oh, very well. Miss Dalton, come sit by me.” Since Mama caught Theodora’s elbow and dragged her before Quinn’s desk, Theodora was given no choice in the matter. “You’ve done something different with this room,” Mama noted, glancing about the chamber and giving a nod of approval. “Much better. Now, tell me how your mother does, my dear girl. I was so hoping to make her acquaintance today.”

Subtlety was not always his mother’s stock in trade.

Theodora smiled quickly. “I am afraid Mama is not in good spirits again this afternoon and has returned to her bedchamber to rest.”

Mama reached for Theodora’s hand. “They were a love match, I understand?”

“They were.” Theodora’s smile grew brittle. “So in each other’s pocket, they carried each other’s handkerchiefs quite often.”

Mama’s smile dimmed as Theodora clenched her jaw and her eyes grew bright with unshed tears. He gave his mother a warning look. She’d promised not to upset Theodora.

Mama patted Theodora’s hand. “That must have been lovely. I remember my parents only a little now. Lenore is the only family I have left to connect me to the past.”

This time Theodora squeezed Mama’s hand, and Quinn was quite touched. “Family holds us together. You have the love of your daughters to sustain you, I understand.”

“Indeed.”

“And a few undeserving sons, too, I suspect,” Quinn threw in to make them laugh.

His levity had the desired effect, and Mother wagged her finger at him. “Impudent sons, too.” She wiggled her fingers toward Theodora’s desk. “What were you doing over there, Miss Dalton, before I interrupted you?”

Theodora glanced Quinn’s way, a question in her eyes.

“There’s no point keeping secrets from my mother. She’s here for the distraction of sticking her nose into other people’s business. Currently, mine will do.”

“You see!” Mama cried out. “Impertinent, wretched child.”

He grinned when Theodora laughed out loud.

“Hardly a child, my lady,” Theodora suggested, with a quick smile for him. “I was attempting to create a reference book for Lord Maitland. A journal of sorts, to hold important events he should never forget. Birthdays, marriages, and the like. They can be quite invaluable for someone with as large a family as yours. I was just leafing through a previous appointment book of his to see what I can find written in there.”

“How clever of you. My son always forgets someone.”

“I was away for many occasions, Mama, and the dates did not stick in my mind.”

“But your career in the navy is over now, and you are back where you belong in society. The family needs you,” she promised. Mama turned to Theodora again. “Perhaps I could assist you and fill in any gaps.”

Theodora nodded. “I should not like to impose, but your help would make the task go much more smoothly. Thank you.”

With a new pursuit to distract her attention, Mama shifted into the chair beside Theodora’s desk, and they began to natter amongst themselves without his participation.

After a time, he cleared his throat. “So, you’ve no wish for my conversation now, Mama?”

Mama shooed him away. “Oh, you can go back to whatever you were doing before I arrived.”

No chance of that. He’d been seducing Theodora, but revealing that to his mother wasn’t in his best interests. Not if he didn’t want to be lectured on the perils of unwise romantic pursuits. He was feeling too good without Mama getting in his ear and ruining his mood with her dire warnings.

The problem with Theodora—and it was his problem alone, and not hers—was that she was too pretty and clever to be viewed as an ordinary, dull secretary. She was nothing like his last one. Quinn was better organized. He knew where to find his important papers. What had once seemed an insurmountable task, coming to grips with his affairs after a prolonged absence and loss of a valuable employee, had been managed by a mere slip of a woman in a few short days.