Edith nodded, a sudden strain appearing in her face that Georgie wasn’t sure she cared for. But it was gone so quickly she couldn’t be sure it had really appeared.
“I’m grateful to you for that,” Edith murmured, her voice not quite steady. “I hope, however, that we’ll have no cause to meet other than a social one.”
“Agreed.” Henshaw looked at Edith another moment, then shook his head. “If you’ll permit me, Lady Edith, you’re far prettier than your brother led me to believe.”
Izzy giggled while Edith simply smiled at the handsome lieutenant. “And what did my brother say on that subject?”
Tony seemed to be fighting laughter, and he watched his friend with interest.
“He said you were a fair enough lass, I believe.” Henshaw shrugged his broad shoulders. “I find it a poor description.”
Edith snorted softly, her smile turning wry. “And yet it is one entirely worthy of Lachlan. I am glad to surpass expectation.”
Henshaw chuckled and moved aside. “Don’t let me keep you from making acquaintances, Lady Edith. There’s a fair group here, every one of them a connection worth maintaining.”
“Why, Lieutenant,” Izzy said with an air of surprise, “I had no idea you thought so fondly of us.”
“I’m in your presence, Izzy,” he responded with a slight bow. “I think very well of everyone you admit into your circles.”
“Down, Henshaw, down,” Tony coughed with a wave at his friend. “You’ll make somebody swoon.”
Izzy and Edith laughed, then moved away to greet others in attendance. Henshaw watched them go, then took himself in the opposite direction to speak with Grace’s brother, having not yet learned that expecting intelligent conversation there was a fool’s errand.
“I’m not going to swoon,” Georgie informed Tony proudly.
“No?” he inquired, his gaze darkening. “Then perhaps I ought to stand closer.”
Georgie’s toes tingled, and she looked up at him. “Perhaps you should.”
Tony had to laugh at Georgie’s suddenly impish behavior. They’d only been officially courting a day, and already the change in her was extraordinary.
He didn’t think he could find her any more agreeable than he already did, but this side of her, this playful, flirtatious part, might become a favorite.
“Well that was well done,” Tony murmured as he came to stand beside her. “Henshaw and Edith? What do you say to that?”
Georgie looked up at him with a smirk. “Since when have you turned matchmaker? Henshaw has tasked himself with her care, you cannot think he would think more of her than that.”
Tony shrugged and accepted a glass of punch from a passing footman. “She’s a beautiful woman, and you heard him just now. He’s enchanted.”
“Yes, and I heard him with Izzy,” Georgie pointed out. “And with Charlotte. And Grace. And Prue. And myself. And a score of other women in London. Tony, he’s a very charming man, and he flatters. Not in a scoundrel’s way, but flatter he does. I gather he feels a responsibility for Edith, and for that he may pay her a degree of attention, but I think we will both find he will be more like a brother and less like a lover.”
Tony watched her for a moment, feeling rather skeptical. “You want her to be yours for a while longer before giving her up to anyone else.”
Georgie scowled and elbowed him swiftly. “That is not true. Not in the least.”
“It’s a little bit true, Georgie. Admit it.”
“Shh,” she shushed, trying not to smile. “I like Edith a very great deal, but I would not stand in the way of anything she wished to pursue. For pity’s sake, Tony, I’ve only known her a short while. You make me sound like a tyrant.”
“Says the woman who began a newssheet devoted to reaching out to the females in London making poor choices with the men in their circles,” Tony said under his breath.
Georgie made a soft noise of disgruntlement. “That was never about preventing marriages. Just because I apparently can’t have a marriage doesn’t mean nobody else should. I’m not preventing anything. I have no authority. I just wanted to give them the best opportunity possible.”
“You sound like the headmistress of a girls’ school.” Suddenly he wasn’t playing anymore, and he found himself peculiarly invested in the conversation.
“If I really don’t marry,” Georgie told him in a soft tone, her smile gone, “that’s exactly what I plan to do with myself.”
She could not have surprised him more if she’d announced her intention to be prime minister.
A headmistress? She’d hate being cooped up in a school all the time, managing the lives of many little girls and their instructors, meeting with parents regularly, keeping up with the duties of the school itself and its running… She would have done it all rather impressively, but it would drain the light out of her, and she would have been miserable.
And what did she think he was courting her for? He had a personal stake in her and in her future, whatever it would be, and if he had his way…
Well, she wouldn’t wind up as a headmistress of a crumbling school in Chester if he had anything to say about it.
“You don’t mean that,” he said, trying to scoff.
Georgie looked out over the company, expression unreadable. “Perhaps not, but I do have to think about my options, and they are few.” Her voice had taken on a suddenly dour tone, and he hated the sound of it.
“I could help you come up with a few options, if you like,” he suggested brightly. “Certainly, something more creative than a school headmistress.”
She smiled at that and looked over at him. “Oh, really? Feasible ones, or all funny imaginings?”
Tony coughed in mock outrage. “Oh, ye of little faith! I can concoct feasible occupations for you, should you never find your way to the marriage altar.”
Her lips quirked, and she turned to face him more fully. “Can you? Do go on, then.”
“Circus rider,” he said at once.
Georgie snickered and looked away. “I don’t think so.”
Tony cocked his head, frowning. “No? You’re a very good rider, it would not be difficult for you.”
“It’s not respectable,” she reminded him, still laughing. “I’d never be able to see my parents or brothers.”
“A very great loss, to be sure,” he quipped.
Now Georgie snorted and covered her mouth, looking back at him over her glove.
“But family connections must be kept,” he went on with a reluctant sigh. “I concede your point. Very well, then. Book keeping.”
Georgie dropped her hand and shook her head. “I’m dreadful with figures.”
Tony made a face at that. “Oh, I don’t know, I think you have a rather remarkable figure. I’m quite fond of it.”
She rapped his arm sharply, her eyes widening. “Tony!”
He gave her a swift grin, relieved to have his spirited Georgie returned to him. “Governess.”
“No,” she laughed with a weaker swat. “I’d be so dreadful at that. I’d let the children run all over and never mind their lessons.”
Tony shrugged a shoulder. “So, we send you to the home of a country squire who would love that sort of thing. It is all about perspective, you see.”
Georgie shook her head at him, smiling in a way that made him want to hold her. “Oh, Tony.”
“Or you could be a printer and publisher yourself,” he went on, losing some of the playfulness in his tone. “Take the Spinster Chronicles further. Print an entire paper of it. You could collect unmarried women from all over to submit articles. Think of what Lady Hetty could offer.”
“There’s a terrifying prospect,” Georgie muttered, still smiling.
Tony nearly took her by the arms, the idea suddenly had such merit. “It could be an overthrow of everything that currently defines the publishing world. Stories, news, gossip, advice… Georgie, the Spinster Chronicles could become the most widely read paper in London.”
&
nbsp; Georgie considered him with an almost sad air. “And who would finance it, Tony? Who would let a group of women take on an entire paper on the off chance that Society wants more than what it already has? You think we are hated now? Imagine what an entire paper written by spinsters would do.” She shook her head and took his hand, keeping the clasp hidden from anyone that may have been looking. “It’s an entertaining thought, and maybe it would work, if things were different. But not with us. Not in these times.” She looked out over the group again, not seeming to see any of them. “I should have more purpose. I should have done something more with my life.”
“And what is preventing you from having a purpose now?” he asked, taking a chance, and stepping closer to her. “You are not at the end of your life, nor anywhere close to it. Your future is still before you.”
“But to what end?” Georgie’s brow wrinkled, and she turned to look at him, her eyes almost stormy. “What can I do that will be meaningful? If I’m not to have the life I imagined, what sort of life can I have? What do I do with it, Tony?”
What did she do with it? Could she not see what he was seeing? She was so lost in her own cares and concerns, so worried about her future, that she neglected to see what she was currently doing; the effect she had on people, the energy she brought wherever she went, the smiles she brought about, the courage she bolstered, the weakened souls she lifted, and the goodness she shared.
How could she not see this?
“Georgie…” Tony murmured quietly, squeezing her hand. “Help Edith. Help Izzy. Help Grace and Charlotte. Help Elinor, for heaven’s sake. You need a purpose? You have one. And it’s incredible. You are capable of so much.”
She tilted her head slightly, her lips parting in wonder.
Tony swallowed hard, rubbing her hand with his thumb. “You can’t see yourself, Georgie. You’re too close. But I see you, and it’s quite a stirring sight.”
She was silent for a long moment, and he could feel each exhale escaping past her full lips in that silence. Then her throat worked, and she smiled at him. “That’s it, you are coming with me everywhere all the time.”
He hadn’t expected that, and he laughed in surprise. “What?”
Georgie nodded. “You are too good for my self-confidence, and yet can stop me just short of getting an inflated ego.” She brightened, and her smile widened. “There’s a purpose for you, Tony Sterling. Steady me so I can do mine.” She laughed at that and turned to check on Izzy and Edith’s progress, though she still held his hand in hers.
Steady her? He stared at her fixedly, observing the turn of her throat, the golden curls of her hair, the natural flush on her cheeks, the exact shape of her eyes.
Steady her.
“I’d love to,” he nearly said aloud.
But he couldn’t.
Because the truth of the matter was that he had another idea in mind. Another purpose for himself. One that would allow him to accomplish her suggestion and more while giving his own life more meaning.
More fulfillment.
More everything.
One purpose he could see himself living for every day for the rest of his life.
Loving Georgie.
His breath caught in his chest with such swiftness that he thought he might be the one to swoon after all.
He loved her. Fiercely and with a depth that startled him beyond measure. How long had he loved her and not known it? How long had he been blind enough to ignore the greatest truth he had ever known in his entire life?
Of course, he loved her.
And he intended to make it perfectly clear that she wouldn’t need to find an occupation with her life to make it have purpose and meaning.
He had the perfect solution for her.
He couldn’t tell her yet, not until he had thought this all through and made necessary arrangements. He needed a plan, for her, for him, for them both. He needed to feel this exhilaration of loving her for longer than three minutes before acting on it.
But she would know soon enough.
“Georgie,” he said quietly, loving the taste of her name on his lips.
She knew that tone and looked at him with a curious tilt to her chin.
Saints above, how he loved her! He shook his head to himself, and murmured, “Oh, for an abandoned alcove!”
Georgie’s eyes lit up and she grinned swiftly. “Actually, I know of one. Give me three minutes, and then follow down the corridor you came through, and you may just get a kiss before we go in to dinner.”
He nodded at that, squeezing her hand. “If you’re very quick, you might get two.”
Georgie winked, wrinkled her nose, and left the room at a surprisingly sedate pace.
Tony looked around, counting the time in his head, and waiting.
At two minutes and twelve seconds, he decided he’d waited long enough and followed.
There were three kisses before dinner, and no one was any the wiser for it.
Chapter Eighteen
There is nothing so dangerous as a musicale. There are no guarantees that those presenting their musical abilities are truly in possession of musical abilities worth sharing, and as such, there is much risk involved. If you truly must attend a musicale, do be sure that the host and hostess have taste and knowledge of music. If that is not secure, then sit at the very end of a row. A swift exit may become necessary.
-The Spinster Chronicles, 21 May 1816
“I don’t understand why I must accompany you to this.”
“Somebody has to, it might as well be you.”
“You know how I feel about these things.”
“It will be good for you. A little more taste and refinement to bolster your reputation.”
“I wasn’t aware that it lacked anything of the sort.”
“Military men are always in want of taste and refinement. They are dashing, to be sure, but a woman wants something more than a uniform.”
Tony looked over at Miranda dubiously. “Are you telling me that I am nothing more than a uniform?”
Miranda sniffed and swatted her fan at him. “I would never be so crass as to include you in that assessment.”
“Which brings me back to my original point,” Tony stated firmly. “Why am I here?”
She tossed her hair and stared at him rather frankly, her blue eyes raking him over coals. “Because you adore your stepmother and she did not wish to come alone, so you have lent her your arm and your company until she sees fit to return to her sister’s house for the evening.”
Well. That answered that question.
Tony adjusted his cravat and craned his neck. “There, you see? I only needed a reason. Shall we go in?”
Miranda scowled and looped her arm through his, her dark cloak swishing behind her. “You are so impertinent sometimes, it’s a wonder Georgie lets you court her.”
“Georgie likes my impertinence,” Tony assured her with a smile. “She says it keeps her entertained.”
“Wonderful,” Miranda replied, widening her eyes meaningfully. “You’re an impertinent performing monkey.”
Tony laughed and leaned over a little. “You told her she would do for either of your stepsons. Have you changed your mind about that?”
“Not at all. Although, I rather think I should have given her to Benedict.”
Tony hooted in disbelief. “She would have eaten Ben alive, Miranda, and you know it. Ben needs a sweet wife who is as devoted to his patients as he is, and Georgie would never do.”
“That may be,” his stepmother huffed as they ascended the stairs, “but she’s far too good for you, and I trust you are well aware of that.”
He nodded in the affirmative, not seeing the need to expound on that point.
He was fully aware of it. He was all too keenly aware that the only reason he had a chance with Georgiana Allen was the fact that there was a shocking lack of intellect in the eligible men of Society. She should have been made someone’s wife ages ago, but their loss would be Tony’s gr
eat fortune, if he could manage it.
He had spent the last several days arranging and planning. He’d written to her father in Switzerland to ask for permission, he’d secured a country house in Essex, and he’d arranged to examine a London house by the week’s end.
It had occurred to him to wonder what Elinor Asheley would think of his prospects now.
He’d seen her since his decision to propose to Georgie, of course. He’d seen all of them, and several times. He walked with Georgie every day, with his stepmother acting as chaperone, and often with Izzy for company. He’d been to the theater, to tea, to Bond Street, and had even managed to borrow a phaeton from Francis to take Georgie for a ride.
Everything was proceeding very properly, though it felt like the pace of a rather sleepy turtle.
But he had needed the time to set his affairs in order, so it was all well and good.
Miranda had accepted his insistence on not taking Mawbry from her, but he wasn’t entirely sure she had forgiven him for it. But, as he’d told her, she was already settling more than his father’s inheritance on him, and to have the estate also pass to him would feel too much like charity.
Time would tell what revenge she would concoct for him, but he hoped he could bear it, whatever it was.
They entered the house, removed their outerwear, and were shown in to the too-grand music room of the Trenwick family, which had been transformed to accommodate a rather large gathering of people. He’d had few encounters with the family outside of Grace, but he understood that the entire family’s allotment of good sense seemed to only exist in mother and daughter. The son was a peacock, and the father, currently absent, a cantankerous codger who would rather spend money than time on his children.
Grace and her mother were close, though, and it did them both credit.
Tony and Miranda greeted both with politeness, and Grace smiled warmly at Tony, inclining her head towards the rest of the guests. “She’s already here,” she whispered, seeming too delighted by the idea.
He shook his head and nodded his thanks before escorting Miranda in.
The Merry Lives of Spinsters Page 25
