by Heather Boyd
He stood, feeling decidedly exposed. He did not want his mother considering his employment of Theodora Dalton too closely. “If you ladies will excuse me, I must speak with the stable master.”
“Of course. Would you mind if I remain for dinner?” Mama asked. “Newberry House is quite dreary at night without Lenore.”
“I’ll inform the housekeeper to set an extra place,” he agreed, concerned that his mother was grasping at any excuse not to be alone.
“Perhaps by then, Mrs. Dalton might be persuaded to join us,” Mama remarked. “I long to hear of her travels abroad.”
“Mama is fascinated by other people’s travels,” he reassured Theodora as he stood to leave. He stopped by his mother’s chair and winked. Theodora would have seen, but he had to do something to thank Mama. With her help, he’d have Mrs. Dalton’s gems returned in no time, and the future decided eventually. “I’ll make a point of inviting Mrs. Dalton down to meet you, and after dinner, I will escort you home, too.”
Chapter 15
Theodora slipped quietly into her mother’s bedchamber the next morning and watched her at work beside the bed. “What are you doing?”
“Packing,” Mama murmured, as she continued to fuss with the few things scattered across the counterpane with only the briefest of glances in Theodora’s direction. “The housekeeper was kind enough to loan me a small trunk of Lord Maitland’s to keep our salvaged possession in. There’s not a lot of my life with your father left, is there?”
“No.” Theodora closed the door behind her, heart heavy when her mother brushed at her eyes. She was weeping again. She had thought Lady Templeton’s company last night had cheered her up, but apparently the countess’ effect was short lived, despite being such an overwhelming character. Dwelling on their loss was only going to make Mama cry harder, but Theodora could understand her need to have the few things they’d gathered from their old life close by. “Why don’t you place them about your room? Make it feel like home?”
“Because, at some point, we will have our own home again. Listening to Lady Templeton talk about her daughter’s upcoming season made me realize I mustn’t become too comfortable here.” She sighed and pressed her fingers to the counterpane. “A lady can suffer delusions that maid service six times a day is perfectly natural and that lifting a finger is completely unnecessary. Lord Maitland has been so kind, so certain that I need do nothing, that I’m starting to feel uncomfortable about it. He has a sister who will need his escort and protection soon for her season. I don’t wish to forget my place. I don’t live here. I am homeless but not without means, thank heavens.”
“What do you mean, you have means?”
Mother sank onto the bed. “Do you recall your father was going to have the clasp on my necklace repaired before he died?”
“Yes. He was so tardy at doing so that I had threatened to send Mr. Small to do the errand for him.”
“I didn’t know how to tell you before today, but it seems your father hadn’t forgotten his promise to me. He was wearing the necklace when he died. The gems were found when his body was prepared for burial.”
Theodora’s eyes burned suddenly, and she covered her face as she burst into tears.
She’d believed recovering financially would take the rest of her life. She had struggled to hide her despair of ever being settled again behind false bravado. She’d thought she’d have to work forever, but that wasn’t the case. “Oh, Papa.”
Her mother’s arms wrapped around her as she sobbed. But relief had already turned to guilt. She’d rather have her father back than the money, but they needed the money the sale of the gems would bring to live. They could travel in comfort back to India, buy land and prosper there. Mama could have her own servants again. As many as she liked, too.
Theodora pushed back from her mother, wiping her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me before now?”
Her mother was crying, too. “I couldn’t speak of it. I couldn’t think of them without remembering the day your father gave them to me.”
Theodora hugged her mother quickly. “He was so happy to see you wearing them.”
“And so was I.”
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know. Lord Maitland tried to give them back to me after the funeral but I refused him.”
“He kept them?”
“I suppose he put them away in his safe somewhere.”
“They are not there,” Theodora said out loud. “I know the contents of his safe inside and out.”
Her mother drew back to stare at her. “You shouldn’t snoop.”
“Rent day,” Theodora promised. “You should ask him for the necklace again.”
“It’s not a necklace anymore. The stones are best left with him for now, until I decide what to do.”
Theodora led her mother to the window seat and pressed her down on the soft cushions. “You could sell the necklace. Mr. Peabody on Bond Street would give you a fair deal.”
“I suppose I will have to consider it. Your father told me the gems were very fine.”
“Only the best for you,” Theodora promised as she held her mother’s hand. “If we exchanged some of the gems, we would have a little money to spend and we could live anywhere we liked. We could return to India now.”
Her mother nodded slowly. “The moment we returned to England, you wanted to turn back.”
“That is true,” Theodora said quickly. She did not want to rush her mother into any decision, but she was excited again. There was so much to do if they would travel again. “Home has always been where we made it. Do you remember when we first arrived in India? Months at sea, suffering the worst of the confinement, only to face a strange city and such heat as we’d never felt before. We both looked at each other, knowing life there would take a great deal of adjustment. This is no different.”
“I like it here.”
“Living in England?” Theodora’s smile faltered as her mother nodded. “You want to stay?”
“I like the peace of familiar surroundings and customs,” she murmured.
“I suppose we could stay awhile.” Mother remaining in England without her had never occurred to Theodora. She couldn’t leave her parent at such a time…or ever, she suspected.
Her mother’s face fell. “Without your father, I don’t know what to do with myself. Lady Templeton suggested I remain here, but Lord Maitland’s kindness reminds me of all I’ve lost. I miss your father. I miss the life we had together.”
Theodora caught her mother in a tight hug. “Oh, Mama. I miss him too.”
When her mother began to cry softly, Theodora held her until she stopped. She’d become so busy with her new position that she had forgotten Mama had next to nothing to do with her days. The hours must seem very long with so little to occupy her mind.
Eventually, Mama quieted and drew back. “What can I do? I don’t have callers or call on friends while we’re in mourning. No one has come around to inquire about us since the night of the fire, have they?”
“I’m sure they simply don’t have our new directions,” Theodora suggested, unsure if that was true or not. Someone should have been concerned enough to call by now. “Should you like me to write to our friends and let everyone know where we are, and that we suffered no harm?”
Her mother nodded slowly. “I had not thought of that. People used to come and see your father all the time, and at all hours.”
“I know.” She thought a moment, unsure of what to suggest. “Perhaps someone we know will call today. Shall we go downstairs together and see?”
“I don’t want to watch you toiling over the viscount’s papers again.”
“I am sure that is dull for you,” Theodora murmured apologetically. What fascinated Theodora about business and finance had always bored her mother. “How about instead, we take tea outside? I noticed a small table and chairs in the walled courtyard at the back of the house that no one seems to use. I’m sure Lord Maitland won’t mind if we make it ou
r own for a little while.”
“I’d like that.”
Mama hurried to wipe her tears away, and together they headed toward the main staircase. As they reached the head of it, they heard Lord Maitland in conversation with someone in his study. She had not known he was meeting with anyone today. Curious, Theodora listened carefully.
“You know you are a very pretty lady,” he said, chuckling softly. “Come here, my dear.”
Theodora grimaced. Flirting with another woman in the study? Where she worked? Theodora would put an end to that sort of nonsense immediately. She entered the room without knocking.
“Ah, there you are, Dalton,” Lord Maitland exclaimed. “I was just about to send for you.”
“Were you?” Theodora looked about, but there was only Lord Maitland occupying the space.
“Come meet my new friend,” he begged, gesturing her urgently toward the high-backed chair nearest him.
Theodora rounded the seat—and saw a small black puppy had been placed on the cushion, and it was chewing the brim of Lord Maitland’s hat.
“It’s a dog.”
“Very clever of you to notice,” he said, laughing. “I found this little waif near the stables, and since she was in danger of being trampled, I thought to save her.”
Theodora wasn’t fond of dogs, having been nipped by them as a child too often, but her mother had always doted on them. “Mother, come and see what Lord Maitland found outside today,” Theodora called.
Her mother came in unsmiling, but brightened immediately when she saw the black pup slobbering all over Lord Maitland’s hat. “Oh,” she cried out. “You shouldn’t let her do that,” she chided the viscount.
The man merely smiled. “Do you know about dogs, Mrs. Dalton?”
“I do indeed. I haven’t had one for a long time.” Mama reached for the pup and scooped it up against her chest. The pup licked her face excitedly, and she laughed. “What a darling little creature. Her coat is so soft. Is she yours?”
“I think she might prefer to be yours,” Quinn suggested, scratching the pup behind the ears. “I had a groom bathe some of the dirt out of her coat but there’s likely more than a house pet should have still there. She’s a bit of a lightweight, too. Someone needs to care for her. Would you like her, madam?”
“I would take very good care of her, my lord.” Mama stifled a sniff and then pressed a kiss to the dog’s wriggling head. “Thank you.”
“She’ll need a name if she’s to stay in the house,” he suggested next.
All of her attention focused on the excited pup, Mama nodded. “Soot. Yes, that is a good name for her.”
Lord Maitland threw Theodora a pleased smile, and her heart melted. He’d done just the right thing to cheer her mother up. How clever of him to realize Mama needed something special to distract her from grief, too. “Thank you,” she mouthed to him.
He winked and then stepped to her mother’s side. “I’m sure you and Soot will become the best of friends in no time,” he murmured before leaving them. “The walled courtyard is just the place for her to play.”
Chapter 16
Quinn startled from a deep, dreamless sleep at the unwelcome sound of pounding on the front door and Mrs. Dalton’s new pup launching into an excited bout of barking. Blinking sleep from his eyes, he stretched his arm out across the bed, expecting to encounter Theodora, only to find he was alone and her side of the bed was cold.
He sighed that she was gone too soon. He smoothed his bed quickly so it would not appear he’d had company during the night and sat up. He hadn’t felt Theodora leave him, but he would see her soon enough. There was a lingering fragrance of Theodora’s perfume in the room, and he breathed it deeply. Contentment trickled through him, and he fought the feeling.
He had the perfect arrangement, but should not grow used to it. Theodora was a remarkable lover and a dedicated secretary, too. He was glad she’d found her way to his bed. She was the perfect distraction. His thoughts did not linger on Adele or her betrayal once he had Theodora in his arms. His anger at his father had faded only a little. He had been used by people he trusted and he had survived the pain because of Theodora.
On reflection, he’d lost little from his life in parting ways with Adele Blakely’s, but he’d gained clarity.
Love and lust were quite different, and he only needed one in his life. Lust was simpler. Desire, when fulfilled so thoroughly, as his affair with Theodora proved, was enough.
He climbed out of bed feeling well rested, despite the fleeting moments of sleep he’d snatched between bouts of lovemaking last night, to open a window and take in the view outside.
As often happened, his eyes were drawn to the desolation across from his home. The Daltons’ residence had been reduced to nothing more than blacked brick and crumbling timbers.
Despite that tragedy, he was content in a way he’d never experienced before. There was nothing more he wanted in his life but for this secretive arrangement to continue for as long as possible. And when it did end, as he was sure it would, there were plenty of other women in London willing to invite him to their beds, he suspected.
A knock sounded on his door, breaking him from his thoughts. He snatched up a silk banyan and threw it over his nakedness, ready to face the challenges of a new day. “Come.”
Rodmell poked his head into the room, the sad expression on his face warning Quinn wasn’t going to like what he heard next. “My lord, forgive me for waking you, but a servant has come from Newberry House.”
A chill swept him that his father might have recovered. “What is it?”
“Lord Templeton has passed during the night,” Rodmell told him. “Lady Templeton has asked for you to come immediately.”
Quinn struggled with his feelings, relieved and unsettled by the sensation of satisfaction. “Please inform Miss Dalton of the situation, and tell her the dinner she was organizing must be delayed. Thank you, Rodmell.”
The door pulled closed slowly, and the air burst from Quinn’s lungs.
When he’d first awoken, he’d thought he couldn’t be happier. But he was.
The bloody tyrant was no more.
Chapter 17
Funerals were unbearable, even for someone so unloved. They brought Theodora’s grief too near the surface.
Theodora’s father had been laid to rest without pomp or ceremony in a simple grave last week, but she couldn’t bear to glance in that direction yet. The quiet service for her beloved father was in stark contrast to today’s ostentatious display for a man disdained by his son.
Today, Lord Templeton’s body had been consigned to an impressive mausoleum in the same cemetery where her father rested. No expense had been spared to prove the earl’s importance in society, even in death. A trio of child mourners had followed the carriage bearing the mahogany coffin trimmed with gold in advance of a dozen professional mourners. There might be a few true mourners following behind, she suspected—navy officials and titled lords of his acquaintance—but not too many.
Theodora shifted in the darkened carriage parked at the edge of the cemetery; keeping an eye on the silent and straight-backed figure of her employer as he listened to the vicar of St. George’s send up prayers and whatnot for the late earl’s passing. She was too far away to hear clearly what was said of Quinn’s father, though she thought perhaps only a little of it could be true. Quinn had yet to say anything nice about the late Lord Templeton, but she’d been left in no doubt he was not missed.
A little shiver raced along her limbs as she considered Quinn overlong. She admired his honesty with her. She admired the rest of him very much indeed. They rarely spoke of the hours they spent in each other’s arms at night anymore, and that seemed to suit them both perfectly. Theodora worked diligently during the day, a model of propriety and calm efficiency, but her nights were full of wild abandon atop his comfortably large and soft bed.
Theodora brushed her thumb across her bottom lip as lust caught her in its grip yet again. Q
uinn was very inventive, had a stamina she’d learned to crave. Their affair had begun as a balm for his anger, but he expected so little in return it concerned her. She could not shake the feeling that his experience with the actress Adele Blakely had somehow hardened his heart against truly enjoying himself.
Did he trust her?
She thought he might not.
She shook off her disappointment as she noted the mourners turning away from the grave, solemn and with little conversation for each other. The Duke of Rutherford had not made the journey to London for the burial. By all accounts, the duke had taken the death of his eldest son and heir very badly. The bulk of the family had gathered at Newberry Park around the duke, and only a few of the men of the family attended the funeral today. Theodora suspected they’d come not out of respect for the late Lord Templeton, but to support Quinn.
She returned her attention to him, a dark figure bundled up in black against the chill of a bleak day. He nodded to many but as he made his way back to his carriage with his head down, she could see he was lost in thought. She wished there was some way to take away all of his pain beyond what she’d already done for him.
She made room for him as he joined her in the carriage, but he took the opposite seat instead of sitting at her side, as he’d taken to doing.
He placed his dark hat carefully beside him before speaking. “It’s done.”
“Yes.”
She braced herself as the carriage moved off, gaining speed as it turned into the traffic that teamed toward the capital.
Quinn stretched out one leg to brace himself against her bench seat. “I will be moving into Newberry House tonight.”
She’d expected it but still questioned him. “Why so soon?”
“I am a Templeton now. I must be seen to take the reins.”
He sounded so bleak, so unsteady, that her heart lurched in sympathy for him. It was clear to Theodora he’d not yearned for the responsibilities that came from his elevation to earl. However, they could not be avoided or passed on to another, as Quinn’s right of succession had been clear. There would be much to do and become familiar with in the coming months.
