“Please forgive my daughter. She has a love for numbers and science,” Mr. Lewis explained, giving his daughter a warning glance.
“Have you always loved numbers and science?” Elijah asked her, his dark stare intense.
Miss Lewis became shy under his gaze. Henry wondered if perhaps she was exactly what his friend needed.
“Yes, for as long as I can remember, but eventually, numbers became my greatest love. Though science is still dear to my heart. I try to visit Miss Price at her laboratory when I’m not working for Mr. O’Brien or helping my sister.” Her voice was full of pride as she spoke.
“What type of work do you do for Mr. O’Brien?” Lady Hempstead asked. The conversation had caught the attention of everyone at the table.
O’Brien answered happily. “She’s my accountant. She and Caitrín work together with my son Declan to run the books. I’d be lost without them, to be honest. I may curse the day they both marry,” he jested, looking from his niece to Miss Lewis.
“Stop it, Uncail! That won’t be happening for me,” Miss McCarthy said in a determined voice.
“You do not wish to marry?” Windchester queried, his eyebrows rising.
“Our Caitie here wants to open up her own establishment for ladies,” Mrs. O’Brien informed the table proudly.
“I, for one, cannot wait!” Mother Di raised her glass. “It’s time that we ladies had a place to escape to beyond knitting and raising children.”
“What a splendid idea. We were thrilled when Livie told us about it,” Lady Hempstead agreed.
Henry was happy that Mother Di had found another close friend. It had taken her years to find someone after Remington’s mother had passed. They’d been like sisters, and it warmed his heart to see Mother Di had found a similar bond with Julia’s aunt.
“A gentlemen’s club for ladies?” Windchester asked bewildered.
“Yes. It will be a ladies club,” Miss McCarthy said in a rather annoyed voice.
“I see, and you think ladies will want to frequent this establishment?” Windchester’s bewildered voice called out to her from across the table as he rubbed his chin. “I’ve never heard of ladies frequenting a club. Wouldn’t that interfere with their home duties?”
“Home duties? Because a woman can do nothing else but take care of her family?” she challenged, placing her fork down. “Lord Windchester, in case you were not informed, a woman can be more than just a wife and a mother. She has dreams of her own and may like to visit our establishment. Beatrice and I have interviewed several ladies of the ton, including Her Grace and Lady Julia, who agreed they would love such an outlet.”
“I’m not sure I would like to attend a ladies club.” Lady Allendale shook her head in disgust.
“There are so many other things one could do with their evenings. Wouldn’t you agree, Lord Heartford?” Lady Florentia intertwined her fingers as she looked at Henry.
“That is up to the individual of course.” Henry tried not to engage her in conversation, but he had to admit that Lady Florentia seemed determined to snare him.
“Lord Windchester, have you heard from your wife?” Henry’s mother interrupted the conversation, causing several gasps.
Henry dropped his knife and fork, his annoyance with his mother surpassing anything he’d ever felt in the past. He had forgotten the vile things that came out of her mouth so frequently. So unapologetically, as if she had the right to say such things to people. Who the hell did she think she was? And now she had the audacity to mention his sister’s killer at the fucking dinner table?
“Mother,” he gritted out the warning between his teeth.
His mother’s cold stare landed on him. He was accustomed to that particular look, being on the other end of it often.
He had indulged her greatly after his father’s death. She often would accuse Henry of not caring for her and wanting her to end up all alone and destitute once he was married. As a boy of twelve, he had been unable to stand up to her. Little had changed when he became a man.
Perhaps that was why she had been against his engagement to Julia. That was the only thing he had ever fought his mother on, because he knew that Julia St. John was meant to be his wife.
His mother’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “I simply was wondering if he had heard from the countess. I received a letter from her mother, informing me that her daughter had left their home in Kent—”
The table erupted in loud voices. Karrington stood up first, his hands in fists on the table. “What the hell do you mean she’s left?”
“Your Grace!” Livie warned her husband, but he shook his head.
“When did you receive this letter, Mother?” Henry’s chest felt tight, his skin crawling with hatred. He had the urge to bolt out to the dark streets of London and find the former countess.
“I received it nearly a month ago,” his mother stuttered out. Now that all eyes were on her, her confidence wavered.
