“We have narrowed down the potential candidates to three.” Suzannah placed three advertisements in front of Meredith. She welcomed the distraction from her disquieting thoughts.
“We have ruled out anyone too young or old. I believe you need a middle aged woman of decent status, preferably widowed.” Suzannah rested her chin in her hand as she waited for Meredith to look over the selections.
Meredith pointed to the last one.
“This one says she enjoys being active, taking rides in the park, walks and reading. But she’s not afraid of a little excitement and adventure. I suppose that would frighten off most people who would want dour and serious chaperones,” Meredith mused. “If I am to have a companion, I would greatly love a woman who would embrace life rather than try to deny me of it.” Meredith snuck a glance at Darius, who watched her closely.
He noticed her look and smiled softly. “I rather agree, actually. I want you to have no silly peahens for a chaperone, nor fire breathing dragons. It would be nice to have a good woman to keep us both out of trouble, as it were, but not abridge our freedoms.”
Suzannah laughed. “Abridge your freedoms? Darius, I doubt any woman would seek to check your behavior.”
Meredith watched Suzannah and Darius’s easy camaraderie with a pang of envy. How had she grown to be so close to a gentleman who was not her husband? The countess was lucky, very lucky indeed.
“Very well then. I will write to Mrs. Petersham and see if she will meet with us,” Darius said. “That brings us to the next order of business, Meredith. Your wardrobe.”
Meredith, her mouth now full of food, gulped painfully as she tried to swallow.
“Wardrobe? I’m afraid I do not possess the funds for?—”
“Meredith, my uncle requested I take care of you, and that includes a roof over your head, food in your belly, connecting you to eligible men, and that certainly requires a new wardrobe.”
Darius continued to watch her with those piercing eyes that she feared saw too much. There was no way this clever, smart man would have kissed her last night. She definitely had dreamed it. Darius was too refined, too in control ever to kiss her.
She suddenly felt ill with embarrassment. “Oh…”
As if sensing her distress, Suzannah reached out and patted her hand.
“Kit did the same with me. It is no use arguing with a gentleman who is determined to see that his lady is well turned out.”
“Exactly,” Darius leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “Now please eat and we shall depart for Bond Street.”
Meredith continued her meal in silence as she listened to Suzannah and Darius discuss people she didn’t know and places she’d never been to.
When I marry someday, I want to belong. I want to have a shared history with my husband and know his world so well it becomes my own.
She wanted that so badly her chest ached.
Once she had finished, Darius went to summon his coach, leaving Suzannah and Meredith to wait in the entryway.
“You don’t mind that I accompany you to the dressmaker?” Suzannah asked.
Meredith smiled at her new friend. “Of course not. I’m glad for your company.”
“Good. Darius has impeccable taste, I assure you, but we ladies always need each other in times of wardrobe building.”
Meredith laughed. “I quite agree on that. It would be good to have your insight as to what I should wear for London. I’ve only ever kept a simple wardrobe suited for the country.”
Suzannah tightened the strings of her reticule. “Besides, someone must chaperone you until we hire someone. I want you to have the best of chances finding a husband, and while Darius is more than honorable, tongues have a way of wagging, especially when it comes to untruths.”
Meredith was glad that Suzannah was so willing to help someone she’d only just met. “Thank you, truly.”
“Of course. I promised you we would be friends.”
Darius heard the last of the ladies’ conversation as he joined them in the foyer. It gladdened his heart to see Suzannah so open and welcoming to Meredith. She already treated the young woman like family, just as he would wish his friends to. He retrieved his cane from Mr. Chelsea, wincing as he took a step that tugged the wrong way at the scar tissue on his stomach.
Chelsea offered a hand to steady him. “Your Grace?”
“I’m all right,” Darius assured him. Then he noticed Suzannah’s suddenly teary eyes, and Meredith’s confusion and concern.
