Georgianna’s heart lurched in a most peculiar manner, and she sighed. Him—Daniel Rutherford, the 14th Earl of Stannis, known to her sister only because the man was scandalous in his rakish pursuits and parties. Even buried in Hertfordshire, they received the town news. The earl had made their local papers once because of his unapologetic debauchery. He was a gentleman reputed to be a wicked libertine, but somehow most of society agreed he was one of the prime catches of the season with his debonair looks and wealth. “I am to work for the Earl of Stannis.”
Lizzie leaned her hip against the stone counter. “What precisely did the earl say to you in his letter?”
“It is the secretary of Lord Stannis who wrote to me. You know I was not the first choice to cater to this party aboard the earl’s yacht, but we must be grateful his first cook fell ill and provided this remarkable opportunity for us. I asked for three hundred pounds and prepared several arguments as to why I am worth this amount.”
Lizzie gasped. “Three hundred pounds?”
Georgianna smiled. “Mr. Burnell agreed without any quibble! Though I am confident in my capabilities to amaze the earl’s guests’ exotic and rich palettes, it was an absurd sum. That they are willing to pay it is beyond what I expected but perfectly wonderful for us.”
Her sister sighed. “I know it is a sum we badly need, but—”
Rushing forward, she took her sister’s hands in hers. “There is no but, Lizzie! Please trust me.”
“Lord Stannis is a rake who does not hesitate to seduce ladies to his bed!”
Georgianna blinked, nonplussed. “What does that have to do with me? I knew of the earl’s reputation before I responded to Mr. Burnell’s advert.”
Her sister sniffed, then sheepishly grinned. “You areverypretty, Georgie—what if Lord Stannis…cannot resist being a libertine?”
The notion astonished her so much, Georgianna laughed. “You forget it takes two to play any game of seduction.”
Her sister scoffed. “What would you know of it? The earl visited Hertfordshire and our humble town of Crandell,ravishedSquire Goodley’s daughter, and then refused to do the honorable thing. What if he should ruin you, too?”
“Not that silly rumor again! I am not that foolish, and I cannot believe you would think so little of my mettle and character.” A spurt of humor shook Georgianna. “I also do not think I would have any cause to encounter the earl to inspire such an alarming sense of ravishment. We had not even met him when he supposedly visited Crandell a couple years ago.”
Her sister jutted her chin in that stubborn way she owned. “They say he is so devilishly handsome that even ladies twice his age beg to be his lover.”
“I promise to gird my loins and resist the terrible temptation.”
Lizzie scowled. “They said no less thanthreemaidens have been known to fall pregnant with child with only a kiss from the earl, the only such known cases in all of our kingdom.”
“It is rather astonishing, that,” Georgianna said drily, terribly amused by her sister. “Somehow I suspect there might be more to it than just kisses, and you should stop reading those nonsensical gossip rags which only know how to publish outlandish speculations.”
Elizabeth’s scowl darkened. “You do own a naughty and inquisitive soul. I fear you might find his wickedness appealing.”
“Lizzie,” Georgianna said with great exasperation. “You worry needlessly. Mr. Burnell said I will have a kitchen staff of six and an army of footmen at my command aboard the earl’s yacht for the few days I’ll be there. I cannot see any reason for the earl to seek me out or I him. Truly, it is doubtful Lord Stannis is even aware that Mr. Burnell hired me.”
Lizzie sighed and tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear. “I suppose you are correct in that regard. An earl would not dirty his hands by doing anything so normal as looking through the résumés of potential cooks.”
Grinning, Georgianna looped her hands with her sister and tugged her over to the stone bench facing the large windows. “Let’s be thankful. My compensation is a needed fortune that will set so many things to right, Lizzie.”
Her sister hesitated. “Do you not think we should consider Aunt’s offer to live with her in Kent? To perhaps have a season in London for yourself, Georgie, and try and find a husband?”
A most peculiar cold pricked deep beneath Georgianna’s skin, and she withdrew her hand from Lizzie’s and sat. Clutching the apron in a tight grip, she met her sister’s worried gaze. “Do you wish to leave here? Sell the manor as our aunt suggests?”
A raw emotion she could not decipher flashed in her sister’s blue eyes before her lashes lowered. A hitch darted through Georgianna’s chest. Though she could not bear the notion of parting from the home that held so many loving memories, to remain within its comforting and familiar walls could not be her decision alone. She always had to keep her sisters’ wishes, hopes, and dreams in her keeping, gently holding their flames alive.
“Please, Lizzie, I am not so decided in my opinions and actions that my dearest sister cannot tell me her thoughts and worries.”
Her sister looked around, taking painstaking care to linger on the large table where they normally sat with their parents and laughed and chatted while they baked or cooked together.
“All the memories are here,” Lizzie whispered. “Every morning upon rousing, I hear Papa singing in his deep baritone and smell Mama’s cinnamon bread baking. And those are just the beginning of the memories that keep me hopeful, Georgie. I do not wish to leave, but staying isnotthe easiest path. The money Papa left us is gone, and we have been terribly worried now for more than a year. It is adreadfulstruggle, and I see the strain on you.”
“Taking the easier path is not always the best,” she replied, repeating a lesson their father often imparted. “Aunt Thomasina means well, but I cannot guarantee that we will find husbands to secure our futures when we have so little to recommend us. It is better she provides us with the money to live instead of spending it on pretty dresses in the hopes a gentleman would make us an offer.”
A soft longing opened inside Georgianna. “Though I confess it, should you or I ever get the chance to marry, Lizzie, it should only be for love…very much like what Mama and Papa shared. Surely nothing less would do.”
Her sister rested her head on Georgianna’s shoulders. “I just hate that you are not happy.”
