“And very profitable,” Ada added with a grin.
He focused those striking eyes on her lips.“What sort of fiction does your step-sister write?”
Ada felt the prickle of his interest.Daringly handsome with those bright eyes and auburn hair, he was not for her.He was too sedate.Too reserved.She needed a man who lived and breathed…and played.“Camille pens gothic romances, my lord.Dark castles, tormented men locked away in their dreary rooms.In need of a woman to love them.”
He laughed shortly.“Your step-sister?Forgive me.I am out of society.I do not know her.”
“Camille Bereston, sir.She’s the daughter of my father’s wife, the former Lady Savage.”
“You may not remember her, my dear,” said the duchess to her son.“Olivia Bereston?No?She’s the widow of Lord Savage who died many years ago.And Camille is her daughter.Lady Savage, or as she is now, Mrs Killian Hanniford, married Miss Hanniford’s father a few years ago.”
“I see,” he said with an appraising look at Ada.
If he knew about her step-mother’s previous marriage and Camille’s father, he took his time not allowing any indication of his view of it to cross his face.
Ada understood from her father that Olivia—or Liv, as everyone in the family called her—had suffered some sort of despair in her first marriage.Whatever it was, her daughter Camille had loved her father and remembered him sweetly.If the duchess and her son Victor knew of Liv’s discomfiture, Ada didn’t wish to be reminded of it.Nor to learn of it.Whatever the problem had been, it no longer existed.Liv and her father were delightfully matched and very much in love.One son and another baby due this autumn proved that.Unconventional as their marriage so late in life might be, they adored each other.One day, Ada might have the same.But truth was, in the past four years, she’d met every eligible bachelor in Great Britain and had found no one who appealed.At twenty-two, she was fast becoming that most noble creature.A spinster.
She wished to turn the tables.“How long do you plan to remain in England, my lord?”
He tipped his head, winsome in his uncertainty.“I’ve not decided.Much depends on how this book debuts.And I have business interests I must settle here.”
It was impolite to ask details of that.So Ada nodded and let that rest.
But Ezzie did not.“What products do you import, my lord?”
Ada suppressed a smile and drank the rest of her tea.
“Porcelain and fabrics.My latest victory is a partnership with an ancient Japanese samurai family, the Hagamura, who manufacture fine silk.This past winter, I started to sell their wares out of Kyoto.”
“Do you have an office there?”Ada asked.
Once more in his eyes she saw surprise.Dear heavens.Did the man think all women were dolts?
“Not yet.If the orders grow larger, I may find it necessary.”
His mother reached across to grasp one of his hands.“No.Please do not tell me you will return there?It is so very uncivilized.Oh, Victor.”
He squeezed her hand.“Please don’t, Mama.This is a topic for another time.”
“No, it isn’t, Victor.How could you do that?And your girls.They would live in that heathen culture.You cannot for their sakes do this!”
“Mama, I haven’t made any decision yet.”
“But—but your house in Hanover Square.You refurbish it.”
“I do.For us while we are here.”
“And your offices in the City?”The lady was beside herself.
Ada found it odd.She had witnessed the duchess’s concern for the failing health of her husband.Did the lady not rely on her oldest son to help her in her time of need…or was this son the more reliable one?Ada examined his exquisite tailoring, the absolute one-eighty degree of his pearl stickpin, the precise fold of his cravat, the neat cut of his curly auburn hair.My.How she’d like to run her fingers through its wealth.
She swallowed hard on that surprising desire.
“I visited my staff there last week,” he said trying to console her with a pat of her fingers.“I simply haven’t made any decisions yet.Please understand.”
She sniffed.“I don’t.I need you.Your father does too, Victor.You cannot leave me.”
Ada stared at this second son, surprised.The duchess favored this child as more necessary to her peace of mind than her oldest son, Richard.Oh, true.Richard, Lord Ridgemont, was her step-son.But still.Did not most families rely on the oldest and heir to provide the backbone of stability when their father grew infirm?
“I understand your feelings, Mama,” Victor went on.“But I know Richard will be your bulwark if and when you need him.”
“I doubt—” The woman caught herself.“Forgive me,” she said to Ada and Ezzie.
Ada threw her a compassionate smile.“I understand, Your Grace.You’ve only just had the chance to greet your son here this afternoon.And much needs to be discussed.We intrude.Ezzie, what do you say that we retire for the afternoon?”
She got to her feet and gave a small curtsy to mother and son.“Wonderful to meet you at last, sir.Thank you for the insights on trade with China.And thank you, Your Grace, for tea.”
Ezzie rose and excused herself with the same fond wishes.
