“Timothy . . .” Luke’s voice growled a warning.
Mrs. Dove-Lyon held up her hand, silencing him.
Timothy shook his head. “My dear lady, we cannot let this happen. Win or lose, we cannot let this happen.”
Mrs. Dove-Lyon pulled a handkerchief from her desk drawer and slid it to Lady Elspeth, who took it with a grateful smile, wiping her eyes. She then swallowed and forced her fingers to release her reticule, spreading them on her thighs.
“I only have one more question for you. What is the rarest flower you have ever seen?”
Timothy blinked at the shift but answered without hesitation. “So far, the shoals spider-lily.Hymenocallis coronaria. It only grows in the United States, in the southern territories like South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, where I believe they call it the Cahaba lily, after the river where it sees the most growth. It grows mostly in and around shallow fast-flowing water. It has a ruffled center, with star-shaped spikes that grow away from the center. Mostly white with a light green center. It only blooms at night, then the blossom lasts for one day. William Bartram first observed it in 1773, and he described it in—”
“HisTravels!” Lady Elspeth bounced in her chair, her eyes bright.
“Yes! You know it?”
“Of course. My mother gave me a copy for my fifteenth birthday. It is so lyrically written, not at all the dry stuff of most naturalists. Have you met him? I heard that he lives in Philadelphia.”
Timothy scrubbed his mouth with his hand. “No. But the gentleman has passed eighty, and I hear he is mostly a recluse.” He paused. “Also Philadelphia is more the three hundred miles from Boston.”
Elspeth’s mouth gaped. “That is from here to Scotland!”
“America is a large place and getting larger all the time. It is almost one thousand miles from Boston to Charleston, South Carolina.” He grinned. “We usually take a ship.”
“Does Ella go with you?”
“She did, rather a lot, at first. She adored sea travel. You know they have two sons now?”
She nodded. “She wrote me to that effect.”
“Mostly she stays home with the boys, but so does Gordon. I handle most of the business travel at the moment. When their youngest is older, they plan to travel as a family. It is merely too risky right now.”
Lady Elspeth looked down at her lap again, tears returning to her face. “I miss her.”
After a moment of quiet, Mrs. Dove-Lyon spoke. “Lady Elspeth, does this conclude your interview with Lord Timothy?”
Lady Elspeth wiped her face again, took a deep breath, and nodded. “I believe so.” She smiled at Timothy as he stood, accepting his dismissal. “Thank you for agreeing to this. I know it is somewhat nerve-racking.”
He bowed as he stepped away. “I suspect more so for you than for the gentlemen. Whatever the outcome, I wish all the best for you.” He smiled. “And God’s blessings.”
Lady Elspeth chuckled. “Thank you. The same to you.”
Timothy and Luke left without an escort, and as soon as the door closed to Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s office, Timothy stopped, leaning heavily against the wall. “Dear God in heaven, I may have to kill my competitors.”
Luke looked around, alarmed. “Brother, do not say such things. In place like this, they take statements of that nature rather seriously.” He looked around again, even though everyone else in the room was at some distance and intricately occupied. “But why?”
“Because I am not leaving London without that woman as my wife.”
Chapter Six
Sunday, 16 April 1820
The Lyon’s Den
Four in the afternoon
Elspeth giggled.
And Lady Elspeth Westridgenevergiggled. Apparently this unexpected reaction even startled Mrs. Dove-Lyon as well as Sinclair, who leaned forward and touched Elspeth on the shoulder.
