Julian frowned.“And St.Albans thought that sendingyouto be my secretary was a good idea?”
Her chin rose at his incredulity.“The fact that he did so should be enough to tell you thathebelieved me capable of carrying out those duties.”It sounded as ifeven if you do notshould have been added to the end of that statement.
It was not a question of whether Julian thought her capable of carrying out the duties of being his, or anyone else’s, secretary.Indeed, this no-nonsense young lady gave the impression she was capable of completing any task presented to her, and doing it well.
It was the fact that there was as much of a scandal attached to her father’s death as there was to the disappearance of the Duchess of Moreland.
Perhaps that was St.Albans’s reasoning in sending this woman here.
With the idea of putting two misfits together?
Julian knew the cruelty of London gossip only too well, having been on the receiving end of it two years ago and since.
The Stapleton ladies would obviously not be attending any of Society’s entertainments for the rest of the Season because they were in mourning for a husband and father.But that did not mean that so-called “friends” would not call on them to offer their condolences and then gossip and speculate with their other friends after doing so.
Julian could not see the no-nonsense Georgiana Stapleton suffering through having to so much as listen to such false sympathy, let alone responding to it.Especially as it seemed as if there was no love lost between father and daughter.
Julien scowled.“Your mother has allowed you to travel to Norfolk unaccompanied?”
“My mother is far too distraught at her recent widowhood and the strain of moving into a new home to question me too deeply on the subject.”
Which answered that question, but not how St.Albans came to be acquainted with Georgiana Stapleton, a woman who was obviously so much younger than him, let alone how he had arranged for her to take up employment with one of his oldest male friends.
Unless… “Can you possibly be another one of the six young ladies whom I believe are the founder members of the Spinsters Alliance?Young ladies who have decreed they will not marry a gentleman of thetonif they do not love him or feel they are not loved in return?”Julian prompted curiously.
Her eyes widened.“The duke has discussed that private subject with you?”
St.Albans wrote to Julian every couple of weeks, primarily to urge him to rejoin Society, something Julian had no intention of ever doing.He would rather live out the rest of his life in solitude than ever again suffer the speculation and quiet accusations of the members of Society.But St.Albans also provided Julian with news of their mutual friends, as well as his daughter, Chloe, whom St.Albans loved very much and of whom he was immensely proud.
For example, St.Albans had written how horrified he was when he first learned of his daughter’s association with five other young Society ladies who intended to support each other in not giving in to the pressure to marry someone with whom they were not deeply in love.
Admittedly, St.Albans had since succumbed to the charms of one of those young ladies and was now totally obsessed with her.His daughter, Chloe Lord, was now also married because she had also fallen in love with a gentleman who was besotted with her.
“He did not so much discuss the subject as mention it,” Julian assured Georgiana Stapleton.“And he did so only in relation to his concerns for his daughter’s future happiness.”
“A daughter who is now happily married to the Duke of Hellsmere.”
“Yes,” Julian acknowledged, knowing that St.Albans could not have been happier with this outcome.Hellsmere was also a friend of Julian’s, and he was pleased that both those gentlemen had found the woman they loved and wished to spend the rest of their lives with.Both ladies, as it happened, were founder members of this Spinsters Alliance.
Georgiana glanced out from beneath the wooden canopy.“It looks as if the rain has slackened off somewhat,” she announced.“Might we go up to the house now so we can both hopefully get out of these wet clothes, possibly into a hot bath, and then into wearing something warm and dry?”
Julian took the latter for the reprimand that it undoubtedly was.Justifiably so, perhaps.But in his defense, he had been so caught up in their conversation that he had not realized the storm had tapered off so that they were now only plagued by a strong wind.
“Of course.”He indicated for her to precede him up the path to where the candlelight in the main house was visible through the trees.“I will have my housekeeper prepare a bedchamber and for a bath and hot water to be brought up to you.”It was the least he could do, followed by a night’s rest in a comfortable bed, before he sent this young lady back to London.
“Did you not already have a bedchamber prepared in anticipation of the arrival of your new secretary?”
“Well…yes,” he acknowledged awkwardly.“But I do not consider those rooms to be suitable for the daughter of the Earl of Shefford.”
Two bright spots of angry color appeared in her cheeks.“I am here as your secretary, not the daughter of an earl.”
“One does not preclude the other.”
“It does as far as I am concerned.”
“Then we will have to agree to disagree,” he dismissed mildly.
* * *
