Chapter Two
He was a little younger than she’d anticipated. Perhaps in his early forties, which was no great age, but given that he was the name behind a prestigious London publishing company, she’d been prepared for someone with more of an elderly appearance.
“Miss Smith?” He rose as she entered the parlour.
“Indeed.” She dropped him a polite curtsey. “Thank you for the honour you do us, Mr. Lesley. Coming all this way from London is very much appreciated, and quite a surprise.”
They sat, he in a large chair by the fireplace, she in a smaller one next to the well-worn sofa.
“After reading your…er…friend’s manuscript, I felt it incumbent upon me to visit in person. And to be honest, I have an acquaintance in the area, so it was a case of killing two birds with one happy stone.” He crossed his legs. “I suppose there is no chance of my meeting with Lady Corinth in person?”
“No sir, I’m afraid not.” Letitia kept her expression calm and her words simple. She was masquerading as the author’s friend and intended Mr. Lesley to completely accept her role. “Given the nature of the manuscript, I’m sure you can understand her desire to remain anonymous.”
“Indeed.” Lesley nodded. “Cytherean Taleshas the potential to be a very popular volume, Miss Smith.”
Letitia’s heart jumped. “It does?”
“Yes.” He tapped his leather case which lay on the table next to him. “It is quite remarkable in its characterization and the heroines’ voices are strong and will easily attract and hold a reader’s attention.”
“Well,” Letitia cleared her throat. “I can assure you she will be very happy to hear that. Very happy indeed.”
“You realize however, that this is a very controversial volume?”
“I do.”
“You have read it yourself?” He raised an eyebrow. “I will admit to some surprise that a lady of your tender years has risked exposing herself to the material contained in this book.”
Letitia’s chin rose. “I believe Lady Corinth wrote much of the book with women in mind, Mr. Lesley.” She caught herself up. “At least that’s what she told me, several times, during its creation.”
“You astound me.” He shook his head. “I’m not sure that we will be able to market it as suitable for ladies.”
Unwilling to argue at this point, Letitia let that issue lie. “Do I take it then, that you are considering accepting Lady Corinth’s work, sir?”
“Indeed yes. I will be very happy to offer a publication contract to Lady Corinth. On most generous terms, I might add.”
Since she couldn’t stand up, shout, dance, whoop or do any of the things she would like to have done, she just smiled.
“There is one proviso…” He reached for his bag and withdrew the manuscript.
Her heart dropped to her boots.Here it comes. Nothing is ever that simple.
“I have made a copy and taken the liberty of marking up some areas that need greater clarification. I’ve also had a copy made of the document with the suggestions. It never hurts to have an extra manuscript for safety.”
“Would not an editor be the one to make those suggestions, sir? I believe I’ve heard that that’s how these matters are handled?”
“We do have editors on call; several are well-respected in their fields. However, given this particular volume and the nature of the content, I felt it better to retain it in our own offices. I’m sure you can appreciate my point of view.”
She watched him. He was not embarrassed, just cautious.
“Therefore I have done what might be called a preliminary read, and made some editing suggestions. If Lady Corinth would be good enough to look them over, and perhaps attend to them, then we would be delighted to offer one of our highest tier contracts.”
He withdrew a document from his case and passed it to Letitia.
Her vision blurred for a few moments as she read the terms. The advance alone would be enough to fix a lot of the rotting floors at Ridlington Chase. And the consequent profits from sales and second and third editions? Her mind scrambled to grasp the significance of the numbers.
After a few minutes, she laid the document beside her on the couch. “You must be confident of success, Mr. Lesley, to offer such generous amounts. You’ve said yourself that this is controversial material. Are you that sure it will sell? Is there a market for works of such a nature?”
“I can understand your questions, Miss Smith. And since they must emanate from Lady Corinth herself…” He glanced at her with a questioning look.
