“Maybe.” Letitia thought for a minute. “Or maybe not.”
“Um…”
“I think we need a brief word with Paul.”
“We do?” Harriet’s face was a study in puzzlement.
“He’s coming to lunch, I think. I’ll catch him then.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’ll have to rely on his discretion, of course, and that makes me a little nervous…”
Harriet leaped to his defense. “You need have no concerns there, Letitia. I trusted him with my secrets. He’s a good man of sound character and would never betray a confidence. I’m quite sure of it.”
“I am too,” agreed Letitia, trying to ignore the little voice that whispered dire consequences if this whole matter were revealed.
An hour later, that little voice was still there, but quieter.
“Of course I can help you, Letitia. What may I do?”
Paul sat next to her in the small salon, where she’d asked him to drop by for a few moments after lunch. Rosaline was with the baby, and Harriet had taken herself off to give the two of them some privacy.
“I may be about to shock you terribly, Paul, so before I do so I’d like to ask for your vow of secrecy. What I am about to relate must ever remain between the two of us.”
He looked at her curiously. “You have my word, of course.”
“Good.” She heaved in a breath. “I’m going to be spending the night at FitzArden tomorrow.”
“Uh.” He gulped. “Well. All right.”
“And I need someone to escort Harry back here to Ridlington. She has to come with me, for appearances sake, but I can’t ask her to spend her night over there as well. It’s too absurd, and might draw exactly the attention I’m trying to avoid.”
“I understand.”
This was fortunate. He hadn’t expressed outrage, shock, horror or looked at her as if she had become the Whore of Babylon.
“So I would like to ask if you would walk Harriet back to Ridlington. It will be late, I’m afraid, since obviously we will have to wait until the staff have retired.”
“That would make sense, yes.”
“So if you’re agreeable…”
“I am indeed,” he smiled. “I’m always happy to assist in the course of true love.”
Letitia’s eyebrow rose. “How quaint, Paul. You must be aware that neither James nor I believe in such a thing. This is a simple evening spent with a friend. Nothing more.”
Paul gave her a long look. “Letitia, my sweet, spending the night with a man is always more than simple. In fact, it can be very complex.”
She felt a slight colour rise to her cheeks at his blunt words, but lifted her chin anyway. “I’m sure that’s true for some. However, James and I are well aware of where each of us stands.” She smiled. “I’m a Ridlington, Paul. Rosaline was lucky to find Edmund and reveal the true man he is. She taught him how to love and I rejoice in their happiness. Truly.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“But I know who and what I am. And those tender affections are not numbered amongst my abilities. I love my family, I adore baby Hugh and I cherish deep affections for my true friends. But beyond that? To take that step into an emotional intimacy that has the potential of destroying everything? No. I cannot do that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Completely.” She nodded, emphasizing her point. “But I shall very much enjoy the chance to be private with James for an entire night, if the task of escorting Harriet home late at night is not too onerous…”
“Is she aware of this plan?”
“Yes,” answered Letitia. “In fact, once I had laid it out before her, she announced that it was the only acceptable option. She’ll be pleased to have your escort, Paul. Since otherwise she would have to stay at FitzArden. She simply cannot walk back here through the forest at night.”
