“Yes I do,” she insisted. “I spoke before thinking. I outlined ideas that I had not earlier presented to you, and yet they involved you, and that was wrong of me.”
He sighed. “My Lady, you are the Lady of Wolfbridge. You may say and do as you please. My duties are to ensure the smooth running of the household and the wellbeing of its mistress. Therefore, nothing you said or did yesterday was wrong.”
“Humph.” She snorted. “That’s all well and good, Giles, but I volunteered you to be a young woman’s guardian. That is surely above and beyond your Wolfbridge duties…”
He sighed. “We should not be arguing about whether what you said was right or wrong, Lady Adalyn. It is done, and now we must discuss our options from this point on.”
“You are cross with me, aren’t you.” She pouted and looked down at her tea.
His sigh was even louder, and she thought she heard his eyeballs rolling in his head. Peeking at him from beneath her eyelashes, she managed to make her lower lip tremble a little.
“Oh for…” His cheek twitched and a grin carved lines each side of his mouth. “You are a minx, my Lady Saucy.”
“I’m forgiven.” She fanned herself with one hand, grinning at him. “Thank you Giles. I’ll try not to be such a minx in the future.”
“Well, I’ll not hold you to that, but perhaps running ideas past me before you announce them might help?”
“I will do my best,” she answered, knowing that he was right.
“However, since you did say what you said, I have given it a lot of thought. And last night I penned letters to a couple of acquaintances in London.”
“You did?” She leaned forward. “Giles, that is so splendid of you.”
He held up a hand. “Well, wait. It might all be for nothing. If Miss Fairhurst has no legal candidate in her family who can assume guardianship, then I will put myself up for that honour. If she approves, then it would be formally approved, and that’s that.”
Adalyn leaned back in her chair. “And then we can protect her. This is wonderful, Giles.”
“It hasn’t happened yet,” he cautioned. “But the other letter I wrote was to two very good friends I have not seen in more years than I can remember. We have kept in touch with letters now and again, and for the last couple of years they’ve been living in London, just off Belgrave Square.”
“Oh my. A lovely part of town.”
“Indeed. Sir Lancelot Sydenham and his wife, Lady Maud, have a delightful home, but lost their daughter to an illness some years ago.”
“Oh no,” Adalyn leaned forward. “What a terrible thing to have happen.”
“It was,” he said quietly. “Knocked them completely sideways for quite a while. But they have, as people do, managed to recover and move on. A few months ago they wrote that a friend stayed with them for a little while. A young woman. And now she has married and left, they’re alone again.”
Adalyn’s eyebrows rose. “You’re thinking about Judith? Would this be a fortunate and happy arrangement if they were to invite her for a visit?”
He nodded. “I believe so, yes.”
“Giles, you are a genius. As a matter of fact I’m more and more inclined to believe you to be the reincarnation of Merlin, for you produce magic worthy of that reputation…”
“Sometimes one can be lucky to have the right thought at the right time, Lady Adalyn.” He gazed at her, his smile wry. “Had you asked me before Miss Judith’s visit, I could perhaps have told you all this and you wouldn’t have had to take a very big gamble.”
“I realised that yesterday evening, Giles. Kept me awake for a while, I can assure you.”
“Good.” He rose. “Don’t do it again.” He touched her shoulder lightly and then walked from the room, leaving her with a rueful smile on her face.
Jeremy peered around the door after Giles had left. “May I clear, my Lady?”
She pulled her thoughts back into the present. “Of course. Thank you, Jeremy.”
He entered and began to stack the dishes. “Do you have any orders for me today?” His grin was hopeful as he smiled at her over his shoulder.
“I know I should be doing something…” She stood and stretched her spine a little. “Is it still raining?”
“I’m afraid so. Pretty heavily too.”
