“She ran from the dressmaker.”
“I’ve been told.”
“How am I to take her out in public if she is too afraid of people?”
Her veil ruffled as she sighed. “I will admit I was a bit ambitious with plans to escort her around the city. We must be careful with her sensibilities. But she’s not afraid of people. She thrives here, helping those who live and work here with small ailments and the like, mending clothing. She needs purpose.”
“What is it you think I can offer?”
“She’s comfortable with you.”
“We barely know each other.”
“That’s not how it seems when she speaks of you.”
She talks about me?He tugged at his neckcloth.
“When she takes to the gaming floor tonight—”
“Tonight! You’re letting a lady on the floor?”
She stiffened at his interruption.
“I beg your pardon. I thought the plan was to slowly introduce her.”
“I’ve made a list of prospective suitors. She has asked to choose for herself, but there are specific gentlemen I want her to engage with. We can’t afford to begin from scratch.”
Heat climbed the back of his neck. How was he to escort her around the club and watch her fall in love with some useless, witless lord?
“Lord Loxley.”
Dandified, dried out crumb-cake.Tristan caught himself before he rolled his eyes.
“Mr. Hartford.”
Tristan folded his hands. Hartford wasn’t a bad fellow, but still. Too quiet. Flick needed someone who would shield her.
“Mr. Whimsby.”
“He has gout,” Tristan argued.
She tilted her head ever so slightly to the side. “And four thousand pounds a year.”
Tristan’s stomach curdled.Four thousand bloody pounds?He could never compete with an income like that. The thought chilled him. He wasn’t competing with any of these men, he reminded himself.
“Sir Daniel.”
“No,” Tristan growled. “He’s a reprobate. Ask Trina.”
He couldn’t see it, but if he were a gambling man, he’d bet she’d raised her brows.
“Trina would tell me if he was trouble upstairs. He’s a young nobleman of means.”
“If you don’t believe him unsuitable, discuss it with Lord Alston,” Tristan said. “He knows him well.”
She huffed and picked up a sheet of paper. “Since you seemquarrelsome this morning, take this list and review it yourself.”
Tristan ground his teeth as he leaned forward and took the list, perusing it with a blank face.
