“Thank you.”
Georgiana collected her maid and made her way back to her aunt’s coach.
Milly Carroway hobbled to the window to watch the dowager duchess’s carriage depart.
“Sit down, Millicent!” Edwina exclaimed, as she slipped back into the room. “You’ll ruin everything.”
“Don’t worry, Winna. Georgie’s gone to get her things, and Tristan’s at Tattersall’s.”
“I can’t believe it was so simple.”
Resuming her seat in the cushioned chair, Milly couldn’t help smiling at the pleased, eager look on her sister’s face, despite her own reservations. “Well, she’s saved us the trouble of going to Frederica and asking to borrow her for the Season, but try not to get your hopes up.”
“Oh, nonsense. That fight Georgie and Tristan had was six years ago. Would you rather he settled for one of those simpering debutantes? Those two are a perfect match.”
“Yes, like a flame and gunpowder.”
“Ha. You’ll see, Milly. You’ll see.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
That had gone so smoothly, Georgiana could scarcely believe she’d actually done it. She’d barely suggested that she’d move in; then they’d done the rest for her. As she returned to Hawthorne House, however, reality began to seep back in.
She’d agreed to become a resident for an indefinite stay at Carroway House, where she’d see Tristan every day. And she’d put into motion a plan that she wasn’t entirely certain she would have the courage to see through to its end. A plan to put Dare in his place and to teach him the consequences of breaking hearts.
“Well, no one deserves it more than he does,” she muttered.
Her maid, seated on the opposite side of the coach, blinked. “My lady?”
“Nothing, Mary. Just thinking aloud. You don’t mind a change of residence for a while, do you?”
“No, my lady. It’ll be an adventure.”
Getting her maid to acquiesce to her plan was one thing; however, convincing her aunt would be another entirely.
“Georgiana, you’ve gone mad.” Frederica Brakenridge, the Dowager Duchess of Wycliffe, set down her cup of tea so hard the steaming liquid sloshed over the rim.
“I thought you were fond of Milly and Edwina Carroway,” Georgiana protested, trying to maintain her expression of innocent surprise.
“I am. I thought you were distinctly not fond of Lord Dare. For six years you’ve been complaining about how he stole that kiss from you to win a wager, or some such nonsense.”
It took all of the control Georgiana had not to blush. “That seems rather trivial after all this time, don’t you think?” she said lightly. “And besides, you have no need of me, and my parents have even less need of me. Miss Milly could use a companion.”
Aunt Frederica sighed. “Whether I need you or not, Georgiana, I enjoy your company. I’d hoped to lose your companionship to marriage; with your income, there’s no reason for you to go from one old lady to the next until you’re infirm enough to need a companion yourself.”
There was a powerful reason for that—but it was not one she intended to disclose to anyone. Ever. “I don’t wish to marry, and I can’t very well join the army or the priesthood. Leisure doesn’t sit well with me. Being a companion to a friend seems the most tolerable occupation—at least until I’m of an age where Society will accept that I truly have no desire to marry and intend to devote my time and money to charitable works.”
“Well, you seem to have it all planned. Who am I to interfere?” Frederica asked, with a wave of her fingers. “Go, then, and give my best to Milly and Edwina.”
“Thank you, Aunt Frederica.”
To her surprise, her aunt grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “You know you’re welcome here whenever you wish to return. Please remember that.”
Georgiana stood and kissed her aunt on the cheek. “I will. Thank you.”
She still needed to speak with Amelia Johns at the Ibbottson ball on Thursday. But in the meantime, she had a plan to put into motion.
Chapter 3
