Caroline looked between her brother and Tristan, confused. “What cotton mill?”
“It’s not known to us yet. Indeed, I’d as lief Father never learned more than he overheard today.” James put out a hand in mild frustration. “He cannot have anything to do with it. Everything must be done in my name or it will all be useless.”
“James,” Caroline said carefully, “what are you alluding to?”
“I will tell you bluntly, Caro. I do not want Father to have anything to do with this. It is my money in the venture, anyway, what little I have been able to save. He can benefit from the return, if there is anything to speak of, but I will not have him stepping in and taking out the capital just before it’s bound to multiply. He has done it before, and I cannot bear to see it happen again.”
Caroline stared at her brother in stunned silence.
Tristan rubbed the back of his neck. “We will move forward on our own. You have my word.”
He looked immensely uncomfortable, not that Caroline blamed him in the least. She assumed he did not want to discuss finances in front of her. It was not quite the thing, was it? But she found she did not care much for proper sensibilities. She was eager for any information that meant they would be able to be together.
“If you will excuse me, I was entering an important part of my…er…book.” James reached for the novel Caroline had discarded on a small table earlier. He took it, crossed the room to a chair set against the wall, and opened to a page somewhere in the middle.
“You rogue,” Tristan said.
James smiled into the book but did not lift his eyes. He remained in the room, which was the least Mama expected of him, certainly. She would probably commend his ingenuity in this situation.
“Did you have a pleasant visit to the park?” Tristan asked.
Caroline’s eyes snapped to him. “The park was lovely, though the sun has hidden behind numerous clouds. I do wonder when we shall have warm weather. It feels late.”
“It is late,” he agreed. “But weather is the last thing I would like to discuss with you.”
“Oh?”
“Could you imagine yourself living in London throughout the year?”
That was a dangerous game. If they planned a future, debated the choices they would make together, and she could not be with him?—
Kitty flounced into the room, her steps light and bouncy as though she was dancing. “Your mother told me to let myself in. She’s seeing to a dinner arrangement. Oh! Mr. Shepherd. What a nice surprise.” She glanced between him and Caroline, then looked where James sat against the wall. Her gaze lingered there for a moment before she dragged it back to Caroline.
It was not lost on Caroline that James’s attention was riveted by the new addition as well. “I was only just thinking of you,” Caroline said. “Have you seen anything of Lord Bengard recently?”
“Yes.” Kitty dropped on the chair beside Caroline. “He attended the theater earlier this week and our boxes were practically facing one another. It took everything in me to keep my attention from drifting to him and his sister’s party.”
“You’ve told your father of his roguish behavior, I assume,” James said, abandoning the book and joining them.
Kitty pushed away the notion with a wave of her hand. “There’s no need. Lord Bengard has kept his distance.”
“If he doesn’t?”
Kitty rolled her eyes. “My father does not need a reason to call out the man. Besides, he only wants me to be happy. He will approve of whomever I want to marry, so long as they aren’t fortune-seekers or rakes.”
James’s face shuttered.
“A man can have no fortune and still not be on the hunt for an heiress,” Caroline said carefully. She could not abide her brother considering himself a fortune hunter in that moment, but he likely did.
“Of course, but Father would never approve of them.” Kitty laughed. “They must bring something to the marriage too.”
James smiled blandly. “How could we blame him? He only has your best interests in mind.”
“Are you ready for your ball?” Caroline asked, hoping to steer the conversation elsewhere.
“Nearly. Men are coming to chalk the floor tomorrow, and the candles have all been placed. Cook has been working like a madwoman all week preparing food, so I hope you do not eat before you arrive.”
“Unlike tonight,” James said.
