Amelia nodded emphatically, rushing to open the door for him.
“I will not tarry a moment longer than necessary,” she said, immune to the cold that swept indoors. Her nerves were on fire. She had succeeded in stalling another day! “Thank you, Mr. Robinson. I will ensure that this is not a decision you will come to regret.”
It was only once Mr. Robinson had departed—in a much better mood than he had arrived—that the reality of Amelia’s situation dawned on her.
The fire in her bones quickly extinguished itself. She sank against the now-closed door, staring absently into the empty hall before her.
She had never evenmetthe Duke of Avon. Her brother, perhaps, would have been able to ask for a meeting with him. But Frederick was somewhere on the Continent, impossible to reach in time. How would Amelia alone secure an audience with the duke, let alone ask him for money?
Oh, Amelia,she thought, as Mr. Marsh appeared at the top of the stairs, the same little girl trailing behind him with her thumb in her mouth.What in heaven’s name have you done now?
CHAPTER TWO
“Far be it from me to point out theobvious,” George drawled, rushing to keep up with Nicholas as they walked down Cornmarket Street. “But it would have been highly possible—andinfinitely simpler—to remain in London and conduct operations from there.
“I have never known you to leave the big town for longer than a few weeks. Now you are telling me you wish tomovehere for six months? There is something queer afoot, old friend, only… I do not know what.”
Nicholas smiled, glancing down the street. Market stalls lined either side of the busy thoroughfare, merchants peddling all manner of goods and services. A bootblack called over to Nicholas and George as they passed, though he was quickly approached by another well-dressed man, perhaps a student.
Oxford was much smaller than London—too small to Nicholas’ taste, as he already missed the constant cultural amusements ofhome. But it was much more vibrant than he remembered from his childhood.
Perhaps it shall be no burden at all, Nicholas thought miserably,to settle myself here a while until the trouble has passed in London.
The specifics of thattrouble, however, were not something Nicholas was ready to share with his friend. George had always been a good-natured fellow—too good-natured to understand the reason for Nicholas’ exile.
“Are you tiring of me already?” Nicholas deflected, slowing his pace as they retraced their steps to his carriage. “I thoughtyouof all people would have been glad for my return. Or are you concerned that the mere presence of me here will sabotage your acquaintance with Miss Ashford? You spoke of little else over luncheon.”
“Her name isMiss Ashwood,” George corrected, his cheeks turning pink at the mention of the woman who had supposedly captured his heart. “And there is scarcely an acquaintance to sabotage for now. No, I fully intend to keep my business with you and my business with her quite separate...”
He paused a moment, adjusting his coat. “It was my mistake to mention her to you in the first place at the club. You have always been rotten when it comes to women. I say this, partly, with affection.”
“And partly with the utmost sincerity,” Nicholas surmised, not in the least bit offended. “That being the case, I shall not bother trying to change your view of things. The disappointment of learning that I have grown tired of that life may very well kill you.”
“Tired of that life?” George held Nicholas by the shoulder as they rounded the corner, arriving on a much quieter street. His long, serious face contorted in confusion. “Is that why you have come to Oxford? You cannot be seeking a wife!”
Nicholas laughed. “No, certainly not a wife.”
George looked confused, glancing over his shoulder before he leaned in conspiratorially. “Are you implying that you have changed your ways? Because what I have heard out of London recently—”
“Are rumors by which you should not abide,” Nicholas warned, scowling.
He looked toward his carriage, parked outside a row of white-washed houses, mind flashing with thoughts of his rakish past—and the unbridled flames of desire that burned in him still, despite his attempts to reform himself for his own sake.
“Suffice to say that I have grown weary of London and will welcome a reprieve from the society there,” Nicholas continued in a lie. “And let us not go over, again, the disarray in which I have found my father’s estate. Six months at least will berequired to set things to order. The number of properties he left uninhabited boggles the mind...”
Nicholas was far from a shrewd businessman.
He enjoyed politics, attended sessions, and participated in debates, not only out of duty but because he was good at it and enjoyed putting lesser men in their places.
Business, however, had never appealed to him. His father had been traditional to a fault, looking down his nose at the new-money, industrious aristocrats who were quickly taking London by storm. And while Nicholas was very different from his father—not nearly as well-regarded among theton—he agreed that there was nothing so crude as an obsession with coinage.
But his father had been perhapstoolax in the management of their large estate. The stewards had been ordered to leave the estate exactly as the late duke had found it, and there were Avon properties all over Oxfordshire lying abandoned, waiting to be renovated and sold.
The sooner I can sell off those unentailed properties, the sooner I can be rid of Oxford for good. Though it remains to be seen what will become of my life once I am free, andwhowill be waiting for me...
“You have gone quiet,” Nicholas heard George say beside him.
Nicholas looked up and blinked, laughing softly at the errant train of his thoughts.
