“Hello, sir.”
“Ah, Alex, I’d like you to meet the Earl of Whitsonby.”
Alex gave him a crisp bow, perfectly executed since Sophie had taught him. “My lord.”
Whit eyed him up and down and nodded slowly. He turned to his daughter. “And, Ryder, this is my youngest daughter, Lady Camilla Rohman. Camilla, Mr. Sherbrooke.”
She gave Ryder a lovely curtsey. “Sir, it is a pleasure to meet you. Alex tells me you can charm the socks off a monkey.”
Ryder laughed, couldn’t help himself.
Cam liked his laugh, full and rich, an honest, robust laugh. Mr. Sherbrooke was tall, sapling slender and straight, blue eyes and lovely silver threading through his dark hair. He was handsome, but not as handsome as her papa. “Sir, have you ever wished you weren’t the second son and thus the Earl of Northcliffe?”
“Cam!”
Ryder was charmed and amused. “No, never. Thankfully God spared me from that fate, Lady Camilla. My brother fills the role splendidly and I am free of all his endless string of complications and expectations. He works two secretaries to the bone.”
She nodded in approval, the minx.
Whit hugged his daughter, set her back, gave her a little shake. “Well, my pet, not in Bath, are you? I should forbid you the library for a fortnight, but”—he sighed—“knowing you I cannot say this is a surprise. Fact is I didn’t want you to leave. Even Averil can’t rub my shoulders like you do, dig in deep to all those tight muscles, or sing to me after dinner while playing a Scottish ballad and make the world seem less repellent, not to mention your creative retelling of the Myth of Sisyphus. Ah, I can’t understand why Averil doesn’t enjoyit. All right, tell me how you managed to sneak out of the house before Averil could catch you.”
Cam said matter-of-factly, “Papa, you know she wouldn’t try to catch me, she’d push me out the door, lock it after me and say good riddance. Henry saw me and followed to keep me safe, so please do not berate him.”
Whit looked pained. “I do wish you would try to get along with your stepmother, but that’s neither here nor there—enough airing of our private family matters—and that’s my second apology to Mr. Sherbrooke. Now, Cam, however do you come to be in the company of this young man?”
The young man, Alex, was charmed. The daughter spoke with the wit and depth of her father. One would likely know these two after only one meeting. Cam gave him a grin, turned to her father. “It began to rain and Mr. Ivanov very gallantly offered to shield me with his umbrella. It was quite impossible not to introduce ourselves, even chat a bit. Everything proceeded quite properly and Henry remained all attention at my elbow, on the alert, ready to pound Mr. Ivanov if he became improper.”
Well used to his daughter’s verbal agility since she’d inherited it from him, Whit didn’t have much trouble keeping to the point.
“Now, Daughter, you came here to find me, your plan to convince me to take your side and allow you to remain in London.”
“Well, if you must boil my motives down to the bleached bones of absolute truth, yes, sir.” And she took a step closer to her father, her mother’s beautiful eyes on his face. “Papa, you’re my only hope.”
CHAPTER 6
Whit knew he was no match for those eyes of hers, his beloved Tansia’s witch eyes, and saved himself, at least for the moment. “We will speak of this later, in private.” He immediately turned to Alex. “Your guardian and I are dining with Elijah, Lord Carberry, this evening. I think you would make a fine addition to the dinner table. Carberry is not only very rich, he is also always on the lookout for excellent investment opportunities, particularly being part of the amazing train transformation here in England. Perhaps you and your guardian and I could discuss appropriate matters before we adjourn to Carberry’s and I can provide more details.”
Ryder knew this was coming, nodded. “An excellent suggestion. We’re staying at the Sherbrooke townhouse, Whit, on Portman Square.”
Alex said, “Sir, I read of your plans to extend the Cumberland railroad line into Leeds, an ambitious undertaking given the topography.”
Ryder, not surprised at Alex’s knowledge, kept his mouth shut, watched Whit beam, take a step toward Alex. “Ah, yes, I am on the committee to plan the actual route now we have sufficient investors. But you know, some of the gentlemenhave socks for brains and believe it quite simple—buy the land, lay tracks, build train cars, shave off the tops of those hillocks and off you go—but naturally it’s not simple. As you said, the topography is challenging.” He paused, thought a moment, said slowly, “I’m also considering forming a consortium of investors to build more efficient trains and incorporating more efficient designs and materials for the route. I look forward to speaking to you about your train part designs.”
Alex was so excited it was hard to keep his voice smooth. He wanted to dance, mayhap sing one of the obscene ditties he’d learned at Oxford. He managed not to sound as excited as he felt. He gave Lord Whitsonby a short bow. “I look forward to it, sir.”
Whit eyed the young man, wondered if Ryder might let him take over Alex’s guardianship. Probably not. He said, “I must warn both of you. Lord Carberry’s brother-in-law, James Piercebridge, is a vicar from St. Lucy Head in Kent, not two miles from the English Channel. He will be present at the dinner table. I’m told it is his twice-a-year visit to London, a city he considers full of sin and debauchery. To warn you bluntly, evidently Vicar Piercebridge believes a man who seeks to enrich himself through business is the devil’s tool and bound for Hell’s fires. Thus, whenever he visits his sister here in London he tries to whip poor Carberry into shape. We will simply leave him to his tea—he won’t drink port, it is too wicked.”
Ryder said, “So warned. As you know, the earl, my brother, is very much involved in investing and putting in use new farming machinery. His tenant farmers bless the ground he walks on. Douglas says idiots who proclaim a gentleman doesn’t dirty his hands making money will rue the day since change is coming, fast, to England, and all those men clinging to outdated beliefs will be smashed.”
Cam said, “But what about forcing ladies to cling tooutmoded beliefs, Father? For instance couldn’t ladies be involved in business dealings as well?”
Dead silence.
Although Whit scented danger, he said, “My dearest Averil believes ladies should not involve themselves in such things, it lessens their true worth.” What was perfectly clear, but left unspoken because Whit didn’t want a bloodbath in front of Westminster Palace, waswhen they wed, it is their husbands who decide what is and isn’t acceptable.
Ryder said easily, eyeing Whit’s daughter with approval, “My wife, Sophie, not only manages our household accounts, she also has a very sharp brain and also an eye for a promising venture.”
Alex said, “That’s very true. She’s given me excellent advice when I receive a prospectus on improving tools for shearing sheep, for example.”
