“Yes, well, we won’t be making a habit of it. My reputation will be destroyed.” Thaddeus leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You look beautiful as always.”
“And you look handsome as always.”
He bowed deeply and then held out his hand.
“Where is Maggie?”
She turned at these words to find Ezra standing behind her with Phipps.
“If you will cast your eyes to the phaeton, you will see my dear friend Miss Thomas already seated there, so I do not need Maggie, Ezra. Stop fretting.”
Her footman stepped out of the doorway and looked at the phaeton. Eloise waved as he glared at her.
“Take care of her,” he then said to Thaddeus. “You’ll not turn sharp corners with her on the outside in that thing.”
“Enough, Ezra,” Alice gritted out while glaring at her footman.
“I will ensure she is returned to you in the condition she left,” Thaddeus said solemnly.
They then made their way to the carriage. He helped her up, and she took the seat on the outside. It wasn’t exactly a squeeze, but if she wasn’t close with the Thomas twins, it wouldn’t be a comfortable ride.
“He’s still watching us, isn’t he?” Thaddeus whispered.
“Pay him no mind,” Alice said, waving to Phipps and Ezra who were both watching as they rolled away.
“I’ve never known servants who protect their mistress quite like your household staff do, Alice.”
Alice hissed out a breath between her teeth. Ezra had declared in curt words his displeasure when they’d arrived home after the night she’d seen Lord Stafford fighting. About impropriety and danger, and any number of other things she could no longer remember.
“I should fire all of them.”
“No, you won’t,” Eloise scoffed. “I think it’s rather lovely they care for you so much.”
Secretly, she did also, even though sometimes their meddlesome ways annoyed her excessively.
“We play cards some nights. All of us in the household. My aunt is a whizz and beats us constantly.”
“I can’t imagine playing cards with any of my father’s staff. They’re all stuffy,” Thaddeus said.
Alice looked around her as the twins discussed which of their staff would unbend enough to play cards with them.
The day was a warm one, and it showed London at its best. Sunlight glinted off the windowpanes, and people stood about enjoying its warmth.
She preferred the wide open spaces of the country, but sometimes, like now, she thought London had its benefits. Anything you wanted was right there. Sweets, which she was partial to, and teashops.
But then so were the poverty and squalor. Young children who had hollow cheeks with their eyes too big in their faces were everywhere. Alice and her aunt had joined numerous charities to try and put their efforts into helping some, but sometimes she feared the task was too great. However, her latest acquisition, she hoped, would aid some of those in desperate need of medical attention.
“Eloise, do you and your brother involve yourself in charities?”
“Pardon?” Alice’s friend looked at her.
“Father wishes to purchase a property to set up a clinic to offer medical care to those that don’t have access to it.” Alice always had to use her father’s name, even with her friends, as no one could believe that she would actually want to be involved in such things. Business was not something with which a woman should sully her hands.
“Pardon?” Eloise said again, looking shocked.
“You have to know there are people out there who cannot just send word they need a doctor as we do?”
“I—ah—well as to that, Alice. It’s not something I’ve thought about,” Eloise said.
