Perhaps she should have accepted Lord Alverleigh’s offer of shelter with his aunt.But no, she’d spent most of her adult life depending on a man—and look where it had gotten her.And he and his aunt were strangers, more or less.
She spent the next few hours unpicking lace and braid and any extra ornamentation from her dresses in order to look more like a companion.She couldn’t do much about the rich fabric of some of them, but she could at least choose the drabbest colors and make them as plain as possible.
As well as removing braid and other ornamentation from her clothes, she made Billy a collar out of a piece of red velvet ribbon, and used another ribbon to fashion a leash so he’d look less like a stray.
She was glad she’d refused Lord Alverleigh’s offer to stay with his aunt.She hadn’t had much to do with society ladies—with women at all, come to think of it.There was only NannyJune when she was a child, and other than that the women she knew were either employed by her husbands as housekeepers—and they’d showed her token respect at best—or women like Mrs Thracknell, that her brother employed to watch over her like a prison warder.
She had little doubt that Lady Gosforth would be like the rest of them.Lord Alverleigh seemed fond of his aunt, but he was biased.
The thought of NannyJune reminded her: she needed to write to the old lady and tell her where she was going.She should have visited her when she was down at Ferndale, but she’d been so shocked and distressed at finding her home has been sold and that strangers were now living there, all other thoughts had been driven from her head.
Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to land herself, penniless, on the old lady who would be just managing to survive on some sort of pension.She knew it wouldn’t be much.
When she’d first been taken away from Ferndale she’d worried about NannyJune’s and Phillips’s welfare.Papa had been so dismissive of her arguments that he should make provision for their futures, after a lifetime of service to the family.
But a month after she’d left, she received a letter from NannyJune saying she and Phillips had found a cottage in the next village to live in, and now had pensions, sufficient to support them.Papa must have listened to her pleadings and relented after all.It had been a huge relief to Tessa to know that NannyJune and Phillips were safely housed and cared for.
She finished the letter, sealed it, and tucked it in her reticule to post when she could.Perhaps if she saw him Lord Alverleigh would consent to frank it for her.The mood Edgar was in, she wouldn’t dare to ask him to do it: he’d probably rip it up and throw it in the fire.
#
AT THE HORSE GUARDS, Marcus was swiftly shown to Gil Radcliffe’s office.One of the perks of being an earl.
Radcliffe, who knew even more about the doings of practically everyone in London, knew all about Edgar Blaxland.“We keep an eye on people like him—member of the House of Lords, you know, government business,” Radcliffe explained.“Edgar Blaxland is heavily in debt to some very unsavory fellows, namely the Greeling brothers, ruthless gangland moneylenders who don’t take kindly to unpaid debts.”He added grimly, “The Greeling brothers have their own extremely unsavory methods of enforcing payment.And their eyes seem to be everywhere.”
“I see.”
“If left to their own devices, the Greelings might deal with Blaxland in their own way, at the very least make an example of him as a warning to their other debtors.Break his legs, that sort of thing.”
Marcus shook his head.“I’m not willing to risk that.Both her father and her brother viewed her as an asset to be used.The Greelings might well do the same.”
Radcliffe nodded.“Quite possibly.”
“I tried to get Lady Hewitt to leave her brother’s house and stay with my aunt, but she won’t do it.She seems to believe she can stand up to her brother, but I have my doubts.”He told Radcliffe how vague she was about how her second marriage had come about.
“Sounds damnably fishy to me, too,” Radcliffe agreed.
“I offered her shelter with my aunt, but she hardly knows me, and doesn’t know my aunt at all, and she says she prefers to be independent.”He made a frustrated gesture.“I can hardly drag her out of there by force.”
“No, absolutely not.”Radcliffe steepled his fingers and pondered the situation.“I’ll give you Jackson and Sims—both very reliable—to keep an eye on her at the house.If anything changes, they’ll notify you.”He shrugged.“I know it’s not much, but it’s the best I can do.Of course, since it’s not government business, you will be responsible for paying them.”
Marcus thanked him, and a short time later he was briefing the men.He wanted a twenty-four-hour watch on the Blaxland house.He didn’t trust Blaxland an inch, especially not with the Greelings after him.
Then, telling himself that he’d done what he could—and feeling nevertheless that it wasn’t nearly enough— he went home.
