“Oh.”
“She took some of the staff with her. It’s just Hoskins, who can barely hear anymore, and the kitchen staff, who are downstairs. I apologize if this feels like false pretenses…”
“No, it’s fine. I’d rather your mother not hear what I have to say. Who knows she’s in Bath?”
“I barely did, so I suspect not many people. I believe she and the Dowager Duchess of Swynford went together, but I don’t think anyone else knows.”
“Then if anyone asks, I had tea with your mother today.”
“Yes. But in reality, we are quite alone. You can speak freely.”
“Fletcher.” Louisa wrung her hands. “I fear I’ve made a terrible mistake.”
“Talk to me.”
It would have to wait, though, because Mrs. Stone walked in with tea service then. She set the tray on the table at the center of the room, and Fletcher was a bit surprised to see not only tea, but also an array of little cakes, as if Mrs. Stone somehow knew there’d be company today even though the mistress was out.
“Did you conjure these cakes with witchcraft, Mrs. Stone?” Fletcher asked.
Mrs. Stone winked. “As it happens, I’m training the new girl in the kitchen. I’m pleased to see Lady Louisa, because now we will not grow fat eating all these cakes ourselves. Please enjoy. I know the pink ones with the berries are your favorites, my lady.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Stone,” said Louisa. “I believe one of those cakes will be just the thing.”
Mrs. Stone smiled and left.
Fletcher took a moment to marvel that even the Greystone staff loved Louisa. How had it taken Fletcher so long to realize he did?
“What is your terrible mistake?” Fletcher asked, once they were alone.
Louisa busied herself pouring a cup of tea and dropping several sugar cubes into it before she said, “I suspect I have been ruled by my baser instincts and have agreed to marry a man who is not much more than a very handsome empty shirt.”
Fletcher tamped down the triumph he felt. Carefully, he said, “What makes you say that?”
In truth, he knew the answer, but he wanted to hear her say it. She sat back on the settee and took a sip of tea. “One could argue that Daniel—Rotherfeld—and I have been courting for nearly a year, but it is much less time than that because we spent the summer apart.” She seemed to be working through something as she talked. She kept her hands busy.
“Yes,” said Fletcher.
“And in all the time we’ve spent together, you’ll be pleased to know, he has behaved himself impeccably. Always polite. Never inappropriate.”
“Why would that please me?”
“I assume you do not want me to marry a cad.”
Fletcher could not hide his revulsion to the idea. “Indeed not.”
“My point being that…oh, I don’t know if I should say this.”
“Just speak with me. I promise not to tease or be mocking. You can tell me anything.”
“But you got upset when we talked on the way to the opera.”
A fair point. “In my defense, you were trying to pry information out of me. And, again, we are alone, so if you need to discuss something, you should feel free to do so, even if it is of a personal nature. But don’t feel like you need to tell me something you are uncomfortable with.”
“The topic did not bother you?”
Fletcher worried she wanted to talk about sex again. “It did, but again, you were pushing me to tell you things about myself I was uncomfortable sharing. I want you to be able to share your thoughts with me, regardless of the topic. But if I feel you have stepped over a line, I will stop you.”
“Okay. That is, there is not much to tell, because as I said, Daniel—that is, Rotherfeld—has never done anything in the same neighborhood as inappropriate. Always a perfect gentleman. Even when we are alone.”
