“But you told me that my brother talked to you first. Did you lie?”
Miss Moore shook her head. “When he came into the shop, I made sure to keep standing nearby. In fact, he was so handsome, I couldn’t speak. I followed him around rather foolishly until he showed me the ugly bonnet.”
“Giving you the perfect opening,” she said, her tone thin and disappointed.
The young woman tilted her head. “Oh, Lady Adelia, do not misunderstand. I love Thomas with all my heart. I ought to thank Mr. Beaumont, for I never would have gone to Bond Street and never would have met your brother, not in a hundred years. But once we started to talk to one another, it was as if I’d always known him.” She smiled. “Or as if he were meant for me, and I, for him. It is difficult to explain.”
Adelia didn’t need her to. She knew the feeling all too well.
“Did you ever ask Mr. Beaumont why he wanted you two to meet?”
Miss Moore set down the cup and saucer. “Yes, of course. Before ever I went to the shop, I asked him why he was doing this. He said Thomas—he called him the earl—hadn’t found the woman of his dreams amongst theton.”
Adelia blinked at her. Mr. Beaumont had a lot of nerve! “And he thought you—?”
“You don’t have to say it,” Miss Moore interrupted. “I know how strange it is. Why would anyone think the likes of me, a bookshop girl, could be anyone’s dream? Let alone an earl’s!”
Adelia felt ashamed.Why not Constance Moore as well as anyone?
The young woman continued, “Mr. Beaumont said, after what he knew of London’s high society, that an educated middle-class girl might be just the ticket. Even so, he cautioned me to keep out of Mayfair when I was with Thomas and to keep him with me in the East End, which your brother was only too happy to do. For my sake.”
Strange and stranger.Adelia could hardly believe Mr. Beaumont truly cared about Thomas’s happiness, but he had found a woman with whom her brother had fallen in love. Perhaps she’d misjudged him. He certainly had nothing to gain by her brother’s relationship with Miss Moore. And he might actually have had the best interests of the company in mind when he tried to take control. After all, his livelihood depended on Smythe Coal’s continuing success.
She sighed. “Why did you say you didn’t trust Mr. Beaumont?”
“Oh, Lady Adelia. I know he is my sister’s kin by marriage, but I think it was unnatural for him to pay me to meet your brother. If he truly believed I was good for Thomas, why wouldn’t he simply introduce us properly? And why would he swear me to secrecy over the whole thing?”
“I suppose my brother’s pride might be hurt if he knew you had displayed an interest in him in return for bonnet and glove money,” Adelia guessed.Had Mr. Beaumont been protecting Thomas’s feelings?“I don’t know what to think, frankly,” she added.
“I never told your brother the truth. He might be angry, and I couldn’t bear the possibility of losing him.”
They both might lose him in any case, but Adelia thought it unnecessary to mention that fact.
In her heart, she believed Miss Moore. “You may call me Adelia, if you wish.”
“Thank you. My first name is Constance, if you recall.”
Adelia nodded. She liked the woman, in spite of having been fully prepared to charge her with the worst treachery, dismiss her into the street, and tell Thomas.
“I must say, Adelia, tea may be tea, as you say, but it does taste better in a porcelain cup. And that’s no lie.”
Adelia laughed despite herself. “Please, try one of the biscuits, but I suggest you remove your gloves first. By the by, do you read the books you sell?”
“I love to read,” Constance declared, and a little bud of affection bloomed in Adelia’s heart. “What’s more, I read over the type at the printer I work for. It’s part of my job to ensure it’s been set correctly.”
“Thus, you must have a fine attention to detail.”Better and better. If matters had gone as her brother and Constance had planned, running a household would not have been a problem for the woman, once she’d been taught a few of the social graces.
Now, they might never get the chance. Indeed, she would count them lucky if they ever reached the point where Constance fitting in as the Countess of Dunford was their main concern.
*
Owen could notstay away. He had no reason to show up on Adelia’s doorstep, nor to ring the bell. But he did both.
With the usual ritual, Mr. Lockley ushered him in, took his coat and hat, and showed him into the drawing room. It was nearly more familiar than his own. It was quite possible she would refuse to see him. In fact, she should do exactly that. Nonetheless, he knew she wouldn’t.
When she entered the room, she took his breath away as usual.
“How do you become more enchanting every time I see you?”
