Harry laughed briefly, which gave Gabriel heart. “All the same, I need to leave town for a while.”
“I command you to stay three more days. It will never do if you turn tail and run just because a girl threw you over. It is unmanly.”
“Three days will be an eternity, knowing she is here.”
“Three days is only three days. You will go to your club and chat about history or—” He waved toward an open trunk full of books in a corner of the dressing room. “Or whatever the hell is in those. You will ride in the park with me tomorrow, and smile at all the other pretty girls and women. And you will attend Lady Hamilton’s masked ball.”
“I was not going to that ball even if Emilia still loved me.”
“Nonsense. You were going to be there so you could steal a kiss on the veranda. So now you will still attend.”
“I will see her there, and I do not want to.”
“Yes, you will see her. You will ask her to dance, and talk to her about stupid things like you always did.”
Harry sank into a chair. He closed his eyes. “I would rather go down to the country.”
“You will the morning after the ball. You can bury yourself there forever, and write your book or do whatever you want. You can get drunk for a month if you choose. But until then, you will brave this out and show yourself in society.”
Harry did not open his eyes, but after a few moments, he nodded. He looked very young sitting there, younger even than his twenty-two years. If Harry were truly young, Gabriel knew he would have handled this differently. Been less brusque. Perhaps even embraced him the way he had when Harry was a boy and sad about something.
Only he wasn’t a boy now, was he? Still, Gabriel wished he could offer more comfort.
“I will go now. I am sure you would prefer to be alone. If you want to come for dinner tonight, join me. It is still your home.”
“I may do that. We will see.”
“We will ride tomorrow at five o’clock.” He picked up his hat and gloves.
“It was good of you to call, Gabe.”
“That is what brothers are for.” He walked to the door, then stopped. “See here. If your emotions on the matter cause you to lose your composure, do not feel embarrassed about that. First heartbreaks are hell.”
Chapter Two
Two days later, Amanda closed her inkwell and cleaned her pen at six o’clock. She carefully stacked the pages she had copied on one side of her desk, put some bills into a ledger, then picked up the ledger and went in search of Lady Farnsworth.
She found her in her apartment, at her own desk, penning something while wearing a deep frown. It looked to be another letter. Amanda noticed the salutation addressed the Duke of Wellington.
It no longer surprised her that Lady Farnsworth had male friends of the highest repute. Some had even paid calls in the five months since Amanda arrived. They would sit in the drawing room and discuss politics and other sophisticated topics. These gentlemen appeared to weigh her opinions seriously.
Sometimes Amanda sat in the drawing room with them. Lady Farnsworth said it was for her education, and indeed Amanda’s world had expanded as a result. She suspected the true reason for her presence was so Lady Farnsworth had another pair of ears hearing what was said, and another person with whom she could confirm her own memory of the conversation.
“Ah, you have the ledger. Are the accounts all in order?”
“The grocer made a mistake again. I have corrected that on the bill. All of the dispersals are noted in the ledger.”
Lady Farnsworth accepted the book and set it aside. She would hand Amanda the money to pay the merchants when she chose, but Amanda had realized after taking over this duty that the lady never really seemed to check the accounts first. Lady Farnsworth trusted that all would be done correctly.
And it was. Which was not to say that Amanda had not seen at once that if she were the person to be dishonest, the means to skim off five shillings or so every week lay within reach.
“I have noticed the grocer often makes those mistakes, my lady. Perhaps we should use another shop.”
“Hanson is only careless, I am sure.”
“He is careless on every bill, in a clever way.”
Lady Farnsworth’s dark eyes turned on her. “You are rather suspicious, Miss Waverly.”
