“That is because this doesn’t affect my plans.”
They both peered at him. Nicholas looked dismayed. “Damnation, I knew it. Practical marriage hell. He is enthralled by her, Chase. He’ll do this even now that he knows.”
“I’m never enthralled. I’m sure, however, that while she may have taken service in that house, she was not one of the ladiesofthe house.”
“You can’t be sure,” Chase said.
“Mrs. Darling would never employ a woman as ignorant as this one is. That house is famous for an elevated level of expertise.”
It took a five count for them to comprehend what he had said.
Chase looked relieved, probably because he would not have to explain to Minerva how he had ruined Miss Jameson’s possible engagement. “Tell me, if you didn’t know with such certainty that she could not have worked there as a soiled dove, would you still become engaged to her?”
“Yes.” It surprised Kevin that he knew the answer right away.
“Good. Because it is inevitable that men probably saw her there. One day one of them may say something. You might start practicing with pistols as well as swords.”
Chapter Seventeen
Rosamund did not see Kevin for two days after their return. After spending the second one with her morning tutor, then setting her house in order, she donned a bonnet and walked to Minerva’s house in the afternoon. As she handed over her card, she realized it was the first time she had paid a social call like this, in her new role of wealthy heiress.
She wondered if Minerva knew about her liaison with Kevin. It entered her mind that her friend might disapprove, and not receive her.
While she waited for the verdict, she pictured what it would be like to be rebuffed. It would happen eventually. Perhaps not with Minerva, but some other woman. She might think she had started a friendship only to arrive like this and be turned away. A husband or father might interfere, or her new friend might prove not to be a friend at all.
Kevin would spare her much of that, but there was only so much he could do. She had not lived in society, but she knew it could be cruel. The more people learned about her, the less they would want her in their circles. Daughter of a tenant farmer might be the least of it. If word ever was spread about her time working at Mrs. Darling’s brothel, she doubted anyone would talk to her again.
Not for the first time during the last few days, she weighed the likelihood of that happening. She had been a servant, and they are rarely noticed. In that white cap and shapeless sack dress, she was hardly impressive. Nor did she spend much time among the women once their trade began. She completed her duties prior to that, and only attended one of them if there was a special need for more fuel or something else.
And yet, she had not been invisible, had she? Who knew if one day some man who had indeed noticed her saw her in the park and recognized her? It could happen. She dared not assume it couldn’t.
The servant did not come for her. Minerva did. She descended the staircase, her dark hair a little disheveled and her ensemble quite plain. “Forgive me for having you wait. I was just back from an investigation.”
She brought Rosamund into the library and sent for some tea.
“I look odd, I know. Unkempt. Had it been anyone but you, I would have begged off, so I wouldn’t be seen. I knew you would understand, though.” Minerva poked some errant locks back into her hair while she spoke.
“Do you often go off on investigations?”
“Usually I have agents who do it at my direction. But today’s assignment needed a woman of a certain age and manner, so I decided I should go myself. I’m supposed to be a reformer with good breeding but little concern for her appearance. Did I succeed in the ruse?”
Rosamund took in the hair and the boring brown dress and half boots. “I would believe it.”
“Fortunately, the family in question did as well. I confirmed what I had suspected and can report to my patron in full.”
“Is it an interesting problem?”
The tea arrived and Minerva poured them both some. “A unique one. My patron suspected her husband has an entire second family. I learned today that indeed he does.”
“Right here in London? That is bold.”
“Many men assume that a quiet wife is a stupid wife. Unfortunately for this man, his quiet wife is as sharp as a sword and missed nothing. She turned a blind eye for years, and would have continued to do so, except she suspected he had taken a final step that was unexpected. One that would change everything.”
Rosamund pondered what that could have been. A final step—“Did he marry the other woman too?”
“Very good. I will have to watch myself around you, lest my indiscretions tell you more than I intended. I have no idea why he did it, although I have a few theories. All that matters is that when my patron confronts him with this, she will have knowledge that will ensure he listens very carefully to her for the first time in their marriage.”
“How interesting your life is.”
