“Surely he will explain it to you further when you give him this. Under the peerage of Ireland, he may grant you an English title. You could take your place in the House of Lords.”
“I’m not sure it’s something I wish for, Althea.” Was she distressed at the prospect of him leaving England? Flynn stood and bowed. “I must go.”
She walked with him to the door. “Please send news as soon as you can. I am impatient to learn what the king has to say.”
“I shall call on you.”
Flynn entered his carriage. He tapped his fingers on the window ledge, attempting to quell his impatience. This diamond had wrought its magic, for he could now plan his future with the woman he loved. But did Althea love him? Her insistence that she would never wed again, troubled him. She would never become a man’s mistress. Did she imagine she would enjoy spending the long years ahead alone? Not if he had anything to do with it. She didn’t know what she was missing. Apart from the love and companionship a husband could give her, she really had no idea about the passion between a man and a woman. How could she? When he considered how best to show her, his groin tightened, and he quickly turned his mind to soberer matters.
Everything hinged on the king’s generosity.
*
Althea pulled thecurtain aside at the drawing-room windows to watch Flynn’s carriage drive away. Now that the mystery was finally solved, the reason for her and Flynn to work together was at an end as Crowthorne would have lost interest in her. She admitted she had grown fonder of Flynn than was wise. Better, that she saw little of him in the future.
Her steps slowed as she returned to the sofa feeling emotionally bruised. Flynn would grasp a proffered ambassadorship from the king with both hands. It was a job he relished, which he was amply equipped to do. And he didn’t appear to want an English title. Soon he would be gone from the country.
Butterworth scratched at the door. “Are you at home to a Mrs. Grimshaw, my lady?”
Her quick intake of breath was followed by a swift rush of anger. “I will see her, Butterworth.”
