“Perhaps flowers would be your best option,” Adelaide said. “But while it’s very sweet of you to embroider another garment for me, I hate thinking of all the hours you’ll put into thatproject.” Adelaide nodded to the magnifying glass lying on the table. “You’ve been straining your eyes again, something I certainly don’t want you to do on my account.”
“I’ve used a magnifying glass for years, my dear, and as for all the hours I’ve spent on this latest project, they’ll be well worth it in the end because you, my darling girl, need all the luck you can get.”
“If you’ve forgotten, I wasn’t exactly fortunate the one and only time I wore the cat unmentionables.”
“On the contrary,” Mrs. Bainswright argued. “You managed to acquire the assistance of Miss Pierpont a mere day after you wore the cat drawers, which was very fortunate indeed, but...” Her sentence trailed off as her gaze settled on something behind Adelaide before she leaned closer and dropped her voice. “Don’t look now, but there’s a very handsome gentleman standing a few feet behind you, one I would definitely consider a dish. You should laugh as if I’ve just said something amusing. Handsome gentlemen always seem to appreciate ladies with a sense of humor.”
Apprehension was immediate when Adelaide took note of the gleam now residing in Mrs. Bainswright’s eyes, one that was normally indicative of an impending introduction to whatever male customer caught her eye whenever Adelaide was browsing through the store. Wanting to evade yet another matchmaking attempt on Mrs. Bainswright’s part, Adelaide turned her head as casually as possible, meeting the amused gaze of Gideon, who unquestionably was a very handsome gentleman and who’d obviously overheard Mrs. Bainswright calling him a dish.
“You’re not laughing,” Mrs. Bainswright whispered before she swept past Adelaide, not stopping until she was directly in front of Gideon. “Good afternoon, my good sir. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you in my shop before, Mr....?”
Gideon immediately presented her with a bow before he took the hand Mrs. Bainswright was holding out to him and placeda kiss on it. “Mr. Gideon Abbott, and you are, of course, Mrs. Bainswright. Adelaide has mentioned you often, and always in glowing terms.”
Mrs. Bainswright immediately began fluttering her lashes in what could only be described as a very flirty and very un-Mrs. Bainswright–like gesture. “What a charming gentleman you are, Mr. Abbott,” she cooed before she paused, stopped with all the fluttering, and narrowed her eyes on Adelaide. “You’ve obviously been holding out on me, dear, because you never breathed a word about this gentleman to me before.”
“I beg to differ,” Adelaide argued. “I told you he was working alongside Camilla on our little, uh, charity project,” she finished, noticing that Jeromy Hopkins was flipping through books stacked on a nearby table, within earshot of their conversation.
Mrs. Bainswright returned her attention to Gideon, gave him a thorough perusal, then leaned into Adelaide. “And here you said the embroidered cats weren’t lucky, which clearly was not the case because ... good heavens.”
Before Adelaide could summon up any type of response to that, Mr. Bainswright, in the company of Vernon Clarkson and Leopold Pendleton, strolled up to join them. To her astonishment, Mr. Bainswright was beaming from ear to ear, an uncommon occurrence to be sure, considering he was in the company of members of the Four Hundred, something he tried to avoid if at all possible since he didn’t enjoy catering to what he called “the quality.”
“I see both of you have found a few gems,” Adelaide said as Leopold staggered up beside her, carrying a stack of battered leather-bound tomes that could very well be the reason behind Mr. Bainswright’s smile.
“Indeed we did, my girl,” Leopold boomed. “This is a treasure trove of a shop, and I could spend days perusing the shelves as well as spend a large chunk of change procuring works Iknow will keep me entertained on many a cold winter’s evening.”
A mere second later, Jeromy Hopkins was standing beside Leopold, eyeing the stack of books Leopold was going to purchase with a telling gleam in his eyes. A second after that, he was pressing his card into Leopold’s hand, before he turned and did the same with Vernon. “Jeromy Hopkins at your service, gentlemen. I’m a book agent and a dear friend to Miss Duveen. I’m sure she’ll vouch for me when I say if you’re in the market for a specific book, I’m the man to see.”
A second later, William Osborne was thrusting his card into the hands of Leopold and Vernon, who were now looking rather taken aback, probably because it wasn’t a normal circumstance for members of the Four Hundred to be practically accosted by book agents.
“I’m sure Miss Duveen will be only too happy to give you a glowing report regarding my credentials as well,” William said. “Especially when talk around the city is that I’m the best agent in the business.”
As Jeromy’s eyes flashed with temper, Adelaide cleared her throat, knowing a change of topic was desperately needed before a brawl erupted. “I’m certain everyone here realizes both of you are well-regarded within the industry, but before I forget.” She turned her attention to Mr. Bainswright. “We’ve been toying with the idea of creating a book salon and were wondering if it would be possible to use one of your back rooms.”
Mr. Bainswright removed his spectacles, began cleaning them with his sleeve, and frowned. “Who’d be attending such a salon?”
“I imagine we’ll open it to anyone who shares an affection for great works of literature,” Adelaide said. “And since bibliophiles can never resist buying new books, I’m sure you’d enjoy some robust profits after we’re done with our meeting.”
Mr. Bainswright slid his spectacles back into place, his eyesappearing overly large behind the thick lenses. “I’m never opposed to additional sales, although we’ll need to discuss times for when this salon can take place. Certain hours and days are busier than others.”
“Miss Duveen thought we might hold the salon after hours,” Jane said, edging up to join them. “That would work better for me since I have obligations to attend to during the day, as I imagine most of the book agents do as well. After hours would also allow us freedom to browse around the shop uninterrupted, which I know would be profitable for you, Mr. Bainswright.”
Mr. Bainswright cocked his head to the side. “I don’t think it would be much of an imposition for me to linger after hours every now and again, not if it’ll aid my bottom line.”
“Your bottom line will unquestionably benefit from a salon,” Clement Robards said, brushing past William to dump a large stack of books on the counter, his hair in complete disarray. “And, for me personally, having time to peruse the racks after hours would certainly spare me the horror I just endured.” He tugged down a jacket that was hiking up past the waistband of his trousers. “I was in fear for my life when other customers noticed our interest in the new shipment and took to muscling me out of their way.”
“Looks like you did alright,” Mr. Bainswright said, nodding to the stack Clement had come away with.
“I would have done better if Jeromy hadn’t grabbed a handful of books from the crate and declared ownership without even bothering to look at the titles,” Clement grumbled.
Jeromy dusted lint from the lapel of his jacket. “I don’t know why you’re getting annoyed withme, Clement, considering Miss Duveen had the advantage over all of us because she was given the right of first perusal.”
Adelaide suddenly found herself pinned under the accusatory gazes of the book agents.
“It wasn’t as if I could have been expected to refuse Mr.Bainswright’s offer of a preemptive peek into the crate,” she said. “I mean, honestly, what true book aficionado could possibly pass up such an opportunity?”
Jeromy heaved a sigh. “A valid point, Miss Duveen, and forgive me if I’ve come across as accusatory in any fashion. That was not my intention. To make up for my lapse in judgment, I think you should now share with us what treasures you found. I’m sure all of us will valiantly strive to keep our disappointment over not finding those treasures for ourselves in check.”
It took a great deal of effort to refuse a grin. “I’m usually the first to want to share any new book acquisitions I make, but given that most of you are unquestionably disgruntled about my being given that first peek into the crate, I believe this is where I say I’m running behind schedule and need to get on my way.”
