“I did not know it could be like that between a man and woman. I do not know anything.”
“And that is perfectly as it should be.”
“I feel so guilty. Like I committed a crime.”
“It is only I who should feel any guilt, and I do. I’m sorry.”
“We both like kissing each other. Perhaps we should keep kissing.”
“That is a bad idea.”
“It probably is, but I like kissing you. If no one finds out, is it so bad?”
Could he keep kissing her and do nothing more? Could he keep his desire for her in check if they found time to be together?
He would have to push Dunstan into proposing, and fast. And then he would take an assignment, any assignment that took him out of the country and away from his misdeeds. And her. Running felt cowardly, but he would do it for her. It was the least he could do.
She would never forgive him for how this had turned out. And why should she? Despite his best efforts and perhaps not his best judgment, he had not lived up to his role as guardian. He had let her down at every turn.
He would go and see Dunstan tomorrow and see if he was truly interested in Lucinda or just playing the marriage mart for entertainment. He would make it clear that marrying Lucinda on the first convenient day would ensure him thirty thousand pounds of her dowry.
If the man had bats in the belfry and did not want to commit to marriage, Tony would have a right royal mess on his hands.
Chapter Nineteen
Asummons camefrom Stafford and Tony hoped the old man had something he could use to help him with the Lucinda situation. He walked a short distance from Warrington House to Lord Stafford’s house in Mayfair. He needed to stretch his legs and clear his mind.
When he arrived Tony was ushered into the parlor, which was not where Stafford usually conducted business. Stafford was waiting for him, which was even more unusual.
“I wanted to hear how things are going with Miss Sterling. She seems to have had a wonderful season so far. My wife has told me she is a beautiful young lady who has much to recommend her, but her parentage is something some are wary of. I can tell you I was very surprised by what I now know of her father.”
“I am not sure how to start. You have my reports.”
“I do but, Ashton, she is not a mission; she is a young woman. That is why I have asked you here today.”
“I am not that experienced being responsible for young ladies.”
“You have a sister, do you not?”
“Yes. Marianne, but…”
“And do you treat her like a mission also? Is she not also a beautiful young lady?”
“I do not and yes she is.”
“Well then. Treat her as you would your sister.
“I do not have sole responsibility for my sister. Any decisions to be made are by my brother or my mother.” The look on Stafford’s face told him he was not buying Tony’s excuses. “But I will do better.”
“I do have some information for you, though. About her father, Lord Foxton.”
“What about him? If you are talking about the secret he stole I already have asked her many times if he had left anything with her, any letter or note. I have gone to her solicitor, in case there was something there also. Other than a few bits of jewelry and some miniatures, there was nothing.”
“I have been told that her father stole something of great importance to the Prussians. They want it back, at all costs. It was not on him at the time of his death and I have it on good authority that they ransacked his house and tried looking for his child, but they had no trace of her.”
“So, now that we have launched her into society, we have basically offered her up to the Prussians? That is why she was hidden away? Why did Markham not state that so that we were all aware of it?”
“I cannot say. Perhaps he thought by the time of his demise all those that would have remembered the incident would be dead. Or he simply forgot about her.”
