Mr. Dorian may be a cad, but he was wonderful with Tommy. I could not deny that.
“Is it true you’re a baron?” Tommy asked bluntly.
Lord Linden looked utterly bemused by the question, and I doubted anyone had ever asked him that before. “Uh, yes. I am.”
“Do you have a castle?”
“I do not,” he conceded.
Tommy didn’t even pretend to hide his disappointment. “What about an abbey? Lord Byron had an abbey, andhewas a baron.”
I attempted to mask my laugh as a cough, while Lord Linden sat up a little straighter. “I have a house here in London and another in the Lake District.” Then he looked to me. “It is quite lovely. Excellent views.”
I felt myself blushing again as Tommy considered this. “I’ve never been there. We’ve come from Corfu and haven’t left London yet. Have you been to Greece?”
Lord Linden cleared his throat. “Yes. Many years ago.”
While I was very curious to know more about this, I decided that was enough of an introduction. “Thank you, Tommy,” I said. “Now why don’t you go help Mrs. Ford. I’m sure she can find something for you to do.”
“Yes,” she said, as she guided him from the room. “Why don’t you help me peel potatoes.”
“All right. But I want to use the peeler bymyselfthis time,” he insisted.
“Of course,” Mrs. Ford said.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he called back over his shoulder. “Even if you don’t have a castle.”
“A charming boy,” Lord Linden said rather uncertainly once we were alone.
I managed a smile and began to pour the tea. “Thank you. I also have an older daughter, Cleo,” I went on. Best to lay all my cards on the table now and let the man decide if he was still interested.
Lord Linden paused with his teacup in hand and quirked a brow. “Is she here as well?”
I shook my head. “She is attending a school in Hampstead run by Lady D’Arcy. Perhaps you know her?”
“I do. Yes,” he replied. “Interesting woman. I’ve heard great things about that school.”
Well, that was a point in his favor. “Cleo seems very happy there,” I said.
“And does she plan to follow in your footsteps and go to Girton?”
I was surprised he remembered that about me, and Lord Linden saw it plainly on my face. He cocked his head in amusement. “You truly don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?” The words came out more sharply than I intended.
Rather than answer me outright, he took a leisurely sip oftea while his gaze remained on my face. “You are an attractive woman, Mrs. Harper,” he murmured.
I cleared my throat and immediately looked away. Then I silently chastised myself. After all, I was a grown woman who had been married for many years. His pronouncement shouldn’t have had such an effect on me. And yet, there was a kind of knowing undercurrent to Lord Linden’s words. An assuredness that made it difficult to dismiss this as little more than the shallow flattery I had expected from him.
Oliver had told me I was beautiful before, of course, but I wasn’t the same woman he had known. His death had forced me to learn how to rely on myself, and my youthful innocence had been replaced by a clear-eyed strength born out of necessity. If I was being very honest, I wasn’t entirely sure that Oliver would have liked this more surefooted version of myself: the Minnie who took odd jobs for even odder men. Who investigated murders and traveled across the Continent. And I certainly couldn’t imagine ceding to his wishes as easily or as often as I had when we were married, for I hadn’t known myself the way I did now. But then, I hadn’t really known Oliver either. At least, not as well as I had once thought. In any case, it was rather gratifying that the baron had both seen this side of me and seemed to appreciate it.
“Thank you,” I said after a moment. And when I finally looked back at him, he was giving me an indulgent smile. Dolly’s words now echoed through my mind:
I can think of several gentlemen who would happily take on a widow, even one with children.It remained to be seen whether Lord Linden was such a gentleman, but I had to admit I was more than a little curious to learn the answer.
Lord Linden stayed with me for another half hour—far longer than I expected. But even more surprising was how much I enjoyed myself. He may have had a reputation as ascoundrel, but the man was also well-educated and cultured. I discovered that we had a good deal in common, in fact. We even discussed attending a lecture given by the Shakespeare Society later in the week, and he left with a promise to write in a few days’ time with the particulars.
I sat alone in the parlor afterwards in something of a daze, mulling over the entire exchange. While I could accept that Lord Linden might find me attractive, he was still one of the most eligible bachelors in England. Men like him married virginal debutants at least ten years my junior.
