“So your misinformation is limited to my sins alone? Fine. Rest assured, ours is a complicated family. If you are prone to gossip—which you’ve proven yourself to be—you’ll get an eyeful. But, with regard to what you said earlier to me, I should like to make myself perfectly clear—”
“No apology is sufficient for my indiscretion,” Drew rushed to say. “And my regret could not be more complete. Please know this. It’s no excuse, but: the birds. I was overcome with—I wasn’t thinking.”
“Whatever the reason, I cannot tolerate gossip about the riots, not inside my household or out. If I were to hire you—and it seems I’ve been given little choice but to do so—your colorful description of me would be entirely unacceptable.Anydiscussion of me would be entirely unacceptable.”
“Yes, of course,” Drew assured, her voice choked. “I understand.”
“I extend this same discretion to the twins,” he went on. “The less they learn about their disgraced uncle, the better. But also, the less you say about the girls, the better. To anybody. I cannot say what they’ve been through, but I’m doubtful any of it is fit for public consumption. Their lives hold challenge enough without—well, without a swirl of gossip chasing them through London. I must insist upon complete silence when it comes to my family.”
Drew wanted to ask what challenges the girls faced. She wanted to ask why his nieces were a mystery to him. She wanted to ask why he so readily accepted the title of “disgraced.”
Instead she nodded and said, “Absolutely, Your Grace. I understand completely. It won’t be a problem.”
“None of this may matter. When you meet the girls and my sister, you may run screaming for the hills, despite your royal patrons.”
“Never you fear,” Drew said. “I should be delighted to work with your nieces. That is, if you truly wish it. But please—there has been no royal edict. I can speak to the princess about removing the obligation from—”
“I cannot decline the arrangement. The twins’ presentation in court is tied to an audience for myself with the prince regent. It’s an opportunity I cannot refuse. We’ll have to make the best of it—all of us.”
“Right,” Drew said thoughtfully, nodding along as ifshe understood his many vague references to disasters and complications.
“If nothing else, your very newness may make you the perfect candidate for the twins. I prefer to keep out of the public eye. For reasons you’ve already explained.”
“If nothing else, I am...new,” she agreed. Another truth.
“Right,” he said distractedly, looking around. “Very well then. It’s settled. Can you begin tomorrow?”
“I can,” she said, her chest filling with buoyant hope.
He gave a nod and stepped around her. “The house is number 14 Pollen Street. Say, ten o’clock?”
And then he strode away, not waiting for an answer. She lifted a hand to wave at his retreating form.
When he was gone, Drew spun back, staring at the closed doors of the antechamber. She released the railing. Tears began to sting her eyes, and she blinked them back.
She’d done it.
By some miracle.
Despite all her mistakes.
She had an actual client—two actualclients.
She’d managed the first leap toward the rest of her life.
Chapter Four
Ian was pacing the entryway when Miss Trelayne called the next day.
Pacing? More like lying in wait. Ian was impatient, but he was not delusional. He’d lain awake last night, wondering if theroyal assignmentof a strange woman could possibly, miraculously, be the answer to the question of Imogene and Ivy.
Oh, Imogene and Ivy.
He’d only brought his twin nieces to London because he’d run out of options in Dorset. Now here they were, but he’d made no immediate plans for what to do next. He’d intended to settle in for a bit. To allow the girls to grow accustomed to city life. Towait and see.
Now Prince Adolphus had thrust this... this... woman upon them, and she could easily make a bad situation worse. She could be wholly indifferent, or—
Well, he was too much of a realist to believe she could do any good. Her presence in their lives had been too much of a surprise.
