Then I felt silly and lowered my hands but kept the reins. “The duke has been wonderful to us. You’re not the least bit concerned, Katherine, that he could be ill or injured? Why are you like this? Why can’t we go see about him? Why can’t we be the ones helping?”
“Oh, Georgie, you and your questions.” She blew out a long breath. “Ladies, why must it be any of those troubles? He’s a busy man. He could’ve found something better to do with his time.”
“Kitty sounds very bitter.” Lydia shook her head.
Our youngest was the only one who ever said out loud what everyone was thinking. “Kitty, we are wasting time,” I said, mimicking the child’s tone. “Go back in the house and figure out what new thing you need to do with Father’s coal business—”
“Ourbusiness, girls. And, yes, we have new customers, but we’re not out of trouble. Selling the business is still a possibility. There are loans to pay off, but for the first time in a long time, we’re not bleeding money.”
At this, I couldn’t look at her. Katherine was good with numbers. She’d done all the accounting. Then she married and let Tavis manage the debits and credits on the ledger.
“The late Lord Hampton didn’t seem that good at math.” I pointed again to her. “Was he, Lady Hampton? Thank goodness the duke encouraged our creditors to give us more time.”
Walking from the front of the gig, Katherine swung one leg in, and then the other. “Fine. You win. We’ll look in on the duke, then we will head off to the offices. You girls need to start visiting the business to remind you of our legacy, or let me find you husbands.”
I handed her the reins, and she started my horse trotting.
“But, Katherine,youdidn’t find a good one,” Lydia said in a sweet and sincere, painfully truthful voice. “Why do you think you could get a good one for them?”
Wanting to laugh, I held it in. Katherine had gotten us underway, and I didn’t need an upset sister changing her mind and stopping.
At the end of Ground Street, we turned left and headed for the bridge.
“He’s unusual,” my scowling sister said. “Be prepared for strange things in his household. I’ve known him longer than any of you. He’s very strange. That won’t change, no matter what he does or says. He won’t change.”
Katherine’s tone sounded aggrieved, even irrational. Like she was convincing herself of something that wasn’t true.
“You just like being mean to him,” Lydia said. “He’s our friend. He wouldn’t abandon us. Even Scarlett wants to go, and she hates men. And Georgina runs from them.”
Sadly, both things were true. I ran or walked away a lot. Scarlett, the little rebel woman of science, had also become His Grace’s advocate.
“I don’t hate all men. I just find them highly illogical. I don’t have any idea why they are allowed to run the world.”
“Just remember what I said.” Katherine had us on Blackfriars Bridge. We’d soon cross the Thames and be in Mayfair in no time.
Shaking my head, I bit my lip and sat back, peeking at the ferries crossing underneath.
My prayers were that all was well with Torrance, that he wasn’t sick and that we hadn’t become a nuisance to him.
Nothing needed to change, except maybe Katherine’s attitude.
I hated that she seemed so angry with our friend. If wishes had the power to become true, mine would be that my older sister would become easier on the Duke of Torrance.
We needed him, much more than he needed us.
Chapter 7
MARK—A PRESENT FROM AFRIEND
Sitting next to Livingston, in the rear of the bright green ballroom of Anya House, a few houses from my mother’s Grosvenor Street townhome, her favorite of all of Prahmn’s holdings, unnerved me. The crowded room was filled with gilt trim along the walls and seated men of science, even physicians from around the world, discussing important things like inherited diseases that sounded like the ailment that plagued our king.
“The Duke of Torrance has quite a gathering,” I said to my friend. “I wonder where he is.”
“A garish gathering, perhaps. But in a house this big, who knows.” Livingston folded his arms as if he weren’t impressed with the large estate with its multitude of rooms and gardens that had been pruned into a maze. “Sebastian, you are trying to avoid the answer to all your problems. You need a mistress.”
That was his solution to everything. I was beginning to suspect that was why his wife abandoned him. I looked away, wondering how he could have a mind for science and be a lecher.
“Don’t fret, my friend. I have arranged everything for you. I have picked out the perfect woman for you.”
