Page 27 of Inconvenient Honor
“All London waits for an announcement. If he stretches it much longer, he won’t be able to get out of it,” Catherine said.
If he waits for news from me, he is waiting in vain.
Lily pleaded headache and found herself escorted out in quick time by the earl and his Catherine, both relieved to be free of theheat, the gossip, and the ugly machinations of the social climbers. Lily followed in silence.
I need to tell him I’m not increasing. There is no point in waiting.
Chadbourn looked at her quizzically when he handed her into the carriage. She attempted a reassuring smile and came to a decision.
I will reassure Glenaire there is no baby—even if I’m not sure it’s true.
Richard dismissedPembrook’s ball from his mind as soon as he ordered his man of business to send “Roses, yellow, two dozen should do,” to Lady Sarah Wharton. He found it harder to dismiss Lily Thornton.
Lady Sarah’s pedigree is sterling.He forced himself to remember that. His parents had certainly forced his attention to it at least twice the evening before.Lily Thornton brings intelligence and an independent streak that would be attractive in sons, his rebellious mind retorted.
He pushed women from his mind and attempted to concentrate on the massive walnut desk from which he presided over the far-flung affairs of England. Its carved handles and brass fittings usually gave him a sense of order. Neatly organized stacks of reports, dispatches, and work to be accomplished surrounded him. Today, his thoughts refused to cooperate.
Lady Sarah’s perfect manners and social connections make her an ideal political hostess,he reminded himself. Again the second thought came unbidden.Lily Thornton understands the subtle undertones of diplomacy. She knows Turkish and Russian, and I suspect her French is?—
He ran a hand over the back of his neck.She won’t have you, Richard. Be done with it.
Castlereagh had demanded his analysis of the growing unrest in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. He stared at the untouched notesscattered across his desk. Word from Naples sounded dire. He wondered what Lily would make of it.
Enough! Make your addresses to Lady Sarah Wharton or don’t. You can’t seriously consider Lily Thornton as the future as Duchess of Sudbury, even if she would have you. A vision of his mother presiding over dinner at Sudbury House prodded him to look at his work.Why not?a traitorous voice whispered in the vicinity of his heart.
He pulled more minor affairs closer. Four embassies requested increased funds. An outpost in Canada requested troops, the seventeenth man in two months having gone absent and disappeared into the frontier. Their agent in the Duchy of Werltvelt reported dalliance between the crown prince and the consort of a neighboring baron. Could he suggest a devious solution? Troubling information that came from an interrogation at His Majesty’s Prison at Millbank required a carefully phrased warning to the governor on Gibraltar. A trade report from the Sultanate of Johor on the island of Singapura arrived inconveniently late; a meeting with appropriate men of business had to be scheduled.
Beneath them all lay one small note on fine vellum. He snatched it up, broke the seal, and flipped it open.
To theMarquess of Glenaire
My lord,
The business we discussed at Chadbourn Park had a positive outcome. No further action is needed.
Your obedient servant,
Miss Lilias Thornton
“A positive outcome.”Can a woman tell as soon as two months?Richard’s unease turned to disappointment—an irrational, absurd disappointment.Of course she can, you fool. Lily Thornton’s folly spared her an unfortunate birth. Honorsatisfied. Be relieved.
He pushed away from his desk.It was my folly, he chided himself. He paced to the window, something he never did, and it irritated him. His own irritation annoyed him further.Why can’t I let it lie? I do not let petty emotions rule me. His emotions seemed to have other ideas.
An ornate watch, pulled from a cannily designed pocket in his waistcoat, ticked steadily. One-thirty, still time for a “morning” call, he thought. I may as well use the time. I’m accomplishing nothing here.
The latest in his constantly shifting parade of secretaries came running at the sound of Richard’s bell.
“I will be out the rest of the afternoon.”
Too well trained to show any surprise he might have felt, the young man dispatched a footmen to call for the marquess’s carriage. Richard retrieved his hat and tapped it on his head.
Perhaps I will call on Lady Sarah. She will have received my token by now.
The piles on his desk drew his attention. The far right, as always, indicated “Urgent Matters.” The stack looked taller than usual. He remembered Castlereagh’s demands and almost changed his mind.
“Tell Heaton and Stewart I may return this evening,” he told the secretary.
After I visit Jackson’s saloon to find someone who would like a thorough pounding.
