For the next several weeks, as more and more of the Ton returned to London after Michaelmas and the London shop became busier than ever, she and Charlotte applied themselves to unadulterated success.
When Althea wondered what Evan would think about something, she asked Charlotte instead. When she lay in bed at night, her body craving his, she reminded herself of their last encounter. As erotic as it had been, intimacy had been absent. That was not what she wanted in a lover.
Oh, who am I kidding?
Without Evan, she would never have known what she desired in a bed partner. What she truly craved was the old Evan back. While she could not risk a public affair, he had every right to want more. He had his choice of women. Indeed, he had likely already chosen one. Or more than one. Then her guilt turned to anger at how he handled the conflict, and her thoughts circled endlessly.
Despite her inner turmoil, she remained outwardly focused, and business flourished. Despite being only two months into the formal partnership, profits had been encouraging enough that Charlotte wanted to fund her expansion to Brighton in the spring, as soon as the roads grew more passable.
“What do you think of a second London location instead?” Althea asked.
Charlotte shook her head. “Your shop is in the best location. If you open a second store, it might eat into that store’s sales by being too close, or you’d have to change pricing or product offerings.”
“I was thinking of offering different products, more accessible to the merchant class. Still nice, but mayhap not as nice as the first store.”
“What happens if a Ton snob walks into that location and buys a product based on your first store’s reputation? Then finds it inferior?”
“Hmm.”
“Here is a suggestion. Mayhap we open it under a different name, so no one associates it with the Mayfair location. If it will carry different products and cater to different clients, then you cannot capitalize on your store’s reputation. But you will be able to leverage your knowledge of the business and your connections. The question is what your profitability will be with lesser products. We really should look at that first, especially shampoo.”
“Right. Mayhap after Brighton then. Thank you. I would not have considered that.”
“I might not have thought of Evan’s shared space idea. It simply goes to show that two brains are better than one for most things.”
Still incredulous at his actions and subsequent silence, Althea inwardly flinched at the other woman’s mention of Evan.
“What is it, dear?”
“Nothing.” Althea straightened in her chair, resolving to forget him. “I appreciate your help and guidance, Charlotte.”
“’Twas not nothing.” Charlotte leveled a stern look at her.
Althea found herself responding before she realized she had. “Lord Cheltenham and I do not see eye to eye on things other than the expansion of my shop.”
“Mmm. Like what?”
“Like the fact that I did not want an equity investor—particularly a male equity investor. And that I worried about—” She could not very well share her concerns about an affair with Evan.
“Come now, you cannot stop there.” Charlotte grinned. “Mayhap I can allay your concerns?”
Althea tried to tiptoe around the subject. “He has a…reputation. And I do not know how it would reflect on my shop given the gossip among the Ton if they thought there was a personal connection between us…”
It sounded terrible when she said it out loud, exactly as Evan had taken it. ’Twas as though he had to remain a dirty little secret.
Charlotte was snickering. “Ah. I think I understand. Frankly, my dear, I think you’d get as many new customers as you might lose. Evan’s net is cast wide and far. But I can commiserate. Women’s reputations are ever more fragile than men’s. Just as men’s egos are ever more fragile than women’s. I bet he hated that.”
Now it was Althea’s turn to laugh. She had never heard anything truer in her life. Then she sobered. “He did, rather. Which is understandable. But he did not handle it well. He was rather vile to me, actually.”
“Really? Cool, calm, collected Evan—vile?”
“Quite.”
Charlotte looked thoughtful. “Then you are well rid of him. ’Tis a good thing you had a superior option for an investor, is it not?”
****
Evan wove the letter through his fingers, contemplating it. Althea was supposed to respond to his ultimatum by choosing him, dammit. Instead, she’d taken his words at face value and moved on, unwilling to fight for their relationship.
