“And create others. Money makes for a lonely alliance.”
He shrugged. “Rook seemed to take an interest in you. When you were on the terrace with him, did you use the opportunity to sell him on the idea of that machine of yours?”
She’d had other matters to parse out. “No. After we indicated a demonstration was needed to fully appreciate it, further explanation seemed pointless.”
Running his thumb along the edge of the mantel, he studied it as though it was the most fascinating movement he’d ever seen. “If you were to entice him into marriage, we wouldn’t need any investors at all, would we? Certainly, he has the means to ensure our family’s business doesn’t go under. If Mama is correct, and he has an interest in you—”
“He doesn’t.”
“Then why did he join you on the terrace?”
“To reassure me that he didn’t hold me accountable for Mama’s obnoxious behavior. She was loud, rude, and embarrassingly inappropriate.” Setting her sketch pad aside, she shoved herself out of the chair and began to pace. “I don’t appeal to Lord Wyeth.”
If she did, wouldn’t he have tried to arrange an assignation? Or at least hinted at one? Although he hadindicated the kiss had not yet come to an end. So when and how would it? Had she not been struck dumb, perhaps she would have asked.
“You don’t have to appeal to him. You just have to get him alone and be discovered.”
She brought her pacing to an abrupt halt and glared at him. “I don’t want to acquire a husband by subterfuge. It would result in the most unpleasant of marriages.”
“Sacrifices must be made. For Father. In his memory. He began this business and had high hopes for it. You don’t want him to be seen as a failure. For that to be his legacy.”
All of that was true, but still—
“Why did you tell them they’d be investing in a weapon?”
“To pique their interest. And they know what weapons are. To try to describe your writing machine... well, you saw how that went. They weren’t too keen on the notion.”
“I’m rather certain it had more to do with the sense of being swindled. You promised them one thing when we’re trying to sell them on something else. These are not men to be trifled with. We convince them to invest on the merits of the company and our plans for its diversification. If you’re not in agreement, then I might as well hop on the next ship home and find another way to keep things running.”
He stepped away from the fireplace. “I need you here, Nora. I haven’t your confidence regarding the potential for this plan of yours to change our direction, and I certainly don’t understand all the inner workings of that machine. I’m depending on you to help me convince others that the risk is minimal, and the gains will be great.”
“No more talk of doing it through marriage.”
“You have my word.”
“We may have lost our edge with the Chessmen tonight.” She didn’t blame them if they no longer were interested in handing over their money. She feared her brother was playing a game when he didn’t fully comprehend the rules. “We need to approach other potential investors if we are to have any hope at all of securing the funding we need.”
He gave her a shy, but wily smile. “I know you think I’m useless, but I may have mentioned our need for investors to a few additional nobles when I visited a club or two. And who knows? Perhaps you’ll meet someone you fancy if we’re here long enough and other lords show an interest in you.”
She sighed with frustration. So much for giving her his word. “Sam, I am not the product. The writing machine is. Although I’m thinking we might want to change the name of the company.” It had once been Garrison Munitions. Then they’d discussed changing it to Garrison Writing Machines. “I thought we might want to go with Garrison Machine Works. Then we’re not limited to what we can create.” She held her breath, striving to decide how much to tell him, but he was her brother. The company was his. “I have an idea for another machine.”
He glanced over at the pad resting on the table. “I thought you’d been spending an inordinate amount of time sketching. I considered that you were striving to avoid Mama tossing eligible men your way while we were on the ship.” He dropped down into a chair opposite the one in which she’d been sitting and crossed his legs. “So tell me about it.”
She eased into her chair and fought not to bounce with her excitement. “For now you’re to tell no one about it because I’ve yet to work out all the particulars and that could take months if not years. But presently, I’m calling it the sales tallying machine.”
Sitting in King’s library, slowly sipping his scotch while his friends and their wives also lounged about in the seating area, Rook felt as though something was missing. He didn’t really want to give a name to it but if forced, he would have had to admit it was Miss Garrison’s presence.
Even when she’d remained on the terrace after he’d returned to this room, he’d enjoyed looking through the window at her silhouette and found comfort in it. She’d been more relaxed out there, without her mother badgering her. He’d noticed the occasional discreet pinch and had decided if he saw one more headed her way, he was going to intercept it. He didn’t understand the older woman’s actions. Even his father, for all the pain he’d caused, had never physically harmed him.
“I believe we all owe you an apology, Rook,” King began, “for even suggesting you might want to court the girl, much less marry her. The behavior of the mother was appalling.”
Rook certainly couldn’t take exception to that last statement. “I have the impression that Miss Garrison isn’t husband hunting. Rather Mrs. Garrison is son-in-law hunting.”
“I don’t think she’s going to have much luck with achieving that end if she comes across as forcefully in the future as she did here tonight.”
“It hardly seems fair to Miss Garrison,” Penelope said. “I rather liked her. When I was giving her a tour, nothing escaped her notice. She examined a few things quite closely, which resulted in our delay in returning to the parlor.”
“She did leave me with the notion that she is curious by nature.” Naturally, Rook wasn’t going to divulge that he’d met her previously. As Aiden had said, what happened within the walls of the Elysium stayed within those walls.
