Page 50 of A Wicked Business

Belinda winced. Denying such a wealthy and successful man entry to the exclusive club was a terrible thing to do. It must rankle Gabriel Knight dreadfully, but to discover her own father was the reason he could not join was mortifying.

“Gabe!” Helena said furiously, before Felix could utter a word in his own defence. Belinda suspected this was fortunate, as he looked as if he had a good deal to say. Happily, Helena did not allow him to speak, but carried on, quite impassioned. “Do you remember how my brother made us both feel when you asked for my hand in marriage? Do you not remember how humiliated you were by his rejection, how miserable we both were? Your son has fallen in love with a delightful girl who has the misfortune of having a dreadful father. Don’t make Felix and your new daughter wretched by making that their fault.”

Gabriel Knight sent his wife a look of sheer exasperation and then threw up his hands. “I need a drink,” he growled, and stalked over to the tantalus on the sideboard. He poured himself a large measure and downed it before pouring another. He turned then and sighed.

“Anyone else?” he offered gruffly.

“Yes!” three voices replied, and he snorted, pouring out the glasses before noticing the champagne on the table. “I see you started without me,” he remarked, giving his wife an impenetrable look that might have been amusement or irritation.

“We needed some liquid courage before facing you,” Helena said, accepting the drink he offered her.

“I’m not that terrifying and don’t make out that you think I am. You know very well you rule the roost, you vexatious creature,” he grumbled.

Helena laughed and patted his arm reassuringly. “True. Now, darling, do stop barking at everyone and sit down.”

Gabe handed Felix and Belinda their drinks and did as he was told. “Well, my lady, you’ve got courage, I’ll give you that,” he said to Belinda, not unkindly.

“One must need it to survive in my father’s household and not lose one’s wits,” she replied, feeling somewhat steadier now it appeared the storm had passed. Looking at Gabriel Knight, she saw the resemblance to his son in their rather harsh features, the strong, stubborn jaw, and most of all the electric energy that seemed to roll off them both. She doubted this was a man who liked to sit still for very long. Many would find that exhausting, but she found it invigorating after a life that had been dull and so very confining.

“Hmmm.” Gabriel looked at her, his piercing gaze so intense she felt he might be able to see inside her head. It was an unnerving thought. “What interests you, Lady Belinda?”

Belinda was so surprised by such a question, for a moment she just gaped at him, before she gathered herself. “Many things, sir. For one, I have a great interest in rights for women. I hope to make some small contribution to the cause via my new business. I own a print shop, you see. Actually, that’s one of my first projects there,” she added with no little pride, gesturing to the chapter Lady Helena had been reading.

“This?” Helena snatched it up, looking at her in delight. “You wrote this?”

“Oh, no! I cannot take the credit for writing it,” Belinda said, shaking her head. “The author is a woman of remarkable talent, but she prefers to remain anonymous.”

“I bet she does,” Gabriel remarked with a smirk. “Sefton would murder her if he had the slightest idea who she was.”

“Well, yes,” Belinda agreed, aware the duke would not be too friendly to her either if he discovered her part in it. “But I bought the publishing rights and… and it’s been a tremendous success,” she added, putting up her chin. She wondered if Gabriel Knight might be like the rest of the ton and believe a woman had no place in business, despite his unusual origins. To her relief, curiosity flickered in his eyes.

“How big a success?” he demanded. “What was your print run?”

For the next few minutes, Gabriel fired questions at her about the number of sales, growing circulation, about subscriptions, the price of individual chapters, dates of publication and her intention to publish a leather-bound copy of the complete story in time for Christmas. At first, Belinda believed he was trying to rattle her, but as the questions continued, she realised he was genuinely interested, especially when he realised she could hold her own and not become flustered by his interrogating manner. When he was done, her brain felt as if it needed a lie down in a dark room, but Gabriel Knight was looking at her with something approaching respect and she felt pleased at having acquitted herself so well.

He took a small notebook from his pocket and scratched away with a pencil for a few minutes before tearing it off a page and handing it to her. “I suspect that’s your projected profit,” he said.

Belinda looked at the scrawled figures, which were barely legible, but to her astonishment discovered his figures closely resembled those she had calculated with all the precise costs and financial details before her.

She nodded, a little stunned.

“It is,” she said, aware that it was in very bad taste for him to discuss business with her, and worse still, to discuss money, of all things, and delighting in every second of it. Her father would have an apoplexy if he knew. Yet this self-made man spoke to her as an equal, as a woman with her own ambitions and the brains to make a success of it. It was rather thrilling when so many men spoke to her as if she were a pretty ninny.

“A nice little business,” Gabriel said, an arrested look in his eyes. “Of course, to maximise your profits, you ought to make a deal with a paper mill. As it happens, I have an interest in—”

“Oh, good Lord, now there’s three of you!” Helena wailed in mock despair. “Can’t I have a daughter-in-law who likes hats, and shopping, and reading books!” she said, laughing and putting her head in her hands.

Belinda laughed too, a little disappointed not to discover what Gabriel had to say next, but finding herself far more at ease with them both than she could have dared imagine. “Well, I do like all of those things too, I promise you.”

“Never mind hats, we were just getting to the interesting bit,” Gabe objected.

Helena hushed him and he sighed.

“Well, Belinda, I suppose we will just have to share you. What do you think, Gabe? I, for one, think she’ll make a splendid daughter-in-law,” Helena said, reaching out to take her husband’s hand.

He lifted it to his lips before setting it back in her lap and getting to his feet. Moving towards Belinda, he held out his hand, and she stood and took it, looking at him warily.

“Do you think me a guttersnipe? A half-bred, jumped-up mushroom?” he asked, his tone serious, though Belinda was relieved to see something like amusement in his eyes.

“Certainly not!” she said hotly. “I see every reason your son holds you in the greatest of esteem and wishes to make you proud. I should be proud to call you my father-in-law, too, and that is something I have never felt for my own flesh and blood.”

Gabriel smiled at her words, his eyes warm. His expression put her forcibly in mind of his handsome son.

“Welcome to the family, my dear. You’re one of us now, heaven help you.”