Page 16 of Fortune’s Final Folly

“Yet, you remained here.”

“Until I left for Oxford—at my uncle’s insistence—yes.” He chuckled. “Despite my brother being the heir apparent, I was the lucky one. My grandmother hired the finest tutors, we visited every museum within a day’s carriage ride, and I learned to care for myself. Not every man is given such a gift.”

There was much Kate had presumed to know of the solicitor, yet startlingly little of it fit into this new understanding of the man.

He cleared his throat. “My apologies, Miss Kate. I did not intend to burden you with my family situation.” His weak smile told her that he had more he wished to share, but thought he’d said enough for the time being.

Kate longed to know more, craved a deeper connection to someone, something to help break away from the solitude she’d shrouded herself in.

“I sent my driver to appraise the damage to your building. The fire was contained on the first floor, the schoolroom for the most part, but was put out rather quickly. The flooring and two walls, as well as the front window and door, will need repairs. The smoke and soot left a mess, but your personal possessions were mostly unharmed.”

Only a single night spent in Joshua’s house, and Kate had nearly forgotten the travesty awaiting her in Cheapside. “Can we go see the building this morning?”

“Of course.”

Her hands trembled, and she set the plate aside before she spilled crumbs all over the expensive blue bedding. “The children…they will be worried.”

“Do not fret. I sent word to my assistant, Henry, to speak with each of the children as they arrived to make certain they knew you are well.”

He’d thought of everything. “Thank you, my lord.”

“Joshua.”

“Thank you, Joshua.” Kate swallowed, heat creeping up her cheeks at the use of his given name despite how often she’d thought of him as simply Joshua, not Mr. Stuart. “You have done too much. I am sorry to have burdened you with all of this. Please, have the physician send his bill to me.”

“It is what friends do. And the doctor has been taken care of.” He smiled shyly.

Kate had been relegated to a point where she needed another to care for her needs. It was a position she’d promised herself she would never be in. Yet, what other option did she have? She’d never seen a proper physician and had little notion of their fees, but the bill was likely more than what was left of the funds she’d received a few days prior.

“I will return the money as soon as I am able.” It was no wonder her father had liked and trusted the solicitor. He’d come to her aid, knowing she had no resources to repay him. And he’d called her friend. “Are we friends?”

Her cheeks flamed hotly at her bold question, while Joshua’s eyes widened before his eyelids lowered slightly. “I have always believed so, Miss Kate. Though if you have enough friends and do not wish to add me, I will rescind the offer.”

Kate laughed, her chest aching. Friends. Only friends. She’d be a fool to believe that there could be anything more between them. However, counting him as a friend was more than Kate should expect. “One can never have too many friends. Especially ones such as yourself, Joshua.”

“As I said last night, I was only in the right place at the right time.” He glanced toward the door, his unease apparent. Kate also realized the inappropriate nature of their conversation—especially alone in her bedchambers. Her temporary room in his house. “I had my driver collect a fresh gown from your dressing closet. I apologize that I haven’t any stowed away here. If you’d like to wash up and dress, I will have my carriage brought round to take us to your schoolroom.”

Joshua gave her a curt bow and exited the room, leaving her alone with her chest fluttering.

Could the flutter be a result of the smoke from the fire?

No, it most certainly was not.

She stared at the closed door, a vision of Joshua standing on the landing at her home filling her mind, the man backlit by flames and smoke. Yet, the image couldn’t be as it had actually happened. In her daydreams, Mr. Stuart—no, Joshua—was not wearing a shirt, and his intense stare never left her.

Kate shook her head as her father’s warning on such wayward thinking filled her with guilt.

Surprisingly, even to Kate, she realized the feeling was in no way accompanied by the remorse that generally followed.

Chapter 5

Kate removed her elbow from the surface of the pristine table linens and folded her arms in her lap, only to bring her hands to rest on the table once more as a door swung open to reveal a procession of three servants. The trio glided through the breakfast room with more poise and grace than Kate had ever managed in her short nineteen years. They held their serving dishes at precisely the same height as their skirts swooshed about their legs. One thing Kate noticed was that their half boots did not make a sound on the gleaming wood floor.

Unlike hers as she’d attempted to slip into the room without drawing Lord Stuart’s notice. Her heel still slapped the floor when she walked. Thankfully, most of the walk through his townhouse had been down hallways and stairs lined with plush, vibrant rugs that muffled the sound.

How was it possible that she felt more out of place here in this lovely, airy breakfast room overlooking the townhouse’s back gardens than she had when they were alone in her borrowed chambers the night before?

Clasping her hands in her lap once more, Kate leaned back as one of the maids sat a steaming bowl of porridge on the table next to a plate of ham. There was also toast and jam, as well as a pot of tea, and what Kate suspected was cocoa.