Page 24 of A Foolish Flirtation

“He has already booked you in with a modiste on Jerwin Street. One o’clock this afternoon. I’m to bring the carriage round for you.”

“Did he not take his carriage to London?” Emmie asked in surprise.

Colfax shook his head. “Wanted the horses to be well-rested before returning to Cornwall. He hired a conveyance to take to London.”

“Oh.” One of the sheets of paper was not money, Emmie noticed. It looked like a letter. She drew it out and unfolded it, with some trepidation.

Ballentine,

You will oblige me by attending an appointment with Madame de Flores at one o’clock on Monday 15 to arrange your trousseau. I have left the direction with my man, Colfax, and he will collect you accordingly.

Make use of the carriage during this time to say your farewells and run your errands. Colfax will call on you every morning to take instruction from you. Label any furniture that you want transported to Cornwall. He will see it is done.

You have two weeks, so use them wisely. Return your books to the lending library, hand your notice to your landlady, pay your bills, pack your bags. Above all else, prepare yourself, for at the end of these two weeks I will return, and you will be mine.

Jeremy

Emmie let out a shaky breath. “He seems to have thought of everything,” she said, lowering the letter.

Colfax nodded matter-of-factly. “Any instructions for me to carry out this morning?” he asked.

“I will need to confer with Pink—with Miss Pinson, I mean,” she corrected herself swiftly. “And we will compile a list.” The pawnbrokers, she thought suddenly. “Actually…”

“Yes, miss?” He must have seen the light spring to her eyes, for he looked curious.

“Would you be so good as to redeem some valuable items I have had to—to send to the menders,” she said with emphasis, sending a meaningful look toward Teddy. “The one on Wainfleet Road. My Vienna clock, a French-style mirror, and a full set of lead crystal glasses are all there currently.”

“Of course, miss, nothing could be simpler.”

“Thank you so much, Colfax,” she enthused as she hurried from the room to find the slips. There were actually a good deal more of them stuffed into her empty jewelry box than she had remembered. Her watch and her gold gate bracelet had also been pawned, though she had sold her good quality jewelry long ago.

She hurried back to Colfax with the slips balled up in her fist. He accepted them wordlessly and she retrieved the envelope of money. She realized that just one of the banknotes would redeem the whole lot. Passing it to Colfax, she thanked him profusely and returned to the table.

“Come along, then, Master Edward,” he said. “Say your farewell to the ladies.”

Teddy dragged his feet over the leave-taking and clearly did not wish to return to his father’s lodgings. “For there is no one there for me to talk to,” he lamented.

“You have that nurse his lordship hired for your stay here,” Colfax reminded him.

“Nurse Jopling is so dull,” he complained. “She makes me drink horrible draughts and wear woolen undergarments.”

“She is devoted, I am sure, to your recovery,” Pinky opined.

“We have run out of conversation,” Teddy grumbled. “All she ever talks about is her old patients, most of whom are dead!”

Even as Colfax marched him downstairs, they could hear Teddy’s voice drifting back up toward them. “Well, but why can’t I come with you to fetch Miss Ballentine’s clock back from the menders? I tell you; I’m fed up lying on a sofa all day!”

“Oh dear,” muttered Pinky as they made their way back into their rooms. “Of course, Colfax cannot explain to him the sordid reality of a pawnbroker’s establishment.”

Emmie thought Colfax looked more than equal to the task but kept this to herself. “Well, he is certainly an interesting child,” she reflected. “Plenty of spirit and opinions of his own.”

“Indeed,” Pinky agreed. “Though delicate, of course, both in constitution and of mind.”

Emmie gave her a sidelong look. “Do you think so?” she murmured. “Curious, I thought him quite reassuringly robust.”

“I hope he will still partake of his luncheon,” Pinky continued absently. “And I did not spoil his appetite by letting him eat my egg. Meat, you know. As I understand it, men must eat a lot of it in order to maintain their health.” Hannah always spoke of the opposite sex as though they belonged to an entirely different species.

“In any event, I am glad we do not have to return to the pawnbroker’s,” Emmie admitted as they resumed their seats in the parlor.