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“I’m so glad! But—what about Stirling?”
“Sapphira can provide him with references—assuming she is up to that task. You are also young, but you seem to have managed the duties of the sickroom quite well.”
She smiled. “Oh, but consider my unconventional upbringing! From plucking chickens to make a healing broth to brewing tisanes to soothe the throat of an ailing soprano, there are few nursing chores I’ve not done. But enough of me. Let me tell you about Uncle Robert.”
For the next half hour, Allegra sketched for Rob all the events of the last few months of his father’s life, touching on his humor, his faith, his courage and the great love he bore his son. “Toward the last, he dictated several letters for you. As he requested, I left them there, in the desk drawer.”
Rob nodded. “I found them after returning from the solicitor’s office. But what of you, Allegra? What do you intend to do now?”
She faced him squarely. “You needn’t worry that I mean to be a charge upon you. I’ve inquired about a post as a governess.”
“My fiery little cousin a governess?” He grinned and shook his head. “The girl who dressed down a duke in the park for having the temerity to ride by too closely to her mount? Who would have come to blows with that numbclutch Eton mate of mine for calling her a silly, lisping foreigner, had I not intervened? Heaven help the unlucky family that hired you!”
Allegra felt her face heat. “I admit, I was a trifle…boisterous as a child. But I’ve long since mastered my temper.”
“Have you?” he drawled, his amused tone suggesting he didn’t believe it for an instant. “I hope you’re not set on the notion of becoming a governess, for after consulting Papa’s solicitors, I have other plans.”
Did he mean to assist her after all? Trying to restrain her soaring hopes, she replied, “Other plans?”
“Though you may not know it, for Papa lived simply and such worldly considerations were obviously never of any importance to your parents, the Lyntons are quite wealthy. Which doubtless explains my father’s appeal to a chit of Sapphira’s age,” he added acidly. “Despite bestowing a sumptuous jointure upon his widow, Papa left a sizeable estate. It was his wish that you have the means to reclaim the place in society that should have been yours as Lady Grace’s daughter.”
For a moment Allegra stared at Rob, uncomprehending. “You mean…he left me a bequest?” she said at last.
“A bequest? Ah, well, yes, I suppose you could call it that. You shall have a handsome sum to serve as your dowry, along with the funds to purchase gowns and all the other necessary fripperies so that you may attend the afternoon calls, rout parties, balls and such that will lead to becoming betrothed to a worthy young man who will cherish and protect you for the rest of your life.”
“And then I live happily ever after?” Allegra gave a bitter laugh. “The idea of entering that world is just as much a fairy tale. Even girls Mama came out with, ones she considered good friends, gave her the cut direct after she married Papa. Aside from Uncle Robert, not even her own family recognized her. What makes you think they would accept her daughter?” What makes you think I want them to? she added silently.
“Ah, but you are wrong. Lady Grace’s papa would have welcomed her home at any time, but she refused to take up her ‘proper’ position among her own class if it meant being separated from your father. True, the highest sticklers may not receive you and Almacks might be beyond your touch, but a sizeable part of the polite world will be quite willing to accept the ward of Lord Lynton and granddaughter of Viscount Conwyn.”
She held her hands out at her sides. “Accept this ‘dark-skinned foreigner’?” she asked skeptically, Sapphira’s oft-repeated disparagement of her ebony hair and olive skin echoing in her head.
Smiling slightly, Rob studied her, the intensity of his gaze sending a little shock through her. “Not all men like a blond-and-pink princess,” he said softly after a moment. “Some prefer a more…earthy, exotic lady.”
The appreciation in his eyes deepened to something hotter. Allegra felt her cheeks flush, her mind suddenly buffeted by so many contradictory ideas and emotions she could not frame a reply.
One practical observation in that flurry of thoughts steadied her. “But what of a sponsor? You must know Sapphira would never…” Her voice trailed off and she grimaced as she imagined the probable response, were Rob to have the temerity to ask his stepmother to introduce her.
“Oh no, Sapphira isn’t…temperamentally suited for the role. Besides, she must be in deep mourning for at least six more months, while by the time the Season begins, you need only don black gloves. I shall invite Cousin Letitia Randall to stay with us. She knew your mother well. That is, if you will agree to a presentation?”
Her immediate response was to decline, but she bit it back. Rob was being kind and extremely generous. Though she had decidedly mixed feelings about entering society, with the arrogance of one born to that privileged world, he would never understand why she would not leap for joy at this chance to claim a place within it. And despite his assurances, he must know that he would need both determination and perseverance to overcome what she suspected would be a rocky reception by the ton if she accepted his offer.
Unless…
She recalled the look of heated appreciation in Rob’s eyes. Suddenly her mind was overwhelmed by a resurgence of the wild hope she’d never quite managed to extinguish. Only one thing would make Rob’s generous offer truly a dream come true.
Dressed in lovely clothes, hair upswept and her mother’s pearls about her neck, might she capture the heart of this “parfait, gentil” knight for her own?
If she could, if she could bring Rob to realize that the wild girl of whom he’d always been fond was now an accomplished, desirable woman, one with whom he wanted to share his life, it would be a more marvelous resolution to her dilemma than she dared believe possible.
Instead of going alone into the world, she’d be able to remain here with Rob, Bessie and Hobbs, the only people still on earth who knew and appreciated her—and not as a servant, but as a daughter of the house. Marrying some ton gentleman so as to reclaim her mother’s place in society held little appeal, but if that ton gentleman were Rob, she would gain not just social acceptance and a secure future, she would have won her secret heart’s desire and a love to last a lifetime.
A love like her parents’.
Despite the difficulties her mother had experienced because of marrying her father, Lady Grace and her husband had been happy. Having grown up in the charmed circle of their devotion, Allegra couldn’t envision marrying someone, as Sapphira obviously had, only to secure wealth and a comfortable position in society. Nor did she think she could tolerate marrying a man who deigned to give her his name and heirs but not his loyalty or affection.
If she married, it must be to a man she desired, respected and loved without reserve. A man who pledged his love and fidelity in return. Someone trustworthy, steadfast and honorable—like Rob.
Could she win his heart?
“Well?” Rob interrupted her racing thoughts.
“I…I’m not sure,” she said, her mind still entrapped in glorious speculation.
He grinned. “Then say ‘yes.’ I’ll write Cousin Letitia tonight. You’ll doubtless want her assistance in purchasing that wardrobe of gowns and such. With the Season soon to start, you need to begin on that at once. Lady Ormsby’s rout is barely a month away.”
He rose to his feet. “If you’ll excuse me, I must go wait upon Sapphira and inform her of our plans.”
Allegra shook her head, sure of only one thing about Rob’s audacious scheme. “Sapphira is not going to like this.”
Rob laughed out loud. “No, I expect not,” he said as he advanced to the door. “I knew the Lord would send some ray of sunshine to brighten the bleakness of father’s passing.” Pausing on the threshold, he looked back to add, “By the way, I told Bessie to move your things back into the blue bedchamber.” He snapped her a salute. “Welcome back to the family, Allegra.”
For long moments after Rob walked out, Allegra sat motionless, hardly able to believe her entire circumstances had changed so dramatically in the space of a single day.
There was no reason not to accept this offer. If her fondest desires about Rob were not realized, if she found society not to her liking or the ton rebuffed her, she could always use Uncle Robert’s legacy to purchase the property for which she’d been pining and carve out a life for herself there.
Either way, she would have a permanent home of her own that no one could ever take from her.
No more creeping down service stairs, suspended between two worlds. Uncle Robert had loved her as she loved him. He’d appreciated and valued her enough to leave her an inheritance, thought her deserving of a place in her mother’s society. Perhaps deserving of his son’s love?
A deep gratitude sharpened the pangs of loss. How she missed that gentle, quiet, loving man! Knuckling the tears from her eyes, she vowed she would justify the confidence he’d placed in her, make Rob proud he’d welcomed her back into the family.
