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“Yes.Indeed.Shall we go inside, at least?”
Rose entwined her arm with Lady Chester’s, but she glanced back at him.The look warmed him.Gratitude, maybe.Some bit of joy, perhaps.But definitely a look he wanted to see for years to come.
He left them at the drawing room door.Raleigh was one step ahead of him and already carried out the box of broken porcelain.There was no reason to leave the temptation for Rose, in her indignation, to show Lady Chester.“I’ll join you after dinner.Are you staying, Lady Chester?”
“Oh, you must.There is so much to talk about,” Rose said to her friend.
“Save all the interesting conversation for me then, Mrs.Hardy,” Matthew said.
The significance of Lady Chester’s visit could not be overstated.Whatever happened at Highwood tonight would be reported in the coming weeks across the ballrooms and drawing rooms of London.
He lightly gripped her arm and pulled her close, pressing a kiss to her temple.“I’ll have Raleigh bring you some of Baker’s Best Chocolate and a chocolate pot.My brother brought it back from America on his last trip.I think you will find it rivals the Swiss in smoothness.”
“Thank you, Matthew.”
“Not a word about Sandhurst,” he whispered to her before strolling to the dinner table.Blue diamonds or not, Sandhurst was a creeping poison, and his toxic tendrils would not be allowed to slither into Matthew and Rose’s world.
* * * * *
Rose wondered at Matthew’swarmth toward Lady Chester.He was full of compliments and questions.He’d shaved, washed and changed into a black suit cut perfectly and displaying a man no one would question.Unless you were Lady Chester and on a discovery mission.
Matthew had hurried.Was he worried she would tell her friend those things that could damage her socially?
“What is it you do, Mr.Hardy?”Abigail batted her lashes and demurely sipped at her chocolate.She was a lady in every way, but when they were alone, she and Abigail would laugh at the most foolish oftonmanners.Rose wondered if Abigail had ever talked to a man of business, aside from business she conducted with her modiste.Ah, Rose, you are hypocrite, she said to herself.
“Finance and a few other ventures.”
“Your home is magnificent.Those ventures must be very successful.”
“Of course.How could I ever entice a woman such as the duchess to marry me, if I were not?And were I a poor man and had seen her riding in Hyde Park, I would have devoted a lifetime to making a fortune so I could win her hand.”He held Lady Chester’s gaze, enthralling her with his charm.Rose felt a little dopey at the swoon-worthy words.She blushed and smiled like a debutante at her come out.
There were truths and exaggerations hidden in his words, but Abigail would never know what they were.He was here to impress her friend, to assure her that all was well in Rose’s life and that all London could be persuaded the duchess was not tainted by her marriage to a working man.Rose was pleasantly surprised by his consideration, until she remembered he had a great many more reasons to present himself as a flawless commoner.He wasn’t just marrying a duchess; he was marrying to enhance his notoriety.
But there was a more honorable ulterior motive: to hide how Rose had purchased her husband through a slapdash decision caused by a lie and a dishonor.
“He is too kind, is he not, Abigail?”Rose smiled warmly at her friend, again thankful that at least one of them had not abandoned her.One—the right one—was all it would take to maintain and rebuild her tenuous position.Abigail had influence but perhaps the Duchess of Pelham would have been a stauncher ally.Anne demanded an odd respect one couldn’t openly challenge, even as a coalminer’s daughter who’d climbed her way to the highest echelons of London society.
“Indeed!What will you do all by yourself out here in Islington?”Abigail asked.
“Oh, you needn’t worry about that, Lady Chester,” Matthew said.“London will be on our doorstep in a few years, and you will find that many of your friends will start building mansions in the vicinity soon.Perhaps even Lord Chester.”
“But where will you shop?And how will you get to your modiste with any ease?”
“It’s only four miles.Mrs.Hardy can come and go as she pleases.Who knows, maybe I can convince London’s most fashionable seamstresses to open shops near Islington Green.Or investors to build a large new hotel.”
“Oh, my.I wouldn’t know a thing about that, Mr.Hardy.”
“London, in fact of all England, is changing.It is best to be on the cusp than running after picking up crumbs.”Matthew sipped at his chocolate.“Where are your husband’s properties, Lady Chester?”
“Cheshire, primarily.”
What was Matthew thinking?He seemed to have some purpose.
“That is a fair distance.”
“We’ll be returning for several weeks.Donald enjoys a good hunt once the Season is over.”
“Last year was so enjoyable,” Rose said.“With Edmond and the children.”
