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Disappointment stabbed at her. Without a female relation to sponsor them, society would be overwhelmingly difficult to navigate. They might be able to muddle their way through Inverley for the summer without courting ruin, but it would be next to impossible toget to London for the next Season with nothing but their own notoriety to recommend them.
“Thank you, Mr. Taylor.”
He settled his hat upon his head as he rose. “It has been a pleasure, Miss Reeve. May I have the pleasure of seeing you again soon?”
Drat it all, but he was charming. And he was a favorite of Jacob’s these days. And most importantly of all, he was family. “Do come by tonight for dinner, Mr. Taylor—that is, if you have not tired of our provincial dining habits. I know you could get a finer cut of beef and cup of claret at one of the eating establishments in town, but we do enjoy your presence here at the house.”
“I should like nothing better. I consider myself ever delighted of the good fortune that has reunited the family, Miss Reeve. Until tonight.”
Chapter Six
Jacob grinned. “It’s perfect, Caro!”
The house to let was the corner building in a row of shiny new townhouses that were built in what Caroline had been assured was the London style, which she knew nothing about but had impressed Jacob mightily when the banker showed them inside.
Although Will and George would need to share a bedroom, the house was spacious with big bay windows that opened onto a gorgeous sea view, a scant hundred feet to the sand.
Maybe it was too grand.
How would she find enough staff to manage the household? How would she even learn to direct a staff of more than a single maid who had been with them forever?
Terror gripped her, and she clasped her hands behind her back to hide how much they trembled.
“Perhaps we should look at other options—”
“Do forgive me, Miss Reeve,” Mr. Taylor interrupted, “but I believe you could make do with such small quarters, considering the snugness of your previous establishment. I’m afraid I have already reviewed most of the available lodgings in Inverley over the past few days, and this is the largest that you would be able to find on such short notice.”
Small quarters? Caroline glanced up at the soaring ceiling. She supposed that to some, having but two parlors and a dining room that must also be used for breakfast were a sign of mean quarters indeed.
To her, it was palatial.
“You have already looked?” she asked.
“Inverley is a charming place, and I would feel dreadful for abandoning you when I have met the long-lost family at last. My secretary and I have decided to stay here for a few weeks. Perhaps a month. We shall be renting rooms from a widow at the edge of town—pickings are lean for two old bachelors, I suppose.”
She flushed, remembering that Jacob was now the happy inheritor of his wealth. She could not help but wonder what his circumstances were like now.
“Mr. Taylor is right,” Jacob said. “This houseissmall, isn’t it? Maybe we could look at something further from town, with its own land? I heard that Captain Smith was looking to let his manor. This townhouse is nowhere near good enough for the likes of us now.”
When he had entered the house, Jacob had been all smiles and excitement. But now that Mr. Taylor had said his piece, he was sneering.
“We should be grateful to find something as well located as this one,” she said. Jacob seemed chastened, but she couldn’t be sure if he would take the first opportunity to roll his eyes at Mr. Taylor behind her back.
She tried to find charity in her heart. Jacob had no father figure beyond the age of eleven. Now Mr. Taylor with his starched collar and shiny guineas and crisp sense of authority had come into town, given him wealth beyond his dreams, and shown him attention—of course he would become Jacob’s new hero, capable of no wrongdoing in his eyes.
She knew she should be grateful to Mr. Taylor—Jacob did need help settling into his new role and new life. He was woefully unprepared for his new responsibilities.
But still, Jacob’s cavalier words stung.
“Perhaps we don’t need to move yet.” Caroline felt uneasy about putting money down anywhere. It was still hard to believe that it was theirs to spend.
“I realize we have only just met,” Mr. Taylor said, “and we are not so close in relation, but I feel compelled to urge you to reconsider. Your family has risen in consequence to the point that your current dwelling—forgive me, it pains me to criticize—is unreasonablefor you to live in. Your brother is a baronet. You and your sisters are heiresses. You cannot continue to dwell in such straightened circumstances, with but one maid-of-all-work.”
“Thank you for your input.” She tried to put as much dignity as she could into the words.
He was right, of course. She hated to admit it, but she was letting her pride get in the way.
Besides, staying where they were meant staying in the house next door to Arabella. After that kiss, how could she continue to put temptation within such easy reach? It would be good for them both if she moved away from Belvoir Lane, if that was how Caroline was going to start reacting around her best friend.
