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He glanced up at her approach and folded the newspaper under his arm. “Lady Arlington,” he said smoothly. “What a pleasant surprise.”
Georgiana stopped a foot away from him and narrowed her eyes. “Yes. Quite. I can’t imagine a better place to enjoy your afternoon paper than this particular stretch of pavement.” She waited for his denial, but instead the corner of his mouth lifted.
“Touché.”
“You’d do better to wear a disguise next time you follow me. I spotted you instantly.”
Captain Harris’s smile grew ever so slightly, and he shook his head. “I’ve never been able to stomach the idea of wearing a false mustache or a wig. It’s simply too silly. Besides, I think I’ve done a fair job without such accoutrements. After all, you didn’t notice me this morning. Or yesterday.”
Now Georgiana couldn’t hide her surprise. “You’ve been following me thiswhole time?”
“Not exclusively,” he said with a shrug. “I do have other clients, my lady. But I thought it couldn’t hurt to make sure that man you spoke of wasn’t hanging about.”
“Oh.” Georgiana’s anger faded. “Did…did you see him?” she added apprehensively.
He shook his head. “Thankfully, no. However, I took the liberty of discussing your encounter with a contact at Scotland Yard. If you’d like, we can go down there this week and you can describe him. I’d say there’s a fair chance he has an arrest record.”
Georgiana’s first instinct was to say no. But perhaps she would be treated with more respect if she went with Captain Harris. “I’ll think about it.”
This seemed to satisfy him. He then glanced past her. “I should go. I believe I’m drawing more unwanted attention.”
She turned around to follow his gaze and noticed Louisa practically pressed up against the glass of one of Lady Gray’s front windows. “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” she grumbled and gave an annoyed wave before turning back to Captain Harris. “That’s my sister Louisa.”
The captain was still watching the window with an amused expression. His eyes sparked with recognition. “Is it? Last time I saw her she demanded I hold her doll. I believe her name was Victoria Regina Copperpot.”
A laugh escaped Georgiana. “I’d forgotten all about that.”
He had once spent a long afternoon with her and her siblings, who were in town on a visit. In addition to allowing Louisa to accost him, he had also patiently taught Reggie chess, which Mr. Fox had always been too busy to do. But as Georgiana had watched the young lieutenant bent over the chessboard with her excited younger brother, an unfamiliar kind of ache came over her. A longing for something she hadn’t ever thought to want. He must have sensed her gaze, for he had glanced up and given her a warm, familiar smile. It would always be like this with him, she had realized. This quiet happiness that seemed to blossom so easily between them. And it had been this revelation that had driven her to meet him the very next evening. Alone.
“Yes,” she continued, suppressing the unwanted emotion welling in her throat. She felt so far removed from the naïve girl she had been that afternoon that the memory may as well have belonged to someone else.
“Victoria Regina Copperpot had a number of adventures before she was retired to the attic. Louisa married recently.”
Captain Harris looked down at her, his stern expression so very different from the one in her memory. And yet, they were now standing closer than before. Georgiana couldn’t say who had moved first. “She’s quite young to be married, isn’t she?”
Georgiana reared back a little. “Not much younger than I was,” she answered, unable to keep the defensive note out of her voice. Louisa, willful as ever, had also threatened to go ahead and elope if they tried to dissuade her.
His eyes searched her own. “Is she happy?”
Georgiana’s breath caught at the question. He was completely serious. “Yes. Very. Her husband adores her.”
Captain Harris stared at her for another moment, then glanced away. “Good,” he said as he began to adjust his gloves. “A girl like that should be adored.”
Georgiana should have been pleased to hear him express such a sentiment. After all, it was true. Louisa had always been an odd duck, but she had found a man who appreciated her eccentricities instead of trying to bleed them out of her. And yet, Georgiana’s mouth filled with the bitter taste of envy once again. She, too, wanted to be the kind of woman who deserved to be adored in his eyes. Georgiana wondered what he truly thought of her. Of what kind of woman she was to him now. Though she guessed she wouldn’t much like the answer. Still, she burned with the sudden desire to ask such a ridiculous question, but before she could, Captain Harris touched the brim of his hat. “Good afternoon, my lady,” he said without looking at her.
Georgiana stood on the pavement while both regret and relief warred within her. As he moved farther away, the decided click of his cane slowly melted into the street noise. When she finally returned to her carriage, she caught Louisa still standing there watching her from the window. Based on the pitying look on her sister’s face, Georgiana guessed she hadn’t done a very good job of hiding her feelings. She gave a slight shake of her head before turning away to let Jack help her inside.
Chapter Five
Dinner with Georgiana’s siblings had gone relatively smoothly, at least by their standards, but that was likely due to their reduced numbers. Franny was abroad acting as a companion for the viscount’s aunt Mrs. Crawford after Sylvia had given up the position to marry, and Ollie was away at school getting into God knows what. Even still, Louisa heartily approved of her new silver evening gown, and Reggie only brought up Captain Harris once, asking if he had come by the factory. Georgiana’s single nod in response seemed to suffice. Remarkably, Louisa said nothing of what she had witnessed that afternoon, though she did shoot Georgiana a telling look that was ignored. All in all, their prying had been kept to a minimum. David, Louisa’s husband, usually offered his opinion only when asked, a trait Georgiana had come to appreciate more and more, but as they were preparing to leave for the opera, he gave her a conspiratorial wink.
“Good on you for standing up to Reggie,” he whispered while Louisa was busy looking for her misplaced hat. “It was terribly overbearing on his part, the way he hired that man without even asking you. I said as much to him yesterday at our club.”
Georgiana was touched, especially since David rarely interfered in Fox sibling dramatics. That likely explained Reggie’s restraint during dinner.
She smiled and placed a hand on his arm. “David, have I ever told you that you are my favorite brother-in-law?”
He laughed good-naturedly. As of now, he was heronlybrother-in-law. “A designation I hope never to lose.”
