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He looked appalled by the suggestion. “I’ll have you know that I wasn’t interested in babies myself until we had one.”
“Well, there you have it,” Sylvia grinned. “I know, why don’t you show Henry your new motor car?”
Rafe immediately brightened. “Oh, good idea.” Then he turned to Henry. “Sylvia’s grown quite bored with hearing me talk about it. She doesn’t even pretend to listen anymore.”
“Lead the way,” Henry replied.
“I’m so glad you decided to return to London,” Georgiana said once the gentlemen left the room. “It will be lovely having the three of you close by.”
“Yes,” Sylvia agreed. “And Rafe is much happier with his new position in the Home Office, though he won’t say much about it.”
“It’s always some cloak and dagger business with him, isn’t it?”
“I suppose,” Sylvia said with a shrug. “But then he’s spent nearly half his life that way. I would imagine it’s hard to give up completely.”
“And you support his decision?” Georgiana asked cautiously. Rafe’s government work had once been a source of contention between them.
“Yes. Absolutely,” Sylvia said with a vigorous nod. “I trust him to follow his conscience. And Lord knows this government could use more men like him.”
“I heartily agree with that.”
“And how is Henry adjusting to his new position?”
After the new Fox and Sons factory opened to great success, Georgiana decided to start a foundation to assist women and children. Henry closed his business in order to help run it, with Delia Swanson acting as his very efficient assistant. Henry hadn’t heard from the commodore again, but Georgiana suspected Rafe and his new position had something to do with it.
“He says he’s found his true calling. The man seems to know practically every corner of London and where assistance is needed most. He even wants to start a specific program for sailor’s wives, which I think is a fabulous idea.”
“Look at the pair of you,” Sylvia said proudly. “You’ll transform this city for the better in no time.”
Georgiana returned her smile. “I certainly hope so.”
“You haven’t gotten any more letters from Lady Harrington, have you?”
“No, just the one. Though I did tell Mossdown to return any others unopened. Perhaps she finally got the message.”
When Aunt Paloma learned of Tobias’s arrest, she had actually made the journey to Georgiana’s home to demand she retract her statement. Georgiana explained that it would make no difference, given that Tobias himself had confessed, but Aunt Paloma refused to accept that her golden child had done anything wrong and insisted that it was all Georgiana’s fault. She had continued to hurl baseless accusations at Georgiana until Henry appeared in the parlor with a proper glower on his face, still sporting the bruises from her son’s own hands.
Sylvia gave her a sly smile. “Or maybe she doesn’t want the captain showing up at her doorstep to give her another dressing-down.”
Georgiana chuckled. “I don’t think she had heard the unvarnished truth about herself in some time.”
“And to hear it delivered from him! You could have sold tickets.”
Indeed, watching as Henry listed in exacting detail all of Aunt Paloma’s duplicitous actions while the color drained from her face had been most satisfying. Greater still was the interlude after the older woman had flounced from the room, when Georgiana showed Henry just how much his defense of her had meant, but that was a private moment shared only between them. A few less than flattering gossip items about them had appeared in some of the more seedy papers afterward, but Tobias Harrington’s fall was the far bigger story. Even his brother had publicly denounced him while commending both Georgiana and the captain.
An outpouring of support from her rivals quickly followed, as no one wanted to be seen as supporting a blackguard like Rigby, who was also serving a lengthy prison sentence. Georgiana used the opportunity to secure promises of wage reform from each of her competitors. And if they reneged, she assured them she would use all the tools at her disposal, including Captain Harris, who was now more popular than ever. The papers had spun the story so that it had been Henry who heroically stabbed Tobias with the sword cane to save his lady love, as no editor could believe Georgiana had done it. But she didn’t mind. They knew the truth.
When Cecily began to grow fussy and Sylvia failed to hide yet another yawn behind her hand, Georgiana decided it was time to leave so the new family could get some much-needed sleep. She returned her godchild to her adoring parents, and she and Henry headed back home to Pimlico.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rafe so exhausted,” Henry said as they settled into the seat of their carriage and he drew his arm around her. “And we’ve greeted the dawn together after a long night out on more than one occasion.”
Georgiana laughed. “They both did look tired,” she conceded, and snuggled closer to Henry. “But happy.”
He nuzzled his cheek against the top of her head. “You know, I wasn’t sure how you would feel after seeing the baby. If it would bring back any memories.”
Georgiana let out a thoughtful sigh. She had told Henry all about her marriage to the viscount, along with her ambivalence over having children. “I won’t deny that I loved holding her,” she admitted. “But all I felt was happiness for them both. And it doesn’t change anything. I love our life together. Truly.”
“Well, that’s a relief. Barnaby’s demanding enough for me at the moment,” Henry said with a chuckle. “But if you ever did change your mind…”
