AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Harriet nodded with what she hoped was eagerness. “Yes, I really am. I intend to dance with some handsome gentlemen and perhaps, find one with whom I could be happy. Or not, as the case may be. But, I must do my duty.”
Rose frowned. “Duty? I have never heard you call love a duty. And we did always swear that we would only marry for love.”
So naive we were as schoolgirls, Rose. And so different. You with your family wealth behind you and all the freedom that brings.
“We did. But my circumstances demand that I look to the future and that of my family.”
Rose’s eyes widened. “Circumstances? By heaven, is Simon in trouble? Do you need help? You know that papa would…”
Harriet held up a hand, forcing a smile. “No, Rosie. You misunderstand. I merely speak of the duty of a daughter to her family name.”
Rose did not seem convinced. “Because you know that you need only ask…”
As if I could ever bring myself to do that. It is worse knowing that you and your dear father would go out of your way to help. No, Rosie, this is for the Worthinghams alone.
“Thank you, Rosie,” Harriet said. “As usual, you are the best friend anyone could ask for. Now, Eleanor and all the talk of dances have occupied us for long enough. I don’t wish to spend any more time in such talk. Not when we have so much else to talk about,” Harriet said.
They passed the rest of the morning in reminiscence, about adventures and misadventures at school and since. By lunchtime, Rose went to her room to wash and Harriet took the opportunity to seek out Simon. She found him where she had left him. He looked as though he was drowning in the sea of ledgers and paper that had flooded his table in the library. As she entered the room, he looked up sharply.
“Your friend, Miss Mantell is not with you?”
“No, Simon. She is washing for lunch. We are alone.” Harriet closed the library doors and turned the key in the lock. Then she crossed the room to take a seat across from Simon.
“Will you tell me what has you so worried? I know that money is short but you just seem to be more and more worried with each passing day. Is it really so bad?” she asked.
Simon looked at her for a moment as though considering lying. Then he seemed to visibly deflate. He sagged in his chair and covered his face with a hand. Harriet felt a surge of sympathy for him. Since he was a child, Simon had been a sensitive boy, most upset when he felt he was not living up to the expectations of his demanding father. His side of the family was distant from her own but Harriet had spent some childhood summers with her parents at the Norwenshire home, not far from Birmingham, in which Simon had grown up with Eleanor.
“The truth is, Harriet. We are…to use a vulgar phrase…broke,” Simon said miserably. “I did not inherit as great a fortune as you may have expected from your father. It was greatly diminished by the time he died. I do not know if it was mismanagement or if someone within the estate was stealing. But…the truth is, we are perilously close to complete bankruptcy.”
CHAPTER 3
FRANKLIN HOUSE, MARCH 1814
Soft skin and gentle, sensuous curves. Edward’s first sensation upon waking was the feel of the luscious body that was pressed against him. Eyes still closed, he moved his hand from where it rested on a firm thigh, up over the glorious rounding of the hips. Fingers splayed across her stomach and rested there for a moment. The response was a murmur, delicious in its femininity and vulnerability. Then, the sinuous body squirmed against him. His hands found her round, pert bosom and gently squeezed.
“Good morning, your grace,” she said in a sleepy cultured voice.
“Good morning, Alexandria. Thank you for another fascinating discussion last night. What was it we talked about?”
Alexandria chuckled, a deep, throaty laugh. “Economics, I believe.”
“Ah yes. I love a good…economic discussion.”
“Certainly more invigorating than anything you would get at your club.”
“Do you think so? There are a few members who…went to Cambridge.”
“But not you?”
“I sailed through Oxford. And I’m proud to say it barely touched me,” Edward whispered.
Alexandria’s hand closed around him, squeezing firmly, but Edward was already moving away. She made a disappointed noise, kicking the bedclothes away from her and lying on her back, arms spread and legs crossed coquettishly.
“It is morning, dear Alex. And there is business to be about. I cannot dally all day in bed with you.”
“You’ve changed, darling. There was a time you wouldn’t get up before dusk, and then spend all night at the club and then in my bed.”
“Your bed?” Edward said with a wink.
