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“I don’t know,” Lord Brooks said. “Only, I can’t shake the feeling that she’s smarter than the gentlemen in this room give her credit for...”
The compliment went straight to Alice’s heart.
“...and that she’s only here in Carlaby to pull the wool over on some unsuspecting chap.”
And the thrill of his earlier compliment withered and died.
But could she blame him? After all her father had done to him? It wasn’t as though Lord Brooks knew her well enough to see how different she was from her progenitor. His suspicions were justified.
“It is rather a surprise,” she said, “knowing all this, that you invited her to your aunt’s for dinner the other night.”
“That was all Robins’s doing. Parsons, Robins, and I are staying with Aunt Margarette so that Parsons may continue an acquaintance with a young woman he met earlier this year during the Season. But just as soon as things are settled between them, I will need to return to London.”
“Oh?”
Lord Brooks shrugged, his mouth turning into a lopsided grin. He was quite handsome when he was slightly embarrassed. “I need to find a wife as well. One with a large enough dowry to save what is left of my inheritance.” He shook his head, slouching a bit in his chair. “I’ve done everything possible to keep my holdings afloat. I learned a lot at University, I’ve retrenched and invested, I’ve spoken with those doing better than me and consulted every farmer I have in my employ.”
She could see the years of hard work in his expression. “But it hasn’t been enough.”
“No. Truth is, if I hadn’t sold Langdon Hall to Mr. Grant, I probably would be just fine. But with it gone, and so little capital coming from the sale of it, things haven’t been good since.”
“I am sorry to hear it.”
He shrugged. “My aunt keeps going on and on about marrying for love, but I don’t think she fully grasps the nature of my situation.”
So he, too, was a fortune hunter. In the past, she’d disregarded each and every man wanting to marry strictly for money. Yet, this time, there was more than a hint of disappointment in the realization.
Alice placed an ankle atop her knee, smiling ruefully when she caught herself in the act. For better or for worse, she was fully entrenched in being Mr. Allen. “Tell me about your time at university.”
“Did you not attend?”
“You forget, I am the distant cousin of Lady Nightingale—from the poorest side of her family.” A small, but important part of Mr. Allen’s history. If he came from a poor side of the family, it helped justify why no one had heard of him before now.
“I see.”
Alice suddenly found she didn’t want him thinking her—or thinking Mr. Allen—was uneducated or unintelligent. “I didn’t attend University,” she said, “but I have read extensively, and I supplement that with stimulating conversation whenever I can find it.”
Lord Brooks gave her a full smile, and good heavens but it made her warm from head to toe.
He clapped her on the shoulder. “I can respect a man who takes control of his life and makes the most of it.” Though he said it to Mr. Allen, Alice liked to think he’d have said the same thing even if he had known she was a woman. Though, he might not have been quite so forceful with his hand against her shoulder. It hadn’t hurt, but it was still a new experience. All the more so because of the heated awareness that spread from where his hand rested on her.
“Thank you,” she said, unable to hold back her own smile. “I must confess I have worked hard to get where I am now and it’s nice to have the hard work appreciated, not just the success.”
“What do you want to know about my time at university?”
Strange, but though she was Mr. Allen now, she found speaking with Lord Brooks still availed her the opportunity to freely express herself. Further proof that it wasn’t the situation she’d found herself in before but being withhimthat gave her the sense of freedom.
Ready to hear all about the privilege she’d have loved to have had if only she’d not been born a woman, Alice settled into her chair and got comfortable. “Tell me everything.”
