„I am not married and have no woman in my life.“

The fact that he answered her question convinced her that he might actually be considering her offer, despite the insult. The fact that he’d hesitated a moment in answering made her wonder what he was not telling her.

„Then that is all I need to know. I am offering you the position purely in the nature of a business proposal.“

„Business it may be, my lady, but not any that I wish to be a part of.“

„Please, there is no need to answer me now.“ She wanted to touch him, but knew that even a hand on his arm was more contact than he would tolerate. „Lady Harriston told me that she plans to invite you to her ball. I hope to see you there. Can I count on your presence being your answer? And please, sir, do forgive the insult.“

He gave a curt nod, bowed and without another word left her alone.

Grace grabbed the port and took a healthy sip, and before she’d finished coughing her aunt was in the room.

„It did not go well?“ Louise sat as Grace shook her head.

„It was close to disaster. I sounded like a crude hussy, lacking in all sensibility.“

„Grace! What in the world did you say to him?“ Her aunt put a hand to her heart as though palpitations were starting.

„First he accused me of using George as a spy, when all I wanted to know was if he was available.“

„Yes. Exactly.“

„I am not going to endure the experience again by telling you any more of it. Trust me when I say that I have given him a disgust of me. I apologized and asked him to reconsider.“ Grace shook her head. „When I asked him if he had formed any attachments since returning from Europe he said no, but I was sure there was something he was not telling me.“

„It would be easy enough to find out.“

„Absolutely not, Aunt Louise. He was so angry. If there is any chance he will reconsider I am not going to jeopardize it by making any more inquiries. He is entitled to some privacy, as are all my employees.“ She drew a breath that was all disappointment. „I think it is hopeless.“

„What a shame.“ Aunt Louise patted her hand. „It has worked so well for the last two years.“

„Because Belney had no interest in women and all Wharton wanted was money to emigrate to Canada.“

„I was sure the major was an ideal candidate, Grace.“

„I think he did forgive me the first offense, the spying. But then I let his lack of interest provoke me into a deliberate insult.“ Why had she even mentioned that? Louise was all attention now. Grace waved her hand. „After that I cannot imagine the major will set aside his pride, even for twenty-five pounds a week.“

„One good thing has come from this, Grace. This is the first time I have seen you interested enough in a man to make a mull of it. Very good, my dear. 1 will be grateful for small steps. I should so like you to learn that sex is about more than a responsibility.“

Grace looked at the port, and the very thought of drinking more made her cough. „It is just as well, Aunt. I like my life as it is.“

„Then why do you look disappointed?“

„Relieved. I am relieved,“ Grace insisted. „He is too used to command and would have been very difficult to manage.“

She turned away from her aunt. She was relieved and disappointed. She could still recall his hands on her shoulders, her back pressed against his chest, feeling.overwhelmed and thrilled at the same time.

She shuddered. There were times when the body and the mind were not at all as one. She knew what sex was. Never mind Aunt Louise’s intimations – she had had more than enough of it to last a lifetime.

Grace turned back to her aunt. „Thank God he was offended. Clearly he is more a gentleman than I am a lady.“

„Billy is sick?“ Lindsay had returned home to find his household in chaos.

„Very sick, Papa. He is not breathing properly. Nancy has sent for the surgeon.“ Poppy’s words came out in gasps that were filled with tears.

How would he pay for the surgeon? Panic slid through him. Lindsay took Poppy’s hand and hurried up the two flights of stairs to the nursery. He would find the money. There had been enough death in his world. If the surgeon could cure the boy then he would do whatever he had to do to pay for it.

Lindsay went through the day nursery and into the room where both Poppy and Billy slept. No sooner was he through the door than fear nudged the panic aside. God, what if this was contagious? What if Billy infected Poppy and she died too?

„Jesseck is in the hall waiting for the surgeon. I want you to go downstairs and make sure he stays awake.“

Poppy obeyed without question. It was a miserable few hours, and close to dawn before the surgeon discovered that the labored breathing had been caused by nothing more than a pea the child had pushed up his nose.

Poppy and Nancy both began to cry, but this time they were tears of relief. Lindsay comforted them and in no time the house was settled into the rhythms of sleep. The surgeon promised to send a salve that would ease the boy’s discomfort and Lindsay sent Jesseck to bed, insisting that he would stay up until it arrived. He decided to wait outside, so that a knock would not echo through the house and disturb the children.

The milkmaids were making their way through the neighborhood, the fruit and vegetable carts lumbering by. As he watched the morning parade, he pulled Poppy’s coin from his pocket. The surgeon had looked skeptical when Lindsay promised prompt payment. How many others were on the list to be paid? How long before debtors’ prison claimed him?

Lindsay stared at the coin, not golden now but dark and unresponsive. „Is Lady Anderson’s offer the answer to my wish?“

Even as he spoke, a man approached him. „What was that, Captain?“

It’s Major, Lindsay thought. The man was wearing some kind of naval uniform. He ought to know rank, but Lindsay was too tired to correct him.

„You want to know if your wish has been granted,“ the man said, answering his own question and stepping closer. „The thing is, sir, you can never tell with wishes.“

„It is none of your business.“ Lindsay gave him a cold stare, but the man stood his ground.

„I beg your pardon, sir, but you asked about your wish and I am come to answer.“

„You are an expert on wishes?“ It was a comment bordering on the absurd, but the man answered anyway.

„Indeed I am.“ He took off his hat and bowed as if that would be introduction enough. „You wished for employment that was pleasurable and profitable, did you not?“

Lindsay took a step back, aghast at the thought that this proposal had already found its way to the gossip mill.

The man held up his hand, his hat still in it. „Never fear, sir. I am no threat to the discretion so essential to this offer.“

Lindsay pushed the coin back into his pocket and prayed the man was telling the truth.

„You see, sir, the coin interprets the wish in its own way.“ The man ran his hat through his fingers. „Sometimes an explanation is needed.“ He bowed again.

Lindsay shrugged, humoring the man while trying to think of some reasonable explanation for his appearance.

„Now, sir, you asked for employment both pleasurable and profitable. That is what has been offered, is it not? The position with Lady Anderson? It is what you need, sir, and not only for the money. You need to step back into your rightful place in the world.“

He would throw the ridiculous coin in the river the very next chance he had.

„Surely it is not the amount, Major. Twenty-five pounds a week seems a princely sum to me.“

„It is.“ Lindsay hesitated and then decided that anything that happened this early in the morning was no more than a dream. „The work I am offered is hardly honorable.“

„Aha, but you see you did not include ‘honorable’ in your list.“ The man nodded, as if he were agreeing with himself. „And, sir, I ask you, what is dishonorable about the position? Any work that you take on to provide for your family would suit my definition of honorable.“ He spoke with a firm nod, as though that was the final word.