Chapter 2 #2
It was not just the possibility of selling the books which intrigued Gardiner.
As Miss Lambert seemed to assist her father, he was hoping that if this meeting with Mr Darcy took place, she would be present as well.
He was aware it was precipitate as he had only just met her, but he felt she was a woman he wanted to know better.
“If Mr Darcy would like to come view the books, I am happy to accommodate him. There will be a commission for you if he purchases, especially some of the first editions which are rather costly,” Gardiner responded.
“Commission was the farthest thing from my mind, but if that is what you chuse to do, I will not offend you by refusing,” Lambert stated.
“I will send a note to Darcy House and inform you if and when he would like to come and see your collection. We are renting a house not far from here, at 17 Gracechurch Street. Do you know the area?”
“In fact, I do very well indeed. I recently purchased 23 Gracechurch Street, which is only a few doors away from the house where you are residing,” Gardiner replied. “I will wait to hear from you about Mr Darcy.” He saw Miss Lambert whispering to her mother and thought nothing of it.
“Mr Gardiner, would you like to join us for dinner on the morrow?” Vivian Lambert invited. “Phillip should have a reply from Mr Darcy by then.”
Seeing the blush on Miss Lambert’s face, Gardiner understood what she had whispered to her mother, and it thrilled him that she wanted to see him again.
“As I have no prior engagements, it will be a pleasure to dine with you,” he accepted.
He did not miss that Miss Lambert’s blush deepened when he accepted.
He liked to think that the reaction was one of pleasure.
Without knowing it, Gardiner’s hope was true.
Madeline Lambert had never previously felt an attraction to a man.
She had recently turned nineteen and was very secure in her place in the Lambert family.
She assisted Papa and Patrick in the shop so, even if she never married, she would not be a burden.
It had been impetuous to request that Mamma invite Mr Gardiner for dinner, and she had felt warm all over when he had accepted, as he had been watching her the whole time.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard her father taking his leave of Mr Gardiner. She and her mother curtsied to his answering bow, and they were off.
Gardiner could not wait for dinner on the morrow, and it had nothing to do with the expected reply from Mr Darcy. He would have to be careful in divining how much longer Miss Lambert and her family would be in London. He did not want to seem too keen.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
So far, the dinner with the Lamberts was everything that Gardiner had hoped it would be. On going into the dining parlour, he was seated opposite Miss Lambert, as there were only four people present for the meal.
The conversation flowed freely and easily.
There was no awkwardness, and Gardiner’s initial guess that Miss Lambert was intelligent was confirmed by the breadth of the subjects she had a grasp of and her display of knowledge.
He made sure to attend her parents as well, but until the separation of the sexes, most of Gardiner’s time was devoted to Miss Lambert.
Once they were alone, Gardiner took the seat closest to his host, who invited him to move.
“Before we enjoy some libations, please call me Lambert.”
“I will happily address you thusly. In return, please address me as Gardiner.” He extended his hand to the older man, and they shook.
“Port?” Lambert offered after they shook hands.
“Please,” Gardiner responded. He was not sorry that the man had not offered him cigars, as he had always avoided them and did not enjoy breathing the smoke.
Lambert poured two measures of the sweet wine and passed one to his guest. “If you are a man who enjoys smoking after the meal, I must apologise. I do not enjoy the activity myself, and my Vivian detests the smell in the house,” he revealed.
“As I am not a man who smokes, I applaud your wife’s disdain for the smell.” Gardiner raised his glass to the other man and then took a sip.
After a sip from his own glass, Lambert cleared his throat. “I received a note back from Mr Darcy. He would like to meet at your emporium at eleven in the morning on the morrow. Does that suit?”
“It most certainly does. I will be ready to receive you and your customer then,” Gardiner responded. “May I ask how long you will be in London?”
“We depart at the end of this week. We rented the house for a fortnight. I am sorry we did not come into your shop on the first day. Instead we went into the city to see some of the sights,” Lambert mused.
“If you had come another day, there would have been no guarantee I would have been there. I am not in the emporium daily,” Gardiner revealed.
As soon as the two men drained their small glasses of wine, they made their way to the sitting room where mother and daughter were waiting for them. Gardiner was pleased to note that Miss Lambert had been watching the door for their return.
So as not to overstay his welcome, Gardiner rose from his seat about an hour later once Mrs Lambert had served tea and coffee.
“Mrs Lambert, I thank you for a very enjoyable meal. I must say it is much more pleasant than eating alone in my house. Miss Lambert, it was a pleasure to see you again, and Lambert, we will see one another on the morrow at eleven.”
Maddie was more than pleased that Mr Gardiner had emphasised the one word during his farewell. She felt her cheeks heating again. Was she always going to blush in this man’s company?
“Until then, Gardiner,” Lambert returned.
There was a decided spring in his step when Gardiner walked back to his house.
He had hoped they would be in London longer, but he understood better than most that regardless of how competent the person managing the business was, he too would not want to be away from his concern for too long.
She had not said so, but Gardiner was sure Miss Lambert would accompany her father in the morning.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Gardiner’s supposition was proved right when he saw all three Lamberts approaching him with a fashionable-looking couple and a young lad.
“Lambert, will you introduce us please?” Darcy requested.
“Mr Darcy, Lady Anne, and Master William, it is my pleasure to present Mr Gardiner, the owner of this business as well as Gardiner and Associates. Gardiner, Mr Darcy, Lady Anne Darcy, and their son, Master William of Pemberley in Derbyshire and Darcy House in London,” Lambert said as he did the honours.
“My wife loves books as well, but she would also like to explore your shop,” Darcy stated. “William here, since he learnt to read, likes nothing more than to lose himself in a book.”
“You are all very welcome here.” Gardiner bowed to the inclined heads from the Darcys.
“You are free to peruse anything in the emporium, but I have a feeling you are more interested in the books. Some are in that corner, but the first editions are in a room which is through that door.” He indicated the door he mentioned.
“Father, may I look around the rest of the shop as well?” William asked.
“Robert, you go look at the books; I will take William, and we will investigate together and see what treasures we find,” Lady Anne suggested.
“I will see you both soon,” Darcy agreed. “Lead on, Mr Gardiner.”
When Gardiner informed Mr Darcy that the books all came from Lords Warwick and Spencer, his anticipation grew.
He was well aware that both Earls had to retrench thanks to their love of games of chance, many of which did not go their way.
He had a very good idea that most of the first editions were ones he had wanted and lost out on to the two peers.
In the room where the first editions were carefully displayed, Darcy’s suspicions were confirmed. There were close to thirty valuable books, all ones he had wanted to own for some time. He looked at the prices listed with each book and saw they were all just below the market price.
Next he looked at the rest of the books displayed in the shop. “I will take all of them, the first editions and the books here as well,” Darcy stated.
“And I will have this bolt of fabric. William found a box of toy soldiers he would like to give to Richard,” Lady Anne added as she rejoined her husband. “You know how our nephew loves anything to do with the army, do you not, Robert?”
Darcy wrote out a bank draft for more than fifteen thousand pounds and left instructions to ship most of the books to Pemberley.
A few were to be sent to Darcy House for the library there.
As he, his wife, and son entered their town coach, Darcy calculated that had Mr Gardiner used the full price, he would have paid about two thousand pounds more.
He would have willingly paid that, but he was greatly impressed that the man had not tried to gain every penny he could from the sale.
Darcy had heard that Gardiner was very good at managing investments.
Next time he was in London, he would look into investing, and he would recommend that his brother-in-law, Reginald Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Matlock, do so as well.
Gardiner gave Lambert a draft for one thousand pounds.
When the other man protested, Gardiner explained that he had made an eighty per cent profit.
In their need to gain ready funds as debt collectors were at their doors, both Lords had blindly sold all of their books without attention to what they had.
Once he understood this, Lambert accepted the commission gratefully.
There were two more dinners before the Lamberts departed London. As he had no hostess, Gardiner could not have them at his house, but he hoped to fill that vacancy in the not too distant future.