Chapter 2
The next morning, Lainey began putting her plan into motion. Seated across from her in the carriage, Elizabeth pinned her with a hard look.
“Where exactly are we going that I had to be so secretive about?” she demanded, folding her arms across her chest while she waited for Lainey’s reply.
Lainey, for her part, at least had the grace to be chagrined. “I’m sorry, Eliza, but I knew if I told him he wouldn’t let me go.” Elizabeth raised a brow and remained silent, her jaw set in a stubborn line. “All right, I’m sorry I made you lie to your husband. I don’t like lying to him either, but this is important.”
“For heaven’s sake, would you just spit it out?”
“We are headed to the docks to look at some real estate.”
Elizabeth snapped to attention. “Real estate? Whatever for?”
Lainey grinned. “I am going to open a Center for the Betterment of Underprivileged Women!”
Elizabeth just stared at her, her jaw slack.
“Well, I rather thought you’d be a little more excited than that,” Lainey said dryly.
“You’re going to do…what?” Elizabeth’s brow furrowed with doubt.
“Don’t look at me like that, Eliza. I can do this. I want to help.”
“But…how? Do you know anything about running a charity?”
“I know enough. I’ve learned quite a bit from my work at the Sommerset House, and I’ve friends there who will help me get started. I’m a smart and capable woman. I can figure it out.”
“Well, of course you can. But this is a vast undertaking.”
“That’s why I’m planning on enlisting help. Aidan and Gavin manage to run a successful business. I can’t imagine they wouldn’t offer some advice when I get stuck. Who better to learn from than those two?”
Elizabeth grinned. “You do have a way of bending everyone to your will without them knowing it.”
Lainey assumed an innocent expression. “Do I?”
Elizabeth’s brow furrowed. “But a lady in business, Lainey? Aidan deals with enough prejudice as a working peer, and he’s a man. Do you really think those same doors will be open to you, a female?”
“If anyone tries to close a door in my face, I shall simply have to wedge my foot in it. Besides, this isn’t a trade, it’s a cause. It’s different.”
The carriage rolled to a stop. Lainey peered out the window, a sliver of doubt sneaking its way into her stomach. There were a lot of people outside, many of them openly staring at the carriage. She’d taken the unmarked one, but still, it was finer than what was normally seen in this area. She’d dressed plainly but smartly, and she knew they would attract attention as soon as they descended. She’d brought their burliest footman just in case there was any trouble, though she doubted there would be. The land agent had assured her the location she was surveying would be relatively safe. Still, her confidence faltered a little as they were handed down from the carriage onto the dirty street. Lainey linked her arm through Elizabeth’s and hung on tightly as they set off to meet the agent, the big footman trailing behind them. Elizabeth regarded her friend. “This is not going to be an easy task, Lainey. Why do you want to do this when you could just continue working with your current charities?”
Lainey covered Elizabeth’s hand with hers. “Because I met you.” She turned to smile at her sister-in-law. “I know women land on the street for all manner of reasons, but I’d never personally known any of the women I help more than casually. But you…you were living in my house, and you were bright and funny and loving, and by all rights, you should have had a beautiful life. You should have had gentleman callers and glittering balls and a circle of friends who love you as much as you love them. Instead, that had all been taken away through no fault of your own, and you lived a dark and dangerous life. But you didn’t let yourself grow bitter. You kept fighting for a way forward. Unfortunately, that way almost got you killed, but your selflessness brought you here, back to the life you should have had all along. And then you brought us sweet Betsy, who is as hard-working and loyal a woman as I have ever met, and she deserves her chance at a better life too.” Lainey paused, remembering the moment she’d first laid eyes on the half-starved woman who’d been the only person Elizabeth could trust during her time on the streets. Betsy had risked her life for her friend, and there was no way Lainey was going to return her to her squalid living conditions. Instead, the Lockwoods took her in and began training her for a new life. And Betsy had proved eager to learn. “The charities I work for…they provide basic aid and comfort, but they don’t teach anything. They don’t provide the skills women need to get better jobs so they can support themselves. I want to change that. I want to change them. I am in a position to do something about their situation. What kind of person would I be if I ignored that?”
Elizabeth pulled Lainey to a stop and stared intently at her, eyes brimming with tears. She took both of Lainey’s hands in hers and gave them a squeeze. “Lady Elaine Lockwood, you are the most wonderful woman I have ever had the honor to know.”
Lainey blinked rapidly against the sting in her eyes and gave a little gasp as Elizabeth threw her arms around her. Lainey’s heart was full to bursting. Here was someone who, without a doubt, understood who Lainey was inside, someone who would always stand beside her. How fortunate was she to have Elizabeth for a sister?
She stepped out of Elizabeth’s embrace and took her by the shoulders. “Now. As you said, this is a big undertaking, and I am going to need help. Do you think you and Betsy might be willing to be part of my team?”
“I would love that! Oh, Lainey, this is such a wonderfully exciting thing you are doing! Aidan is going to be so proud of you.”
A shadow flickered across her face. “Let’s hope so.”
“How could he not? Come, show me what you’ve found. I can help you decide if it’s the right place or not. Location is going to be very important.”
“And that, my dear Eliza, is exactly why I brought you with me!”
As it turned out, site number three was indeed the charm.
“Just think of what you can do with all this space!” Elizabeth gushed. “It can be sectioned out into classrooms large enough to hold the equipment you need to teach life skills, this area can be turned into a beautiful reception area with your office just over there, and the location can’t be beat. It’s accessible enough to the poor without being completely unsafe. I don’t think you are going to find a better spot, Lainey.”
“It is rather perfect, isn’t it?” Lainey tried to hold in her enthusiasm, but it bubbled and oozed like warm apple pie filling escaping the crust. She was really doing this. She was going to make her mark on the world, leaving it better than she found it, and it was going to start here. Of course, she needed to make an offer that would be accepted, but she didn’t see that as a problem. How many people would want a building like this? Her real problem was accessing the capital she needed to buy the place. That was going to prove a little more complicated. “I don’t think I need to see any more, Eliza. Let’s go home and draw up an offer.”
Elizabeth clapped her hands, bouncing up and down. “This is so exciting!” As they exited the building, she asked the question Lainey was dreading. “I don’t mean to pry, but how exactly are you going to pay for all this? I mean, I know you will fundraise, but you need to be able to purchase the building now. Do you think Aidan will easily agree to paying for it? I can influence him if he gives you grief,” she said, winking.
“I have no doubt you would be a strong influence on my brother, but actually…erhm…” How to put this? “I don’t want Aidan’s help. I am going to buy it myself.”
“But how? I thought your money was in trust until you marry?”
“It is.” Lainey scratched behind her ear, not meeting Elizabeth’s eyes. “I am going to get married. The sooner the better.”
“What?” Elizabeth was dismayed. “But I thought you hadn’t found a love match yet.”
“I haven’t. It’s time to be practical.”
“Oh, Lainey. No.”
“I am twenty-four, Eliza. Soon to be twenty-five. I want children and a home of my own. And a husband who isn’t marrying me just for my money,” she added wryly. “For heaven’s sake, you saw yourself last night what my options are like. I have to find someone who isn’t frightened or offended by the fact that I want to work, and there isn’t a lord alive who will accept that. At least, I certainly haven’t found him. Plenty of women make happy marriages without being over the moon in love. Not all of us are as lucky as you and Aidan.”
Elizabeth grinned. “And he didn’t even want love!” She looped her arm through Lainey’s as they headed toward the carriage. “Are you sure about this? It seems a little…impetuous.”
“I’ve been thinking on it for a couple of months, and I believe it’s the right decision. I have enough to make a down payment, and I’m sure I can negotiate some time to pay the balance. I hope I can count on your support. I know Aidan is not going to be happy with me.”
“Of course I will support you, as long as it is truly what you want. But how do you plan to go husband hunting with the season over?”
“About that—”
A shout drew their attention, and Lainey turned to see Gavin Mayfield flagging them down from across the street. Oh, bother. She had almost made it to the carriage without being seen by anyone she knew.
“Ask and ye shall receive,” Elizabeth murmured.
“No,” Lainey said firmly. “Absolutely not.”
“Why ever not?”
Why not indeed? Lainey looked at Gavin and her heart gave a little flutter, as it always did when she laid eyes on him. Cursed organ. Gavin Mayfield was Aidan’s best friend and business partner, the neighbor she’d grown up with, and the man she had secretly loved her entire life. She’d even managed to talk herself into believing that he felt the same about her but was just being respectful of his and Aidan’s friendship. So sure was she that Gavin would be thrilled to have her for a wife, she’d confessed her feelings to him one mortifying evening two years ago in the hopes of making him feel safe enough to offer for her. What she got instead was a humiliating rejection.
“Because if he’d said yes, we’d be married by now,” Lainey muttered under her breath.Her skin tightened as she watched Gavin jog across the street with ease, that winsome smile on his face, the sun glinting off his thick blond hair. Hair that made her wonder if it felt as silky as it looked.
Rein yourself in, Lainey. He doesn’t want you.
“Hello, Countess, my lady. What on earth brings you to this part of town?” Gavin asked when he arrived in front of them. “You shouldn’t be down here by yourselves.”
“We brought Big Jack,” Lainey impatiently informed him, indicating the footman behind them.
“Still and all, I’d rather you had brought an escort. What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Research, not that it’s any of your business. And we are perfectly safe.” On any other day, she’d be her normal, friendly self with him, but she was nervous Gavin would ferret out the truth from her and then go tattle to Aidan. This needed to be a short conversation.
But before she could try to extricate herself, a dirty, bedraggled man approached, staring hard at Elizabeth. Gavin tensed, ready to defend the women, but then the man burst out with, “Blimey! ‘Zat you, ‘Lizabeth?”
Light dawned on Elizabeth’s face. “Douglas! I’m so glad to see you!” With no regard for her fine clothes, she hugged the wizened man, then turned to introduce him to her companions. “Lady Elaine, Mr. Mayfield, this is my friend Douglas. Douglas was my defender and champion here when my life was a little rougher.”
Lainey nodded and said hello, but Gavin, blasted saint that he was, reached out and shook hands with the dirty man and gave him a genuine smile. “You don’t say? Thank you for protecting her.”
Flip, flop went Lainey’s heart. She mentally rolled her eyes.
Stop. It.
“Aw, she’s a treasure to be guarded! I can hardly believe ’s you, Lizzie! Lookit ye!”
“I know! Things have changed for the better. And with a little bit of luck, things will be changing around here for the better, too!”
Lainey’s eyes widened and she shook her head. Aidan would kill her if Gavin heard of her plans first.
“Oops, sorry, Lainey, I’m getting ahead.” She fished in her reticule and pressed some coins into Douglas’s hand.
“Now, Lizzie, that ain’t necessary—”
“I insist. It’s the least I can do after you were so kind to keep an eye on me all those years.”
Douglas turned red under the smudges of dirt on his face and shuffled his feet. “Twern’t nothin’, Lizzie. Right happy to help. I’ll be going now. Ye take care of yerself.”
“I’ll see you again, Douglas,” Elizabeth said as he wandered away. She watched him go, an inscrutable expression on her face. She turned to Lainey. “Whatever your plans are, I am with you,” she said with conviction. “I want to help these people who helped me.”
“Plans? What plans? Do tell,” Gavin said, curiosity tinging his voice. “Though I think it best if we remove to a safer locale.”
Lainey sighed. “Why don’t you come over for tea this afternoon and we’ll discuss it. I have to beg a favor of you, I’m afraid.”
“Name it and it shall be done, my lady.” He gave her a gallant bow, complete with hand flourishes. She giggled in spite of herself.
“Stop with the charming nonsense and hand me into the carriage, will you?”
He obeyed, and once the ladies were settled, he tipped his hat. “Until tea, then.”
“Oh, Gavin,” Lainey called, poking her head out the window as the carriage began to pull away. “You’d better be careful about agreeing to favors before you know what they are!”