Chapter 15 #2
“Which cannot happen if you regularly visit. If you share your most lovely memories of your daughter. I would consider it a great favor if you would send around a note when you are next free. Maybe in a few days? Girls, please give your grandmama your best curtsies.”
Grey gave the girls a gentle push and kept his hands on their shoulders for support as they dropped rigid little curtsies.
And before Grey could say a word, Georgie guided the woman out the parlor door and into Chalmers’ waiting hands. The woman was out the door before she could protest, as if she were a person begging for a donation.
Grey couldn’t help but stand there staring. No one in his memory had ever dealt so efficiently with that woman.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have warned you.”
Georgie flashed a brilliant smile at him and the girls.
“Oh, you did. It’s the lovely thing about growing up at the foot of my grandmama.
You learn such useful lessons. Like how to dispatch with annoyances.
I must thank her when I see her again.” Then, without turning, she addressed Chalmers who had reappeared, looking just a bit chuffed.
“Chalmers, do you think Cook has some biscuits the girls could take along on the ride?”
Chalmers bowed as if he were addressing the queen. “He does, my lady. I shall be happy to see to the matter personally.”
“Excellent. Thank you. Now,” she said, kneeling before the girls. “I am very sorry you had to see your grandmama upset, but she was not in a very agreeable mood, was she?”
She got a pair of wide-eyed shaken heads.
She nodded back. “I would have let you hop off with Chalmers when your Grandmama came, but your Uncle Grey and I wanted you to see that we are always on your side. We are family, now, aren’t we?
And nothing is more important than family.
It will be your decision about whether to visit with anyone.
And if you decide to visit with your grandmama, it will always be here where you are safe and everyone in the house—” As if on cue, Bark gave a rousing howl out in the kitchen.
Georgie grinned. “Especially Bark—is here with you. Maybe even the Packhams. Is that all right?”
The girls looked at each other and then to Grey before offering tentative nods.
It was Grey’s turn to kneel. “I think sometimes you haven’t felt safe,” he said, holding their hands. “But from now on, Aunt Georgie and I and Chalmers and Mrs. Chalmers and all the staff—and the Packhams—will be here to help Bark keep you safe.”
The nods were still tentative, but Grey knew it was still too soon for certainty. So, he hugged them both and stood up.
“Now,” he said. “Are we ready to go, Aunt Georgie?”
She smiled and held out coats. “We are, Uncle Grey.”
And for the first time since Grey discovered two frightened little girls in his front parlor, he felt positive about leaving his household to do the government’s work.
Somehow, he had been gifted with the perfect wife to handle things at home while he was gone.
Even if it was the last thing she wanted to do.
It was as they were seated with the girls in the carriage wending their way toward the docks that Grey realized that his wife was just a bit too bright, her posture a bit too perfect, as if she were bracing herself.
As if she were protecting him and the girls from the real impact of the morning’s meetings on her.
Suddenly he realized he really didn’t want to go right then. He wanted to call out to Braxton to tell Drake to stuff his mission. Grey had more important things to do.
Except, in the greater scheme of things, he didn’t. It was absolutely vital he find Gracechurch and learn what intelligence he had unearthed. And he had to do it as quickly as possible.
“I’m sorry,” he said very quietly, glad the girls were focused on their ginger biscuits.
Georgie turned, betraying surprise. “What for?”
His smile was rueful. “Dumping this all on you. I’m not sure who will be the biggest nightmare, Hartman or Philomena.”
He’d been hoping for a real smile. What he got was a carefully drawn in breath.
“Oh, if worse comes to worse, I shall call for Grandmama to back me up. I have yet to meet anyone with the brass to challenge her. And then, when you return home, I will have toted up the cost of your absence, which will be paid with support for my projects.”
Smiling, he took her hand. “Gladly,” he assured her. “You never told me what they are.”
Her own smile was private. “I know.”
“I don’t get a hint?”
“When you are ready to stay home. I’ll have the tally by then.”
He had the dreadful suspicion that cost was going to be high.
“Well, at least I gave you a safe place to escape to, if necessary,” he offered. “If worse comes to worse, you and the girls can always run away to Painswick Park.”
“One of your properties?”
He stared a bit. “No. In fact, one of yours.”
Georgie blinked. She blinked again. “Pardon?”
Grey sighed. “You didn’t read the settlements? I was sure you would.”
She shook her head, suddenly looking truly shaken. “I was so busy. Father assured me you had settled sufficient funds.”
Grey scowled. “But he forgot to mention you have your own estate.”
She was still profoundly silent.
Gray nodded. “You can read my copy when you get back to the townhouse, if you’d like.
It is in the wall safe. You are in control of one third of your dowry and have control of Painswick Park, allegedly a nice little piece of land and manor house in the Cotswolds.
Also near Coleford Abbey and Gloucester, come to think of it. ”
Georgie began to shake her head. “I don’t understand.”
He smiled and picked up her hand. “Georgie. Because of you, I will be allowed to recover the heritage my cousins squandered. The least I can do is share some of it with you.” Lifting her hand, he kissed her knuckles.
“Although if I end up being as profligate as my cousins, I may have to ask you for a loan.”
“An estate,” she said, as if the word were foreign. “It cannot be in my name. I’m a woman.”
“It is held in trust. Deevers can explain it all. He has the paperwork and is the trustee, and I am told there is an excellent steward on site. You can control it all yourself, leave it all to them, or have me handle it. Although I admit I am a neophyte at this estate business. I was rather hoping I could get advice from you.”
He’d thought she knew. He’d thought she hadn’t been that impressed. Looking at her now, he realized he had just given her the shock of her life.
“Georgie,” he murmured, lifting a hand to her cheek. “The estate is to provide you stability, no matter what. It is not meant to be another burden.”
Georgie shook her head, as if the weight of his gesture threw her off-balance. “So, if I wanted, I could turn the estate into a home for fallen women or climbing boys?”
“As long as they bathe.”
“A military camp?”
“Same rule.”
She kept her gaze on Gray’s, her eyes wide and glistening. “You mean it.”
He met her gaze without flinching. “I do. I know what a burden I am putting on your shoulders. I wanted to lighten it even if just a little. No matter what happens in the future, you will never have to rely on anyone else for your safety.”
“And the girls?”
He shook his head again, this time feeling a bit disappointed. “Your father really didn’t let you see the settlements. The girls are taken care of as well, thanks to the generosity of your dowry. You and Deevers are their guardians. And I do thank you for that. Their well-being means a lot to me.”
Georgie nodded. “Me as well.”
This time he didn’t kiss her hand, he kissed her lips.
A small kiss of companionship, a grace bestowed, a thanks.
“This old soldier thanks you, Lady Coleford. You have relieved him of his greatest worry. The rest can be managed. Especially since I don’t have to worry about charging an enemy on horseback any longer.
Whatever the cost, I will happily comply.And then I hope we can really begin to become a family. ”
It was two hours later as they stood on the dock, each holding one of the girls’ hands, that he knew exactly what the cost would be.
“Have a safe trip,” his brand-new wife said to him, then gave a very slow wink. “Because when you get home, you and I have unfinished business.”
He almost didn’t get on the ship at all.
There were times he wondered if he was really as devoted to the Crown as he thought.