Chapter 13 #2
Nodding, Mrs. Lacey contemplated the image of her daughter with a sad smile.
“Clarissa was a wonderful young woman, so kind and caring. She was very accomplished at the pianoforte and a wonderful singer. Our daughter was also an excellent watercolorist. That is one of her works over there.” She gestured to the opposite wall at a painting of what appeared to be Hyde Park.
Ellis admired the watercolor. “It’s lovely. She sounds very talented.”
“There was almost nothing she couldn’t learn to do,” Mrs. Lacey said with pride. “All her tutors raved about her talent. She was so eager to try things—and to master them,” Mrs. Lacey added with a chuckle.
“Did she also enjoy reading, like Margot?” Ellis asked.
“Yes, though not as much. Clarissa preferred to share her talents, which was why she was so gifted with music and painting.”
Ellis sensed Mrs. Lacey’s lingering sadness and imagined she would always feel that way. “It must be terribly difficult to lose a child. I’m so sorry.”
“It is,” Mrs. Lacey agreed. “But we carry on. And we have Margot.” Her gaze moved to her surviving daughter, and again she smiled, but with more warmth this time.
The butler entered and announced that it was time for dinner. Roman quickly moved to offer Ellis his arm so Mr. Pritchard could escort Margot. She sent Roman a look of gratitude.
Dinner passed pleasantly, with Margot and Mr. Pritchard doing very well with their roles as brand-new acquaintances. Indeed, Ellis had the impression they were enjoying pretending not to know one another.
Still, there were several moments when Ellis had to quash a smile or a chuckle as she caught them stealing looks at one another. They would have to announce their desire to court soon, because if the Laceys were astute at all, they would notice the two of them had already formed a tendre.
Aware of Roman seated beside her, Ellis wondered if anyone deduced the connection between them. Hopefully not. She worked very hard not to pay too much attention to him when they were around other people.
It was difficult, for she was incredibly drawn to him. Whenever he was near, her body hummed with delight and want. And she was just happy to be in his presence. She enjoyed working and conversing with him.
After seeing Clarissa’s portrait and speaking to Mrs. Lacey about her, Ellis wanted to question him about his marriage.
However, she sensed there were things about Clarissa that he didn’t wish to discuss, which meant Ellis shouldn’t speak to him at all about her.
They’d agreed to keep their secrets secret, but she began to wonder if she didn’t want to share her secrets with him.
He wouldn’t think less of her if he learned she was illegitimate, would he? Since she couldn’t answer that definitively, she decided she wasn’t yet ready to tell him.
She glanced toward him again and saw that he was watching her. His gaze held a hungry glint, despite the fact they’d just finished the final course. She narrowed her eyes at him slightly, trying to communicate that he needed to stop looking at her as if she were a cake in need of being devoured.
Roman picked up his wineglass and gestured toward her in a subtle toast. She shook her head almost imperceptibly. He was incorrigible.
And she didn’t want him any other way.
The following afternoon, they—Roman, Ellis, all three Laceys, Mr. Inman, and Mr. Pritchard—met at the Lacey and Company subscription library on New Bond Street. They gathered in Mr. Inman’s office and discussed Mr. Pritchard’s new role as well as his transition from Oxford to London.
They needed to find a suitable replacement for Pritchard at the Oxford branch, and though Roman had a few people in mind, he had not yet decided.
In fact, he wanted to travel to a few of their other branches to interview potential replacements.
After London, Oxford was perhaps their largest branch, and he preferred to promote another of their librarians currently working at a smaller branch.
They’d taken a break so that Inman could show Pritchard the library, and Harriet wanted to make tea.
Margot had joined them on her way to speak with one of the clerks about a new title from Lacey and Company that was not being borrowed as much as she’d anticipated.
She was hoping to gain some insight into what they could do to encourage readers to read it.
Josiah had remained in order to review some papers Inman had in his office. He was engrossed in his task several feet away from where Roman and Ellis sat, their chairs next to one another.
Ellis leaned toward him and spoke softly. “Which libraries do you plan to travel to?”
Roman leaned in her direction as well. “Hoping to come with me?” he whispered.
“I actually would be interested in visiting another branch. In fact, I find the position of librarian to be intriguing.” She glanced at Josiah.
“I wonder if Lacey and Company would ever hire a woman to be a librarian. It seems a reasonable occupation that I could actually do as a woman without raising too many eyebrows.”
He gave her a rueful smile. “That is true. Given that Josiah has no issue with you as my secretary and indeed believes you are quite brilliant, I would say the chances of Lacey and Company hiring a female librarian, namely you, are great.” Roman didn’t want her to leave London.
But she was just musing or perhaps flirting.
Or both. “Perhaps you should come with me,” he suggested.
She cocked her head. “Why don’t you have a branch in Bath?”
“We have been interested in opening one there, but we’ve yet to find an acceptable location. Perhaps I will add Bath to my travels and search again. I believe we’re ready for an expansion soon.”
“Keele,” Josiah called from across the room. “I’ve found some paperwork that I believe your former secretary left here at the library. Inman set it aside for me to review today. This is his handwriting, isn’t it?” He held up a piece of parchment with a rather uneven scrawl.
Roman grimaced. “Yes, that’s his abominable handwriting. His samples before I hired him were so much neater.” He looked over at Ellis, who’d heard many things about Roman’s former secretary, including the fact that he’d overrepresented his skills.
“I’m so pleased you found Mrs. Ellis,” Josiah said with a shake of his head. “The last one was incredibly inept.”
Roman noted Ellis’s quiet pride. He was very glad he’d hired her—for so many reasons.
Harriet returned with the tea tray along with Mr. Inman. “Who would like tea?”
“I would,” Inman replied with a smile. “Thank you, Mrs. Lacey.”
Ellis leaned toward Roman. “Where are Margot and Mr. Pritchard?”
“Hopefully right behind Inman,” Roman said. He hoped they hadn’t done anything foolish.
“Here’s a file marked Oxford,” Josiah said. “I suppose I should have a look at this since Pritchard is here.” He pulled out a piece of paper, his brow creasing. “What’s this? ‘My dearest Margot—’” He stopped reading abruptly.
Roman tensed. He cast a sideways glance toward Ellis, and their eyes met.
She appeared to be just as concerned. They returned their attention to Josiah, whose face was turning a rather mottled red.
Roman could count the number of times he’d seen the man angry, and it certainly seemed as though this was one of them.
Josiah looked about the room and stood, clutching the single piece of parchment whilst the folder fell to the floor. “Where is Margot, and where is Pritchard?”
“What’s wrong, dear?” Harriet asked with alarm.
“This bloody letter is wrong!”
Harriet’s hand fluttered to her chest. “What is it?”
Josiah thrust the parchment at her. “Read for yourself.”
Roman jumped to his feet. Ellis followed, setting her notebook down in her chair.
“We’ll go find them,” Roman offered, although he feared it was too late to save them from exposure. How had a letter to Margot, presumably from Pritchard, found its way into a file? Clearly, his idiot former secretary had misfiled it, and now Margot would pay the price.
Harriet’s gasp filled the room as she clapped her hand to her mouth. She handed the letter back to her husband, her face pale. “You must find them.”
“I’ll just step out and see if I can locate them,” Inman said, his face flushed. He undoubtedly wanted to be anywhere other than his office right now.
A search mission wasn’t needed, however, for Inman passed Margot on his way out.
She sailed into the office, her features bright and happy, her eyes full of unmistakable ardor.
Indeed, her lips were dark pink and slightly puffy, as if she’d been kissing.
She glanced about the room and quickly ascertained that something was wrong.
Her joyful expression faded, and wariness darkened her gaze.
Josiah handed the letter to his daughter. “Explain this. Where is Pritchard?”
Margot looked down at the parchment, then inhaled sharply. “Papa, I can explain—”
“I’m sure you bloody well can, but your behavior is inappropriate at best, and thoroughly ruinous at worst. I can see from the date on this letter that you and Pritchard have been carrying on for months!”
“It’s not like that, Papa. We’ve only met in person once before.”
“You’ve met before?” Harriet asked, aghast.
Margot snapped her attention to her mother. “Just once, Mama, but we’ve been writing to one another for nearly a year. I had written to him about a library matter, and, well, we began corresponding. We have much in common, and we fell in love.”
“That can’t be,” Josiah said angrily.
Roman stepped forward with a soothing smile. “Let’s take a moment. I’m sure you can understand that neither Margot nor Pritchard expected this to happen.”
“But they’ve met before now, and they’ve lied to us,” Harriet said.
Josiah fixed his furious gaze on Roman. “Did you know about this?”
Roman froze.
“Yes, Papa, he knew,” Margot said. “I told him because I didn’t want to marry him. I explained I was already in love with Oliver.”