Chapter Eight #2
“Henry!” squealed Lady Elinor, dashing over to embrace her brother and then Mr. Rochester. “Come, we are having tea with Lady Justina. I shall ring for more teacups.”
“No need,” Lord Marbury said. “They are being sent up as we speak. I could do with a spot of tea to warm me. This is turning out to be a brisk October.” He smiled at Justina. “My lady, it is very good to see you again.”
She had risen and now curtseyed to him. “The same, my lord. Mr. Rochester.”
David had joined his friend. “Yes, my lady. This is a most pleasant surprise.”
“Come and sit,” insisted Lady Elinor. “We have an apple cake. Some macaroons. Sandwiches of ham and roast beef. I shall make both of you a plate.”
New teacups were brought, and she asked, “Was your book-buying successful, Mr. Rochester?”
“Very much so, my lady,” he replied, giving her a smile that made her skin grow hot.
He described meeting with a few booksellers in town and mentioned ways they organized their books into various categories. She and Lady Elinor began offering ideas for how the bookshop might be decorated.
“That is not an area I am comfortable with,” he admitted. “I may need the two of you to help.”
“You should have a few areas where patrons might come to read,” Justina told him.
“Some might wish to read a bit of a book before purchasing it. And those who come for your lending library might like a quiet place to curl up with their book. If they do not care for it after reading a chapter or two, they could always put it back on the shelf and find something more to their taste.”
“I do like the idea of scattering some furniture about,” Lord Marbury commented. “If you provide a friendly environment, people will want to visit again and again. You are onto something, Lady Justina.”
“Thank you, my lord.” She smiled at him and then glanced at David.
Who looked . . . jealous?
That secretly pleased her.
“Tell them of your inventorying Papa’s books,” Lord Marbury encouraged.
“We could not find a list of the books you owned in your library, Your Grace, so I created one for you.” He smiled shyly. “That is, I left a list on the desktop in your study of the books I left behind.”
“I hope you took your fair share, David,” the duke said.
“Oh, Henry encouraged me to do that very thing. Frankly, what your family has gifted to me will become the backbone of both what I sell and what volumes rest in the lending library portion of the bookshop. I also made a list of those books taken from your personal library in town. If you would like, you may read through it. If you see anything you do not wish to part with, I am happy to return it to you.”
“Nonsense,” His Grace said. “What is yours now will remain yours. At least until you see or loan it.”
The two men explained how the duke’s books were being brought by wagon to Kidsgrove. David had also purchased a good number of books from a few booksellers in town, and he would be ordering more directly from the publishers.
“I spoke to a good number of people in each bookshop I visited. I believe I have a clear idea of the most popular authors and whose writing readers wish to purchase. I also thought to purchase multiple copies of various travel guides to the Lake District. You never know. I might have some visitors to the area, and they would find those guidebooks helpful.”
“Oh, did you bring any copies of Mr. Wordsworth’s guidebook?” Justina asked. “I know of it but have yet to read it.”
David laughed affably. “Yes. I bought a dozen copies. If it moves as well as I think it will, I will probably need to order more soon. I have a feeling it will not be merely visitors who seek to purchase a copy. I believe residents here in the Lake District might like to have a volume in their own homes. Pride runs deep through Cumberland, and people are delighted that Wordsworth lives among us.”
“I agree,” she said. “I have lived my entire life here. After visiting other counties in England, there is no place else I would rather live than here in the Lake District.”
“Might I steal you away to discuss business, Henry?” the duke asked. “I do not wish to bore the others with it. Would you excuse us, Lady Justina?”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
A knock sounded at the drawing room doors, and then a woman in her late thirties or early forties entered. She crossed the room.
“I am here to call you to your French lesson, Lady Elinor.”
Justina supposed this was the finishing governess.
“But I have company, Miss Smythe. I assumed we could put off our lesson until tomorrow.”
The duke chuckled. “And I knew you would do so. I am the one who asked Miss Smythe to come and collect you. Go along with your governess, my dear. She tells me you need to work on your irregular verbs.”
Lady Elinor stood, looking a bit dismayed. “Thank you for coming to tea, Lady Justina. I hope to see you again soon. Au revoir.”
She left the room with her governess, and Justina also rose. “There is no need to leave the drawing room, Your Grace. Tea is at an end. I will return now to Traywick Manor.”
Lord Marbury frowned. “I did not see your coach outside when we arrived.”
“My brother had business in Keswick, my lord. His Grace was kind enough to send a carriage for me. It is to take me home now.”
“Allow me to escort you there, my lady,” David said. “I also have other news to share with you. About your paintings.”
“Oh! Yes, of course, Mr. Rochester. I would be happy for you to accompany me. I am most eager to hear what you have to tell me.”
He looked to the others. “I will return Lady Justina to her home and then return. Is my cottage ready for me to occupy, Your Grace?”
“Yes,” the duke said. “But humor me. Wait until tomorrow to move in, David. Have dinner with us this evening.”
“Certainly, Your Grace.”
David offered her his arm, and they went downstairs, where he asked the butler to have the carriage brought around for them.
“It is waiting outside now for Lady Justina, Mr. Rochester.” The butler then handed over a set of keys. “Your cottage is ready for you to occupy. If I may say so, the staff and I will miss you, sir.”
Justina was thrilled that she would now have some time alone with this man—and was also eager to hear the news about her art.