Page 8 of Her Honorable Viscount (Noble Pursuits #3)

CHAPTER 8

“ L ord Mandrake, how lovely to see you.” Lady Carroway practically preened at him before her glance flicked over to Dot, her expression changing to one of disdain.

“Lady Dot. I assume you received my note?”

Edward was shocked by the aversion that covered Dot’s face as she stared at the woman in front of them, who was smirking back at her with an equal look of distaste. He wasn’t sure what had caused a rift between the women, but it was a wide, jagged hole.

“I did not appreciate you threatening my brother,” Dot said through gritted teeth.

Lady Carroway glanced at Edward, her hand fanning over her chest.

“Oh, I would never,” she said in a breathy voice that he was sure was for his benefit. “I was simply providing you an idea of what your future could look like.”

She looked from Dot to Lord Mandrake and back again. “Does Lord Mandrake know about your little secret? Or should I explain it to him?”

Lady Carroway’s threats caused a surge of protectiveness to rise within Edward – as though Dot was his to care for.

“Lady Carroway,” he said with all the authority he possessed. “This conversation is not currently fitting of a lady. If you insist on threatening Lady Dot, then we will continue on our way. Please leave her be.”

Lady Carroway laughed as though he had said something comical. “Oh, Lord Mandrake, you have no idea what this woman has involved herself in. I will continue, but this will not be the last of this conversation. Perhaps we will take it up again, Lady Dot, when you are without your protector. Good day!”

With a wave of the fingers of one hand, the other on her hip, she sauntered away, clearly quite pleased with herself.

Dot stepped forward, but Edward reached out and wrapped a hand around her hip, holding her in place.

He tried to deny just how much he liked touching her, especially in such an intimate way.

“Would you care to tell me what that was about?”

“No.”

“Lady Dot.” He took a breath. “I know my need to solve everything might be bothersome to you, but at this moment, it would very likely be to your benefit.”

“Very well,” she said, releasing a sigh, the two of them standing together on the pavement. He moved her backward, out of the way of the traffic of people and horses and carriages moving up and down one of Mayfair’s busiest streets. She met his eyes, and the trust within them floored him. “Lady Carroway discovered my secret.”

Oh, bollocks.

She proceeded to tell him about being called from Magda’s to see to a difficult birth, following the footman, and helping the young maid at Lady Carroway’s house. Then she told him of Lady Carroway’s discovery of the girl and her own identity.

“She gave notice to all of the servants involved and told me I would be hearing from her. I received a note from her this morning.”

When she told him of the note’s contents, he sighed, wiping a hand over his face.

“I know that you do not agree with my brother, but that is not the point of this,” Dot insisted, misunderstanding his thoughts. “Politics should be politics. They should not be played upon through games or blackmail.”

“I agree with you on that,” he said. “Whether or not I agree with your brother does not particularly matter. What matters is that your brother has taken great risk to bring this forward. I respect him for that. As you said, it should be dealt with properly through the proper channels. What Lady Carroway is doing to you is not right for multiple reasons.”

“Yes,” Dot agreed. “But what this has further highlighted for me is the plight that many young women find themselves in. My reputation will likely be ruined. So be it. What about Lucy? What will she do with her life? Adelaide will be fine because you intervened, but otherwise, what would have happened to her and her baby? There are so many situations like this throughout London. My job is to see to the birth and not worry about anything beyond that, but it is becoming harder and harder to turn my eyes away from it all.”

Edward appreciated her passion, and he immediately began to contemplate how he could help her to help the women she cared so much about.

“Most women would have to give up the child to return to work,” he said, looking at the situation logically first. “The child would go to an orphanage. Or the woman would resort to any work she could find to provide for the child. There are charitable organizations. You could contribute to one.”

“I have no money of my own to do so.”

“I could donate on your behalf.”

She looked up at him, her blue eyes wide and uncertain. “You would? Even if… even if you and I are not anything to one another?”

His heart tripped slightly, and he realized that while he had considered Dot to make a perfect wife in a practical sense, somehow along the way his emotions, which he had always tried so hard to ignore, had become wrapped up in this as well.

He swallowed. “We could be something to one another,” he said, caught by the glimmer of hope in her eyes. “We are friends, are we not?”

She looked down and away from him.

“Yes, Lord Mandrake,” she said, returning her gaze to him with a smile, although he caught a hint of sadness within it. “We can most certainly be friends. You are a good man.”

“I do not know if one could say that,” he said with a shrug, “but I try to do what I feel is right.”

“I know you do not understand why I do what I do,” she said quietly. “But it brings me great joy. As much joy as your work does.”

His work was a necessity. He could understand pastimes that brought joy, but he couldn’t understand giving up what would have been her life – marriage, children, the role she was supposed to play – to do something that another woman, one from a different station could have done.

But he wasn’t going to say that to her. It would only cause her to be even less understanding of his opinion.

“Now, what are we going to do about Lady Carroway?”

“We?” She looked up at him in surprise.

“Yes,” he said, turning to continue on, holding his elbow out to her. Warmth flooded through him when she took it, and they began walking together again, although their pace was slow, each of them wanting to extend this time. “I cannot leave you to face her alone. Her treatment of you is a great injustice.”

“I appreciate that, Lord Mandrake, I do, but you have enough to be concerned with. I can handle this.”

“Have you told your brother?”

“No. I would not want him to consider changing anything he has done because of me.”

“He knows about your role as a midwife?”

“He does. My family knows, although none are particularly pleased about it.”

“I see,” he said, silently agreeing with them, but to say so would not put him in a good light with her.

How could she have put so much at risk? He didn’t mean to judge her, yet he couldn’t understand her motivations.

She pushed her shoulders back firmly and looked at him before speaking as though she could read his mind. “You told me you are driven to fix the problems for people in your life, correct? This is the same for me. This is what motivates me. I need a reason to get up in the morning besides visiting other ladies and trying to find a husband.”

She could have already found one if she had just said yes to him and agreed to give up this madness. He could provide her more than one reason to get up in the morning. To spend her day taking care of his house and raising his children. That, however, did not seem to be a priority for her.

This caused sadness to spread from his heart, for the more time he spent with Dot, the more he enjoyed her company. Her motivations were admirable. Helping others the way she chose to do it was not something that most people would aspire to do, and the fact that her drive was to assist others instead of herself was more than most would ever do.

He wanted to contrive ways to spend more time with her, even if he knew their relationship would never come to anything more than friendship.

“I will find a way to answer Lady Carroway’s demands without involving your brother.”

“How?” She looked at him with astonishment, although hope shone in her eyes, hope that caused his heart to leap in turn.

“I am not sure yet. It might take some time to determine how to do so, but I promise I will.”

She stepped in front of him, her toes against his as she faced him, her eyes searching his face. He knew that this was not exactly an appropriate space between them, not while standing here in the middle of the street where anyone could see them, but at the moment, he didn’t care.

Having Lady Dot close to him was more important.

Her brow furrowed. “Why help me?”

“Why?”

“Why would you do this for me? We have established that we are nothing more than… friends. And yet you would still go to great lengths, even risk your reputation, to help me with a problem caused by me doing something you don’t even agree with. Why?”

He paused before answering. It was a good question – one that he was not certain of the answer to. But as he saw her standing before him, he knew why. Even if he could only admit part of it to her.

“Because you are a good person. Even if I question your decision to continue your work, you should not be punished for following your heart and being your true self. That Lady Carroway would use this to hurt you is wrong, and I cannot stand idly by and allow it to happen.”

She stared at him for a moment as though trying to assess the validity of his words before she nodded. “Thank you,” she said softly, her gaze dropping as she returned to his side and they began walking once more.

“What happened to the servant girl?” he asked.

“Lucy?”

“Yes.”

“She is staying with the housekeeper’s sister for now,” Lady Dot sighed. “However, neither Lucy nor Mrs. Adams have a place of work or anywhere to live, so I am uncertain what will happen to them.”

“Who is the baby’s father?” he asked.

“Lucy wouldn’t say,” Lady Dot shook her head. “However…”

She bit her lip, uneasiness crossing her face.

“However?”

“I had the sense that it was someone who would prefer secrecy.”

Edward swore under his breath, knowing immediately to what – or to whom – she could be referring.

“Do you know where to find her?”

“No,” Lady Dot shook her head. “I suppose I could ask one of the other servants if they might know.”

“If you can contact them, please ask Mrs. Adams to come see my housekeeper. I cannot offer her the same position, but I could provide them with work and a place to live. It is not ideal, but Lucy could stay with her baby for a time before returning to duties.”

“You would do that?” Lady Dot said, astonished. They had stopped, and she looked to her side as though just realizing they had arrived at her house.

“I likely do not have enough work for them, but they could stay with me long enough that I could provide a valid reference for them to find another placement later on. I am uncertain about the child, but we will find a way forward. This will give them some time.”

“Oh, Lord Mandrake,” she said, facing him and covering her mouth with her hand. “Thank you so much.”

Then she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around him, and pulled him close.