Page 21 of The Lady Who Left (The Flower Sisters #4)

“ L ook at this!”

Archie startled, his reading spectacles falling off his face and crashing onto the pile of notes Jasper had gathered for him. Nathan Landon stood in his office doorway, lifting what he recognized as a court docket listing. “What is it?” Archie croaked.

“Your case. The hearing is scheduled for the tenth of August.”

His entire body seized. “The tenth? I asked for later than that!”

Nathan shrugged, then settled in the chair opposite Archie. “Be grateful it isn’t taking the normal eighteen months.”

Archie tugged on a curl that had fallen over his brow. He had petitioned for a quick hearing to settle the matter before Reggie was expected at Felton, but this meant—

“I have a month to prepare.”

“You can expect to hear from the newspapers soon. A case like this won’t go unnoticed. ”

His stomach turned. He should warn Marigold, be with her when reporters started pounding on her door. But he’d been the one who pushed her away in Rotherham; if he didn’t keep his distance, he would do something impulsive and ruin any chance of success for either of them. “The marchioness will need some measure of privacy.”

“She won’t get it.” Nathan’s words grated on Archie’s nerves. “There’s no way to escape notice on this. I hope you’ve prepared her.”

Not as thoroughly as he should have, he realized with chagrin. He’d essentially abandoned her, but the thought of going to her door, seeing those hazel eyes again and telling her what horrors awaited made his stomach churn even harder.

Archie stood, rounded his desk, and leaned out the door to see Jasper. “Please hire some security for Lady Croyden’s home, someone to accompany her if she leaves the property.”

As expected, his brows furrowed. “Doesn’t she already have staff—”

“Not sufficient. Hire more.”

“And how do you plan to pay for this added expense?”

Bloody hell . “You can subtract if from my fee.”

He left Jasper grumbling at his desk to find Nathan studying him. Archie hated to dismiss his friend, but his focus was already fraying. “Thank you for bringing the news, but I have quite a bit of preparation to do.”

“You can’t have that much left. You have the mistress’s letters,” Nathan ticked off on his fingers, “and the doctor from London. ”

That last one had been a remarkable boon. A letter had been waiting for him upon his return to York from an Austrian doctor who studied the mind, expressing his interest in meeting Marigold and examining the impact of her husband’s treatment.

But it would require Archie speaking to her.

More than a week had passed since he bade her farewell from Rotherham, and he’d been itching to see her again. Instead of taking the edge off his desire for her, their shared experience at the farm had only provided more fodder for his daydreams of Marigold.

“What other testimony are you planning?”

“Lady Croydon herself.”

“Naturally. And her son—”

“No,” Archie cut in. “Lady Croydon won’t allow it.”

“But they’re the crux of the case. The divorce is about their father’s impact on them. They are what will pull the heartstrings, attract the type of attention you need . ”

Archie rubbed his temples. Nathan may be right, but the divorce had eclipsed protecting her children. Marigold deserved her freedom, and Archie wanted to be the man to deliver it to her.

“Listen, Archie. Mr. Chapin was asking me how you were doing.”

Archie perked up. “Mr. Chapin?” His former employer knew about this case?

“There’s a lot of money to be had in divorce, if one can do it right. The partners are talking about expanding their practice, and I suggested you would be the perfect person to take the lead. ”

The air rushed from his lungs. “Me? Nathan, I’m not going back to Chapin and Baines.”

“You say that now, but think of how hard this is to do alone.” He gestured to the haphazard piles of papers, the scribbled notes tacked to the wall beside his desk, the stack of legal books Jasper had “liberated” from the Leeds Library. “Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a team to work with you, enough funding to work without wondering how you’ll pay for supper?”

Archie thought of the sardines on toast he had forced down earlier that day, and a touch of wistfulness took hold.

“It won’t be like before, Archie. We’d love to have you back.”

A vision flooded his mind, not of the prestige he’d get working at a renowned firm again, but of his mother at rest, with all the tea from Betsy’s he could drink. Of Samantha being courted by a man worthy of her, wearing whatever hat she liked. Of Eloise, her arms overloaded with new books.

Nathan pointed at his face and gave Archie a smug grin. “I see that look. You’re considering it.”

“I am.” He sat back, ran his hand over his jaw. “But I need to win the case, don’t I?”

“You do. And if I can give you a piece of advice,” he leaned forward, propped his elbows on the desk. “Leave the wife’s emotions out of it. The judge won’t like it, and neither will the partners. Tears have no place in a hearing.”

“Doesn’t she deserve to be heard?”

Nathan pulled a face. “If she insists, you must persuade her to remain calm. If she’s too wound up, the whole business appears torrid, salacious, like those ghastly gossip papers. You want attention, but not that kind.”

Archie shook his head. “It seems shortsighted.”

“Think about your future. Your family’s future.”

Damn if the man didn’t know him so well. “Understood.”

Nathan beamed. “Win this case, Archie. And there will be nothing stopping you.”