by Jade Lee
The message from Helaine was obvious. Coupled with her statement that this overbearing tea reminded her of him, she was sending him a well-deserved slap. After all, she had refused him. And when he thought to ignore her refusal, she turned his own butler against him.
“Clever woman,” he said as he continued to scan the pamphlet. Sadly, he did indeed recognize the attitudes described in the treatise. Other men of his set, and certainly his own father, believed the female staff existed to serve his needs—sexual and otherwise. He had not until this moment put himself in that category.
Meanwhile, Dribbs was shifting awkwardly from foot to foot, obviously nervous about his employer’s reaction. Robert barely spared him a glance.
“Never fear, Dribbs. You are not about to be punished, but do try to recall that you work for me and not Mrs. Mortimer.”
“Of course, my lord. Did you…would you still like me to call a footman for your letter?”
“No, no. I shall have to write something else now.” Then, while Dribbs was bowing himself out, Robert took his first sip of the tea, which surprised him by being rather delightful. It was bold, strong, and with a hint of something sweet underneath that kept it from being crass. In truth, it reminded him of her.
He continued to sip his tea and think of her. He also read her pamphlet from cover to cover, then, when that was done, he turned his attention back to Charlie and the difficulties at the mine. It was another hour before he realized he was stuck. And another hour beyond that before he was rescued and from a most unusual source: Gwen’s fiancé.
The boy was of a lanky build and quiet demeanor and had the rather prosaic name of Edward. His father had died of a fever some years back, so he had inherited the baronetcy as well as a parcel of domineering women in his mother and an aunt who had been a stern schoolteacher. He had a younger brother who was off at school and a sister who was growing up to resemble the mother, more’s the pity. And yet, this quiet, henpecked boy, who looked just like an Edward ought, had somehow captivated the vivacious Lady Gwen.
Exactly how he had done it was a mystery Robert wanted to solve. And given that Robert was doing nothing more than sipping cold tea and staring at correspondence that annoyed him, the sound of Edward’s voice in the hallway was a welcome distraction. When the boy requested a moment of his time, it seemed like a gift from heaven. When Dribbs opened the door, Robert bade the boy to please sit down, by God. He ordered something stronger than tea, too, though, given this tea, he wasn’t sure anything but a stiff brandy would qualify.
“Hello, hello, Edward,” Robert began with a warm smile. “What brings you here this afternoon?”
“Escaping my mother and aunt, of course,” said the boy as he dropped into the leather chair by the fire. “Must tell you how sorry I am that we rented the house next door. You’re not used to having all those women squawking about, and I’ve talked to them about making too free with your door, but they don’t listen. Not yet, at least. But if you want them barred, I’ll see to it.”
Robert took a moment to stare at the boy. Edward wasn’t fidgeting, just sitting there with an open-eyed honesty. “You’re asking me if I want to bar your mother from my doorstep a few weeks before your wedding?”
“My mother, my aunt, and my sister. Yes, my lord. And myself, too, if you wish, though I’d be sad ’bout that, you understand.”
“But you’re about to marry my sister.”
The boy grinned. “Exactly. I’m stuck with my kin, you see, but you aren’t. And I can’t see the point of upsetting my future brother-in-law just because my mother likes to poke around where she’s not wanted.”
Robert tried to think back. “Has she poked herself somewhere she wasn’t wanted?”
“Well, she did rearrange your mother’s thingy-bobs.”
Robert raised his eyebrows. “Thingy-bobs?”
“A shepherdess and her flock, I believe. In the salon.”
Oh, that. He remembered now.
“And she bought your mother perfume, too, I believe.”
Robert was busy unstopping the brandy bottle but he did manage to raise an eyebrow. “Why would I be insulted by a gift of perfume?”
“Well, she gave it to your mum by way of saying that the lady smelled and this would sweeten her up.”
Robert released a snort of amusement. “My mother does smell badly at times. So maybe she will take the hint.”
“And then she forced your mum to take a walk. All but abducted her. I doubt Mum could have done it alone, but she had my aunt and sis with her. To hear them tell it, they grabbed both of your mum’s arms and just lifted. Then didn’t stop until they were blocks away.”
Robert set the brandy down, his mouth slack with astonishment. “They forced my mother to walk with them?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“But she hasn’t been out of the house in…in three years.”
“So I was given to understand. Which was the final straw, you see. I don’t listen to half what they say, but that was too much. If your mother’s of a delicate constitution, she won’t be proof against the women of my family. They’re too much for most men, you see. And, well, I wouldn’t want to overset something you had placed in balance. But that’s what my mum does, you see. Oversets things that are in balance. Which leaves the rest of us to put everything back in order.”
“You mean you do it,” Robert said. “You put everything back in balance.”
“Well, I am the man of the household. It is my duty, and all.”
“By asking me if I want to bar your family from my door.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Robert just stared at the boy. The man wasn’t more than twenty-two years old. He hadn’t even fully grown into his adult stature yet. He was too lanky by half, too much arms and legs and ears. And he did have rather large ears. Yet here he was, talking to a future earl about balance and barring his mother and the like.
“My God, that’s how you caught her,” he breathed, shock in every syllable.
“My lord?”
“That’s how you caught Gwen. You…you balanced her.”
Edward’s mouth dropped a measure, and his face colored up to his ears. “I can’t say that I would ever manage your sister as such. That’s not at all—”
“Of course it is!” Robert cried as he set down the brandy to lean forward onto his knees. “Tell me what you did. Gwen is lively, she likes to dance, and she—forgive me, Edward—she never would have noticed you in the usual way. You don’t dress well enough, you aren’t even in London for most of the Season, and she even told me you hate dancing.”
Edward nodded his head. “Got no sense of timing. Been told that since I was a boy.”
“Well, then, what in God’s name did you do to stop my sister in her tracks?”
“Oh, she did walk right on past me, my lord. Time and time again.”
“Come on, out with it, boy. How’d you stop her?”
“I asked her to help me get a wallflower some dances. A particular friend of my sister’s, actually. Very shy gel.”
Robert leaned back in his chair. “But isn’t that a gentleman’s job?”
“Of course it is, and I had already danced with all the wallflowers. But as you said, I don’t come to town that often. I had no influence over the other men at the dances…”
“But she did. My sister knows everyone and was courted by just about everyone.”
The boy grinned. “She does and she was. Up until I spilled some lemonade on both ladies…” He paused, his ears once again coloring. “Begging your pardon, but that is exactly what I did. Splashed it everywhere, I fear, and then I…well, I convinced her to help out Debra. Find a man for the girl. But of course, she didn’t really know Debra or what kind of man she needed.”
“But you did?”
Edward shrugged. “She’s a friend of my sister’s from school. Came to stay with us one summer. Two years older than Connie but painfully shy.”
He frowned, thinking ba
ck. “Was that the wedding of a Debra Smythe to Sir Henry Barnes? Good Lord, you arranged that? Gwen talked of nothing else for months!”
Edward raised his hands in denial. “I did nothing of the sort! That was all Gwen’s doing. I just pointed out the girl.” When Robert obviously didn’t understand, Edward set down his own glass of brandy—untouched—and attempted to explain. “They’ve all got good hearts, you know. My mother and aunt, too. They just can’t see how someone would want to sit in one’s room for years on end.”
He was talking about Robert’s mother. “I don’t understand it, either, but it’s what she says she wants.”
Edward nodded. “And you and I respect that, but not them. They think that deep down she wants to go out, so they force her to whether she thinks she wants it or not.”
And maybe it was all to the good. Maybe that was exactly what his mother needed. Robert resolved to visit her later today to see if she had improved or was worsened by the interference. “But that still doesn’t tell me how it got you engaged to Gwen.”
“Gwen was bored, and Debra was terrified. All I needed to do was point out the imbalance to them both and they worked to solve it by themselves.”
Robert remembered that Season, what little of it he paid attention to. Debra was Gwen’s project. Debra seemed to be ever so grateful for the help, and eventually true love blossomed for Miss Smythe. “But how does that win you Gwen?”
“Well, once she was in balance, her good sense was restored. And there I was, being the humble progenitor of her success. So long as I didn’t interfere in whatever she was doing, she and I got along famously.”
“Famously,” Robert echoed. “That’s not what I remember.” Actually the courtship had been rather tempestuous, but no one had expected anything less from Gwen. In fact, Robert had sometimes wondered if all of his mother’s spirit had been poured into Gwen at an early age.
“Well,” Edward said as he ducked his head to take a sip of his brandy, “you asked how I got her attention. Not how I kept it.”
But Robert already knew the answer to that. Edward was an extraordinarily levelheaded young man. And that was exactly what Gwen needed. “All you did was point out a problem.”
“And step back out of the way. That’s most important.”
“Yes, with Gwen that certainly would be.” And could that, perhaps, be the solution to not one but two of his own problems? After all, what he needed was an innovative business approach to satisfy the miners and still allow the mine to be profitable. Sadly, he was fresh out of ideas, as were all of his usual confidants. There was only one other person he could think of who had already demonstrated an ability to think of different solutions and had the boldness to see them through.
Helaine, of course. After all, she was the one who’d made the unheard-of request for him to pay in advance of service. She was also the one to suggest that Gwen—an unwed girl—be allowed to make her own decisions regarding her funds. Could it be as simple as pointing Helaine at a problem and seeing if she had a solution? He had nothing to lose, especially as he had already exhausted all his other choices. Even if she had no new ideas, he would still count it a success if it got him deeper into her confidence.
“Point them at a problem,” he said.
“And then step out of the way,” said Edward.
“Well, of course,” said Robert, not really listening. He was thinking instead of exactly what he would do once he got deep into Helaine’s confidence. Of all the things he could do to her. And that she would do to him. “I’m not really the interfering sort.”
“Er, that’s not exactly how Gwen describes you.”
“What?” Edward started to respond, but Robert waved him to silence. He didn’t really want to hear what Gwen thought of him. “Look, I won’t bar the door to your relations. To my mind, I’ve been spectacularly unable to help my mum, so if your mum can do what I can’t, then I shan’t interfere. But I do have one request.”
“Name it.”
“Have Gwen bring all the women here to get their dresses made. She can set up the dressmaker in one of the upstairs rooms. We’ve got women up to the rafters. Don’t see why we can’t have them all involved in the project. And if it gets my mum bathed and out of her bedroom, then all the better.”
Edward frowned, obviously stunned. “You cannot wish to have all those women running around your home.”
Robert grinned because he didn’t much care about all the women. Just one. One beautiful dressmaker who would sleep a staircase away. “Nonsense,” he said. “I’ll just hole up in here or at my club. Won’t make a bit of difference to me.”
So it was done. Between that and asking for Helaine’s advice, she was sure to tumble into his arms inside a week.
Chapter 10
“I am offering my home to you, and you’re trying to blackmail me?” Helaine could hardly credit the cheek. And yet, looking at the pale, gaunt Penny, she knew only desperation had forced the girl to do this. Desperation and a child. But that didn’t make it acceptable. Or something that Helaine could simply forgive.
“No, no!” Penny gasped, obviously horrified. “I just want you to listen! I just…I want a chance and no one will give it to me.”
“Little wonder, if you’ve been trying to blackmail—”
“Please!” Penny was visibly trembling. Enough that little Tommy looked up from inspecting a beetle to stare at his sister. A moment later he was crawling back. “Just listen. For a moment.”
Helaine sighed. She remembered being this desperate once. She had a mother to feed, not a babe, but it amounted to the same thing. “What do you want?” she asked, her tone softening against her will.
“I know how to make shoes,” she said. “I’ve been working with my father for years. His hands didn’t work so well sometimes, and I always did for him when he couldn’t.”
Helaine frowned, wondering where this was going. “Then you should get an apprenticeship with one of the other shoemakers. I’m sure—”
“I tried. They won’t talk to me. There are boys aplenty and no one thinks shoes made by a girl will be sturdy enough.”
“But you’re skilled. Your father was an artist.”
Penny nodded. “They say that was my father; no one wants me.” She blinked back the tears that Helaine knew were equal parts humiliation and desperation. But she had to be honest. Some of the work of being a cobbler was taxing. There was strength involved. Would she be inclined to buy a pair of boots if she knew they were made by a woman? Probably not. She’d be too afraid the shoes would fall apart. It didn’t make sense, but her own prejudice made her understand Penny’s problem.
“What about ladies’ slippers?” Helaine asked. “Certainly you could do that.”
“But the boys do it. The ones who don’t have the strength. I could have worked with my father for years and no one would know the difference. I was doing his work. But now…” Her voice trailed away on a sob. She didn’t have to finish because Helaine knew what she was saying. Now no one would hire her. Now she was a girl alone trying to support a baby.
“But what can I do about it?”
“You have a dress shop where ladies come to buy clothing.”
Helaine nodded. “Yes, that’s what…” It took her less than a moment to understand. “You think to sell shoes there. To women.”
“No one need know and even if they did find out eventually, I would be a woman selling to women. Dancing shoes and the like.” Penny picked up Tommy with more strength and animation than Helaine had seen from her all afternoon. “Think what you could sell when the slippers are made of the same material and color to match the dress.”
“But ladies already do that.”
“But they go to different shops, different people. You could promise them excellent shoes without ever leaving your store. They would not have to walk in bad weather. I could fit them right there.”
“But then they would know you are a woman.”
Penny shook her head.
“I would merely be helping someone else. I would be taking the sizes for the shoemaker. We shall make up a name.” She lifted up the boy. “We will say it is Tommy’s father.”
Helaine hesitated. “The shoes would have to be of the finest quality. It is my reputation at stake here. If the shoes fall apart, then no one will come back to my store.”
“But they won’t. I swear it!” She stepped forward. “Please, Lady…Mrs. Mortimer. You know what it is like to be alone and starving. This is what I know how to do. And I am very good at it. I have all my father’s tools. Please, please, help me.”
Helaine didn’t like the way the girl had gone about asking, and she certainly didn’t like the idea of bringing on yet another two mouths to feed. Yet she couldn’t deny the business possibility. If Penny really was as good as her father, then this was a boon she couldn’t pass up. But if the slippers fell apart or looked horrible, then it could damage her reputation at a critical time.
“Penny, I will have to think about it. And I will need to see you make a pair of shoes. I must know if you can do the work.”
“Of course, of course. And I swear I shall never tell anyone about your past. I swear it, Mrs. Mortimer. I just needed you to listen.”
She needed a great deal more than a willing ear, but Helaine was apparently in a generous mood today. With a twist of her wrist, she indicated that it was time to keep walking. They didn’t speak the rest of the way to the shop. Helaine was too busy wondering at herself. She was not in a position to expand the shop. And yet here she was, taking in a girl and her baby without anything beyond a prayer.
“I make no promises,” she said sternly as they made it to the shop. “I have a partner who must agree. And if your work is terrible—”