Page 29 of Affair

The thought stopped Charlotte cold. Was she actually considering the possibility of having an affair with Baxter St. Ives?

She looked at the strange design that Drusilla Heskett had drawn in the watercolor sketchbook. The pattern was an enigma. Not unlike her feelings for Baxter.

Five

“A lady in your position cannot be too careful, Miss Patterson.” Charlotte smiled at the woman seated across from her. She had a theory that it was good business to compliment a client’s foresight and caution. “You were wise to verify the impression Mr. Adams made.”

“I told myself I must be careful.”

“Indeed. But I am happy to inform you that our inquiries produced no reason to doubt either Mr. Adams’s credibility or the security of his financial situation.”

“I do not mind telling you that I am enormously relieved to hear that. I do not know how to thank you.” Honoria Patterson, a pleasantly rounded woman with a pretty face and warm eyes, visibly relaxed her fierce grip on the reticule that rested on her lap.

There was an air of sweet, soft femininity, almost a maternal quality about Honoria, which made her appear a trifle fragile. Charlotte was not deceived. She knew full well that any woman who had kept her spirits strong and optimistic after nearly ten years as a governess was no delicate flower.

Honoria was typical of many of the clients whom Charlotte assisted. She was nearing thirty and had never been married. After struggling to support herself since the age of seventeen, she had come into a small, respectable, and completely unexpected inheritance.

Predictably, a handful of suitors had materialized in the wake of the news of Honoria’s good fortune. She had dismissed most of them without hesitation. A governess learned early to be wary of a gentleman’s intentions. But one, William Adams, a widower in his early thirties with two children, had captivated her interest and, apparently, her heart.

As she had explained to Charlotte, the years she had spent instilling the principles of logic and sound reasoning into her young charges had given her a measure of hard-won wisdom and a healthy sense of caution. A friend who operated an agency for governesses had referred her to Charlotte.

“I’m delighted to have been of service,” Charlotte said. “Especially so in a case such as this where the results of our inquiries are positive.”

“I am so very fond of Mr. Adams.” Honoria blushed. “And the children are delightful. But you know how it is. Ladies of our advanced years must question a man’s intentions. After all, the world considers us well and truly on the shelf.”

On the shelf.

Charlotte sighed. She was already twenty-five. Where had the time gone? she wondered. It seemed only yesterday that she had been desperate to create a career that would allow her to support herself and her sister. She had devoted all of her energy and passion to the task and somehow five years had gone by in the blink of an eye.

She did not regret having passed beyond what Society considered a marriageable age for a lady. Business had improved noticeably, in fact, after she began to look as though she were no longer fresh out of the schoolroom. But she could not help wondering now just what she had missed never having known the thrill of passion.

The sense of wistfulness startled her. She was not lonely. She took great satisfaction in her work. She had her independence. What more could she truly want? Perhaps she had, indeed, been reading too much poetry lately, she thought.

Nevertheless, she did not want Ariel to follow precisely the same path. The business was important and Ariel was keenly interested in it. But Charlotte did not want her sister to sacrifice everything to it, as she had done. There was no longer such a pressing need. They had sufficient income to keep them in comfortable, if not luxurious, circumstances. If her plans to attract clients from the Polite World proved successful, a bit of luxury would even be possible.

She would give a great deal to ensure that Ariel had an opportunity to experience some of the innocent pleasures of young womanhood. Such pleasures should have been part of her inheritance. Those advanced years that Honoria had mentioned came all too quickly.

With the ease of long habit, Charlotte pushed aside the intrusive thoughts. She forced herself to concentrate on her client.

“A sensible, intelligent woman must be cautious in a situation such as this, Miss Patterson,” she said briskly.

“After all, it is not as though I am a beauty,” Honoria said in the practical tone of a woman who has long since accepted the facts of life.

Nor am I, Charlotte thought with a fresh twinge of unease. Last night Baxter’s passion had clearly been induced by the excitement they had shared. She had to be prepared for the possibility that he would no longer find her so alluring now that the stimulating effects of danger had dissipated.

“And what with this recent inheritance from my cousin,” Honoria continued, “well, I’m sure you comprehend why I felt the need to make inquiries into Mr. Adams’s background.”

“I understand.”

“I never expected to marry. Indeed, I had convinced myself that I was quite content with my life now that I am financially independent. But Mr. Adams came along and suddenly I saw other possibilities. We share a great many interests.”

“I’m delighted for you.”

This was not the first time that one of Charlotte’s clients had become excessively talkative after receiving good news. Initially, the ladies who sought out her services tended to be tight-lipped and extremely reticent. They were invariably stiff with tension when they first sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk. Teacups rattled against saucers. Gloved hands fluttered anxiously. Expressions were solemn.

When the news was bad, tears usually flowed. Charlotte kept a pile of linen handkerchiefs in one of her desk drawers for such unhappy occasions.

A favorable report, however, frequently induced a mild euphoria. It made some clients want to chatter endlessly about the recently verified virtues of their suitors.

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