Page 49 of The Duke and Lady Scandal
Jo was always happiest in her element, surrounded by her siblings and her books and all themusical instruments she so excelled at playing. And because Lord Wellingdon was that rare sort of father who was as kind and encouraging to his daughter as to his son, he engaged Jo in the sorts of political conversations that were common at their dinner parties.
The challenge came when Lady Wellingdon was about.
Jo’s mother had taken against Allie, or more accurately against the Prince family altogether. The countess thought her father’s and brother’s exploits were “unseemly,” and the lady seemed to fear that Allie would lead Jo into a life of dangerous adventures, stubbornly ignoring the fact that Allie had never had any of her own.
Lady Wellingdon was never cruel. She steered toward the chilly edge of civility and never offered any true warmth. Still, for Allie, spending time with Jo made it all worthwhile.
“Miss Prince, I’m so pleased you could join us this evening.” Lady Wellingdon welcomed her as soon as she entered the family’s sumptuous drawing room.
“Thank you for the invitation, my lady.” Allie smiled and watched as a series of expressions played over the countess’s features while she assessed Allie’s dress.
“What a vibrant color you’ve chosen for your gown.”
“Thank you, my lady.” The raspberry-colored gown was cut well, and Allie loved all its flounces. Since she didn’t read ladies’ magazines or careparticularly about fashion, she wore what pleased her.
“Heavens, you look divine,” Jo enthused as she came up behind Allie, wearing a rich blue gown that matched her eyes.
“So do you.”
They exchanged a quick hug, and then Jo pointed a look at her mother over Allie’s shoulder. “I’m taking her to the library, Mama. I want to show her my newest bookstore acquisitions.”
Lady Wellingdon harrumphed lightly. “Don’t dally, Josephine. More guests will arrive soon, and you two mustn’t cloister yourselves among piles of books forever.”
“She has no idea she’s just described my idea of heaven,” Jo whispered as soon as they were past the drawing room threshold.
Allie tried suppressing a chuckle, but it didn’t work.
Once they were inside the Wellingdons’ impressive library, Jo slid the door shut and turned eagerly to Allie.
“Has there been any news from Inspector Drake?”
“News?” Allie’s stomach flipped, her cheeks flushed, and it took everything in her not to confess all that happened the previous night.
“Was he not looking into what you overheard? If he hasn’t, tonight you can take your concerns to the man I sent you to at the start.”
“Haverstock?”
“Indeed, Sir Felix and his daughter, Lavinia,have both been invited. You can tell me if you find her as difficult to converse with as I do.” Jo collected a book from a table near the door and came back to show it to Allie.
“Do you think if I proposed this to our bicycle club, we could convert them to a book club for the winter?” Jo handed overBicycling for Ladies,a dark blue clothbound volume with a cheerful lady bicyclist on the gilded cover. “I ordered it from America and can send for more if we choose it.”
Allie flipped through distractedly. Bicycling had given her a sense of freedom and independence when she’d sorely needed it after emerging from a childhood feeling as if her body was weak and illness-prone, but tonight she struggled to think of anything but Benedict Drake.
“It looks perfect,” she told Jo with as much of a smile as she could muster. “You have my vote, and I’m sure the others will agree.”
Jo beamed. “Excellent. I’ll put an order in for more straightaway.” She set the book aside and gestured to the shelves her father had designated for her collection. “I don’t really have any new acquisitions you haven’t heard about. I just wanted a moment to chat with you on our own. But if you see anything you’d like to borrow, you know you’re always welcome to.”
“Do you have anything on travel to Ireland?” The ideas for a trip that she’d scribbled down in her notebook that day in the coffee shop felt distant now, but she still dreamed of a journey to Ireland one day.
“Are you planning a trip?” Jo all but bounced with excitement.
“I thought perhaps a research trip for my book.”
“If you need an assistant, I’ll beg Papa until he relents.”
Allie laughed. “You’d be an excellent research assistant.”
“I’m quite serious.” Jo laced her arm around Allie’s to lead her out of the library. “Mama will be entirely focused on Olivia’s coming out next year, so I might be able to escape.”
