Page 49 of A Rake's Redemption
“You should not worry about that. Servants are hired to see to their employer’s needs.”
“Aye, but I am nae their employer.”
“Perhaps not.” Caroline tilted her head slightly. “Alexander wants to pass you off as an aristocrat, though. You need to remember that.”
“I… What is today’s lesson?” Inis asked, changing the subject as Alex came into the room. She didn’t want to discuss servitude in front of him.
“Reading,” Caroline said, pulling a primer out of the satchel she carried. “We thought it might be good for you to have a basic recognition of words likely to be on a dinner menu.”
“Dinner menu?” Inis asked, fixing a puzzled look on her face.
“Yes.” Alex propped himself on the edge of the bed, legs extended and ankles crossed. “At large, formal dinners with seven or eight courses, guests aren’t expected to eat everything offered. The hostess will place a handwritten card by each plate, listing the selections for each course.”
“You choose what you would like and tell the waiter,” Caroline said, “which is why you need to be able to recognize what the words are.”
“Do not worry, though,” Alex said. “I will sit next to you at a dinner and offer assistance if you forget.”
Caroline arched an eyebrow. “Are you not forgetting the hostess is in charge of the seating arrangements?”
Alex smiled. “Areyouforgetting my expertise in winning at cards? I have observed enough sleight of hand to be able to switch place cards discreetly.”
“An expected quality in a rake,” Caroline said with a shake of her head and then turned to Inis. “Let us get started, shall we? Just in case Lord Ashley’s attempt is thwarted.”
Inis wanted to tell both of them she knew how to read and write. She was beginning to feel guilty over keeping up the deceit, but she really had no choice. Alex might not send her back to Ireland if he found out who she was, but he would most certainly let her uncle know she was safe, which would amount to the same thing. She’d dealt herself the hand she held when she’d agreed to this scheme. Now she would have to play the cards without Alex’s expertise of sleight of hand.
…
Alex walked Caroline out to her carriage after the lesson concluded. “Inis seems to be a quick study with written words.”
“Perhaps because she could make the association between the pictures and the words,” Caroline said as she folded her pelisse over the umbrella she didn’t need. “The primer I brought was the one used on me when my first governess took over from my nanny at age seven.”
Alex grinned. “Every seven-year-old girl should know how to navigate a formal dinner menu.”
“My father did not see any reason to delay my training.” Caroline shrugged. “I was always told I needed to learn proper protocol since I was expected to marry well.”
Alex’s grin faded. “Good Lord, you were told that when you were only seven?”
“Never too young to start preparations for the Marriage Mart,” Caroline replied with a hint of sarcasm. “My father made it clear, especially after my mother died, that he had great expectations for me.”
“I never thought about it that way since I was the younger son who would not inherit the title.”
“Ummm.” For a moment, Caroline looked bitter. “Sometimes I wish you were the older one.”
“Why? I’ve never resented George being the firstborn.”
“Amelia would not have set her sights on him if he did not have the title of duke.” Caroline hesitated. “She would have married you.”
Alex stopped, one hand on the carriage door he had been about to open for Caroline. “But not because she cared about me.”
“Amelia is only concerned about status and wealth. Maybe it’s notallher fault. It’s what’s been pounded into our heads for years. While we are trained to be proper wives, our fathers are assessing pedigrees of eligible men to decide on the most beneficial match.”
Alex nodded. “The process is not much more than a calculated business deal. Feelings do not matter much.”
“Perhaps that is why so many bachelors avidly try to avoid being trapped in the parson’s noose.” Caroline smiled. “Especiallyif said eligible bachelor is a rake as well.”
Alex quirked a corner of his mouth. “Well, I have to be good at something.”
Caroline looked wistful. “Sometimes I envy girls like Inis. She has no obligation to make a proper marriage. She’s free to choose.”
