Page 7 of The Rake's Daughter
Melkin nodded. “Quite so, my lord.”
“Now, what the devil am I supposed to do with Miss Studley?” It was a rhetorical question, spoken half under his breath, but the lawyer thought he was asking for advice.
He beamed at Leo. “Introduce her to society, my lord. Get her married and off your hands.”
Leo stared at the man, appalled. “Introduce her tosociety? You mean take her to balls, routs, the opera?Almack’s?” He couldn’t think of anything worse. He’d fled to the continent to escape all that society fuss and bother.
“Exactly, my lord. You will, of course, need a suitable female not only to chaperone her, but to sponsor her in society.”
Curse it. He didn’t know any suitable females. Nor any unsuitable ones—not in England, at any rate. “You’re not suggesting I get the er-relative to be the chaperone, are you?”
Melkin looked shocked. “Oh, no, no, no, my lord! Quite unthinkable. That girl cannot, of course, have anything to do with polite society.”
Leo pondered the problem. The illegitimate girl would be no problem—he’d pay her off and make it clear she was not to batten on her half sister any longer. Whatever she did after that wouldn’t bother him.
But the other one... he was damned if he’d squire her to ton parties and balls. He’d entered that circus once and had no intention of doing it again. No, Miss Studley’s social life was a task for a woman.
“I suppose I’ll have to hire someone.” Yet another expense he’d have to cover.
The lawyer kept a prudent silence. He tidied the documents, tucked them into a folder and said diffidently, “I believe the girls will be arriving in London quite soon, my lord.”
Leo, who had been lost in thought, glanced up sharply. “What? Already?”
“A year has passed since Sir Bartleby’s demise, my lord. Had you not been absent from England for the last year, it would not be such a surprise to you. “
“I was traveling,” Leo reminded him. The faint reproach in the lawyer’s voice was irritating. Dammit, Leo had been entitled to his time away. During the last decade or so his schoolfellows had traveled, had adventures; some hadjoined the army, others ventured to exotic foreign countries. Leo had barely left the family estate.
His father’s apoplexy twelve years before had forced him, then aged sixteen and trying to decide between a commission in the army or university, to abandon all his plans and take on the responsibility for his father and the family estate.
His father’s debts had seemed crushing at first, but through hard work, and with good advice, Leo had gradually managed to turn things around. The estate was profitable now, and his investments had paid off.
And so, after his father’s death eighteen months ago, he’d made arrangements for the business of the estate to be carried on while he took himself abroad for a little taste of freedom. His own version of The Grand Tour—post-Napoleonic Europe, Greece, Turkey, Egypt. He’d enjoyed every minute of it.
And then, to come home to this debacle!
Melkin consulted another letter. “According to this, Miss Clarissa Studley and her half sister intended to leave for London at the beginning of the week.” He glanced at Leo. “Which means, if they left on time—though ladies, you know, often do not—they should arrive tomorrow or the next day.”
“ ‘Tomorrow or the next day’?”
“I’m afraid so, my lord. You’d better alert your housekeeper to prepare bedchambers for them.”
“My housekeeper? I don’t have a housekeeper. I don’t have any staff in town at the moment, just my valet.” On his return to London he’d called in to see his man of affairs and discovered that the Bellaire Gardens house, which had been rented out for the last ten years, was now vacant. The agent was of the opinion that whether Leo intended to take up residence there or lease it out again, the house was in dire need of refurbishment and, when Leo inspected it, he had to agree.
He was temporarily camped in the dusty, empty house until the renovations could begin. In the meantime his valet, Matteo, who was more majordomo than mere valet, was currently making it habitable—for himself and Leo, not a pair of pampered young ladies.
“Oh dear me, no,” the lawyer said. “They cannot stay with you unchaperoned—not with your being a bachelor. It would be easier if you were married. I don’t suppose...” He ended the sentence on a faintly hopeful note of query.
“No. I have no marital plans, not now or in the foreseeable future,” Leo said firmly. He had no desire to tie himself down, and he certainly wasn’t going to do it for the convenience of two unknown females.
“But as their guardian, you will, of course, make suitable arrangements.”
Leo shrugged. “They can stay in a hotel.”
Melkin looked shocked. “Oh, that will never do, my lord. A respectable young lady, unchaperoned except by her illegitimate half sister, alone and unprotected in a London hotel? Oh no, no, no!”
“Then I’ll hire a maid to chaperone them.”
The lawyer shook his head. “A maidservant would give Miss Studley neither the respectability nor the consequence required.” His beetling gray brows twitched in thought. “Is there no female relative you could prevail on to assist you, my lord?”
