Page 34 of Avenging the Earl's Lady
“We dearly wish to help,” Sirena said.
A thousand pounds would do.
She wouldn’t ask it though.“I thank you,” she said finally.“I only ask a few more days’ lodging.”
“And then?”Lady Hackwell asked.“Will you go to your cousin, Cheswick?”
“He has also been very good to me, but no.I’m considering…I’m considering going abroad.”
“Back to Ireland?”Sirena asked.
“Perhaps.”
“Or Paris,” Sirena said.“Barton, you should go with her and bring back the latest Paris fashion plates when you return.”
“I’ll be happy to go also, my lady.”Jenny moved from her post near the window.
“I…I haven’t decided.”
How far would she need to run from the Earl of Shaldon?
“We shall revisit this in a few days,” Lady Hackwell said, “but meanwhile you must feel free to use my carriage.Have Mr.Lewis send for it when needed.”
“Do you mean to go out in society at all, my lady?”Barton asked.“If so, we have your new gowns—”
“No, Barton.”She shook her head.“For now, I must see to some business, and I would appreciate you keeping my presence in town confidential.”Especially where Shaldon was concerned.
“I wonder, would our husbands keep the secret?”Sirena said.
“Lord Hackwell will,” his lady said, “if I choose to tell it to him.”
“After what we’ve all been through with Shaldon?”Paulette asked.“Good heavens, Sirena and I were almost killed by the men he was chasing.Our husbands would keep mum.However, they would each try to run to your rescue, Lady Jane, whether you wished for their help or not.”
She swallowed back more moisture.To have men who would care so much was a great blessing.Also, a huge annoyance if one didn’t want to be rescued.
And she was quite sure neither the ladies nor their husbands would want to help her if they knew the truth of her plan.
“Thank you.And I do beg your pardon, but I must be off to attend to another matter.”
Jenny turned to the door.“I’ll get our—”
“No, Jenny.I won’t require your company today.”
Lady Hackwell rose.“You will go in the Hackwell carriage.Do not worry, we shall have you exit quietly through the mews.”
Lady Hackwell was wonderfully kind, but she could also be firm, and in truth, Jane didn’t want to run into any of her acquaintances while walking down Piccadilly.
She gave instructions to the coachman, accepted the footman’s hand up, and sank into the plush cushioning.As they pulled into the busy street, she hastily closed the shade.
Panic rising, she took deep breaths and fought to still her heart.There must be no tears this day, no matter the outcome.
By the time the coach stopped at the Burlington Arcade, she had found her courage again.She instructed the groom to wait for her and walked determinedly through the Arcade and out of the back way onto Burlington Gardens.
The gentleman she must visit had a bed-and-sitting in a private home near here.Thank heavens he was not at the Albany, where one of the other men in residence might recognize her.
She pulled the sides of the poke bonnet forward and marched on.It was time to officially meet her son.
Three ladies exitedHackwell House together and climbed into the escutcheoned Shaldon coach.Shaldon recognized his two daughters-in-law, Lady Sirena and Paulette.The other lady was the maid-turned-modiste, Barton.They’d arrived together, and they were leaving together.
