Page 31 of Fortune Favors the Viscount
“Nearly,” she bit out. “Lucy needs something.”
He smiled cynically. “Ah, yes. I’ll put five hundred pounds in trust for her.”
“Five thousand.”
“I offered five thousand,” he said precisely, “in exchange for you burning your gathered evidence. Are you offering that bargain again?”
Her expression murderous, she said nothing.
“One thousand pounds,” he allowed. “Since I shall be housing and feeding her for some indeterminate period, I trust that will suffice.”
“She deserves more!”
“And I deserve to live my wicked, debauched life free of your interference, yet here we are.” The carriage had stopped. Davis, the driver, would wait as long as need be. Nick held out one hand, cajoling this time. “Come now, Miss Greene,” he said softly. “We shall be partners. After all, we want the same thing—an excellent education and secure home for our respective charges. I shall leave you a free hand in all matters of... governessing. Can we not agree?”
“Butyoushall end this bargain a viscount, while I could be dismissed at any moment,” she said acidly. Pointedly she folded her arms, tucking her hands beneath her elbows. “It is anunequalpartnership, to say the least.”
“I cannot change your profession, but I grasp your concern. If I dismiss you for anything other than proven theft, it shall be with a parting sum of five hundred pounds.”
“Write it down and sign it.”
He shrugged. “As you wish.”
“And I shall sign it when the trust for Lucy is arranged, with myself named as trustee,” she added. “Until then, we donothave an understanding.”
Nick felt a surge of triumph. “As you wish.”
Her throat worked, and she nodded, a savage jerk of her chin. “I also want my own chamber. Aprivatechamber. I want approval of Lucy’s living quarters as well, which shall be near mine. I will make all decisions regarding her well-being and instruction, including an allowance of thirty pounds per annum for her care, solely under my control, separate from the trust and my salary.”
“Yes, Miss Greene, I understand my role will be to pay the bills and stay out of your way,” Nick said dryly. “You may see to the rearing of Lucinda.”
“I am not pleased by this, Mr. Dashwood,” she warned him. “It is far beyond what I originally asked, and I do not like being coerced and manipulated.”
“A feeling I know well,” he drawled. “Perhaps you should decline the position, and we each go our separate ways.”
She huffed. “As much as I wish to, I won’t.”
“Then we have an understanding?”
Glaring, she nodded and clasped his hand, just long enough for his heart to surge against his ribs and his nerves to draw tight.
Nick leaned back. “You won’t take out your pique at me on Charlotte, will you?”
“I have absolutely no objection to her, sir,” she said tartly as she gathered up her skirts. “Only toyou.” She flung open the door herself and stormed out of the carriage.
Nick was still grinning as he told Davis to drive on. She’d said yes. He should not find that exhilarating.
But he did.
CHAPTERTWELVE
For a fortnight Nick waited, half in hope, half in dread, for Grantham’s report on the progress of his investigations.
Hope, because Charlotte was ecstatic about her new governess. Every morning when Nick arrived for breakfast, she peppered him with questions about Miss Greene and when they would begin and how on earth did Nick expect her to wait patiently when she might already be learning dancing and pianoforte? She asked about attending the theater again, and Astley’s, and if Miss Greene would take her to a modiste in Bond Street. It was hard not to feel buoyed by her enthusiasm.
But also dread, because it was hard not to wonder if claiming the Sydenham title would be a Pyrrhic victory. When he strolled the rooms at the Vega Club, or reviewed the club’s receipts with Forbes, or visited the little haven that was Queen’s Court, it was difficult not to think that Dame Fortune had already smiled on him rather kindly, and daring to grasp for more would probably only tempt her to dash it all away. He had built the life he wanted; upsetting it for the chance of gaining another was a rum bet, and he knew it.
Finally, when Nick had nearly convinced himself that Miss Greene’s sleuthing couldn’t possibly hold up under scrutiny, Grantham turned up.
