Page 51 of Three Weeks with a Princess
She chewed that over for a few seconds before glancing at Dominic. “Do you know when Captain Endicott will be returning?”
“It’s rather up in the air, given the situation in Vienna,” he said regretfully. “Probably not for some months.”
Drat.Their proposed solutions contained too many unknown variables. Besides, there was Granny to think of. It would be too much to ask a half brother she’d never met to take on supporting both of them for months, if not years.
The discussion brought her back to the one place she hadn’t wanted to go—the place that now began to seem ordained. She finally let out the weary sigh that had been building up behind her breastbone, seemingly for days. “There is still one other option. It is probably the most realistic one, under the circumstances.”
“And that is?” Dominic asked with a pleasant smile.
“I could start looking for a protector.”
Dominic’s face went blank.
Lia shrugged. “It is the family business, after all. Both Granny and my mother think I might have better success at it than anything else.”
Jack clamped a large hand around her arm. “We have been over this already and I believe I expressly forbade you to raise the issue again,” he gritted out.
She yanked her arm away, increasingly irritated with his tendency to order her about. “I will do exactly what I want, when I want. And if I wish to take a protector, I will bloody well do it.”
His gaze practically scorched her. “Don’t push me, Lia. I assure you the result will not be pretty.”
Too annoyed to be rational, she did the one thing that used to drive him around the twist when they were children. She stuck her tongue out at him.
He stared at her in disbelief. A moment later, his features went hard with masculine determination. “Right,” he said, standing up. “You and I are going somewhere private to sort this out, and then you’ll be packing your bags for Stonefell.”
“No, I will not.”
“Nor will she be embarking on a mad scheme to become a courtesan,” Dominic said, giving her an intimidating glower. “There will be no more nonsense of that sort from you, niece. I absolutely forbid it.”
Lia gaped at him, surprised at the change in his normally calm behavior.
Chloe put down her teacup and rose, regarding her husband with gentle disappointment. “I forbid you to raise your voice to Lia, my dear. Really, Dominic, what can you be thinking?”
He winced a little. “I didn’t mean to raise my voice, but you must admit—”
“I admit nothing of the sort.” His wife ruthlessly turned her back on him to face Jack. “As for you, Lord Lendale, I expected better from you. Badgering Lia is unacceptable. Why, look how flushed she is. You’ve obviously upset her greatly and I only hope she doesn’t suffer a relapse.”
Lia wouldn’t relapse, though she appreciated her aunt’s tactics.
“Well, confound it, Lady Hunter,” Jack said, looking shamefaced, “someone’s got to talk sense into the girl.”
“Chloe, perhaps you can explain to Lia why her idea is so foolhardy?” Dominic said.
She took Lia’s arm and drew her up. “I will do no such thing. In fact, I think Lia’s idea has a great deal of merit.”
That shocked everyone into silence for several seconds, the men clearly stupefied by Chloe’s assertion.
“Ah, you do?” Lia finally managed.
Her aunt nodded. “As you said, you don’t have many options, so we might as well explore all of them. Why don’t you and I go up to your room and have a nice, rational discussion without any more nonsensical interference from the men?”
She didn’t resist when Chloe led her toward the door, although she threw a glance over her shoulder at Jack. He looked as if someone had dropped a cannonball on his head.
Once they’d left the room and started up the stairs, Lia cleared her throat. “You don’t really believe I should become a courtesan, do you?”
Chloe grinned. “Of course not. Nor will it be necessary.”
“Then why did you say it was a good idea?”
