Page 18 of The Trouble with Anna

She returned her attention to Lady Alice with a tentative smile, but the Dowager only looked her up and down, her bright blue eyes taking in every detail, until Anna’s smile faltered and fell away.

“You’ve nothing of your mother in you,” said the Dowager at last.

Anna tensed. “I won’t hear a word against her.”

“Most loyal of you, but I’m sure you’ll hear several. There are quite a number of women she wronged, but I was deeply fond of Caroline.”

Anna’s head began to rush. “You knew my mother?”

“Of course I did, child. Your mother grew up at Chatham and I was mistress here after all, before Charlotte’s mother. At first I dismissed Caroline as just another dizzy girl, and I even got quite impatient with her once at a tea. But she laughed it off, and that was illuminating. I suppose being Lord Barton’s daughter was quite a training in how to deal with a rough tongue.”

Anna sank down into the chair opposite the Dowager. “He hardly ever talked about her.”

“A scandal will do that, child.”

“Sometimes it feels as if she never existed, as if I imagined her.” Anna colored up. She had never revealed so much to a stranger, so quickly.

“Oh, your mother was fun!” The Dowager smiled. “Always skipping over when she saw me at a ball, always trying to scandalize me with the latest gossip. She had a hushed way about her, as if everything she said was the most delicious secret—even if she was simply commenting on the weather. And she let me natter on about my plants, though I doubt she was interested. A kind girl, Caroline, and a smart one too, though she rarely got credit for it. Beauties seldom do.”

Anna stared. “Smart? Forgive me! My grandfather said—”

“Best not to repeat what the Viscount said about female intelligence, can we agree? I spoke to her once about you, not long before she died. She was fascinated with you, but oh, how she worried! She’d have had an easier time with a boy.”

Anna tried to swallow her rising hurt. “I suppose she didn’t know what to make of me.”

The Dowager reached over and took Anna’s hand, squeezing it once firmly. “Caroline didn’t know what to make ofherself, child. She knew what was expected of her and lived down to it. But she had high hopes for you. Now, tell me all your troubles. Your mother would never forgive me if I let you sort them out on your own.”

With that, the Dowager picked up a little bell and rang for tea.

Two hours later, Julian walked past the drawing room only to find that the door was still shut. Pushing it open, he discovered the Dowager still ensconced in her chair with her drawings in handand Lady Anna fast asleep at her feet, her head resting lightly on the Dowager’s knee.

“Poisoned her, have you? That’s one way to handle things.”

“Julian, shush! The poor thing needs to sleep.”

“In your lap?”

“I don’t care where she sleeps, so long as it’s at Mayne. It’s a scandal for the child to live alone at Chatham. I intend to chaperone her until a suitable alternative can be found.”

Julian raised an eyebrow. “So fierce! In fact, I hoped you’d offer.”

The Dowager regarded him steadily. “Are you really determined to marry this girl? She’s badly in need of affection. Are you the man to give it to her?”

His mouth tightened and his teasing fell away. “I intend to give her an earldom. That should be sufficient, don’t you think?”

The Dowager gave an impatient huff. “Julian, this is foolishness! You mustn’t let whatyourguardian did—”

But she was speaking to a shadow, because Julian was gone.

The Dowager folded her hands together and stared into the fire.

My darling boy, this path leads only to disaster.

For you. For her.

For everyone.

CHAPTER9

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