Page 111 of Lady Edith and the Registry Office
Her father let out a whistle. “Lord Wycliffe is a formidable man, of course. And Lord Harbury is a war hero, and you won’t find a richer man in London.”
“He respects my opinion,” she replied. "He listens to me, Father, and we share the same interests.”
“Oh yes, that is what is most important.” He frowned at her. “And this business with the veterans is over? You’re not in any further danger?”
“It’s over. I imagine the registry will reopen very soon.”
She had no idea if it would, but she knew the baron well enough to know he would want to continue helping veterans as soon as possible.
Her father reached out and patted her hand. “If he comes to speak with me, I’ll gladly give him my blessing.”
“And now, may we speak of Lady Sandhurst?” she asked, eager to change the subject from herself.
Her father replied, “Our estate is near her daughter’s, and I want to leave for the countryside soon. I’ll give your baron a fortnight to come up to scratch.”
A fortnight. Surely Lord Harbury would come courting before then?
* * * * *
After a hearty supperand a hot bath, Nathaniel slept like a babe. He escorted Mrs. Davidson and Mrs. Wilson to see their husbands the next day and took the chance to visit all three of the veterans.
“I don’t know what happened,” James Fleet told him from his hospital bed. “I was examining the hoof of a horse that was supposedly lame, and the next moment I woke up in a churchyard. I was given something to drink; I must have been drugged. The last few days have been a blur. I was transferred to a ship, but remember little else, my lord.”
“It’s all right. We’ve pieced together what happened. You’re safe now.”
Wilson and Davidson had much the same stories. Commander Phelps wanted the men to stay in the hospital for a few more days for observation. Nathaniel saw Mrs. Davidson and Mrs. Wilson home with a promise to have his carriage and driver return them to Greenwich on the morrow.
When he returned to Grosvenor Square, Cecil was waiting for him in the drawing room, a tea tray before him.
“Nathaniel!” Cecil raised a teacup. “Alicia provided refreshment before departing for an engagement with Lady Kettering.”
He took a seat and yawned. “I don’t want to ride in a carriage again for several days.”
“I spoke with Taylor and Porter. I told them the veterans were safe and sound and that Mrs. Stafford had left London to visit family. We shared a bottle of gin, and they didn’t seem too concerned about all the details I didn’t tell them.”
“You’re a good liar.”
Cecil chuckled. “I work at it. I know it’s too soon to expect a reply from Ashford, but have you determined what you want to do with the registry?”
“We need to sign it over to someone who isn’t part of our inner circle but whom we trust to run the business. If Ashford approves, I mean to ask Lady Devon. She bears no ill will for me over the death of her brother and expressed a sincere desire to help the registry. Diana will still run the day-to-day business, but the world will know Lady Devon as the owner of the registry.”
“If Ashford agrees, I think Lady Devon is a splendid choice.”
Two days later, a reply to his letter came from Ashford, and he wholeheartedly approved of signing the registry over to Lady Devon. He also informed Nathaniel that Diana would work with the lady to keep the registry open.
“Of course, I will help run the registry!” Lady Devon smiled brightly, her eyes filling with tears when Nathaniel asked her for help. “It is a way to honor my husband and the crew of the HMSDefence. Thank you for thinking of me, Lord Harbury. It will be a privilege to work with Lady Diana to help our veterans.”
When he would have departed, she placed a hand on his sleeve. “You’ve done your penance, Lord Harbury. And then some. I’m going to be watching you, you know. I want to see you happy and living a full life. If you owe your former shipmates anything, you owe them that.”
Having transferred the ownership of the registry to Lady Devon, another tie to his past life in the Navy was severed. He knew it was for the best.
Commander Phelps had notified him that the three veterans were released from care. Now that the future of the registry was decided, he would visit Hanover Square and update Lady Edith and Lady Louisa on recent events.
Nathaniel hadn’t seen Lady Edith in three days. Three days that had been surprisingly without melancholia or nightmares. He felt like he’d come out of the dark into the sunlight. His future would be what he made of it. It was liberating to know who and what he wanted.
When he exited his carriage in Hanover Square, he felt a strange sensation behind his breastbone. Fear? Anticipation? He wouldn’t discount the possibility that if the lady seemed overly happy to see him, he might find the nerve to speak to her father that very day.
* * * * *
