Page 19 of Lady Louisa and the Carriage Clock
“Perhaps an engraved rattle?” Louisa suggested. “You present the rattle to the parents and have it engraved for them after the child is born.”
Cecil nodded. It was a good idea. “What do you think, Edith?” He didn’t want it to appear that he was favoring Lady Louisa.
“That is an excellent idea, Cecil. And it will be a keepsake the child can remember you by.”
“What gift did you choose for your nephew?” Louisa asked, catching him unprepared.
He froze for a moment but recovered quickly. “That’s just it. My mother chose the gift, an impersonal antique cradle. Thanks to your advice, Lady Louisa, I will buy my nephew a rattle and engrave it. He is not quite a year old and might still play with it.”
Louisa laughed, a soft musical sound he’d rarely heard. “Yes, the babe will play with a rattle for several more months.”
Cecil glanced at the lady, her eyes shining, her cheeks rosy. She looked far too attractive while in a cheerful mood. It unnerved him how appealing he found her at that moment.
“I shall be off to buy the rattles.” He rose to his feet. “Thank you ever so much, ladies. You have been a tremendous help.”
“Do you know where to buy them?” Louisa asked coyly.
“I admit I do not,” he replied with a twist of his lips.
“I’m sure Fortnum & Mason will have some lovely ones,” the lady replied gently, as if he were a child, eliminating his sudden fascination with her.
He made his goodbyes and asked Edith to remember him to Nathaniel. Once back on the street, he told his coachman to proceed to Fortnum’s. He sat back against the squabs and let out a breath.
It was a start. He must tread lightly when speaking with Lady Louisa. He could flirt with a merry widow but not an innocent chit. He’d had no practice or desire to do so.
Cecil would tell Nathaniel when he formulated a plan to gain access to the clock and assure him he would treat Lady Louisa with the utmost respect. He was sure Nathaniel would feel protective of his lady wife’s friends, which was admirable.
He recalled how pleasant it had been to converse with Lady Louisa rather than merely trading barbs. He would admit he relished their skirmishes for the novelty of a woman not being smitten with him. Edith had been enamored of him last season, but it had been merely a passing notion.
Had a woman other than his mother ever loved him? He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t believe so. Women had been obsessed with him; a few widows had lusted after him, but love?
And he’d never been in love. He’d never thought it was something he missed. Ashford and Nathaniel were the happiest married men he’d ever encountered. They had both married for love, a rarity in the ton.
The carriage halted, and he shook himself. He didn’t have time for a relationship with a woman. He had to find a way to get that clock and bring down the Rogue’s Alliance. He needed justice for his brother.
Chapter Seven
“You could have knocked me over with a feather!” Louisa shook her head in wonder. “Lord Wycliffe wanted our advice.”
“Nathaniel won’t believe it,” Edith replied.
Mrs. Thorne exited her back office and came to stand near the seating area. The tall, pinch-faced woman was the opposite in both appearance and manner of her short, bespectacled husband. “Good afternoon, ladies.”
They responded in kind, both women stunned.
“And the normally dour Mrs. Thorne is being nice,” she said after the woman had moved away. “What is the world coming to?”
“Perhaps becoming a grandmother has softened her somewhat.” Edith let out a sigh. “I wish we could visit the registry, although Diana did say Lord Wycliffe and Bones are keeping an eye on the enterprise.”
"When Lord Wycliffe finally vanquishes the RA, you can resume volunteering at the registry." Louisa placed the periodical resting on her lap on the table in front of her. “I may have to buy Charlotte’s babe a gift myself. I am hopeless at handicrafts.”
“Alas, your talents do not lie in needlework,” Edith replied with a chuckle. “You are adept at designing projects, just not creating them.”
“I do not have the patience to sit still for long.”
“As you are the best dancer in London, I would not worry about your lack of embroidery skills.”
Louisa smiled and replied, “Thank you, Edith. You always know how to make me feel better.”
