Page 30 of Her Wicked Highwayman
“You... you slept with this Tyburn gentleman?” Rachel’s cheeks pinkened and she leaned forward a little. “What was it like?”
“Wonderful,” Diana confessed. “It was as wickedly wonderful as you could imagine. No wonder they won’t let debutants run off into the gardens with men. I can understand the danger now. Once he kissed me... I quite lost my head.”
Rachel signed and smiled dreamily. “Now that is far better than digging to China. It’s a pity you likely won’t see him again.”
“Yes,” she agreed. Even though she could tell Rachel wanted to discuss it more, Diana had other things she wanted to speak to her friend about.
“I did go to London for a few days,” Diana added. “I paid a call on my father’s solicitor to see about the estate’s debts. What I want...” She halted and considered her words carefully before continuing. “What Iwishis to invest some money in a few months, but I fear it would be a small amount. I would need a banker who would take me seriously.”
Rachel nodded in understanding. “And I assume no man will talk to you?”
Diana took a sip of her tea. “That is what I’m afraid of.” She had not visited with any bankers on this particular trip, but she knew well enough that they would not speak to her about investing if she had.
“Di, have you considered an idea that might be a bit... unconventional?” A gleam lit Rachel’s eyes and she leaned forward in her chair. “Like perhaps a female banker?”
Diana blinked. “A what?”
“Awomanbanker. They exist, you know.” Rachel grinned over the rim of her teacup. “And you happen to live not too far from one.”
“I do?” Diana set down her teacup as her hand began to tremble. She was thirsty, overworked, and now excited. That was not a very good combination if she wished to preserve the integrity of her teacup.
“Lady Lennox.”
Diana’s brows drew together. “Regina Lennox isn’t a banker.”
“You misunderstand. Not Regina, the dowager baroness, butRosalind, Lord Lennox’s wife.”
“Oh...” Diana’s face flamed with mortification. “I’m afraid I have not attended any social events these last few years. I do remember hearing of a hasty wedding with Lord Lennox and a Scottish woman, but that is all.”
“Well then, you are in luck. That is one of the reasons I came over this evening. You are invited to our ball tomorrow. We would have sent an invitation sooner, but it’s been a bit chaotic returning from London. Mama sent all the invitations out from London, and when I reminded her about you, she was quite upset that she’d forgotten.”
“Your mother is a dear. It is easy to forget me. I have not been out since my father died. Tell her not to be distressed on my account.”
Rachel tapped Diana’s teacup with her own in a toast. “Drink up and have dear Mrs. Ripley ready your best dress. I will introduce you to Lady Lennox, and you can ask her aboutinvesting. I have a feeling she might be the answer you’ve been seeking.”
Buoyed by a wellspring of hope, Diana abandoned her teacup and got up to hug Rachel.
Rachel chuckled as she patted Diana’s back. “Goodness, youareglad about this, aren’t you?”
“You haven’t the faintest idea how much,” Diana confessed. “You are an angel, heaven-sent.”
At this, Rachel let out a devious giggle. “Do not call me an angel, for they have far less fun.”
Diana returned to her seat, finished drinking her tea, and listened to Rachel’s tales from London. For the first time in more than a year, the cold hearth in her heart once more held the burning embers of small sparks of hope.
CHAPTER 7
“You have a lot of explaining to do, brother,” Rafe declared. He sat down beside Ashton at a table on the back terrace that faced the south lawn of Lennox House. A footman stood in attendance and offered Rafe refreshments, which he politely declined. If he and his brother were going to argue, he didn’t want to be full of tea and cakes.
Ashton continued to peruse his newspaper and didn’t even look at Rafe as he turned the page.
“What, pray tell, must I explain?” Ashton asked after a moment of silence.
“It seems that dear old Uncle Ash has been suggesting to Isla that I find a mother for her.” Rafe watched his sister-in-law, Rosalind, playing badminton with Isla on the bright-green lawn in front of them. The pair batted the shuttlecock about with no real intention of the rules being followed, laughing all the while. Rafe thoroughly approved of that. Rules were made for fools.
The newspaper that blocked his brother’s face wilted, exposing Ashton’s usual solemn face, but today there was a hint of mischief behind it.
“And if Ihadsuggested such a thing?”
