Page 9 of Earl's Well That Ends Well (The Way to a Lord's Heart 5)

“She lives near Tom’s rooms, I understand. He said she has a house there.”

“Yes.”

“An odd choice of neighborhood for a woman of her…”

“I’m not sure you could comprehend her choices,” interrupted Mrs. Thorpe. Her tone was quietly inflexible.

It was a subtle reprimand, but Arthur heard it and fell silent in surprise. He was not accustomed to being addressed so. He and Mrs. Thorpe had an established, cordial acquaintance. They had even schemed together on more than one occasion. He felt a spark of irritation. She knew he was to be trusted. He was only seeking information. “I believe I am quite capable of doing so,” he replied.

He endured another searching gaze. “I like and respect you, Lord Macklin, but I don’t think you can imagine what it is like to be a woman on her own, with limited means, in a foreign country. Your interest could cause difficulties for Señora Alvarez.”

“Myinterestis simple curiosity about a friend of Tom’s,” Arthur protested.

Mrs. Thorpe’s sharp eyes seemed to see right through him, down to the reaction he’d felt when he first met the señora.

Arthur felt himself flush. “I would never do anything to inconvenience or embarrass a lady,” he added. Of course not. “You know I wouldn’t.”

His hostess’s gaze remained steady for another few moments, then she sighed. “It’s never any use offering advice. So few want to hear it. I will hold you to that statement as a promise, Lord Macklin, because I like and admire Señora Alvarez.”

“You may certainly do so,” he answered. His voice sounded stiff, but he rather thought she deserved it. What had he ever done that she should doubt him?

Mrs. Thorpe nodded. “You are an honorable man.” She folded her hands in her lap. “I met Señora Alvarez one day when I’d gone to visit Tom. We fell into conversation after repelling the advances of a bumptious fellow in the street.”

“Dilch?” Arthur wondered.

“You have met him?”

“Observed only. An unattractive individual.”

“As Tom would now say, a churlish canker-blossom.”

They exchanged a smile, which heartened Arthur. He valued his friendship with Mrs. Thorpe.

“I enjoyed our conversation,” she continued. “And found other occasions to talk with Señora Alvarez. When I discovered that she was looking for occupation and that she was a talented watercolorist, I put in a word at the workshop. For several months now, she has been painting exquisite scenery there.”

Arthur nodded.

“Then recently, she was even more helpful. She stepped in to mediate a dispute among the opera dancers.” She cast him a look. “Many of them are émigrées, you know, and Señora Alvarez speaks Spanish, of course, but also French and some Portuguese and Italian.”

“She’s well educated then,” said Arthur. He’d known she must be.

“She also has sympathy for the girls’ troubles, which many do not.”

“Troubles?” Arthur had never thought much about opera dancers. Beyond appreciating their performances now and then.

Mrs. Thorpe looked disappointed in him, another unaccustomed experience. “They have quite a hard time of it, Lord Macklin. Low pay, and if they’re just five minutes late to rehearsal, they’re fined out of that small wage. They’re expected to pay for their shoes and costumes out of it, too. Many live on the verge of starvation and dangerously close to illness.” She frowned as if this could somehow be his fault. “And of course there are the gentlemen who consider their backstage room at the theater a marketplace for mistresses.”

Arthur knew this to be true. He had heard men joke about it. He had never been one of them, however.

“Some don’t mind the offers flung at them,” Mrs. Thorpe went on, as if taken by her own thoughts. “And indeed encourage them for the money they bring. But others feel forced. I do what I can to help out, and Señora Alvarez has joined me in that.”

“She has a caring heart,” said Arthur appreciatively.

Mrs. Thorpe raised her brows as if he’d missed an important point. “She does, but…”

“Yes?”

His hostess hesitated before adding, “The señora seems contented with her life as it is, Lord Macklin. Perhaps you should leave her alone.”

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