Page 23 of Lady and the Scamp

Palmerston nodded. “Pink suits you, my lady.”

She pressed a napkin to her lips. “Thank you.”

Galloway took a sip of wine, his eyes still on hers as he lowered the glass. Emily glanced at Palmerston, hoping he hadn’t noticed the way Galloway looked at her, but no one else at the table seemed aware that Galloway was all but undressing her with his eyes. Or was she only wishing he was doing so?

There was an outburst of laughter at the table, and Emily realized she’d been staring at Galloway and not listening to anything that had been said. She would put Galloway out of her mind and focus on everyone else. She smiled at Palmerston,and he inclined his head. “I understand you recently visited the British Museum, my lady,” the secretary said.

She wanted to close her eyes and scream. All roads led back to Galloway. “Yes. We”—she nodded at Galloway—“took in the fossils. The museum has quite an extraordinary collection.”

“I haven’t seen it, but Mr. Galloway tells me you are quite the aficionado.”

Emily glanced at Galloway with some surprise. He only smiled at her.

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“I would,” Galloway added. “You know more about those pieces than anyone else I have ever met, save the Anning family. If you do go to Lyme Regis this summer, you should write to Mary Anning and ask if she will have you on one of her excursions.”

“I should never be so bold,” Emily said.

“Then you will never have what you want,” he answered with a wink. Emily stared at him, hoping no one else had seen the wink.

“Do not tell me you young people are discussing digging in the dirt again,” the duchess said, her voice ringing out through the room. “Do let’s discuss something else.”

“I agree,” the queen said. “I asked Lord Palmerston to dine with us this evening to tell us more about the Irish situation.”

Palmerston inclined his head gravely. “I am at your service, Ma’am.”

“You have an estate in Ireland, do you not?” the queen asked.

“I do. Classiebawn Castle is in County Sligo. Its construction and refurbishment has been a hobby of mine these past years. Alas, the work is not yet complete. I can only hope to survive to see it.”

“I see. And do you have tenants, Palmerston?”

Emily observed that Palmerston’s expression hardened at this question. “I do, Ma’am, though I have had to evict many for non-payment of rents.”

“That seems rather harsh,” Emily said without thinking. Palmerston turned to look at her, but she didn’t retreat. “I have heard there is an awful blight on potatoes and much of the Irish populace is starving.”

“This is true, but what would you have me do? Allow people to live on my land for free?” he asked.

“But where else shall they go if you turn them out?”

“Lady Averley,” the queen said. Emily all but jumped at the sharpness in her tone. “Surely it is not for you to question the Foreign Secretary in these personal matters.”

“I apologize,” Emily said.

Palmerston raised a hand. “If you do not object, Your Majesty, I would like to answer, Lady Averley.”

The queen made a gesture with her hand, and Palmerston turned back to Emily. “I do not know where they all go, but I have financed passage to New York for some and intend to do so for many more. In New York they can start a new life. The problems in Ireland are much deeper than the famine, you see. I am in favor of ejecting as many small landowners and squatting cottiers as possible. Only then can the social system begin to improve.”

Emily stared at him. “I am appalled that you would speak so callously of your own tenants, my lord. Women and children among them.”

“And I am sure your own late husband did not allow tenants who could not pay their rents to squat on his land,” Palmerston said. “Nor will his brother. Nor should he, nor will I.”

Emily had no rejoinder to this. Had Jack evicted tenants for non-payment? She had never inquired or even spared a thought to such a thing. Her gaze sought out the red-haired footman whoreminded her of Jack. He was staring straight ahead, his jaw tense.

But she was being ridiculous. Jack wasn’t here, and she had lost the argument. It was too late to point out that the situation for tenants in England and Ireland was vastly different, considering that Ireland was in the midst of a famine at the moment. The conversation at the table had already moved on to the bubbling revolution on the Continent.

Emily reached for her wine and caught Galloway’s gaze across the table. He didn’t look away in embarrassment as she expected. In fact, he nodded his head at her, seeming almost proud of her recent exchange. Did he share her opinion? She hadn’t even known she had an opinion on the Irish situation before this evening. But now she could not stop thinking of all the homeless families, dying of starvation while she sat at a table laden with food.

---