A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde Page A

truly help if I don’t know what it is you hope to accomplish?”
    If Lady Blanchard had any intention of answering, it was cut short by the knock at the door.
    â€œYou’ll excuse me, I hope, ladies,” said Lord Blanchard as he entered.
    Morgan Newcombe, Viscount Blanchard and Third Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, was a broad man who exuded an air of physical strength in spite of his advancing years. Although his clothing was both conservative and immaculate, his gray hair was perpetually shaggy, as were his eyebrows. Taken together with his small, hooded eyes, strongly arched nose, and prominent chin, he had the look of a highly annoyed hawk.
    â€œOh, I hadn’t realized you’d arrived yet, Miss Thorne.” His lordship nodded distantly to her. “All is well, I trust?”
    â€œVery well, thank you, Lord Blanchard.” Rosalind made both her curtsy and reply as if she and Lady Blanchard had been discussing nothing more serious than the latest Drury Lane comedy. “May I congratulate you on your new appointment?”
    â€œYes, yes. Lovely place, Konigsberg, and there’s a good deal of work to be done now that we’ve finally gotten rid of that damned upstart, Napoleon. No one wants the Prussians getting ideas about taking too much of their own back from France.” He smiled thinly. “Has Jane secured your agreement to her plans?”
    Lady Blanchard colored. “Morgan,” she murmured.
    â€œWe had not yet talked about it, sir.” Rosalind put a great amount of effort into keeping the statement casual and hercountenance cheerful, but Lord Blanchard’s attention remained entirely on his wife.
    â€œThat’s me putting my foot in it, I suppose.” He laid his hand on Lady Blanchard’s shoulder. “Still, no harm. We were hoping you might come stay for the season, and perhaps even through the summer.” His words were meant for Rosalind, but he spoke them directly to his wife. “There are a thousand details to be seen to before we leave. Jane was saying how glad she’d be of the help, and I must concur.”
    Throughout this speech, Lady Blanchard sat with her husband’s hand on her shoulder, stiff as a wax doll, her smile fixed in place. It was as well he could not see her expression from this angle, because he would surely be at least as shocked as Rosalind. She could not believe Lord Blanchard really wanted her to stay. He had put up with her for his wife’s sake, and as long as she did not presume too much on her status as his goddaughter. Her father’s dramatic, though blessedly brief, reappearance last season had eroded even that tolerance.
    â€œI was just telling Lady Blanchard how I’m glad to be of whatever help I can.”
    â€œExcellent.” Lord Blanchard squeezed his wife’s shoulder. “Jane was certain we could count on you. Now, I’m sure you have a thousand things to talk about. My dear, I have to go and see Hildebrand, but I should be back in time for dinner.” He kissed Lady Blanchard’s hand, nodded to Rosalind, and took his leave.
    Rosalind waited until the door closed again, and until her friend’s attention had returned to her.
    â€œI suppose I should thank you for your kind offer,” she said. “I see you’ve been preparing Lord Blanchard for my presence this season.”
You’ve been lying to your husband so that you’d have an excuse for bringing me back into the house. Why? And why on earth has he decided to agree?
    â€œYou mean to remonstrate with me, and I’m sure I’ve earned it,” Lady Blanchard said. “I trust to our years of friendship to make you understand I would not be doing all this were it not completely necessary.”
    â€œWhich means something is wrong.” Several very unpleasant possibilities rose up in Rosalind’s mind.
    Lady Blanchard did not answer at once. Rosalind bit her tongue. She