returns. I’ve not seen a statement from the trust in five years, but Derrick has been living on the quarterly income. I would be shocked if anything was reinvested.”
Richard gritted his teeth. He believed her, not that it mattered. Ten thousand made a girl an heiress. If Georgiana had thirty…
Dear Lord. He was squiring a damned heiress, not a waif. Why didn’t she simply hire guards to keep Herriard away until her birthday? He had to get free of her before someone spotted them.
Stifling the attraction that had been growing all day, he kicked himself for not asking questions earlier. But at least he hadn’t offered for her. Marriage was now out of the question.
Paying his own way was the only way he could live with himself and was how he’d retained his friendship with Jacob and Charles. He would never accept money from others. Nor could he keep Georgiana in the style she’d enjoyed before Herriard. No one with her background would be satisfied with what he could offer.
Cold to the bone, he guided the horse around Richmond and headed for London.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“You should have mentioned your inheritance earlier. If I’d known how desperate Herriard was…” The man must be even more desperate than Richard had thought. Why else would he stoop to cheating his closest friend?
He kicked the horse into a reluctant trot. “At least the road to London will be clear. But we can’t stop until we have you safely hidden.”
“Where? Hawthorne House?”
“No. There is no way to hide you in Mayfair. Servants talk.” How else did Lady Beatrice learn everything that happened? “But Charles owns a cottage that is currently empty. On Monday we’ll speak to the solicitor. Inslip can expedite your petition to the bishop. With luck, it will be decided this week.”
He would have to stay with her, though, he admitted grimly. If Herriard was this desperate, he might find her.
Damnation! The last thing he needed was to live in a cottage with a damned heiress. But he would never forgive himself if Herriard found her before she was free.
At least Stagleigh would be easy to handle. Once he learned the truth, he would wash his hands of the affair.
But his earlier conclusion was truer than ever. Georgiana would never be safe without a husband. He must find her one. Immediately. Not him, of course. But only marriage would protect her.
* * * *
By the time they reached London, Richard was mad at the world and everything in it. Fate had played him a prank worse than any he’d ever pulled. Lust was driving him insane. Holding Georgiana in his lap for six hours had stretched his control to the limit. How the devil was he to remain aloof under the same roof with her for a week or more?
But he had to. Even if Herriard had dipped into her principle – which wasn’t likely under most trust rules – she was far beyond his reach. He should have realized it earlier. She might be uninformed about some things, but her merchant father would have taught her enough about finances that she would never try to live on the few hundred pounds he’d expected her to have.
He’d been unbelievably stupid. Even after he’d realized that her clothes did not match her breeding, he had not questioned his other impressions. He was too accustomed to people who hid empty purses behind the latest fashion to think an heiress would dress in rags. Now he was trapped.
He’d wracked his brains for a solution that would keep her safe without risking scandal or involving others. But there wasn’t one. Until she was no longer Herriard’s ward, he could not approach her trustees or anyone else who cared more for legalities than people.
So he was on his own. And the prospects were no better than they’d been earlier. He couldn’t afford an inn – which would be dangerously compromising anyway. None of his many friends could house her. Which returned him to Charles’s love nest.
Charles had
Richard gritted his teeth. He believed her, not that it mattered. Ten thousand made a girl an heiress. If Georgiana had thirty…
Dear Lord. He was squiring a damned heiress, not a waif. Why didn’t she simply hire guards to keep Herriard away until her birthday? He had to get free of her before someone spotted them.
Stifling the attraction that had been growing all day, he kicked himself for not asking questions earlier. But at least he hadn’t offered for her. Marriage was now out of the question.
Paying his own way was the only way he could live with himself and was how he’d retained his friendship with Jacob and Charles. He would never accept money from others. Nor could he keep Georgiana in the style she’d enjoyed before Herriard. No one with her background would be satisfied with what he could offer.
Cold to the bone, he guided the horse around Richmond and headed for London.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“You should have mentioned your inheritance earlier. If I’d known how desperate Herriard was…” The man must be even more desperate than Richard had thought. Why else would he stoop to cheating his closest friend?
He kicked the horse into a reluctant trot. “At least the road to London will be clear. But we can’t stop until we have you safely hidden.”
“Where? Hawthorne House?”
“No. There is no way to hide you in Mayfair. Servants talk.” How else did Lady Beatrice learn everything that happened? “But Charles owns a cottage that is currently empty. On Monday we’ll speak to the solicitor. Inslip can expedite your petition to the bishop. With luck, it will be decided this week.”
He would have to stay with her, though, he admitted grimly. If Herriard was this desperate, he might find her.
Damnation! The last thing he needed was to live in a cottage with a damned heiress. But he would never forgive himself if Herriard found her before she was free.
At least Stagleigh would be easy to handle. Once he learned the truth, he would wash his hands of the affair.
But his earlier conclusion was truer than ever. Georgiana would never be safe without a husband. He must find her one. Immediately. Not him, of course. But only marriage would protect her.
* * * *
By the time they reached London, Richard was mad at the world and everything in it. Fate had played him a prank worse than any he’d ever pulled. Lust was driving him insane. Holding Georgiana in his lap for six hours had stretched his control to the limit. How the devil was he to remain aloof under the same roof with her for a week or more?
But he had to. Even if Herriard had dipped into her principle – which wasn’t likely under most trust rules – she was far beyond his reach. He should have realized it earlier. She might be uninformed about some things, but her merchant father would have taught her enough about finances that she would never try to live on the few hundred pounds he’d expected her to have.
He’d been unbelievably stupid. Even after he’d realized that her clothes did not match her breeding, he had not questioned his other impressions. He was too accustomed to people who hid empty purses behind the latest fashion to think an heiress would dress in rags. Now he was trapped.
He’d wracked his brains for a solution that would keep her safe without risking scandal or involving others. But there wasn’t one. Until she was no longer Herriard’s ward, he could not approach her trustees or anyone else who cared more for legalities than people.
So he was on his own. And the prospects were no better than they’d been earlier. He couldn’t afford an inn – which would be dangerously compromising anyway. None of his many friends could house her. Which returned him to Charles’s love nest.
Charles had
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