Page 88 of My Fair Lord

Clayton glowered. “Well, you’ve certainly ensured Lord Stretford will not be marrying you. I received an embarrassingly short note this morning telling me that any association I might have believed we had is ended forever. He says he has no intention of being linked to a family that caused such a scene as we did.”

Despite her despondency, Florence’s heart leapt. “Do you mean that? How wonderful.”

“It’s not wonderful!” Clayton slapped his hand down onto the table. Florence flinched. Her father was the mildest-mannered man she had ever encountered, and to see him brought to such a state of violence was alarming. “I shall have to go and plead for him to take you back, and I expect you to come with me and throw the entire weight of your charm into the enterprise. It might not be too late for him to reconsider.”

“No, Daddy, I won’t,” Florence said. She took her father by the hand. “Please don’t demean us by chasing after him. Let this be the end of it. He doesn’t want me and I certainly don’t want him.”

Twemlow coughed. “Mr Blake is waiting outside. He has asked to speak to you.”

“Bring him in,” Clayton ordered. “We’ll have the entire set of conspirators.”

Twemlow left and returned with Ned at his side. After his declaration previously, Florence couldn’t look at him.

“Mr Wakechild, I have the honour of presenting the Earl of Ayesgarth.”

“You can stop the charade now,” Clayton said coldly. “Florence has told me of your wager.”

“It’s no charade,” Ned said, inclining his head. “I have indeed come into that title within the past week. I only discovered it myself yesterday in the manner you saw.”

“So you see, Daddy, I failed,” Florence said. “I wanted to take an ordinary man and turn him into a viscount. Instead, I took an earl and failed even to pass him off for more than five minutes.”

“You didn’t fail,” Ned said, moving to stand close to Florence. “I wasn’t an earl when I met you and until I did, I would have been dreadfully ill-prepared for the role.”

He turned to Clayton. “I must explain, Mr Wakechild. I broke off from my family years ago and I’ve been living by own means ever since. For the majority of the last decade, I have been an ordinary man. More than that, I’ve been bitter and resentful. When I discovered I might be called upon to take the role I thought would never be mine, I became even more so.”

He ran his hands through his hair and smiled at Florence, then at the other occupants of the room. Clayton said nothing.

“I’ve spent the months of my sister-in-law’s pregnancy wondering what I would do if the child was a girl. Would I accept my fate or run from it? America is a big place. A man could disappear quite easily. I could become someone else entirely.”

“And what are you going to do, if I might be so bold as to ask?” Twemlow asked.

Ned smiled at him. The two men had always appeared to get on well.

“I have reconciled myself with my appointed path. I shall accept my responsibilities. My brother was not the best earl, and though it isn’t right to speak ill of the dead, I don’t think he will be overly missed. Even his widow has little cause to grieve his passing.”

“Are you going to marry her?” Florence asked.

Ned blinked in astonishment. “Good lord, no! I’m not King Henry the eighth marrying his brother’s wife. I shall ensure the dowager countess has a generous allowance and shall ensure my niece is well-educated and brought up with all advantages. She is still the daughter of an earl, even though her father is deceased.”

Ned sighed wearily. He walked across the room to where a crystal decanter stood with four glasses, gestured to it, and raised an eyebrow at Clayton.

“May I?”

“My lord, allow me.” Clayton immediately rushed forward and poured three tumblers of whisky, handing them to each of the men.

“I shall be fascinated to hear about your estate, my lord,” he said deferentially.

Florence and Cordelia exchanged a surreptitious smile. Whatever lesson they had hoped Clayton might learn, it appeared he was going to show the same awkward mix of overfamiliarity and reverence with Ned as he did with any other nobleman.

“There will be lots of work to do. Lots of bridges to rebuild, and I’m not just talking metaphorically,” Ned continued. “I’ve heard that the estate has been neglected and the tenants and the businesses that survive on our land treated pitifully.”

“So you’ll be returning to England?” Florence asked. Her voice sounded unusually quiet to her. “I mean, you won’t be taking on any commissions to find runaway heirs for Twemlow’s friends?”

“I think I have had quite enough of runaway heirs,” Ned said. He gave her a slightly odd look.

“I was always returning to England but now I shall take a first-class cabin. I shall enjoy the peace of being my own man before the hard work begins. I’m afraid my brother squandered a lot of the family wealth and thanks to some careless investments, I imagine there is very little money available.”

“Ha! Now I see it,” Clayton said, a note of triumph creeping into his voice. “You have your eyes on my daughter’s money. Well, if you think you’re going to get your hands on it, then you’re very much mistaken! Do you think I’ll just hand her to anyone with a title?”