Page 121 of A Scandal for the Beastly Earl

"Will you teach me?"

"We'll teach each other," Arabella promised. "That's what family does."

Chapter 19

The next few weeks passed in a blur of adjustment. Cordelia bloomed under their care, losing the haunted look she'd worn around her mother and developing a wicked sense of humor that surprised everyone, especially Lucien.

"She's actually funny," he told Arabella one evening after Cordelia had reduced the dinner table to helpless laughter with her impression of Lady Agatha discovering Thistle's latest crime.

"You sound shocked."

"I am shocked. I thought that entire branch of the family was humor-impaired."

"Perhaps they just needed the right environment."

"Or the right criminal dog. She and Thistle have become conspirators."

"I know. I caught them in the library yesterday, and I swear they were planning something."

"Planning what?"

"I don't know, but Thistle had that look."

"What look?"

"The one he gets before he commits grand larceny."

"So, his normal look?"

"His extra criminal look."

"I'm concerned."

"You should be."

But despite their jesting, both were delighted with how well Cordelia had settled in. She'd taken over some of the household management from Arabella as the pregnancy progressed and the morning sickness worsened, handling everything with quiet efficiency.

"She's a treasure," Mrs. Fielding declared one morning. "Got the accounts sorted that Mr. Morrison's been struggling with for months."

"Morrison struggles with accounts?" Lucien asked, surprised.

"Only since his spectacles broke. Too proud to admit he needs new ones."

"And Cordelia figured this out?"

"Bought him new ones. Told him they were a gift for all his help."

"Clever girl."

"Takes after her cousin-in-law, I'd say."

It was true that Cordelia seemed to have absorbed Arabella's approach to problem-solving; direct action with a touch of kindness. She'd also absorbed some of Arabella's more unconventional ideas.

"She wants to learn to invest," Lucien told Arabella one evening, finding her in their bed surrounded by correspondence.

"Good for her."

"She wants you to teach her."