Page 64 of Watching the Earl

“Georgie, what is it?” Rose ran over to her and wrapped an arm about her waist to guide her to a settee. “Come sit with us. Is your husband with you?”

Georgina shook her head, trying to stop the tears, but she couldn’t stop trembling. “I…I walked with a…a footman.”

Rose turned to Arabella. “Do you have a handkerchief?”

“Yes, here. It’s orange-scented, though.”

Georgina took the handkerchief and wiped at her eyes before blowing her nose. “I’m sorry I’m crying.”

Arabella leaned forward and patted her knee. “You cry all you need to. And when you’re done, you can tell us why all these tears, and we will help.”

Georgina nodded before blowing her nose again. When she finally felt able to speak, she swallowed hard and cleared her throat. “I thought to take some exercise by walking here to visit you. It’s exciting to be married and not need a chaperone anymore, but today I greatly wish I had one.”

“What happened? Tell us everything.” Rose’s dark blue gaze was hardly sympathetic, more that of someone ready to act.

“I ran into Lord Ashfield. It was an accident. I was ducking around a couple and I walked right into him. When he saw me, he suggested that I might wish to be with him over Philip.”

Arabella gasped.

“Yes. I was so angry that I made it clear I found my husband far more to my liking, which angered him. He grabbed me and threatened me. He said that I’d be sorry I said such things. All I said was the truth, but he made it sound as if I was in the wrong. Shouldn’t he be the one castigated? He took advantage of my ignorance. Surely I cannot be to blame. Can I?”

Rose stood. “Absolutely not. How dare he manhandle you, and on the street, no less? The arrogance of the man. We must do something about this.”

“No, Rose. Please don’t. I don’t want to make it worse than it is. Philip and I have enough to contend with. Tell me you have not played any more pranks on Lord Ashfield.”

“No, I haven’t. I planned one, but I had to abort it at the last minute.” Rose sat back down. “What do you mean, you and your husband have enough to contend with? Is something wrong? Should I contact the duchess?”

Not willing to bring the duchess into her problems, Georgina shook her head. “No, nothing as large as that. It is of a more personal nature. It’s why I came here.”

Arabella laid her hand on her arm. “Georgie, I hate to interrupt, but what Rose said is true about your encounter with Lord Ashfield. You cannot simply let it go. At least promise us that you will tell your husband.”

Rose immediately sat straighter. “Yes. My brother would know by tonight if he and Dory were not out shopping at the moment. Dory can no more keep a secret than you can.”

That was true. “And because of that, you need not doubt that I will tell Philip what happened. I did tell him who ruined me, so it is only right I tell him about this encounter. I just do hope he doesn’t do anything about it. There’s really nothing we can do, I suppose.” Georgina looked at Rose and Arabella. Neither agreed with her, but they also didn’t disagree.

Arabella broke the silence. “Do tell us what your reason was for coming to call on Rose. I know that my curiosity is piqued.”

“Truly, Georgie. Arabella has to be the most curious lady among us. It’s a pity she didn’t join us sooner. Why did you come to visit?”

Confident that both ladies would keep her confidence, she explained. “Because I didn’t attend well to my studies in medicine at school, I’m hoping, Rose, that you might help me to figure out what killed my husband’s father.”

“I will be happy to, if I can. Tell me everything you know about it.”

Georgina related everything that Philip had told her.

Rose’s gaze moved away, not resting on any one object, a sure sign she was thinking. “It could be a couple of things, based upon the length of time and his age. Do you know if the late Lord Durham was very sick and then got better but had a lingering cough?”

“I don’t.”

“Do you know if he coughed up blood at any time the month before he passed?”

“I don’t.”

Rose stood before moving toward a bookcase, where she pulled out a book. “Let me check one other possibility.” After consulting the book, she shook her head and returned it to the shelf. “The only two possibilities I can guess would be the grippe or consumption.”

Georgina sucked in a breath. “Would having help with the estate make it easier on the lord in either case?”

Rose looked away once again, then met her gaze. “Possibly. If he was well cared for and didn’t need to worry, he would recover from the grippe sooner, but that doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be a lingering cough.”