“I begin to see why you and your mother do not suit.” Any woman who would wear a dog costume would not be one to follow the ebbs and flows of fashion. And she certainly wouldn’t call blue embroidery a calamity.
“Quite right,” she said with admirable restraint. “But to my point. The dyer who created Prussian blue made a fortune. Still does, I shouldn’t wonder. What do you control that could become popular?”
Nothing. That was the exact problem. He had spent all his time finding ways to build Isabelle’s fortune, not his. And all the contacts he’d made, all the gentlemen in finance he thought would be eager to help him, were all too cowardly to risk Isabelle’s wrath. That left him with nothing.
“I’m afraid all I have are poorly producing lands in Lincolnshire and myself. And though I have worked these last years to make myself popular, I cannot sell myself. At least not for a high enough price to help my sisters.”
He didn’t think she would understand his off-color joke, but her pink ears told him she did. Strangely enough, she didn’t seem nearly as discomforted by it as she had his bare chest. Which, he now realized, she gave no more attention to. And here he’d been flashing it at her just to keep her color high. But rather than stare at him, her gaze riveted upon the bright yellow daffodil with unusual intensity.
“Lady Gwen?”
“Did you say Lincolnshire?”
“I did. That is where my family hails from.”
“And did you perhaps bring these flowers from there? These are Lincolnshire daffodils, are they not?”
She certainly knew her plants. “They were a favorite of my mother’s and she kept a small garden filled with them. As I returned home from there just yesterday, I brought a few along to set at the tables tonight.”
“They’re very pretty.”
He nodded because it was true.
“They’re not common in London. At least they aren’t right now.”
“They grow primarily in Lincolnshire. Hence the name.”
She nodded. “So do you think you could grow a lot of them on your poorly producing lands? And do you think you could make them popular here in London?”
He looked at her for a long moment, shock and inspiration hitting at the exact same moment. Not his inspiration, obviously. It was hers, and it wasbrilliant!“You think I could make the daffodil popular. Make it the flower of the Season and be the one to supply it as well.”
“That is the usual way of things, isn’t it? The one who supplies what is most sought after can make enough money to outfit three sisters for their Season.”
He grinned, his mind scrambling with the possibilities. “I have spent my life figuring ways to move things from one place to another. It is the essence of commerce. Flowers can’t be that different. This could work.”
“Well,” she said, her tone dampening. “It could work if you figure out how to transport the flowers. You cannot simply cut them in Lincolnshire and sell them an hour later in London. It’s a day’s travel at least.”
“Closer to two,” he said. “I cut an entire basket and these few are the only ones that survived.”
She nodded. “Did you place them in water? Keep them sheltered from the sun? How old were they?” She adroitly lifted one of the blossoms from the vase and inspected the stem. “And you didn’t cut these in the best way for them to last.”
He leaned forward. “Could you teach me? Could you train others to do the same?”
“I’m not sure,” Lady Gwen said, her words slow as she inspected the bloom. “I would have to do some studying. I should think your gardener would know more.”
“Gardener!” he scoffed. “We have no such person. And I can assure you, my tenants are farmers who only care about pigs and oats. They know nothing about posies for girls.”
Lady Gwen finally turned her gaze back to him. “I could figure it out, to be sure. A few experiments would make it clear. But would you be able to make the flower popular? Will the London hostesses take your lead?”
“I’m popular, aren’t I? You said so yourself.”
“And I am a student of botany.”
He held out his hand. “What do you say, Lady Gwen? Have we a bargain? You will figure out how to best cultivate and transport my flower to London, and I shall make the blossom the most sought-after accessory of everytonparty.”
She looked at him, her brows narrowed in thought. “And what shall be my recompense?”
“I shall show you the accounting from the very beginning. And we shall split the profits fifty-fifty.”