“A favor?” he returned coldly. “You made sure she lost her bet against Mr. Palmer.”
“On the contrary. I made sure she could make that bet safely. As did you. And she now has the running of the business she wanted with the security of a salary while she finds her feet.”
He couldn’t disagree, but Lilah did. Or rather, she could question it.
“And what do you get out of it? Besides what I am sure is a very tiny bit of profit. Mr. Bates does not seem like one who would have given up much to you.”
Mrs. Dove-Lyon sniffed. “My arrangement with Mr. Bates is my own. What I get, Miss Rees, is access to a Member of Parliament who had never before stepped inside my doors.” She looked at Aaron. “Just like Mr. Bates, I should like to call upon you, my lord. We share a reforming spirit, and I have ideas regarding the treatment of women.”
Ideas? Everyone had ideas! But like Reuben, she had a singular view on society. One that he would be foolish to discount if only as a source of information.
“You will find that I cannot be bought, and I do not take kindly to threats,” he said.
She laughed. “I never thought anything different.”
“Then I should be happy to discuss your ideas. Once. If they are interesting, I will be open to discussing them in more detail.”
“Excellent,” she said with a smile. Then she looked at her watch. “I’m afraid you should be going now. All of London shall be about soon and you should be at home when that happens.”
Yes, they should. He held out his hand to Lilah, and she took it with a worried kind of smile. They departed quickly, down a back stairway and out to a quiet side alley. A carriage was waiting there for them as a final gift from Mrs. Dove-Lyon. They quickly climbed in. Once Aaron had given directions to Lilah’s home, they settled down in silence. So much had happened, it was a struggle to wrap his mind around it. Harder, it appeared, for Lilah because she was twisting her fingers in and around the fabric of her skirt.
He touched her hands, soothing him as best he could. “You needn’t do this—”
“I want to.”
He nodded. “If it doesn’t work for you. If you hate it or you feel in danger—”
“I will tell you. I promise.”
“Good.”
She looked up at him. “I don’t like you beholden to them on my account.”
“What?”
“To Mr. Bates or Mrs. Dove-Lyon. You promised them—”
“A meeting, nothing more. I assure you, this is how I spend most of my days.”
“But—”
“Don’t worry. This is my stock and trade.”
She nodded and appeared to be reassured. They travelled that way in silence for a bit with his hand wrapped around her two. In time, she flipped her hand over and they were palm to palm, their bodies pressed together against the squabs.
“I don’t regret last night,” she abruptly said. “Not one moment of it.”
“Not one moment?” he asked. He could think of several moments—before they were together—that could have gone much better.
“It all led to my time with you,” she said. She twisted so she looked him in the eye. “And I wouldn’t change that for the world.”
He saw the honestly in her expression and felt his heart twist. How brave she was to embark on a new life so easily. How beautiful she was to face her uncertain future with excitement instead of dread. And how much he wanted to keep her in his life.
“May I call on you?” he asked.
“When?”
It was a good question. She was going to be working night and day to set things to right at her new registry office. And he had a great deal of work to do as he set up in the House of Lords. “Whenever you want. Whenever you are free.”