Several minutes passed before he glanced up to see Lady Louisa’s eyes on him. Blushing, she looked down at her hands. He saw that Mrs May had dozed off with her mouth open. The poor woman had probably not got much sleep since his sisters had been sent home. He needed a governess so that the housekeeper wasn’t in effect holding two positions at the same time. He knew from personal experience that taking care of his sisters was a thankless and often dangerous task. It was enough to keep a person up late at night and make them rise early the next day.
Lady Louisa peeked up at him again. ‘May I ask you about Lady Glastonbury?’
Exhaling, Wick lifted his shoulders and let them fall. ‘What would you like to know about my sister?’
She smiled even wider, and he tried not to fix his gaze on the kissable freckle above her lips.
‘You have said that she has a little son; does she have any other children?’
‘No, only the one—but she’s still young. Not even one-and-twenty for another fortnight.’
‘She is only twenty and already a duchess?’
Wick shifted in his seat. ‘Mantheria was seventeen when she made her debut, and she became engaged to the Duke of Glastonbury after only a few weeks. It was a bit of a whirlwind courtship. They married at the end of the season and left for a wedding trip to France.’
Lady Louisa breathed in and out. ‘Oh, I hope that I am as lucky if I get a season of my own.’
‘Lucky enough to marry a duke?’ he asked sardonically.
She shook her head and a red curl came free of her chignon and fell over her shoulder. He wanted to touch it. Her gorgeous hair looked like liquid flame.
‘Oh, no. Or at least not necessarily. It is just that I have always wished to be married and have a family of my own. A home of my own, where I feel I belong. I do not mind if my suitors do not have titles, as long as they have good hearts.’
He had misjudged her aspirations. The sweet young woman wasn’t being socially ambitious in her wishes. She merely wanted to have a home of her own and a husband who loved her. Such little things that were often took for granted.
‘I suppose most young women wish for marriage and a family.’
A little colour stole into Lady Louisa’s cheeks. ‘It is what we are taught to look forward to. But ever since my father died I have longed to have a family of my own. Someone to love and someone who loves me.’
That someone would not be him.
Clearing his throat, Wick doggedly continued their conversation. ‘I shall send an express message to Mantheria as soon as we get back to the castle. She’ll receive it tonight and we can be off first thing in the morning, after I make the arrangements.’
‘She won’t mind four more guests for the remainder of the season?’
Wick furrowed his brow. ‘Four?’
‘Myself and your three sisters.’
He could have swallowed his tongue. Ofcoursehe would have to bring Frederica, Helen and Becca with him. They couldn’t be left at the castle without the housekeeper, and Mrs May would have to accompany them to chaperone Louisa until they reached Mantheria’s house. Wick couldn’t afford even a whiff of indiscretion over the daughter of the late Earl or he’d be forced to marry her.
‘Five guests,’ he said.
‘Will you be staying with your sister as well?’
‘Oh, no. I meant Mrs May. I have my own rooms in London,’ he explained. ‘My parents have a house in Berkley Square, but I prefer the comforts of my bachelor suite.’
The young lady nodded. ‘Your sisters mentioned that you have a brother living in London. Do you share accommodations?’
‘Matthew’s a great gun...but he has his own apartments, closer to the financial district. If anyone can find your trustees and help with your father’s will it is he. Matthew makes the pen a dangerous weapon.’
Lady Louisa leaned forward in her seat. ‘Do you really think so? Will he be able to help me gain access to my fortune?’
Wick felt himself move towards her, propelled by more than the movements of the carriage...by a need he did not recognise and did not want. ‘Yes, Matthew’s a legal genius.’
She smiled at him again. ‘He is not a naturalist like your father?’
Like Charles.