LITMIR.BIZ

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‘I would not wish to upset Millie by questioning her judgement.’

      ‘And we would be suggesting that she might behave imprudently if we were to mention it to Mrs Blackstock …’ Tallie’s voice trailed away. ‘We must keep a quiet eye on Millie. It is possible that, if his intentions are dishonourable, the realisation that she has attentive friends will deter him.’

      Zenna nodded decisively. ‘Yes, I agree, that is the best plan.’

      An awkward silence followed their decision on what action to take over Millie’s unsuitable admirer. Tallie knew Zenna would be expecting her to tell all about the mysterious request to call upon Lady Parry and she must be equally curious as to why Tallie was being driven home by the very man she was so wary of. But Zenna would not pry and Tallie found her own tongue stumbling over what should be a perfectly simple piece of news.

      But it was not so simple, she realised. As the fog of shock and confused delight at the news cleared, things became more and more complicated and delicate.

      All her friends were in very straitened circumstances. They would greet the news of her good fortune with unenvious delight, she was sure, but her immediate, unthinking instinct to give money away and make life easier for them was fraught with difficulties.

      How could she do it without appearing to patronise and putting them in a position where what had been a friendship of equals would be shadowed by inequality? An outright offer of money would wound the pride of any of them, but she did so much want to help lift the anxiety of making ends meet day after day from all three, just as it had been miraculously lifted from her.

      ‘Zenna,’ she began tentatively.

      ‘Yes? Do you want to tell me about this morning? Has something unpleasant happened?’

      ‘No, nothing unpleasant—far from it. But I have had such a shock my head is spinning and I hardly know what to think or do.’

      ‘Lord Arndale has proposed?’ Zenna enquired.

      ‘Proposed? No! Certainly not! Why should he do such a thing?’ Tallie felt so hot and bothered at the very idea that she completely lost her train of thought and simply stared at her friend.

      Zenna shrugged. ‘Just a fancy that crossed my mind.’ Tallie regarded her, astonished, until she retorted, ‘Well, he is quite extraordinarily good-looking.’

       ‘Zenna!’

      ‘I might be a spinster governess, but there is nothing wrong with my eyesight and I can recognise an attractive man when I see one, even if I do not care for him,’ her friend replied somewhat snappishly.

      ‘Yes, of course you can,’ Tallie apologised hastily. ‘Do you really think him so handsome?’

      It was Zenna’s turn to stare. ‘There appears to be something amiss with your eyesight, Talitha. But never mind Lord Arndale—what happened if it is nothing to do with him?’

      ‘Dear Miss Gower who died the other week has left me a legacy in her will,’ Tallie said cautiously.

      ‘Oh, how thoughtful of her. What is it? A piece of jewellery or a small sum of money?’

      ‘That is what I expected when they told me, but, Zenna—it is fifty thousand pounds.’

      ‘Fifty thou … are you sure? Not fifty or five hundred?’

      ‘That is what I thought at first, but there is no mistake. She has left me her entire fortune, beyond legacies to friends and servants.’

      ‘How wonderful!’ Zenna hugged Tallie hard, then sat back with a face radiant with pleasure at her friend’s good fortune. ‘What are you going to do now?’

      ‘I hardly know, it is such a surprise.’ An idea suddenly struck her and, without giving herself time to worry about details, Tallie said, ‘I must make some sensible investments, of course. Zenna, you know you have always said your dream is to have your own school? Why do we not go into partnership and do just that?’

      ‘I do not have any money,’ Zenna protested. But Tallie saw the sudden flare of excitement in her eyes.

      ‘Yes, but you have all the skills and know how a school should be run. I will provide the money for the house and so forth, you manage the school. And,’ she added as Zenna opened her mouth to argue, ‘I would hope to find somewhere large enough for me to make it my home as well, if you should not object.’

      ‘Object? Object! Tallie, do you really mean it? How wonderful, there are so many things I want to try, so many new ideas about the education of girls—’ She broke off. ‘But you have not given this any thought yet, have you? You must do so, and take advice. And, in any case, why on earth would you want to live in a girls’ school? With this fortune you can be a Society lady.’

      ‘I am too old, Zenna, and I know no one.’

      ‘Nonsense.’ Zenna leapt to her feet and began to pace the room. ‘Lady Parry would advise you.’

      ‘She already has,’ Tallie admitted. ‘She has invited me to stay with her and make my come-out under her aegis.’

      ‘Did you not agree? That is a marvellous opportunity, you could not hope for anything more fortunate.’

      ‘Yes, I did agree, but now I think I must tell her I have changed my mind,’ Tallie said slowly. Her conscience was pricking her very badly and she knew that, whatever her views might be about Lord Arndale’s opinions, she owed it to her kind patroness to ensure that she brought not a whiff of scandal to her household.

      She met Zenna’s bemused gaze and blurted out, ‘I must tell her about my work for Mr Harland. I cannot risk the scandal if anything came out, it would be a dreadful way to repay her kindness.’ She did not add the other consideration, which had been looming large ever since she saw Lord Arndale’s inimical stare fixed upon her friend.

      If a respectable governess was not considered a suitable acquaintance for the newly wealthy Miss Grey, what would Lady Parry make of a lodging-house keeper and an opera dancer?

      ‘I must speak to her this afternoon,’ she said resolutely. ‘I will thank her for her kindness, but she will see that I am an unsuitable recipient of it. Better to do it at once, before she has the chance to make any further plans on my behalf.’

      Zenna shook her head sadly. ‘You must do as you think fit, of course, but it is such a shame that you will not make a come-out.’

      ‘Never mind. Tomorrow we can start to make plans for the school—if that idea is still agreeable to you.’

      ‘How can it be anything else? I cannot believe my good fortune—I declare I feel as dazed as you look, Tallie dearest.’ She broke off at the sound of the front door opening. ‘That must be Mrs Blackstock. What will you tell her?’

      ‘Nothing yet, I think. I have no wish to embarrass our friends with the size of my inheritance, although I would value your advice about how I might help them at some point. I think perhaps tomorrow we can tell her of our plans and give notice. If she finds other tenants before the school is ready, we can always find lodgings together, or go to an hotel.’

      ‘An hotel?’ Zenna echoed, wide-eyed.

      ‘Why, yes,’ Tallie said recklessly. ‘I can afford it, after all!’

      This frivolity did not last much beyond luncheon. Zenna was distractedly making lists, breaking off to suck her pen, gaze into space and then resume her scribbling.

      But Tallie was imagining how disappointed in her Lady Parry was going to be when she discovered that her protégée was so abandoned as to supplement her living by posing naked.

       Chapter Six

      Rainbird hid any reaction he felt at Tallie’s second, unexpected,

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