called Emmy.â
âDonât forget Edgar Wyvern wants to talk to you. Heâs coming over for dinner tonight.â
âI havenât forgotten. I wonât be leaving until the morning, anyway.â
They exchanged a smile, both of them with the same thought, that it was slightly strange that their motherâs swain should seek the blessing of her son, who was less than half his age.
But Adamâs interview with Edgar Wyvern turned out to be more illuminating than that.
After dinner the older man, who was a distinguished barrister of fifty years, retired to the front room with Adam. Sipping at his brandy he said, âYou know that I hold your mother in great affection and esteem, Adam.â
âIndeed I do.â
âThen you wouldnât put any objection forward if we married?â
âOf course not, Edgar. And I speak for my sister, as well. We both want our mother to be happy.â
âIâm sure I can support your mother in a manner that sheâd enjoy and appreciate. Your sister as well, if sheâd care to come and live with us. She would socialise with many more people, which would give her a chance to meet a suitor, if thatâs her wish.â
Adam offered him a faint smile. âThat will be for Celia to decide, since she is of age. But my sister enjoys a quiet life, and I think sheâs reconciled herself to spinsterhood, and being useful by working and earning a living for herself.â
âIâm not advocating that we marry her off to the first man who takes an interest in her, nor abandon her need to be usefully employed. But rather, that she moves in an environment where she can meet people in a more social atmosphere. I entertain often, as you will discover.â
Adam remembered Celiaâs laugh ringing out when sheâd been with Marianne Thornton. Perhaps his sister did need friends of her own age. It was not up to him to say what she did and didnât need. It was entirely possible that sheâd enjoy having a home and family to look after. He brought his mind back to what Edgar was saying.
âThat would leave you free to conduct your own life in the manner a young man should, without the added responsibility of providing both moral and financial support for your sister.â
âI enjoy Celiaâs company. Have you talked to my mother about this?â
âYour mother agrees with me. Much as she loves and trusts you, she would prefer to have her daughter living under her own roof. I believe she intends to talk to your sister while weâre absent.â
âI see.â How quickly the course of a life could change through the intervention of another. The thought of going back home to an empty house every evening was suddenly uninviting. âCelia will do as our mother asks, of course. Iâll miss her if she leaves though; my sister is a good companion.â
âBecause Iâve sprung this on you rather suddenly I do have a solution to offer you.â
âYou usually do, Edgar,â Adam said with a chuckle. âIâve never met anyone so thorough, or so well prepared for a discussion. I envy you.â
âYour own skills of reasoning are to be admired.â
âLet me hear your solution then.â
âLease your property here in Chiswick to a suitable family, and take up gentlemenâs rooms in central London, which will be more convenient for you since theyâll be serviced.â
âI suppose you already have one in mind.â
Edgar chuckled.
âIf you take up my offer, Iâll then be able to introduce you to my club. As my principal heir it wouldnât hurt you to make the right sort of contacts, and a gentleman of your age has his own needs and liaisons to consider.â
Adamâs liaisons in the past had been few and far between, due to the fact that his available funds were used for necessities rather than pleasure. There was also a lack of privacy to
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