so that he can make a lot of money by betting on another horse from his stables, which, of course, wins.”
Mr. Lawson put his hand up to his forehead.
“Why did you not let me read it before you sent it to the publishers? You will undoubtedly be prosecuted for libel and ordered to pay enormous damages.”
Tamara laughed.
“That’s easy, at any rate. If I have no money, I cannot pay!”
“Then you may go to prison.”
“Then I will plead that every word I wrote was true and therefore justified.”
Mr. Lawson groaned.
“That is something which cannot happen! You will sit down, Miss Selincourt, here and now and write to the publishers withdrawing your book!”
“Withdraw my book?” Tamara cried. “I shall do nothing of the sort!”
“You must! You must see it is the only possible course for you to take,” Mr. Lawson insisted.
He saw the light of defiance in Tamara’s eyes and added quietly,
“You have to think of the children. Knowing what you believe the Duke to be like, could you bear to send them alone to Granchester Castle? I know that they would be unhappy without you.”
There was a long silence.
Then Tamara capitulated.
“No, you are right. I will send the letter.”
“I will draft it for you,” Mr. Lawson suggested. “In the meantime I will despatch a letter tomorrow morning to the Duke, informing him of his brother’s death and telling him that the children will arrive at the beginning of next week.”
“As soon as – that?”
“We have to remember Mr. Trevena.”
“Y-yes – of course.”
Once again Tamara rose to walk to the window.
“I am thinking,” she said, “that if I must – go with them and I realise that Vava is too young to go without me, then it might be best not to go as – Maïka’s sister.”
Mr. Lawson considered for a moment.
Then he said,
“No, of course not, I should have thought of that. It would be best to say that you have looked after them as – ”
“ – as a Governess,” Tamara interposed. “At least then he will have to give me my wages so that I shall not be entirely dependent upon him.”
Mr. Lawson looking at her and seeing the sunshine touch the dark red of her hair to a flaming gold, thought that she would look very unlike the usual run of Governesses to be found in charge of small children.
He did not, however, express his thoughts, he only asked aloud,
“What name shall I call you?”
“Does it matter?” Tamara asked. “No, wait, it had better be something that the children can remember.”
“Why not ‘Miss Wynne’?”
“Excellent. I will tell them that is what we are going to do.”
“But I hope that you will not try and win a battle against the Duke,” Mr. Lawson said. “It is important, Miss Selincourt, that he should like the children. He is a very rich and powerful man and there is nothing he could not do for them if he takes a fancy to them.”
“I think he is far more likely to fling us all into a dungeon and keep us there on bread and water until we die,” Tamara said dramatically.
Mr. Lawson laughed.
“I think if that was discovered it would cause a scandal that would reverberate throughout the whole country! I assure you that from what I have heard of the Duke he does not like scandals.”
“No, of course not,” Tamara agreed. “That is what his father thought Ronald was causing by marrying an actress.”
There was no mistaking the bitterness in her tone and Mr. Lawson said quickly,
“I do beg of you to try to forget the past. As close relatives of His Grace, the children cannot only have everything they have ever desired, but also a unique opportunity for happiness in the future.”
Tamara did not speak and after a moment he said,
“It seems strange that we should be talking about it now when Kadine is only ten, but in seven years’ time she will be a debutante and a very beautiful one. The whole Social world will be open to her and her sister as the nieces of His Grace the Duke of Granchester.”
Tamara looked at him in surprise and then with a quick change of mood which Mr. Lawson knew was characteristic of her, she said,
“You are right! Of course you are right and I must think of the girls. They will both be very beautiful, as you say, and perhaps they will be able to pick and choose the right sort of husbands – men who are rich but whom they also love.”
There was a sudden softness in her dark eyes that made Mr. Lawson think to himself that long before Kadine and her little sister Validé were grown up, their aunt would be married or at least she would have had the opportunity of it not once but a hundred times.
He rose from his desk.
“If you will wait a few minutes, Miss Selincourt, I will draft a letter for you to write to your publishers and also a letter from myself to His Grace telling him to expect you.”
“I will wait,” Tamara sighed.
Mr. Lawson smiled at her and went to the outer office where there were several clerks sitting at their high desks, their white quill pens moving busily over the books and documents that made Lawson, Cresey and Houghton one of the busiest Solicitors in the town.
Tamara rose from the chair and once again walked to the window.
She felt as if everything that had happened this morning was going round and round in her head in a manner that made it hard for her to think straight.
For one thing it was more of a blow than she was willing to express to Mr. Lawson to know that she must withdraw her novel.
She had had such high hopes of making quite a considerable sum of money from it, considering how much she had made with her first book.
That had been a very slim volume, but the publishers had sent her several reviews, which had been complimentary.
She thought that a novel might capture the imagination of the smart Social world that had made a hero out of Sir Walter Scott and a great financial success of Lord Byron.
Hers combined adventure, villainy and a certain amount of romance in what she had thought was an agreeable mixture
