Page 43 of The Wallflower Takes All

“The man of law?” the count said.

“Yes.”

“Ah.” The count nodded solemnly. “Then we are brothers in tragedy. You serve the law. I serve beauty. Both mistresses are cruel.”

“Mine keeps better accounts,” Mr. Ashby said.

Poppy bit her lip.

Mama drifted down the stairs in a cloud of perfume they could ill afford. “Count Bellarosa is to accompany me.”

“He is not,” Poppy said.

“He will be quite bereft,” Mama retorted.

“He shall recover,” Poppy insisted.

“Recovery is one of my lesser gifts,” the count assured them.

Poppy looked at Mr. Ashby.

It was not a pleading look. She refused to plead. She merely looked at him as one might look at a locked door while holding a key one was not certain would fit.

Mr. Ashby’s expression altered slightly, and the cool politeness in his face gave way to understanding.

He stepped closer. “Lady Montague, may I have a word with Miss Montfort?”

Mama brightened. “How formal. Certainly, darling. I adore words. Especially when other people are having them and I am not required to listen.”

Poppy followed Mr. Ashby into the study, leaving Jenkins to stand guard over Count Bellarosa and whatever cities he intended to claim next.

The moment the study door closed, Poppy turned to Mr. Ashby. “I am sorry.”

He blinked. “For what?”

“I suppose because I am forever apologizing for people who are not sorry, which is probably foolish, but it has become a habit.” She crossed to the desk and set one hand upon the back of the chair. “I did not invite him. I do not know what he wants from Mama, but I am quite certain it is not her conversation.”

“A reasonable suspicion.”

“We both know she has no money,” Poppy continued.

“Not a fact I would advise announcing widely.”

“Unfortunately, Mama has a talent for attracting men who assume glamour and wealth are the same thing.”

“In some circles, they often travel together,” Mr. Ashby said.

Poppy shook her head. “In this house, glamour travels alone and sends the bill after.”

That did it. Mr. Ashby smiled, though only a little, because he never gave away more than a little. Still, it was enough for Poppy to feel the effect in the most inconvenient places.

The smile vanished quickly, but her body had already recorded it, low and deep, with a humiliating eagerness she had no business feeling.

She looked away and saw his notebook lying open on the desk.

She had not meant to read it. Truly, she had not. But her gaze caught upon the page before manners could intervene.

Calculate arrears owed to Ashby and Son.