wanting to get married, but Michael would make her a good husband, and he would give her and her family a much better place to live than the one they currently lived in.
“I know Michael wasn’t planning to meet someone he’d end up marrying when he agreed to help you,” Emilia told Kitty. “Who knows? Maybe this was all meant to be. Well, I’ll leave you two to your visit.”
After she left the room, Aaron turned his attention back to Kitty. “I never expected Miss Britcher to marry anyone. She was intimidating every time I was around her.”
Kitty laughed. “You found her intimidating?”
“Didn’t you?” he asked in surprise.
“No. I thought she was grumpy at first, but then she grew more pleasant as time went on.”
He shook his head. “She never seemed pleasant to me. I had the feeling she was strict all the time. That’s why I hired her. I figured she, of all people, made for a perfect chaperone. But I never did enjoy being around her.”
“I’m shocked to hear that since she took your side so often.” Though, now that Kitty thought of it, Gretchen had stopped doing that after she met Hattie and Teddy.
“She might have taken my side on things, but I don’t think she ever cared for me. I didn’t hire her to like me, though.” He paused then added, “How did she not intimidate you?”
“I don’t know. She just didn’t. Maybe it was because I was angry.”
“No one can blame you for being angry. I was angry when you hired Mr. Stonewall. I always wondered why he refused to let me pay him so he’d go away. Now I know it was because he is far wealthier than I am. What was the use of taking a paltry sum of money?”
“He did it as a favor to Benjamin. He’ll do anything for his nephew. Emilia explained the situation to Benjamin, and he went to his uncle about it. Money wasn’t important to him.”
Aaron rolled his eyes but smiled. “I paid Miss Britcher a good sum of money for her services. She charged me more since she had to stay in the same bedchamber as you. Even before I agreed to hire her, she told me she thought I was being overly cautious about everything. As I think back on it, I agree with her. But at the time, I was so upset with your brother that I didn’t care.”
“Yes, I was upset with him, too.”
“Well, if nothing else, we have our mutual hatred of him in common,” Aaron said.
She hesitated to say anything, but finally decided to. “We have other things in common. We like to read, we like to walk through Hyde Park, and we enjoy looking at exotic animals. Despite our beginning, you’re turning out to be a pleasant companion.”
He smiled again, and there was something soft in his smile that made her heart give an unexpected flutter. Feeling unexpectedly shy, she turned her gaze to the books. “I should put these in my bedchamber. Will you help me? Afterward, we can go for a walk.”
He nodded, collected most of the books, and went with her up the stairs.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kitty scanned the ballroom from where she sat by the edge of the room. Aaron said he would be coming this evening. Emilia and Benjamin had chosen to host this ball. They thought it would be a good way to slip Gretchen into polite society. They had decided not to say anything publicly about where Michael’s betrothed had come from.
If someone were to find out, Michael had said he wasn’t going to deny it. To him, it didn’t matter what her station in life had been before she met him. All that mattered was who she was. Not everyone would see it that way, but he didn’t care. He was more concerned with being happy. “What’s the use of impressing the Ton when you aren’t with someone you love?” he’d commented.
Thinking of his words now, Kitty watched as he and Gretchen danced with the others. Gretchen was dressed in a beautiful new gown, and her hair had been pulled up into an attractive style that flattered her face. She looked as if she had been born and bred a lady in a noble household. The lady’s maid Emilia had recommended for Gretchen to use had transformed her into someone Kitty hardly recognized.
Out of the corner of her eye, Kitty saw someone approaching her. Her heart sped up in anticipation until she saw that