dipping too deep. “Thank you. I have remembered exactly why I don’t drink to excess.”
“Last evening you received a letter from Lady Littleton. Would you like it now or after you dress?”
Why the devil would Adeline Littleton write him? Gavin hoped there was nothing wrong with Georgie. Then again, would Lady Littleton write to him about Georgie? Perhaps something was the matter with Littleton. Gavin tried to concentrate on the missive, but his eyes were having trouble focusing and his head felt like horses had trampled upon it. “I’ll read it after I’ve had a strong cup of coffee.”
“Coffee, my lord?” Ardley’s tone was definitely one of shock.
The only time Gavin drank coffee was in a coffee shop. His mother, then his sister complained that it made the house smell. “If we do not have any, then strong tea.”
“Yes, my lord. I believe that can be arranged.” The door opened, water splashed, and the door clicked shut. “If you would like to wash, I shall shave you, if you wish.”
He usually liked to shave himself. It had started as a small defiance against his father, but this morning he had better let his valet do it. He had no doubt that his hands wouldn’t be any steadier than his eyes. “Thank you. I do wish it.”
By the time he began to tie his cravat, Gavin was feeling immeasurably better. His eyesight was not fuzzy any longer and his headache had receded to a faint throbbing. When he arrived in the breakfast room, Lady Littleton’s letter was next to his plate and Broadwell, his butler, placed the teapot and a rack of hot buttered toast on the table.
“How would you like your eggs this morning, my lord?”
Good Lord. The whole household must know Gavin had been in his altitudes. He took stock of his stomach. “Soft-boiled as always.”
“Yes, my lord.”
He poured tea that was as dark as any coffee he’d drunk and added three lumps of sugar to it, then pulled the toast to him, before he remembered the letter. Gavin broke the seal and read.
My dear Turley,
I have come to town for a few days to do some shopping, but there is a musical evening tomorrow, and I would appreciate it if you would act as my escort.
Your friend,
C. Littleton
Gavin caught himself letting out his breath. He’d forgotten there were now two Lady Littletons. He hadn’t planned on attending Mrs. Matthews’s entertainment, but for the dowager Lady Littleton—Good God, he’d better not call her dowager when he was around her—there was little he would not do. Accompanying her ladyship would also give him an opportunity to discover how long Georgie planned to remain at Littlewood. Straight after breakfast he’d write to Lady Littleton agreeing to accompany her.
By now everyone in the ton would know Georgie and her family had left Town and that might not bode well for him. Not that he thought he would be the cynosure of every unmarried lady’s attention, but he would feel as if he’d been thrown to the proverbial wolves. This would be the first time since last Season he would be without Georgie for protection. Although, he doubted she saw it that way. He knew that as long as he was with her, the other ladies and their mothers considered him lost to their wiles.
After consuming two more pots of tea, a nice cut of rare beef, another rack of toast, and two eggs, Gavin felt much more the thing. His head no longer hurt, his eyesight had returned to normal, and his hands weren’t shaking. He wrote the message and had it sent to her ladyship, then decided to apply himself to correspondence and other business he’d left unattended since Georgie had turned him down. No matter what happened, he was not going to think about her today.
Several minutes later he perused a letter from the steward of one of his estates asking for advice in dealing with a dispute between two tenants who had never liked each other. For the past several months, Georgie had given him advice. Even during the summer, he’d written to her father and asked him to relay a message to her. He just wasn’t good at making decisions when it involved the emotional side of things. Give him a boundary dispute, or a matter of right or wrong, and he was perfectly capable. That was one of the reasons he needed her as his wife. She always knew exactly the right thing to do. He set