The Christmas Countess. Adrienne Basso

She is nearly eight years old and knows so many important things. Her governess is Mrs. James’s sister. We play in the park together.”

      “She is the daughter of Viscount Harding,” Charlotte supplied.

      “She sounds like a very bold little girl.”

      “Oh, she is bold!” Lily replied happily. “Jane has three sisters and two brothers. I want you to meet her. She told me if she is presented to an earl her eldest sister must come along. And once her sister sees you then she will want to marry you. Did you know you are a brilliant catch, Papa? That’s what Jane says.”

      Good God. Cameron sent an annoyed glance at his sister. Charlotte shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “Jane is the youngest of the children,” Charlotte said, as if that explained everything.

      “I am not certain that she is fit company for Lily,” the earl whispered back.

      “Jane is a tad precocious, but still a polite and well-mannered child. We shall be leaving for Windmere manor next week to begin our Christmas holiday celebrations, so the girls will be apart for at least a month or more. I suppose we can put a stop to the meetings before that, if you wish,” Charlotte said skeptically. “But I do believe it will greatly upset Lily.”

      The earl glanced down at his daughter. She was out of earshot, playing a game in the foyer, hopping on her left foot from one black marble square to the next. “We might as well wait. Though I expect you to keep a close eye on this budding friendship for me, Charlotte.”

      “Of course, Cameron. You know I want only the best for Lily.”

      “I know.” The earl leaned forward and gave his sister a gentle kiss on the forehead. He had overreacted, thanks to his unsettling meeting at White’s and it was hardly fair to take out his bad humor on Charlotte.

      His sister was a timid woman, protected and cosseted since birth. Her bodily imperfection had curtailed not only her physical activity, but her social interaction and she usually had difficulty speaking her mind. Even with him.

      “Do you have to work now, Papa?”

      “For a few hours, but I shall join you for dinner.”

      “Will you dress?”

      “If you’d like.” The earl grinned. Lily had recently become very interested in fashion and adored the idea of dressing formally for dinner.

      “Oh, yes, please. I have a brand-new yellow gown with three ruffles of lace on the bottom that I shall wear.”

      “I am sure you will look very fetching.”

      “I do hope so.” Her mind preoccupied with her dinner outfit, Lily skipped from the room.

      The earl expected his sister would follow her, but as she turned to leave he caught a slight frown on Charlotte’s face.

      “Is something wrong?” he asked.

      Charlotte hesitated. “Well, ’tis a bit indulgent for a child of Lily’s age to dress for dinner.”

      “Harmless fun,” he countered. “Besides, it makes her happy.”

      “Perhaps.” Charlotte lowered her gaze, which annoyed him, because with her expressive eyes hidden, Cameron had no way of telling what she was really thinking.

      “Hurry, Aunt Charlotte. I need you.”

      Lily’s voice, filled with childish excitement, carried down from above stairs. Cameron watched his sister open her mouth, then suddenly shut it.

      “I suppose it would not be an effective lesson to lecture Lily about the inappropriate and unladylike behavior of shouting by yelling back at her to stop screaming,” Charlotte remarked with a self-deprecating grin. “I believe I shall simply tell her that is something Jane Grolier would never do.”

      “Brilliant.”

      Charlotte looked over her shoulder at him and grinned, then slowly, carefully climbed the stairs. When she disappeared from view, the earl stepped across the hallway to his private study, pleased to find his secretary, Robert Baines, still hard at work. The older man put down his pen and started to stand when the earl entered the room, but Cameron waved him back into his seat.

      “I have reviewed the reports and the earning statements for the textile mill in Lancashire, my lord,” the secretary said. “My notes are in the margin, if you wish to read and discuss it now.”

      “It can wait.”

      Feeling too agitated to sit, Cameron paced behind his desk. “I have a far more urgent and delicate matter I wish you to attend to at once.”

      Baines lifted his pen and shifted the clutter on his desk, searching for a fresh sheet of paper.

      “I need background information on two people, a brother and sister. Daniel Tremaine and Rebecca Tremaine, respectively.”

      The secretary peered down at the parchment and carefully wrote a few notations. “Do you wish me to hire a Bow Street man?”

      “No,” Cameron said quietly, torn between his need to find the information quickly and the equally important need to keep this matter very quiet. At this point there were only three living people who knew the truth about Lily—himself, Daniel and Rebecca.

      The last thing he wanted was a Bow Street man sniffing around this situation. Secrets were far easier to keep with fewer individuals knowing them. “I want you to handle this personally, Baines.”

      “What precisely do you wish to know about this pair?” the secretary asked.

      “Tremaine is a businessman—a successful one, from what I gather. I want to know where his fortune came from, where and how he made it, and what precisely he has been doing for the past six years.” Cameron leaned against the edge of his desk. “As for the sister, I want as many details as you can find about her family history, where she grew up, where she lives currently, who she has associated with, that sort of thing. Also, if there are any scandals about either of them, widely known or otherwise.”

      The secretary jotted down a few more notes, then glanced up. “If I may ask, are you considering hiring Miss Tremaine for a household position?”

      “Not exactly.” Cameron furrowed his brow. “I need the information as soon as possible, but discretion is key in this matter, Baines. I do not want you to arouse any suspicions when making these inquiries and above all, I want no one to know of my interest. Do you understand?”

      “You may count on me, my lord.” The secretary gathered up his papers and turned for the door. “If you will excuse me, I will start working immediately on this matter.”

      Cameron nodded. Baines had been in his employ for nearly ten years and had always done his job with professional discretion. His loyal service was yet another indicator that hiring skilled, competent people and paying them a generous salary was the best way to conduct business. Short of doing it himself, Cameron knew Baines was the right person to handle this most delicate matter.

      Once alone, the earl tried to settle down and read the mill report that Baines had left, but it was a useless endeavor. His eyes saw and read the words, but his brain did not comprehend the sentences.

      Instead, he replayed his meeting with Tremaine over and over in his mind, trying to decide the best way to move forward. For a few moments, Cameron toyed with the idea of buying the pair off, but if Tremaine were as successful as the earl suspected, money would hold no appeal.

      Disgusted, he resumed pacing, then realized he was clenching his hands so hard that his fingers were growing numb. This was ridiculous. He needed a plan. The information Baines would uncover would be useful, but the earl knew from the conversation at the club today that no matter what was discovered, the Tremaines would not easily go away.

      He had agreed to give them an answer by Friday, but Cameron was hardly ready to allow this woman to meet Lily. No, she must first meet him and somehow convince him to allow a brief