The Sleeping Partner by Madeleine E. Robins Page B

himself. Or herself. I take it as a mark of good principles that Lady Brereton intends her sister not be left to the mercies of the city.”
    “The girl has cut herself off from her family and from respectable society.”
    “Your daughter might have been too young or innocent to understand what that means, sir, but you and I are not. Should that innocence and youth be rewarded with heartbreak, poverty, disease, starvation, the lowest kind of whoredom?”
    “All she need to have done, to avoid those things, was to stay in my house,” Lyne snapped.
    Sir Adam intervened. “Come, Miss Tolerance.” These were the first words he had spoken in her presence, and she was shocked at how familiar his voice, and the scoffing tone meant to make light of what she said, were to her. “We have no reason to believe that Ev—that the girl will meet any of those things. Her father’s wishes must be paramount.”
    Miss Tolerance was so furious that she was, briefly, unable to speak. That her brother could say such a thing suggested that her own elopement had taught him nothing. Blood first flushed her face, then departed, leaving her pale and cold.
    “Have you any experience of the matter, sir? Do you have any idea what happens to a gently reared young woman once the stews get hold of her? Would you suffer a young woman of your own family to be so abandoned? If you knew it might mean her death?”
    Sir Adam was red-faced, looking from her to Lyne and back again. “Keep a civil tongue! Remember to whom you speak!”
    “I know well to whom I speak, Sir Adam. You might remember of whom I speak,” Miss Tolerance said coldly. “Your wife’s sister.”
    “What would you have my father-at-law do? Bring the girl home and attempt to pass her off at Almack’s as whole goods?”
    “That is not the only alternative. See that the fellow marries her, and save her reputation and your own. If you fail of that, bring her home and make arrangements for her. Give her some occupation! Let her be of use, if only by handing out liniment and calf’s foot jelly in the village. Do not force her away from all the persons who meant safety and home for her.” Miss Tolerance’s voice shook. This was dangerous ground; far better to return her attention to Lord Lyne, who was watching her with peculiar detachment.
    “Perhaps Sir Adam is right, Lord Lyne. Perhaps I paint the matter too black. If your daughter is lucky, she and her lover will live in some kind of domestic situation for a time before he passes her along to another man of similar fortune. She will make a life as a demi-rep until she has no looks to recommend her and then, if she has been thrifty with the presents and jewels that her keepers have bestowed upon her, she will set herself up with her money invested in the Navy Funds and live a quiet, retired life, almost respectably. If she is less lucky her seducer will pass her along to someone who cares nothing but a pretty face, or who may enjoy defiling a woman better born than he—”
    “Enough! I hear enough of this from my son. The girl has made her bed—”
    “And you require her to occupy it,” Miss Tolerance finished. “Does the girl truly stand so low in your regard that you would abandon her to the London stews?”
    Sir Adam made a noise of revulsion. Miss Tolerance ignored him and kept her gaze upon Lord Lyne. He stood with his back to the fire, hands in his pockets, warming his backside. He appeared unmoved; Miss Tolerance changed her tack.
    “Is it not most likely that what your daughter did was done upon impulse, with the impetuousness of youth and under powerful persuasion from a man she believed loves her? My lord, she is your child. Surely you do not wish such dire harm to come to her. Let me ascertain that she is alive and well. After that your family may decide—”
    Lyne’s voice was cold. “The girl dishonored us, without a care to how it would affect her family. She deserves no further attention.”
    Miss