The Fairest of Them All Read Online Free Page A

you missed it?” Char suggested.
    Her aunt shrugged. “You might be right. I’m so excited about Lady Baldwin’s news, I’m giddy. I could have looked right over it. Thank heavens it is here and it feels as if he is making up for what he hasn’t sent.”
    â€œHave you looked to see how much is in it?”
    â€œI’ll count it while you dress. Hurry and join us.” Sarah went down the hall to the front stairs.
    Char shut the door and leaned back against it, annoyed with herself. Why hadn’t she carried the purse upstairs with her?
    Perhaps there would be a moment when she could filch five guineas. She could hope, although, in truth, Leo hadn’t pushed her to pay. It was almost as if he wished her debt to grow. Was that how it had been for her father?
    She stepped out of the breeches before she tripped. She rolled down the wool socks and stashed all the clothes, including the shoes, in the back of her wardrobe. She quickly laced herself into the blue day dress she had been wearing before she’d gone pickpocketing.
    Her braid was messy. She brushed it out and pulled her hair back into a simple style. She went downstairs.
    Sarah and Lady Baldwin were in what the family called the front room. Her Ladyship sat on the settee while Sarah was in one of several chairs in front of a cold hearth. The room was small enough that with blankets and heavy clothing, Sarah and Char found themselves comfortable without the expense of a fire.
    Lady Baldwin was almost as wide as she was tall, a sturdy woman who adored colorful prints and patterns that she used together in a style that suited her. She also enjoyed bold hats teeming with feathers. Almost everything about her spoke of a bygone era. She still powdered her hair and painted her face.
    She had been Julie’s godmother and it was Lady Baldwin who had tracked down Sarah and had warned her of Char’s plight with her uncle Davies.
    â€œI would take you in myself,” Lady Baldwin had told Char. “But you know my circumstances.”
    The late Lord Baldwin had been one of the king’s most respected advisors. However, now few remembered his name and he had not left his widow in good circumstances. His heir rarely spoke to her and her daughter thought her an ­embarrassment. She lived with that daughter, a dour son-­in-­law, and six rowdy children. It was an uncomfortable situation.
    â€œShe wishes I would just die,” Lady Baldwin had sighed to Char on many an occasion. “But I won’t oblige her. I often wonder if I should have just stayed on the stage instead of running off with Bertie. Then where would my haughty daughter be?”
    Her Ladyship enjoyed spending the night in the house on Mulberry Street, and Sarah and Char kept a bedroom for her use.
    Sarah was refilling the glass Lady Baldwin held out with ratafia, something else their small household kept on hand for Lady Baldwin’s enjoyment.
    â€œCharlene, my girl,” Lady Baldwin called out in greeting. “Come give me a kiss.”
    Char dutifully crossed to her and kissed her ­offered cheek. “Sarah says you have a surprise for me.” While she spoke, she noticed her aunt was untying the drawstrings on the money purse.
    â€œNot just a surprise,” Lady Baldwin answered. “An opportunity!”
    Just as she said those words, Sarah poured the coins into her lap and Char was distracted. The amount in the purse exceeded the money for the back rent. Here was enough to keep them a good long while. There had to be close to fifty guineas there. No wonder the purse had been so heavy.
    Sarah’s amazement mirrored Char’s. She began counting the coins as she put them back into the purse. “I can’t believe this. The randy old roué has honored his debt.”
    â€œAnd just in time,” Lady Baldwin said. “We are going to need that money.”
    â€œThat is true,” Sarah agreed.
    Money that Char