Chapter One
November 1814, London
Georgiana Lockhart sat quietly, her hands folded primly in her lap. She didn’t know why Robert had summoned her to his office but hoped it was because he finally, finally was going to give her a real assignment. The hope of that sang in her blood. Whispered its promises in her ear. But outwardly she remained calm. Ladylike. Not that there was anyone in the office to see how she was behaving. Robert’s clerk had shown her in, saying that Robert would be there shortly. But almost a quarter hour had passed and there was no sign of him. She had already looked at all the items on his shelves and walls to confirm for herself that nothing had changed. She was tempted to go through the drawers in his desk, but couldn’t come up with a plausible excuse for why she might have been doing so if caught. Just as she was considering giving into the temptation, she heard the door open behind her.
“Good morning, George,” Robert said, passing by her and moving around to sit behind his desk.
“Good morning, Robert.”
“All of your training reports have been excellent. You have received nothing but praise from your mentors.”
George hid her smile. “Thank you, sir.”
“What remains for me now is to find something to challenge you.”
She remained perfectly still, maintaining a neutral, pleasant expression. Robert stared at her long past discomfort, but she knew that long silences didn’t bother Robert in the least. He often used them as a simple way to make others squirm.
George refused to squirm.
After some minutes had ticked by Robert laughed and sat back in his chair. “You’ve grown up, haven’t you, Georgie?”
“I like to think so.”
He tapped his finger against his lower lip. “Do you think you’re ready for another visit to your Aunt Martha in Scotland?”
At last there was something to smile about. “I adore Aunt Martha.”
Robert had invented her rich, controlling aunt as a way to give her time for some of her more intense training. Dear Aunt Martha held the promise of inheritance over the heads of the Lockhart family but required that only her eldest niece attended her. In her overbearing way, rich Aunt Martha would send a carriage with maids to whisk George away. It said something of George’s parents that they acquiesced without complaint, provided that a packet of funds was included in the exchange.
Stay tuned for the full first chapter to be posted at http://haberdashersfic.blogspot.com/ in Fall 2013! Or pre-order on Amazon.com.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Author’s Note
About the Author
Fates for Apate (Haberdasher’s Book Three)