And maybe it was all to the good. Maybe that was exactly what his mother needed. Robert resolved to visit her later today to see if she had improved or was worsened by the interference. “But that still doesn’t tell me how it got you engaged to Gwen.”
“Gwen was bored, and Debra was terrified. All I needed to do was point out the imbalance to them both and they worked to solve it by themselves.”
Robert remembered that Season, what little of it he paid attention to. Debra was Gwen’s project. Debra seemed to be ever so grateful for the help, and eventually true love blossomed for Miss Smythe. “But how does that win you Gwen?”
“Well, once she was in balance, her good sense was restored. And there I was, being the humble progenitor of her success. So long as I didn’t interfere in whatever she was doing, she and I got along famously.”
“Famously,” Robert echoed. “That’s not what I remember.” Actually the courtship had been rather tempestuous, but no one had expected anything less from Gwen. In fact, Robert had sometimes wondered if all of his mother’s spirit had been poured into Gwen at an early age.
“Well,” Edward said as he ducked his head to take a sip of his brandy, “you asked how I got her attention. Not how I kept it.”
But Robert already knew the answer to that. Edward was an extraordinarily levelheaded young man. And that was exactly what Gwen needed. “All you did was point out a problem.”
“And step back out of the way. That’s most important.”
“Yes, with Gwen that certainly would be.” And could that, perhaps, be the solution to not one but two of his own problems? After all, what he needed was an innovative business approach to satisfy the miners and still allow the mine to be profitable. Sadly, he was fresh out of ideas, as were all of his usual confidants. There was only one other person he could think of who had already demonstrated an ability to think of different solutions and had the boldness to see them through.
Helaine, of course. After all, she was the one who’d made the unheard-of request for him to pay in advance of service. She was also the one to suggest that Gwen—an unwed girl—be allowed to make her own decisions regarding her funds. Could it be as simple as pointing Helaine at a problem and seeing if she had a solution? He had nothing to lose, especially as he had already exhausted all his other choices. Even if she had no new ideas, he would still count it a success if it got him deeper into her confidence.
“Point them at a problem,” he said.
“And then step out of the way,” said Edward.
“Well, of course,” said Robert, not really listening. He was thinking instead of exactly what he would do once he got deep into Helaine’s confidence. Of all the things he could do to her. And that she would do to him. “I’m not really the interfering sort.”
“Er, that’s not exactly how Gwen describes you.”
“What?” Edward started to respond, but Robert waved him to silence. He didn’t really want to hear what Gwen thought of him. “Look, I won’t bar the door to your relations. To my mind, I’ve been spectacularly unable to help my mum, so if your mum can do what I can’t, then I shan’t interfere. But I do have one request.”
“Name it.”
“Have Gwen bring all the women here to get their dresses made. She can set up the dressmaker in one of the upstairs rooms. We’ve got women up to the rafters. Don’t see why we can’t have them all involved in the project. And if it gets my mum bathed and out of her bedroom, then all the better.”
Edward frowned, obviously stunned. “You cannot wish to have all those women running around your home.”
Robert grinned because he didn’t much care about all the women. Just one. One beautiful dressmaker who would sleep a staircase away. “Nonsense,” he said. “I’ll just hole up in here or at my club. Won’t make a bit of difference to me.”
So it was done. Between that and asking for Helaine’s advice, she was sure to tumble into his arms inside a week.
Chapter 10
“I am offering my home to you, and you’re trying to blackmail me?” Helaine could hardly credit the cheek. And yet, looking at the pale, gaunt Penny, she knew only desperation had forced the girl to do this. Desperation and a child. But that didn’t make it acceptable. Or something that Helaine could simply forgive.
“No, no!” Penny gasped, obviously horrified. “I just want you to listen! I just…I want a chance and no one will give it to me.”
“Little wonder, if you’ve been trying to blackmail—”
“Please!” Penny was visibly trembling. Enough that little Tommy looked up from inspecting a beetle to stare at his sister. A moment later he was crawling back. “Just listen. For a moment.”
Helaine sighed. She remembered being this desperate once. She had a mother to feed, not a babe, but it amounted to the same thing. “What do you want?” she asked, her tone softening against her will.
“I know how to make shoes,” she said. “I’ve been working with my father for years. His hands didn’t work so well sometimes, and I always did for him when he couldn’t.”
Helaine frowned, wondering where this was going. “Then you should get an apprenticeship with one of the other shoemakers. I’m sure—”
“I tried. They won’t talk to me. There are boys aplenty and no one thinks shoes made by a girl will be sturdy enough.”
“But you’re skilled. Your father was an artist.”
Penny nodded. “They say that was my father; no one wants me.” She blinked back the tears that Helaine knew were equal parts humiliation and desperation. But she had to be honest. Some of the work of being a cobbler was taxing. There was strength involved. Would she be inclined to buy a pair of boots if she knew they were made by a woman? Probably not. She’d be too afraid the shoes would fall apart. It didn’t make sense, but her own prejudice made her understand Penny’s problem.
“What about ladies’ slippers?” Helaine asked. “Certainly you could do that.”
“But the boys do it. The ones who don’t have the strength. I could have worked with my father for years and no one would know the difference. I was doing his work. But now…” Her voice trailed away on a sob. She didn’t have to finish because Helaine knew what she was saying. Now no one would hire her. Now she was a girl alone trying to support a baby.
“But what can I do about it?”
“You have a dress shop where ladies come to buy clothing.”
Helaine nodded. “Yes, that’s what…” It took her less than a moment to understand. “You think to sell shoes there. To women.”
“No one need know and even if they did find out eventually, I would be a woman selling to women. Dancing shoes and the like.” Penny picked up Tommy with more strength and animation than Helaine had seen from her all afternoon. “Think what you could sell when the slippers are made of the same material and color to match the dress.”
“But ladies already do that.”
“But they go to different shops, different people. You could promise them excellent shoes without ever leaving your store. They would not have to walk in bad weather. I could fit them right there.”
“But then they would know you are a woman.”
Penny shook her head. “I would merely be helping someone else. I would be taking the sizes for the shoemaker. We shall make up a name.” She lifted up the boy. “We will say it is Tommy’s father.”
Helaine hesitated. “The shoes would have to be of the finest quality. It is my reputation at stake here. If the shoes fall apart, then no one will come back to my store.”
“But they won’t. I swear it!” She stepped forward. “Please, Lady…Mrs. Mortimer. You know what it is like to be alone and starving. This is what I know how to do. And I am very good at it. I have all my father’s tools. Please, please, help me.”
Helaine didn’t like the way the girl had gone about asking, and she certainly didn’t like the idea of bringing on yet another two mouths to feed. Yet she couldn’t deny the business possibility. If Penny really was as good as her father, then this was a boon she couldn’t pass up. But if the slippers fell apart or looked horrible, then it could damage her reputation at a critical time.