“I’m going to visit Mrs. Lucinda Cuthbert.”

Nate scrunched his face. He obviously had no idea who that was. “Not without me, you aren’t.” Nate grabbed his coat as well.

“You don’t trust me?”

“I don’t trust Lord Bryant.”

“He won’t even be there.”

“Not if I come with you, he won’t.”

Diana nodded. It wasn’t as if she could go about town on her own. She could run and operate a railroad company, but she couldn’t be seen out and about without someone acting as her protector or chaperone. She could ask Mrs. Oliver to accompany her, but she had disappointed Mrs. Oliver enough for a lifetime with her scandal with Lord Bryant. She didn’t need to disappoint her again by having her witness what she was willing to do to help him evade a marriage he didn’t want.

She did up the buttons on her coat and marched toward the door. With any luck, once they arrived at Mrs. Cuthbert’s, she might be able to convince Nate to wait for her in the carriage.

Chapter 19

Diana was in luck. Nate had agreed to stay in the carriage. He didn’t want her associating with Lord Bryant alone, but he also didn’t feel the need to meddle in any of her other affairs. She was grateful she hadn’t lost all of his trust.

Diana waited in Mrs. Cuthbert’s drawing room. It was unlike any room she had ever been in before. Every space was covered in embroidery, framed and hanging on every wall and every surface. On each table sat at least one piece, on top of which sat vases that had also been covered in needlework.

In all the times Diana had spoken with Mrs. Cuthbert, she hadn’t known about her passion for threads, yarns, and—well—color. It was as if a haberdashery volcano had erupted in her drawing room.

Mrs. Cuthbert opened the drawing room door. Diana dropped the small, framed embroidered likeness of a Great Dane back onto the table from whence it had come and stood up.

“Miss Barton, what a pleasant surprise. I haven’t seen you in much too long. Is that brother of yours still controlling your time with that railroad of his?”

If she only knew. “I spend time with the railroad because I like it, not because my brother forces me.”

Mrs. Cuthbert’s head bounced up and down in agreement, even as her eyes said otherwise. “Of course you do, darling, of course you do. It gives you a chance to forget what you want and do your brother’s bidding, all while proving to yourself that you are different from any other young woman in London. It is exciting—I will say that.”

For a moment, Diana’s mind went blank. She had never admitted to anyone the desires she had to be helpful to Nate. Any time she had spoken of her work there, she had always been careful to mention that it was her idea to join him in the business. And it was. It was a way to spend time with Nate while also helping him. When he immediately agreed to letting her do some of the more mundane tasks, she had realized what kind of pressure he was under and how much he truly needed her.