“I’ve never met her.” Charlotte had only heard all the rumors that everyone else had about the obscenely wealthy Hayward family. That Clara Hayward, a woman of stunning beauty and flawless deportment, had had any chance of a good marriage destroyed by her excessive and unconventional education. That her younger sister, Rose, a gifted artist, had similarly been compromised. Though Rose had been, for a brief time, improbably engaged to the son of a viscount until he was killed at Waterloo, and Rose all but disappeared from the public eye. The baron himself, Harland Hayward, had married, though his unorthodox insistence to continue working as a physician had angered his highborn wife until the day she had met her own scandalous demise.

Though what the Haywards or a ladies’ finishing school could do for Charlotte was beyond her comprehension.

“Your unfamiliarity will be remedied shortly.” King finished writing after a few minutes and set his quill aside. “The baron, or more likely, Miss Hayward, will call upon you.” He folded the paper and reached for the wax. “I can’t imagine it will take longer than a few days. They will have instructions for you then, and I suggest that you go along with whatever it is that will be presented to you.”

Charlotte frowned. “I don’t understand.”

King sealed the letter and reached for his quill again. “The baron is not everything he seems. And he owes me a significant favor, though that bit of information will stay between us if this is to work. At no point in time should my name ever come up in conversation outside this room. You may consider that your first test of loyalty, understood?”

Charlotte nodded.

“Very good.” With precise movements, King wrote Dr. Hayward across the front. He reached back and pulled on a tasseled rope hanging near the wall behind the desk. In moments, a man the size of a gorilla materialized, and King handed him the letter. “Have this delivered to the good doctor, please.”

The gorilla nodded and vanished with disconcerting speed.

Charlotte frowned. “If the doctor—baron is to assist, won’t he need to see my work? A portfolio? How will he know that—”

King folded his hands on the desk and fixed his pale, icy gaze on her once more. “One, the baron is only a single cog in this wheel that has now been set in motion. Second, my endorsement of you and your work will be sufficient. Unless, of course, you give me a reason to withdraw it.”

Charlotte nodded, biting her lip.

“I hope you never give me that reason, Lady Charlotte. For I believe this arrangement has the potential to be mutually beneficial.”

“I understand. You have my word,” she replied, ignoring the small voice in her head that was demanding her to acknowledge the enormity of what she had just done. “And my thanks,” she said instead. “For your assistance.”