One of the reasons he was such an effective teacher was because he was so very skilled at offering heartfelt encouragement. “I won’t keep you but will continue to give thought as to whom I might entice into helping you when I’m unavailable. It’s just a bit of a challenge when most people in the area lead such busy lives, working long hours with little time for leisure—”

Her thoughts leapt to last evening’s dinner companion. Would she be able to entice him into helping? Things between them had been awkward at the end, but she could set that aside for a greater good. The question was: Would he?

“Are you all right, miss?”

She gave her head a little shake. “Yes. I just had a thought. A possible solution to our dilemma. I’ll have to ponder it a bit more. Have a good day, Mr. Tittlefitz.”

“You as well, Miss Trewlove.”

Before leaving the hotel, she stopped in the kitchen where one of the staff members gave her a small pitcher of cream. When she returned to her shop, she went upstairs and poured it into a saucer. Dickens immediately arrived to begin lapping it up. He seemed to care little about anything but did love his cream. After putting away her hat and gloves, she returned downstairs.

As always, she simply stood there for a moment, taking in what she had built with help from her family. Every member of her family and Mr. Tittlefitz had been kind enough to help her place the books on the shelves. Everywhere she looked were memories of them assisting her in one way or another, never complaining, doing it all out of the goodness of their hearts. She hadn’t expected to find incredible satisfaction in working here. Originally, she’d simply seen it as a way to surround herself with books while filling her days waiting for her first Season. Now it all meant so very much that it would be difficult to walk away from it.

At nine, she unlocked the front door, ready for business. She halfway hoped Mr. Sommersby would have finished his book by now and might drop by to purchase another. She wondered how long he might have stood at that window, how long before he turned away to retire or become lost in the adventures of Dick Turpin. Strange how they’d made a heroic character out of a criminal, but for some reason people expressed a fondness for scoundrels. When it came to the ladies, her brothers had certainly benefited from that attitude.

Matthew Sommersby seemed more gentleman than rogue. As such, perhaps he’d be willing to assist with the classes. If she could reestablish the rapport they’d shared before the clipping had escaped her pocket and caught his attention.