Read Cecilia Grant - [Blackshear Family 03] for Free Online Page B

doubt. I’d only add that our presumptive sagacious gentleman would also recognize that the most valuable, most effective secretaries are those who begin with education and practice in the law. And that the best among these is the man with political aspirations of his own, who views the position as a kind of apprenticeship toward the day he’s situated to stand for Parliament himself.”
    Nick drank, buying a moment to collect his thoughts. The fine port tasted remarkably like any other port he’d ever sent down his gullet, for all that Kersey across the hall had waxed rhapsodic over the vintage and over the time the stuff spent in wood barrels before bottling.
    He set his glass down. “There’s the matter of my family.” Obviously there was. He could forget the Blackshear disgrace for long moments at a time in this house, where the Westbrooks’ own outcast state, combined with their lack of interest in social scandal, kept them largely ignorant of these things. In his professional sphere, there was no chance of forgetting. “Do you not think it likely Lord Barclay would prefer to engage a gentleman who brought no whiff of unsavory connections with him?”
    “No, in fact, I don’t.” Westbrook eyed him steadily, which was a trick a good barrister employed when he wanted his listener to believe he was telling the truth. “Recall to whom he wrote in the first place.” He dipped his head in a cursory bow. “If he were truly put off by that sort of thing, he would have had nothing to do with me.”
    It wasn’t quite the same, though. Westbrook had marrieda woman of virtue and integrity who happened to have worked on the stage. The resulting scandal had all to do with mistaken perception. With people refusing to see beyond that label of
actress
.
    Too, so many years had passed since then. Nick shook his head. “I’m sure your professional reputation quite outweighs whatever traces of infamy might still cling to your name.”
    “You make my point for me.” Triumph flickered in Westbrook’s eyes before giving way to such fatherly gravity as compelled Nick to avert his own gaze to the letter once more. “People do forget, Blackshear.” The kindness in his voice was nearly enough to make a man wince. “Another scandal comes along and displaces yours in the public imagination. Then another comes to eclipse that, and yet another to shoulder out the third. And all the while you toil on, building your good name in your profession and living a private life worthy of that good name, until finally the only people still inclined to shun you are those whose esteem really isn’t worth much.” He’d picked up his glass and was eddying its contents in small circles. “And I speak as the one who caused my family disgrace, mind. I expect your path back to respectability will be easier and shorter.”
    Nick smoothed the letter’s folds, nodding in a style both thoughtful and noncommittal.
The path back to respectability
, he might say if he was in the mood for protracted debate,
was easier and shorter when your father was an earl
. Society hostesses had doubtless been quick in discovering they could overlook the one objectionable connection when it came to including the present Lord Harringdon on their guest lists. Sons and daughters of mere gentry weren’t nearly so much in demand.
    “I’ll grant that it would have been ideal if this opportunity had come a year or so later, when you felt you’dgot your good name back.” The click of Westbrook’s wedding ring against his still-circling glass marked off every few words. “However, it’s come now. And you can’t be sure of encountering another one like this. Besides, my credibility is somewhat at stake.” Ah, here came the argument’s death thrust. A shift in his voice, like a musical key change, signaled its approach. “The baron has asked if I know of a man with the skills and inclination to tutor him in speaking. I should like to be able to recommend the best