“Is there no one else she can go to?”
“No. At least, there are none who will have her.”
“I’m not surprised.” His tone was dry. “No, it is clear, Kate, she must live in Bath.”
“In Bath?” Kate pulled away and turned to face him. “Are you mad, James?”
“Not at all,” he said, smiling. “It’s the perfect place for such an invalid, even one who is merely a malade imaginaire—or perhaps I should say, especially for one such! I wonder Harry did not think of it himself.”
“But we promised—”
James laid a finger on her lips, silencing her protest. “You promised houseroom. Well, I shall give your cousin more than that: I shall give her a house of her own.”
Kate’s eyes widened at the thought of such expense. “Oh, but—”
His finger silenced her again. “I am plump enough in the pocket to provide for a
