Her ladyship might have read it.
His lordship needs to get something more recent for his mother, Miss Trim said, making Leath bristle at the implication of neglect. Its odd that she doesnt get a standing order of the latest books from Hatchards. Surely Lady Sophie wanted to read something published in the last ten years.
Lady Sophie wasnt much of a reader, Crane said. If I can assist with making a list for the marchioness, Id be happy to oblige. My sister is always mentioning some book or another in her letters.
Clearly Im not keeping you busy enough, Crane, Leath said acidly.
Silence crashed down. Crane wobbled on the ladder and dropped the leather volume onto the carpet. My lord
Miss Trim turned more slowly. Your lordship, she said coolly, curtsying and lowering her eyes.
Damn it, Leath already regretted the loss of that glorious smile. It was possible he made her uneasyGod knew, his constant physical yen for her made him uneasy. But he didnt think she was frightened. Instead, he felt like she watched him, waiting for some slip. He had no idea why. But his skin prickled when she was in the room, and not just because of his inconvenient interest.
My lord, Miss Miss Trim wanted some reading for her ladyship. I didnt think youd mind if I helped her. On unsteady legs, Crane descended and bent to retrieve the book. I can only apologize most sincerely if Ive overstepped the mark.
Damn it, Leath had reduced his obliging and efficient secretary to a stuttering wreck. He hated feeling like the specter at the feast. Illogically, he blamed the girl whose gaze was focused on the floor. The girl who looked as if shed never permit an insubordinate thought to cross her mind.
He believed that like he believed in fairies building bowers in his parterre.
Despite his guilt, his voice was stern. Id like that report on draining the Lincolnshire property today.
Yes, sir, Crane said miserably. He passed the book to Miss Trim. Im sure her ladyship will like this.
Leaths grumpiness deepened as she bestowed a glimmer of a smile upon Crane. Thank you. Im sorry I kept you from your work.
Not at all, he said, and Leaths eyes narrowed on the young mans besotted expression. Crane had always struck him as a sensible fellow. Leath would hardly have employed him if he wasnt. Clearly the marquess wasnt the only man at Alloway Chase susceptible to wide brown eyes.
Crane, Leath said curtly.
Immediately, my lord. He glanced nervously at his employer, swallowing until his Adams apple bobbed, then disappeared into the office.
Not so fast. Leath caught Miss Trims arm as she edged toward the door. The contact slammed through him, demanded that he kiss the impertinence out of her. Pride alone steadied his grip. Ill thank you to stay away from my secretary.
Brown eyes could be warm as honey. They could also flash with disdain. After a blistering moment of communication that had nothing to do with lord and housemaid and everything to do with male and female, she glanced away. Yes, my lord.
He stared at her, willing her to look at him properly. Even, heaven save him, smile the way shed smiled at that stupid boy Paul Crane. See that you follow my instructions.
Yes, sir.
His hand tightened. Through her woolen sleeve, he felt her strength. He was used to society ladies. Miss Trim felt real and earthy in a way no woman of his own class ever did.
The silence lengthened. Became awkward. Reminded him of those charged moments the night theyd met. He still woke from dreams with her citrus scent filling his senses and his arms curling around a fantasy Eleanor Trim. In his most forbidden fantasies, he did a lot more than hold her in his arms.
He hadnt panted after the maids since he was an adolescent. Even then, hed recognized the essential unfairness of pursuing women who worked for him. How could a woman freely give consent to the man who paid her wages?
Despite Miss Trims outward docility, he knew that shed have no trouble denying him. Blast her.
May I go, sir?
He caught a faint edge of mockery. He hated to think that she recognized his lust. He didnt trust her, he didnt much like her, but dear Lord above, she set him afire as no woman ever had.
No.
This time when her eyes flashed up to his, he was delighted to see trepidation in the coppery depths. So far, theyd played a game where she knew the rules and he didnt. That disadvantage ended today.
Hed tried ignoring her. Much good that had done. Now hed try a direct challenge. Sit down. I want to talk to you.
A frown crossed her face. Her ladyship will wonder where I am.
I wont keep you long, he said coolly, releasing her with a reluctance he hated to acknowledge and gesturing toward a chair.
He moved behind the desk, hoping that the authoritative position might lend him some desperately needed gravitas. How ludicrous that hed faced down the greatest men in the land without a qualm, yet this one humble girl, who worked for him, goddamn it, made him as unsure as a boy with his first sweetheart.
Not that he was naïve enough to imagine anything romantic happened here. He had a bad case of blue balls for an unsuitable woman. Given that satisfying his craving was out of the questionnot least because if word got out about him tupping his mothers companion, hed rusticate in Yorkshire foreverhe needed to control himself.
Easier said than done.
Miss Trim had a subtle, enticing beauty. Every time he saw her, he thought her lovelier. Right now, with her chin set and a flush on her slanted cheekbonesperhaps embarrassment, more likely vexationshe was delicious. Like a cranky goddess.
The silence extended. And extended.
We werent doing any harm, she said eventually, without looking at him.
Crane has work to do. Too much to waste time flirting with pretty girls.
Hell, hed better watch his tongue. At the compliment, the pink in her cheeks deepened delightfully. She had lovely skin, smooth and creamy. It looked as soft as velvet and his fingers curled against the blotter as he beat back the urge to touch her.
It was only a few minutes, and he was being kind.
Leath hid a wince at the unspoken criticism that he, in contrast, wasnt kind. She had a point. Crane hadnt deserved the reprimand. My mother doesnt like novels.
She does now. I suggested something more entertaining than those dry-as-dust treatises you send her.
She was definitely criticizing him, the baggage. Shes satisfied with my choices.
At last Miss Trim raised her eyes and looked at him properly. As he expected, there was no fear in her expression. Instead more watchfulness. Thats what shed tell you, Im sure.
She likes to keep up with my political career.
That lush mouth quirked with a faint derision that made him feel like a gauche schoolboy. Yes.
An ocean of implication in one short syllable. Because Miss Trim must be aware that just now he had no political career. And if he didnt keep his nose clean until they invited him back, hed never have a political career again. Good enough reason, even if he forgot that he was a gentleman, to keep his hands off her, however beguiling she was. And now shed stopped pretending to be a dutiful domestic with no will beyond her masters, he found her very beguiling indeed, bugger it.
She was a puzzle. He didnt like puzzles. But however closely hed observed her over the last week, he couldnt work out her scheme. Perhaps she was what she claimed to be, a woman down on her luck.
Perhaps.
Youre a very unusual housemaid, Miss Trim, he said and was intrigued that his remark made her uncomfortable. Every instinct shrieked that she hid something.
Because I suggested that your mother might enjoy a novel?
I doubt many of my housemaids could recommend a ladys reading, he said neutrally, steepling his fingers and regarding her.
She raised her chin with un-housemaid-like hauteur. She tried to play the self-effacing servant, but she wasnt much good at it. Something else that made him question her background. Girls went into service young and were trained to become obedient ciphers. There was nothing of the cipher about Miss Trim, and while she wasnt exactly disobedient, there was an edge to her that indicated she cooperated only so far as she was willing.
Have you asked them? she said sweetly, regarding him as unwaveringly as he watched her.
His lips twitched. No, I havent. But Id still like to know where you developed this extensive knowledge.
More discomfort. For a woman who lied so often, she was dashed bad at it. The lady who was my last employer encouraged me to better myself.
Is that so?
Yes, sir.
So she read you the latest books while you polished the silver? He didnt bother to mask his skepticism.
To do her credit, she hardly flinched, although in her lap she gripped the Austen like a lifeline. Yes, sir.
Im surprised you left this paragon. He could come right out and accuse her of lying, but where would be the fun in that?
Her lips tightened. Needs must, sir. Why dont you believe me?
He leaned his chin on his joined fingers and regarded her. Should I?
Yes. She sucked in an annoyed breath and he felt a strange little tug in the vicinity of his heart. The housemaid shell became thinner by the moment. He still didnt trust her, but hed lay money that she was closer to her real self now than shed been since their encounter on his first night home. My lord, do you find my work unsatisfactory?
My mother likes you. Both of them knew that was no answer.
Her expression softened and he realized that whatever else he doubted, she was genuinely fond of his mother. Im most grateful to her ladyship for her kindness. Theres no conspiracy in asking Mr. Crane to help me find something to ease her cares.
He frowned. Is her health worse?
Miss Trims gaze became shuttered. She doesnt complain.
So she was loyal to his mother. Perhaps the marchionesss favor wasnt completely misplaced. She wouldnt.
The girls eyes narrowed and he remembered what had made him mistrust her motives from the first. Whatever lip service she gave to his title, she didnt like him.
How bizarre.
He muffled a wry laugh. What an arrogant coxcomb he was. Hed never before wondered if his employees liked him. They did a job. He paid themgenerously. Most of the time, he hardly thought about them.
He thought about Miss Trim far too often.
Shes looking better for your return, my lord.
Ha, another barely hidden accusation of neglect. He ought to put this presumptuous chit in her place and tell her that if anyone wanted him in London fulfilling his fathers dreams, it was the marchioness.
The girl shifted restlessly, behavior unacceptable in a well-trained domestic. It was clear that Miss Trim would dearly love to finish this conversation.
Too bad.
You will tell me if my mothers health deteriorates. More order than request.
Her shoulders went straight as a ruler. She didnt like being told what to do, yet domestics were accustomed to having every move regulated. Whatever Miss Trim had done before coming to Alloway Chase, hed lay money that shed been nobodys household drudge.
Which begged the questionjust why was she here?
Perhaps you should ask her yourself, sir.
I doubt shed tell me.
A faint smile lightened her expression. Youre probably right. But I suspect a man of your cleverness could get an answer.
Lately Ive lost all confidence in my cleverness, he said with a sigh, thinking how little hed managed to glean from this interview. Miss Trims ability to evade a straight answer put his parliamentary colleagues to shame.
Briefly he thought she might respond to that, but another of those damned evocative silences descended. Into the quiet, the clock outside chimed eleven. Hed kept her too long. Too long for his peace of mind. Too long for her reputation with the other servants.
Just too long.
He gestured dismissal. That will be all, Trim.
After a brief curtsy, she disappeared through the door with a speed that betrayed her eagerness to escape. He stood and stared unseeing through the window at the flat gray disk of the lake. A premonition that he invited danger by singling out this girl weighted his belly.
He wondered about his strange affinity with Miss Trim. He wondered about the hunger she aroused. Hed never felt anything like this before. If he wanted a womanand he made sure he only wanted women who wouldnt cause troublehe made arrangements, scratched the itch, and moved on to more important issues.
He couldnt dismiss the delectable Miss Trim as unimportant, whatever he tried to tell himself. The thought of tumbling her thundered through him like an earthquake. His head might insist that hed recover from his inappropriate interest. His ravenous senses told him that he had to have her soon or go mad with it.
That edgy, roundabout conversation just now had been a mistake. He was more intrigued than ever. And more convinced that she concealed secrets.
Even worse, he knew that he wouldnt leave her alone, whatever the risks.
Nor was his mood improved when he checked the mail piled on the desk to find two more of the sad little letters that had haunted him this last year. The revelations of his uncles crimes seemed never to end, but for Leath, the most pathetic results of Neville Fairbrothers activities were the begging notes from women raising children in poverty and disgrace. Letters addressed to Leath because Lord Neville had assumed his nephews identity when hed seduced these girls.
For most of his life, Leath had done his best to ignore his odious relative, so he had no idea how long the swine had played this particular game. From the timing of the letters, Leath guessed at most a few months before his uncles suicide.
Why had Neville Fairbrother stolen his nephews name? The answer had died last year with his uncle, but Leath could guess. Some spiteful attempt to destroy his nephews reputation. A way of diverting blame from where it belonged. Perhaps even an attempt to impress the women with a marquesss title.
Whatever his uncles motives, the scheme couldnt have continued indefinitely. While it was clear that the man had threatened his victims to keep their mouths shut, he must have known that his deceit would emerge. Perhaps he thought that family pride would keep Leath complicit, even after the masquerade was exposed.
The women who had written to Leath had all been so desperate that theyd braved his uncles wrath to ask for help. His heart ached for these innocents. The scale of the devastation Neville Fairbrother had left behind beggared imagination.