Walters blinked several times as if struggling to stay awake. “Visited the village, my lady? On errands for the household?”
“Errands or leisure time.”
“They have not been with us long enough to receive a day off. None of the three are due their day until next month and have been assigned no errands to the best of my knowledge. Mrs. Flackney and Cook sent young Jasper to the butcher, greengrocer, and mercantile for supplies the day after we arrived, but he returned straight away. No other member of the staff has been to the village since.” The elderly butler hitchedforward and tipped his head as if fearing what she was about to tell him. “Is there a problem I should address with the newest servants?”
“Spiders,” Grace said, moving to stand beside Serendipity. “You know how my sisters feel about spiders.”
Wolfe stared at his lady love. What the devil was she up to?
Serendipity cast a wary glance at Grace as if she had sprouted horns.
“I am well aware of the ladies’ dislike for them.” The butler squared his bent shoulders as if ready to wage war against the beasties. “Where are they, my lady? I shall dispatch them myself.”
“I already took the liberty of relocating them to the garden,” Grace said, “but do make mention to the maids about paying closer attention to the overhead corners. The spiders feel safe and out of reach when closest to the ceiling.”
Walters looked up, scanning the room for the possible invasion of more. “I shall address it with them immediately. Do forgive us for failing in our duties, my lady.”
“You never fail us, Walters,” Serendipity said. “We know we are well looked after with you. That will be all.”
With his thin chest slightly puffed with the praise, Walters bowed and left the room.
“Spiders?” Wolfe asked Grace, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.
“There was one the other day, but I moved it to the garden. Poor Walters sometimes gets confused. The dear old man refuses to take his pension, and as long as he can somewhat perform his duties, Chance has agreed that we should let him do so—as a matter of preserving his pride and as thanks for his many years of devoted service. I saw no reason to muddle his thoughts further, so I brought up the spiders.”
“She protects everyone and everything, Your Grace,” Serendipity said. “Get used to it.”
“As long as her protection includes my heart.” He allowed himself the luxury of staring at Grace until Serendipity cleared her throat again. He grudgingly tore himself free of Grace’s bewitchment. “Yes. Well. We are still no closer to discovering how word about the goings-on within my household reached this one.”
“Let me fetch Nellie,” Grace said. “If we have her summoned to the parlor, it will frighten her to no end, and she’s done nothing wrong.”
“Agreed.” Serendipity shooed her onward. “Heaven knows the poor woman has enough on her plate with taking care of you.”
Grace rolled her eyes and hurried out to retrieve her maid.
As soon as Grace was well out of sight, Serendipity turned and descended on Wolfe, jabbing the air with her finger. “If you hurt her, I will be the first of my sisters to trounce you. It will not be Chance you have to worry about, Your Grace. I assure you, the Abarough sisters are well able to protect their own.”
“I am doing everything in my power to protect Grace as well as the Broadmere family’s reputation.” Sensing this was far from over, he braced himself for further attack. The air crackled with the woman’s frustration.
“You are not, Your Grace. If you were truly concerned about Gracie’s good name, you would have remedied your situation before compromising her in the garden while your intended sat in the parlor waiting for your return.” Serendipity shook her finger at him, reminding him of Grace. It must be a shared trait they had inherited from their mother. “I can accept that your initial meeting with my sister was quite unconventional. However, that did not give you the right to take advantage of her.Contrary to what you may believe, Gracie is quite sheltered when it comes to men like you.”
“Men like me?” He didn’t know whether to be insulted or proud, but by heavens, he would defend himself. “Have you ever been in love, my lady?”
Serendipity backed up a step, her shock apparent. “What?”
“Love. Have you ever fallen in love?”
She drew herself up, aloof and insulted. “What has that to do with anything?”
“One cannot control with whom one falls in love. Nor can one control love’s timing.” He thumped a fist to his chest. “The heart is a fickle thing with a will all its own. I am not its master, but its servant, and it bids me to love Grace for all the rest of my days.”
Gastric ambled into the room, spotted Wolfe, and wagged his tail with such vigor that his entire hind end wiggled back and forth.
Wolfe bent and reached for the dog. “Come here, old boy. At least I know I always have a friend in you.”
With a happywoof, Gastric lumbered forward and bumped his velvety head into Wolfe’s hand, grunting with pleasure at the good scratching behind his ears.
“I am not unfriendly, Your Grace.” Serendipity huffed, flounced into the hallway, and looked in the direction Grace had gone. “I am simply not pleased with this current predicament that could harm not only my sister’s reputation but her heart.”
