“Of course not,” he agreed solemnly. “Please inform Mrs. Small that we would appreciate her assistance, so long as she is willing and not placed at any inconvenience.”
“I did so this morning, just as soon as I received your letter. I was sure, in your haste, you’d simply neglected to inform me of your intention. But you can depend on me to understand, as you know. Mrs. Small prefers to sleep in the room next to the children’s, of course. So, I’ve installed Mrs. Montrose in the room closest to the nursery stairs. I trust that will be satisfactory.”
“Certainly.” She meant, he believed, the room connected to the enclosed armory. He smiled slowly as his mind grew ripe with possibility.
“If I might say,” she continued, “it is mighty fine to have you back, Your Grace. Finer still, to have children in the house. Been far too many years.”
He recognized her light comment for what it was—a gentle chiding at his still-single state. He couldn’t yet tell her he intended to soon alter the situation, nor could he reveal how she’d unconsciously aided his scheme.
She loved him dearly; the shock might do her real harm.
“While my godchildren are here, you may spoil them to your heart’s content.”
Her expression transformed. “Apple tarts?”
“As many as Cook will allow.”
“And peppermints?”
He chuckled. “Make whatever adjustments to the household accounts you require.”
“I’m sure I can manage without adjustment,” she replied, affronted.
“I have every faith in you.”
He paused resting his hand on the pineapple shaped finial atop a newel post as he glanced around the hall with a critical eye.
Hevenhyll seemed, at times, almost tomb-like, especially in the last few years. But having a wee banshee, a 9-year-old budding cavalier, and their enchantress nursemaid did enliven the place. The castle’s renewed spirit seemed a harbinger of what would come once he secured her regard.
His smile widened.
Here, things now operated according to his command and expectation. Here he had full and free reign. Andmilesof halls and chambers and passageways that would certainly aid him to his end.
Mrs. Montrose may have vanquished a lion, but she had no idea she’d just walked into the true lion’s den.
* * *
Hera’s heavy, echoing footfalls both emphasized her smallness and amplified her annoyance. Her breath jumped high and rapid in her chest. Try as she might, she could not master her emotion.
Frankly, she did not want to, either.
She’d been deceived by Hurtheven’s calm civility and consideration. By his pretty compliments. By his laughing eyes. All complete hum dudgeon—a ruse to hide his true purpose.
Which had been her humiliation all along.
She should have recognized his disposition and expected his intent.No!Shehadrecognized him of what he was—before she’d been so distracted by...by, well, his otherqualities. Although ‘his qualities’was, perchance, the wrong phrase.
Hewasn’t responsible for his height, his dark, frequently tussled hair, his speaking eyes that made mushy peas out of her stalwart resolve. Nor did he consciously generate the heat rolling off his body like a breeze from a warmer clime.
But hewasresponsible for the near kiss in the lane, the embrace at the inn, the twodaysof polite distance, and now, the deliberate insult. And since he had left her with so much time on her hands, she intended to confront him and demand an explanation.
She stopped at a fork in the corridor—which did not seem possible, as she’dthoughtshe’d been walking through the inner rampart. Then again, the whole layout seemed to go in circles. She chose one direction and continued onward.
Confound this blasted gothic castle and the small army who ran the place, each attendant welcoming, friendly, and more complimentary of their beloved liege than the last! Weren’t all aristocratic households supposed to be as arrogant as their head?
Not this one, apparently.
Only he, at the very pinnacle, had insufferable conceit.Of course, he’d return to his high-handed ways once he’d lodged her in this remote remnant of a brutal time. And,of course, the first thing he’d done once she was fully in his power was usurp her position.
