“I’m trying to save this family, not ruin them further.”
“Which reminds me. Why?”
“I feel like it,” he said in a dampening tone.
“I know what you feel like, Rafferty. You aren’t fooling me,” Martina said. “She’s too young for you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“And too innocent, and well-bred, and sweet, and?—”
“I’m not interested. I came here to find Belding’s treasure and nothing more. Now I’ve got Stiles threatening them if I don’t move faster, and I’ve got Georgie mooning after me with puppy dog eyes and...” He stopped talking as frustration overwhelmed him.
“So what are you going to do?”
“Damned if I know,” he said wearily.
“Go to bed. I’ll take care of Master Neddy,” Martina said, flexing her not inconsiderable muscles. The dress had been made especially for her, to take her muscular frame and flat chest into account.
Rafferty hesitated. “He’s heavy when he’s dead drunk.”
“He’s just a boy,” Martina replied serenely. “He needs someone to look after him.” There was a fondness in her voice that was unusual, and he looked at her closely, but the face she turned to him was bland. “Go to bed, Rafferty, and figure a way out of this mess. I won’t have you breaking that young woman’s heart.”
He gave in, leaving her with her task for the night. In truth, he was just tired enough to know he could count on a good night’s sleep. Maybe by tomorrow he’d know how to deal with Georgie’s inconvenient crush.
He lit the lamp in his sitting room and sank into his chair. He had a copy of Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management on the table beside him, but he was too tired to open it again. It had proven useful, but right then he had other things to think about, such as what he was going to do with the priceless diamonds that had been hidden under his mattress by that clumsy vixen. She’d assumed he wouldn’t notice she’d been sneaking around in the servants’ quarters, or that Bertha wouldn’t report back to him. It had been simple enough to find where she stashed them, but not time enough to hide them elsewhere. It was a good thing no one had thought to search him.
The meeting with Stiles had been a royal cock-up as well. He didn’t need to have Billy peering over his shoulder and threatening Georgie. He should kill him for even looking at her.
But for now, all he wanted was his nice soft bed without the lumpy jewelry beneath it. Kicking off his proper shoes, he stripped off his coat and neckcloth, unbuttoning the buttons that trailed halfway down his shirt. He picked up the lamp and headed into his bedroom and set it down on the dresser before turning to his rumpled bed.
The bed had been remade, though badly, and in the middle lay Georgiana Manning in one of those schoolgirl nightgowns, her hair loose around her sleeping face.
“Shit!” he said, and she opened her eyes, greeting him with a drowsy smile.
“What did you say?” she murmured sleepily.
“Never mind. What the bloody hell are you doing here?”
She sat up, drawing her legs underneath the thin white gown. Too damned thin—why hadn’t he seen about getting her proper nightclothes, with layers and layers of cloth to hide her body?
“I came to see you,” she said.
“I gather that. Why?”
“Because we’re friends. And because they accused you of stealing Norah’s jewels and searched your room, and I wanted to apologize.”
“How do you know I didn’t steal the necklace?” that was burning a hole in his pocket at that very moment.
“Did you?” she asked. “If you did, it would serve Norah right, but knowing her, she probably lost it and needed someone to blame. Don’t you think?”
“Something like that,” he agreed. She still hadn’t moved from the center of his bed, and he wanted to groan. “You need to go back to your room.”
“Why? I suppose you think that because you’re a man and I’m a woman that we aren’t allowed to talk, but that’s ridiculous. You’re my protégé—I have to make sure you’re all right. Besides, I had a nightmare. About that man with the teeth.”
Stiles, he thought. “Martina can sit up with you,” he said gruffly. “Are you going to get off my bed?”
“Are you going to make me?” She stretched out her legs, wiggling her toes. “I thought you’d be glad I was here.”
