He slid her a sideways glance. Until that moment, she’d wager all her pin money that she had been completely uninteresting to him. “Bravo to Miss Primm for hiring you.”
His unexpected response bolstered her enough to brave his gaze. “She would not have, if not for my brother.”
“Baron Chaswick.”
He knew.Everyone knew.That the entirety of theTonhad been privy to her and her sister’s circumstances was one of the things Collette had lamented often with Diana.
With her sister, Lady Greystone now, who was now married and living a life very different than the one Collette had chosen. Not that Collette was jealous of Diana for marrying the marquess, but that she was jealous of themarquessfor having first claim to her sister now.
“A good man.” The duke nodded ever so slightly, drawing Collette out of self-pitying thoughts.
Her brotherwasa good man. He was a very good man. Hearing the duke acknowledge that made him seem a little more likable.
Collette reached into her apron and withdrew the small tin she almost always had on hand. “Have a comfit.”
He stared down at it suspiciously.
“It won’t kill you. It’s just a mint.”
“I didn’t think it was poison.”
Collette ignored him and proceeded to open the small container and hand over two of the candies. She normally only allotted herself one a day, but these circumstances were, in fact, dire. “You look rather pale,” she added.
“I—thank you.” He accepted them and then popped both in his mouth.
“Perhaps you ought to loosen your cravat.”
“I’m fine.” But when his eyes shot up and around the stairwell, panic crept into them again.
“Don’t think about it,” she ordered him. “Look at me.” Her words successfully drew his gaze, and she willed him to forget about the locked doors. “Chase. Lord Chaswick—my brother. You know him then?”
He nodded slowly. “We’ve met on more than one occasion.” Even in his diminished state, this man spoke in cultured tones, sounding proper and formal.
“He kept me and my sisters a secret until recently. It was his wife who suggested we enter society. As ladies! Can you imagine? Diana—my sister who is two years younger than me—happily went along with the idea.
“I take it you did not?”
“Good Lord, no! I’d rather be a horse up for auction at Tattersalls—that way, at least, my lack of breeding would be out in the open rather than murmured about behind my back.” Collette had done her best to pretend she hadn’t been bothered by the whispers, but she and Diana had known many of the same ladies who’d smiled at them one moment, then turned to gossip about them in the next. “Knowing I wished to teach, Chase made inquiries with Miss Primm.”
“Along with a sizeable donation.”
Collette sat up straight. Even if he had the right of it, she did not appreciate the insinuation that she wasn’t up to her task. “For your information, I am highly qualified to teach both Latin and French, and some Greek as well.”
He had closed his eyes again, thick lashes fanned out above his cheeks. “But of course,” he agreed too easily. “And Miss Primm is going to approve of her newest employee locking herself in a stairwell with one of her student’s guardians?”
“But I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Of course, you didn’t.”
“What are you implying?”
“I’m not implying anything.”
He tilted his head back and despite his accusation, Collette couldn’t stop her gaze from admiring the strong lines that ran along his jaw and throat to disappear beneath the white linen cloth.
“You aren’t seriously suggesting I trapped us together intentionally, are you?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “What kind of a person do you—"
“No.” His fingers plucked ineffectively at the knot tied in the cravat around his neck. “I’m not really. But it would be nice to have somebody to blame for this debacle.” Twin lines appeared between his eyes as he struggled ineffectually with what was beginning to resemble more of a noose.
