He shrugged his thin shoulders. “You can do as you like, of course. But I am glad to have a proper conversation with you at last, Amelia. I should like to talk with you more. Come, just for an hour?”
She relented. “Very well. Just an hour.”
It was an undeniable shock for Stephen to push open the door to his rooms and find them already occupied.
One of the maids stood there, her cap askew and her breathing ragged. She clutched a duster and stared at him with horror.
“Your Grace,” she squeaked. “What are you doing here?”
She seemed to realize at once how improper her words were, and reddened fiercely.
Stephen clenched his jaw, stepping inside. He left the door open so that the maid didn’t feel as though she were trapped with him.
“It’s Jane, isn’t it?” he said carefully. “I believe the housemaids are under instructions not to enter my apartments unless specifically asked to come and clean.”
She nodded, her throat working as she swallowed.
He guessed she was nervous about being caught in his apartments, and there seemed to be no obvious reason why she’d entered. There was a glint of mischief in her eyes, too.
“Well, if you’ve finished your work, you may leave,” he ordered, shrugging off his jacket and tossing it over the back of a chair. “The wedding is tomorrow, and you’ll need your rest. That will be all, Jane.”
She stood motionless, making no move to leave. He glanced up at her, a frown creasing his brow. She stared back at him, and it took him a moment to recognize the look in her eyes. It was resentment.
“I don’t recall you sending me away so sharply before, Your Grace,” she said, tilting up her chin.
At once, he recalled Jane properly. She was one of his grandmother’s hires, of course, and had been around for a year or two. He would have been a fool not to notice the lingering glances she cast his way, the fluttering eyelashes, and the questing hands on his arms and shoulders, if she thought she could make it look like an accident. It wouldn’t have been the first time a servant set her cap at him, and he had ignored her advances as usual.
“I beg your pardon?” he managed.
She gave a mirthless chuckle. “If you’ll marry a seamstress, you might as well have married a housemaid, Your Grace.”
“You have overstepped your bounds by great, leaping strides here, Jane. I suggest you leave at once. And perhaps it would be best if I did not see you at the wedding.”
“Wedding?” she echoed, a nasty smile curving her full lips. “I don’t think there’ll be a wedding, Your Grace. Theladyis missing.”
She spat out the wordladyas if it were an obscenity, and fury bubbled in Stephen. He dragged himself to his full height, resisting the urge to cross the room and seize her by the shoulders.
“I think that your career here has come to an end, Jane,” he said, curling his fingers into tight fists. “I will inform the housekeeper that you’ll be gone by tomorrow morning. You’ll receive a reference and a month’s wages. That’s all I have to say on the matter, and you had better leave at once if you know what is good for you.”
Red and white chased each other across Jane’s face. She set her jaw and lifted her chin. Meeting his gaze squarely, she sneered. Then she flounced past him and out of the room.
He kicked the door shut behind her and stood in silence, his heart pounding.
Missing?
CHAPTER 25
Harry’s house was cold, bitterly so. No servant greeted them at the door, and only a single candle guttered on the table in the hall. Amelia was willing to bet that every fire in the house was out, the grates cold and miserable.
“I’m sorry it isn’t more inviting,” Harry sighed, shrugging off his coat and hanging it up. “I keep a few servants these days. As I said, times are rather hard.”
“I thought you said you’d replenished the St. Louis coffers?” she asked.
He smiled tightly. “I haven’t topped them up as well as I’d have liked. Come, I’ll show you to the drawing room. It’s not as grand as Stephen’s, but it suits my purposes.”
Without waiting for a response, he set off at a loping pace down the hall, leaving her to scuttle behind. Goosebumps still pebbledher skin, and the air inside the house was not much warmer than outside. He had taken the candle, leaving the lantern behind, and held it aloft as he went. She was forced to jog after him, her breath fogging in front of her.
“Slow down, Harry,” she panted.
