“Thank you,” Eliza murmured.
“Where would you like me to have it delivered? Will you be writing or in your sleeping chamber?”
“I will be in the parlor,” Eliza answered.
“I will be with her,” Lucian added.
“You will? Why?” Not that she had an objection, but she assumed he had something more important to occupy his time.
“Because you are going to tell me all about the story you are currently working on.”
“I already said that it will not be discussed until it is finished.”
“As you are in my house, I believe I should have some say over a certain character that you keep writing into your stories,” he argued.
Stella frowned. “You have no recurring characters.”
“She does,” Lucian proclaimed. “An auburn-haired, grumpy earl.”
“It is simply a description…” Stella trailed off as she looked at Lucian, her eyes widening. “Miss Weston, you have not intentionally…”
“I really should change my dress and return to work,” she said and rushed up the stairs, Lucian’s laughter following her.
“I am so terribly sorry, Lord Garretson. I will make certain that in the future, if she starts to write such a character again that I will discourage her.”
Eliza didn’t hear Lucian’s response, only his laughter as she closed her chamber door and quickly changed out of one dress and into another. As she tossed the ruined dress onto a chair, she noted the upper back was quite dirty from where her shoulders were pressed against the side of the cave while engaging in the most wonderful activity.
Chapter33
Out of curiosity,Lucian wandered back to the parlor where Eliza wrote and picked up the manuscript that she had been editing and laughed when he read the title:Cursed: A Mummy’s Tale.
Lucian chuckled further as he lifted the documents and took them with him to the settee where he took a seat, set them on the table and started reading.
“What are you doing?”
Lucian glanced up to find Eliza standing at the end of the table, fisted hands on her hips, mouth pinched with irritation.
“I told you that I wanted to know what the story was that you are now writing.”
“I did not give you leave to read it.” She marched forward and picked up the stack of parchment then returned to her desk. “Why is it so important to you?”
“Does it have an auburn-haired, grumpy earl?” he asked, no longer disturbed by her portrayal of him because Lucian was confident that he was changing her opinion.
“Of course it does.” She laughed as she returned and took a seat across from him.
“Is he the hero or the villain?”
She cocked her head and smiled. “I shall not tell you.”
“If you do not, I will simply sneak down here while you are asleep and read it myself,” Lucian warned and did have half a mind to do so.
“Such a threat will cause Miss Weston to take the manuscript with her to her chamber each evening when she retires and force her to lock her chamber door again,” Stella said as she entered with a tea service.
After last evening, he hoped that her chamber door was no longer locked to him as he had every intention of visiting her again and sleeping by her side. However, as he could not share such information with her maid, Lucian tried to appear serious and ponder her statement. “That could be a deterrent,” he offered. “However, my housekeeper does have keys to every room and she could simply go in and take it once Miss Weston is asleep.”
Eliza gasped. “You would not dare!”
Lucian arched an eyebrow. “Why would I not? I do have a right to know how I am portrayed.”
