As her stomach rumbled, she was thankful to see cucumber sandwiches and cheese, as well as some fruit and various desserts.
She munched happily, and then washed the best that she could with the soap that had also been laid out for her use. She wondered if the earl had been responsible for that as well, or if one of the servants was in residence. If the latter was true, she could only imagine what the earl had said about her presence there.
She removed the pink gown and tried to smooth the wrinkles the best that she could and then removed a sprigged muslin gown from the wardrobe, woven with dark red leaves. After brushing her hair and braiding it into a neat plait, she wound it at the crown of her head and decided that she looked as serene as she could.
She opened her chamber door and glanced about the hallway. It was deserted. However, she wasn’t sure what she might find—the earl lurking about perhaps?
She smirked, the image rather ludicrous, and headed for the kitchens. Lord Belmont had told her that she had free reign of the house, so she decided she would visit with the downstairs staff, if anyone was around.
Finding the back stairs, she made her way to the lower level, but found no one there. The ovens weren’t on and it looked as deserted as the rest of the house upstairs.
Meliah took a deep breath.Very well. If she wasn’t to introduce herself to anyone, she decided that it was time to do a bit of investigation. While she might not discover much about the earl at his father’s hunting box, perhaps she might get fortunate. She glanced overhead and decided that most things that were hidden were generally in an attic, so that was where she would begin.
She reached a door at the end of the hall, then she reached out and checked the knob, half expecting to find it locked. Excitement shot through her when she discovered the opposite was true.
Lifting her skirts, she climbed the steep stairs and waved a hand in front of her face as the dust was disturbed with every step. She tried not to think about anything scurrying underfoot and focused on the trunks and various hunting items that were revealed when she reached the main level.
Setting her hands on her hips, she glanced about and wondered where she might start her search. There were a few pieces of furniture that looked as though they hadn’t been touched in years, so she passed them by, although she couldn’t resist opening a drawer or two. Unfortunately, there was nothing but a collection of cobwebs inside, so she quickly shut them and moved on.
She paused before one of the trunks and lifted a lid to find it filled with various clothes that were at least four decades old. Two more proved the same. Obviously, she wasn’t going to find anything of interest here.
She headed back down to the first floor and thought of the study. Curious, she made her way there, and peeked around the corner. Again, it was empty.
With a smile on her face, she headed for the large desk situated in the center of the room. Surely there had to be something here that would counter, beyond a doubt, what “TheBelle” had written about Lord Belmont. She could speak of her own experiences, but that would simply tarnishhername and prove the article was correct. She needed something sweet, a letter written to his mother when he was a child, perhaps. Anything that couldn’t be disputed, something that would cause the people of the printers to take notice.
She looked at the few papers on top of the desk, but found nothing more exciting than correspondence about the estate. Biting her lip, Meliah started opening drawers and rummaging about inside, but found nothing of import. She put her hands on her hips and glanced at one of the taxidermy animals with a scowl. “What are you looking at?”
When she thought she heard a noise, she froze and glanced at the open doorway. In hindsight, she realized that she should have closed it before she started riffling through the earl’s papers. It didn’t matter since she had come up empty handed yet again.
With a heavy sigh, she sank down into the leather chair and stared out the window with a slight frown.
A flash of movement outside brought her back to awareness and she got up and moved to the window. Glancing outside, her traitorous heart started to speed up when she saw Lord Belmont. He was seated atop a large, black stallion, but she hadn’t really expected anything less. An earl would have some of the best horseflesh that he could obtain.
He was seated loosely in the saddle as he rode into the stable yard and made quite a dashing figure as he did so. Wearing tall, black boots, he was casually attired in nothing more than a white shirt, and buff trousers. His black hair was windblown from the ride, and she could almost make out a slightly crooked smile on his face as he easily dismounted and handed his reins off to a waiting groom who had been unnoticed until that time. Truly, the servants were adept at remaining out of sight until needed.
He started to stride toward the manor, and it took a moment for Meliah to recall how to move her legs. Her gaze shot about the room, as she was desperate to find a place to hide, or at least look as inconspicuous as possible. Realizing that the best place to do this was the library, she rushed out into the hall. By the time the front door opened and shut, she rushed across the room and grabbed one of the first books she found and sat down hastily—and waited.
CHAPTER 7
Elwood removed his riding gloves and slapped them against his thigh as he headed for the library. He wasn’t sure if his sleeping beauty was still lost to dreamland, but he was finding himself deuced bored waiting for her to rise. He was enjoying the distraction of her pleasing company during his self-imposed exile from London, away from the hounds that were trying to dog his heels there.
If there was a silver lining to any of this disaster, it was Miss Newton. She was a surprise in so many ways, and he was eager to learn more about her. But then, he would have to reveal more about himself. Although he wasn’t entirely eager to do so, considering his reputation as a rogue, he was enjoying the fact she wasn’t completely convinced he was a ne’er-do-well. He actually appreciated that she wanted to learn abouthimbefore making a judgement about his character. Of course, after this morning, he had probably not endeared himself in that regard, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t stopped thinking about her.
In fact, he had done little elsebutthink of her. It was why he’d decided to go for a brisk ride, to keep his desires in check. He couldn’t very well ravish the woman when he was supposed to be acting the part of a gentleman. It was a rather novelexperience for him, but he wanted to prove to Miss Newton, for some odd reason, that he wasn’t the unrepentant scoundrel he was portrayed to be. Granted, what “The Belle” had said was true, but while a leopard couldn’t change his spots, humans were not without redemption. While he wouldn’t go so far as to say that was what he was hoping for from Miss Newton, hedidwant more than an interview for an article.
He walked into the study, intent on sending a missive to his solicitor, but paused and continued on toward the library. It was the most logical place to search for Miss Newton since she had seemed fascinated with it the day before. He wondered if she was wearing one of the dresses he’d purchased for her that morning. He was eager to see if his measurements had proven true.
He stopped short when he entered. The object of his fascination was indeed, sitting prim and proper in one of the wingback chairs by the fireplace. She was wearing one of the gowns he’d personally selected, and he congratulated himself on his choice.
However, the lady didn’t even glance up when he entered, but rather appeared engrossed in her novel. He narrowed his eyes, because he found it odd that her cheeks might have such high color. If memory served, his father hadn’t carried many torrid novels, and the one she held in her hand wasn’t the sort to gauge that kind of reaction.
He stared a minute longer, and then gave a light snort.
Walking over to her, he set a finger in the center of the page that she was supposed to be reading so thoroughly and said, “I’ve found it’s easier to follow a book when it isn’t upside down.”
Her lips fell open slightly as she slowly moved the book upright. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“Anytime,” he returned smoothly. He plopped down in the chair across from her and set his gloves on a nearby table. He folded his hands and set them over his midsection. “Youseemed engrossed when I came into the room. I daresay I’m impressed that you should have gotten through so much of—” He paused and leaned forward to read the title on the cover. “—The Portico: A Repository of Science & Literature.” He cleared his throat. “I didn’t realize American literature was of such interest to you.”
