Burke motioned upward. “What do I do with the one I just brought?”
Chapter 6
“Lord Flint...Lord...Flint!”Felicity gasped as she hurried up the stairs after him, Burke following her and Mrs. Windom following him.
“Don't you scare that poor girl,” the housekeeper panted on a hiccup.
Lord Flint stopped so quickly Felicity almost caromed off him. “I have no intention of scaring her,” he said, glaring back at them all. “I just want answers.”
“Once you revive her from the swoon she'll fall into the minute you burst into her room like the Furies,” Felicity retorted.
He glared. “The Furies were women.”
She glared right back. “I doubt your guest will notice the difference.”
He returned her glare, hand on the banister. “I'm quite certain you have a better idea.”
“Than terrifying her after she's just arrived from who knows where?”
“The Three Tuns.”
Felicity scowled. “You know what I mean. If none of the women has broken their silence yet, chances are they have been forbidden to speak,” she said, head back to keep eye contact with her alleged fiancé. “And I doubt a frontal attack will make a difference.”
Lord Flint sighed. “It does occur to me, Miss Chambers,” he said, looking none too pleased, “that for a woman who was only last week a junior teacher of penmanship and shower baths—”
“Piano and deportment.”
“—you manage to be far more assertive than one would anticipate.”
She flashed him a grin. “Blame Pip. She brought me out of my shell.”
He groaned. “I'm sorry I didn't meet you before she did. You might have been more manageable.”
Felicity saw the spark of humor in his eyes and chuckled. Blast him. She was truly enjoying sparring with him. It fizzed in her chest like a stolen sip of champagne and made her want more.
“Pip would want me to tell you that you wouldn't have liked me like that.”
He shook his head and smiled. “Yes, Pip would. Now then, what exactly did you have to say about Miss—-” He looked down at Mrs. Windom.
“Murphy,” the woman said with a definite nod.
“Miss Murphy.” He nodded. “Irish, then.”
“Not so you'd notice,” Mrs. Windom said.
“Gently,” Felicity said. “That's all. Go gently with her.”
He huffed again. “You make it sound as if I plan to flog her.”
Then without another word, he turned back up the narrow stairs to the maids’ wing. “The staff is elsewhere, Mrs. Windom?”
“At dinner, my lord.”
He nodded.
Reaching the third floor, he knocked on the first door on the right. For a moment there was only silence. Felicity found herself holding her breath, although she didn't know why.
Then the door eased open to reveal the newest houseguest. Mrs. Windom hadn't exaggerated. The girl might have been Felicity's age or a bit older, and she was tall, far taller than Felicity, and almost gaunt, her faded blue roundgown all but hanging off her. Her hair, scraped ruthlessly back into a bun, was a thin, watery blond, and her features would probably end up being round and pretty with a bit of weight on her.
