“I would invite you inside, but your gown will suffer from the dust.” He glanced around and motioned to a garden seat beneath an elm tree. “Shall we sit?”
“Yes, thank you.”
They sat at a discreet distance, his hat on the seat between them, and observed each other.
He folded his arms across a wide expanse of rust-colored waistcoat. “I am surprised to see you again, Miss Jenner. But it is a pleasant surprise. You wished to ask me something?”
He remembered her name. She wasn’t sure why this bothered her, but it did. She studied his face. A slender, finely chiseled nose, his mouth full and wide and slightly sensual. There was that determined cast to his chin and jaw she’d noted before. How masculine he was. So strong, and self-confident. Why couldn’t he have been spindly and shortsighted?
She forced herself to look into his penetrating green gaze. “I am here to offer my services as a housekeeper, should you wish for one.”
He arched his dark brows. “Housekeeper? You’re too young for such a post, Miss Jenner. Not above twenty-five at a guess.”
“I’m quite capable of performing any duties required of me.” Holding her age against her flummoxed her. She had intended to add a few years, but now found she couldn’t lie. She huffed in a breath. “I hold the post of housekeeper at Lady Lowry’s establishment, Spelling Park. She is satisfied with my work.”
“Then why not stay there?”
“Because I wish to tackle something new.”
“Audacious of you. And surprising.”
“I don’t believe so,” she said, dismayed at where this conversation was leading.
His gaze roamed her face and then dropped unapologetically to her breasts. Her fingers twitched as she resisted placing her hands there. “What do you think the villagers would make of you living under my roof? I am unmarried and have, at this moment, very few employees.” He spread his wide hands, palms up. “No household ones as yet.”
So he planned to remain for the time being. “I assume you shall require servants, my lord?”
“My estate manager must go to Gateshead to find them.” His warm, charming smile quite caught her off guard. “As much as I need competent staff, and I’m not doubting your abilities, Miss Jenner, I cannot hire you without causing a good deal of gossip I’d rather not have.”
“But why? I am hardly in my first flush of youth.”
He laughed. “Perhaps not. But neither are you in your dotage, and you’re much too attractive for a housekeeper,” he said bluntly.
“Lady Lowry expressed no such concerns.”
“Why would she? It would only bother her if you were, er, distracting her male servants too much.”
Her cheeks heated. “I can assure you nothing like that occurred, nor would it.”
He nodded, waiting for her to continue.
“I am good at what I do. And few in the village would disapprove. They know I must work to earn my keep, ever since…” She stopped. She was making a muck of it.
“Since?” he prompted.
He was entirely too observant. “I shan’t trouble you with my affairs, my lord, only to say I wish to work here. I believe I shall be an asset to you.”
He stood and put on his hat. “I don’t doubt it, Miss Jenner. And I regret having to refuse you. Now you must excuse me. I must visit the squire.”
Olivia’s heart sank. Deeply disappointed, she could only rise to her feet and curtsey. She watched him stride away to the door. He would return to London before long, but the need for staff told her he’d keep the house open. She’d never considered her failure to be engaged would be because of her age or attractiveness, though she knew in the back of her mind he had been correct about Society frowning on her living in the house without other female servants. What a double-edged sword! Her looks attracted the worst men and now ruined her chance of a position here. She straightened her bonnet and set off down the avenue. Gateshead indeed! He would have to go as far as Newcastle and send his agent to all the mop fairs to find a housekeeper. She would not give up yet.
Chapter Three
As Dominic drovethe phaeton to the squire’s at Northoaks, he recalled Miss Jenner’s proud expression, and how her beautiful eyes clouded to hide her secrets. He found her bewitching. While he needed a housekeeper, he feared the temptation of having such a fascinating woman under his roof could be a problem. An inordinate time had passed since he’d bedded a woman. And Miss Jenner’s full bottom lip invited a man to nibble on it.
In London, he’d rarely spoken to his housekeeper, and barely knew her, but here, there was so much to be done, and with no butler, he could see the need to confer with a housekeeper often on many matters. He had no intention of embellishing his soiled reputation, and that of his uncle, by stoking the ire of the villagers.
Pushing such musings away, he guided the phaeton through Northoaks gates. Passing the long, handsome, colonnaded house of red brick with a wide porch set amid well-kept gardens, he continued on to the stables.
