A girl, slightly younger than Tabitha, stood still, acting as if she was afraid to move and appearing as if she wished she were a part of the wall. This must be the maid Nic had mentioned. Her pale face and downcast gaze let him know she did not want to be seen, and appeared to be frightened, like a mouse caught in a trap.
“Please come over here by the fire to warm yourselves,” Diana encouraged. “Today’s storm was certainly fierce and so very unexpected.”
He followed her to the fireplace, watching her reaction closely. It was obvious by her wide eyes and over-exuberant greeting that she tried to turn an uncomfortable situation into a good one. She also fidgeted too much, which meant she was nervous… more nervous than she should be, in his opinion.
He switched his focus to Tabitha. The young woman acted the same way around Nic, except she didn’t try to talk to him. Hawthorne, however, trained his suspicious gaze on her directly.
“Lady Hollingsworth,” Tristan began and he rubbed his palms up and down his arms, trying to circulate warmth back in his body, “forgive us for this surprise visit, but it was most urgent that I speak with you. Regretfully, Lord Hawthorne and I had no idea we would be caught in the rainstorm, so I hope we have not burdened you in any way.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Diana brushed her hand in the air. “You are always welcome here, Lord Tristan.” She glanced behind Tristan at Dominic. “And you as well, Lord Hawthorne.”
“You are very kind, Lady Hollingsworth.”
“I fear,” Diana continued, “that I don’t have any extra clothes for the two of you to change into while we dry your wet ones.”
“Actually,” Tabitha hastily cut in, “your grandmother was a large lady if I recall, Lady Hollingsworth.” She ran her gaze slowly over Nic, and Tristan was surprised to see disgust instead of interest when she looked at his friend. “So I’m certain if Lord Hawthorne wouldn’t mind wearing a nightgown—”
“I appreciate your concern,” Nic quickly replied, “but I would rather catch pneumonia than be seen wearing a lady’s nightgown, oranygown, for that matter.”
Tabitha glared at Nic, looking as if fire would shoot out of her eyes any moment. Tristan bit his lip to hold back a laugh. This was the first time he’d ever seen a woman not fall all over herself trying to impress Lord Hawthorne. This definitely couldn’t be good for Nic’s ego.
“Be that as it may,” Tristan said, hoping not to encourage Tabitha and Nic into starting a heated argument, “I think standing by the fire will dry us quickly enough.”
“Are you certain?” Diana asked in a tender voice. “I could find some woolen blankets and you two could wrap yourself in those while your clothes are drying.”
He smiled softly at her. It was hard not to. “I suppose we could do that.”
“Come,” she said, turning toward the stairs, “you and Lord Hawthorne can use the guest bedroom to change. Tabitha?” She glanced at the maid. “Will you find me two blankets, and Sally will you get started on our meal? I’m certain the men are extremely hungry after their long excursion.”
“As you wish, my lady.” The women chimed together then moved out of the room, heading in different directions.
“Gentlemen?” Diana aimed her attention on Tristan. “If you will follow me, I shall show you to the chamber.”
As Diana led the way, Nic nudged Tristan with his elbow then motioned his head toward the door Sally had exited and mouthed the words,that’s her.Tristan nodded, but didn’t say anything to his friend. Instead, he wanted answers from Diana first.
Marching ahead of him, he wondered what her big hurry was. He grasped her elbow in a loose hold, slowing her down a bit. She looked over her shoulder at him. “Diana, who is the new girl? She wasn’t here before.”
Her eyes widened and her attention jumped between him and Nic. “Her name is Sally. I thought she could help out Tabitha for a while.”
“How very thoughtful of you.” He really didn’t know what else to say. Getting serious about a conversation at this point in the evening was useless. If he said something to upset her, she’d send him away, and in this downpour that wasn’t such a good idea. It was best to prolong their much needed conversation until sunset. Diana wouldn’t send him out of the house then. She was too much a lady to do that.
She led them into the bedroom before moving to the fireplace to lay some logs on. Taking fast steps, he hurried to her and grabbed the piece of wood out of her hand.
“Allow me to make my own fire,” he told her. “It’s the least I can do for showing up unannounced.”
Her stare delved deep into his eyes before slowly moving over his face. “Tristan, why are you here? What was the great urgency to speak with me?” Her voice was low.
He shook his head. “Not now. There will be plenty of time for us to talk once I’m out of these wet clothes.”
The shuffling of feet pulled his focus from Diana toward the doorway as Tabitha entered. She handed a blanket to Nic—almost shoved it at him, actually—then nicely handed Tristan a blanket.
“Thank you,” he told the maid.
“I shall leave you to change now,” Diana spoke calmly. “Just place your wet clothes outside the door and Tabitha and Sally will hang them above the fire to dry.”
As Tabitha walked past Nic, she turned up her nose at him. Hawthorne gripped her arm, stopping her and piercing her with his hard stare. “I better not see burns in my clothes caused by your careless hand.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Indeed, my lord, I had not thought of such a thing, but now…”
