“The lady has a titan’s courage,” Dominic admitted.
Ramsey wiped his eyes, still grinning. “Did she know who you were? That she was besting the devil?”
“Apparently, I top the list of men to avoid.” Doubtless the next three places belonged to his friends. A quartet of ruin, as one scandal sheet had called them.
“By a mile, I’d say.”
Dominic managed a smile. He’d rather be feared than feel that crippling vulnerability again. “Might I remind you I paint, play piano, and read Virgil. There is an elegant man beneath this villainous charm.”
“Aye, you could compose a concerto with one hand while torturing a man with the other.”
“Nothing would please me more than strapping Harland to the rack and stretching that lily-liver inch by inch.” Keen to wash road dust off his skin—and the elusive trace of Miss Harland’s perfume, something floral and far too memorable—he strode towards the dark oak staircase. “Have William bring warm water for the shower-bath. Then meet me in the study. I want to run through the preparations for the Autumn Masque.”
Ramsey called after him. “Beattie has compiled a list. It’s exact down to the number of berries on the wreaths.”
“I’d expect nothing less,” Dominic said, mounting the steps. Beattie ran the house like a field marshal and did nothing by halves. If he ever plotted murder, it would be timed to the second, not a drop of blood left behind.
“I’ll have him join us once he’s finished with the new maid.” Ramsey chuckled. “He’s putting her through the usual paces, though there are more crosses than ticks on his list.”
Dominic froze mid-step. Slowly, he turned. “New maid?”
“The one you had Lady Soanes hire while in town.”
“I didn’t ask Lady Soanes to hire a maid. You know my views on employing female staff. I keep them to a minimum.” The last thing he needed was virtue in a house that catered for vice. Monsters needed little encouragement once free of their cages.
Ramsey’s smile died. He approached the stairs, eager to explain. “She came with references. Carried a note from you.I know your mark like I know my own name. She arrived in Lady Soanes’ carriage.”
Dominic did not move, but his mind raced.
What the devil had Charlotte done?
Ramsey gripped the newel post. “She knew the code word.”
“Of course she bloody did,” Dominic snapped. “Lady Soanes told her.” Give him strength. “Where is she now?”
“Lady Soanes?”
“No. The maid.”
Ramsey rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced. “With Beattie. He had her lay the fire in the servants’ hall three times this morning. Now she’s polishing silver. Said he doubts she’s buffed anything in her life.”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or groan, to applaud Miss Harland’s gall or chastise her for it. Assuming, of course, it was the lady who’d disgraced him on the dance floor. Who else would be so bold?
“Let me guess,” he said, though he hardly needed to conjure a vision of his despoiler. She had lived behind his eyes since last night. “Ebony hair. Skin smooth enough to be marble. Blue eyes, as I recall.” Like a faraway ocean. Distant. Untouchable.
Ramsey shrugged. “Can’t say I noticed.”
He felt like marching down the stairs, propping Ramsey’s eyes open with sticks and checking he wasn’t blind.
He should be relieved.
How could a mannotnotice Miss Harland?
Perhaps he was jumping to conclusions. Perhaps there was a rational explanation. Even so, he knew it was her. He could feel it in his bones. Who else would invade his house disguised as a maid, armed with forged references and that clever mouth wielded like a weapon?
“Shall I give her a month’s wages and turn her out?”
Dominic hesitated, the urge to say yes dancing on his tongue, though he’d left his better judgement in Templeton’s ballroom.
