Her head came up with a jerk, her eyes impossibly wide.
Damnation, had he said that aloud? “I do apologize. That’s not at all what I meant to ask. It’s just that you stand like a person who has been… Who is afraid of… Who hasn’t been treated well.” He waited a moment, watching her closely to judge just how badly he’d botched it. She kept her head bowed, but she did speak, her eyes trained on the thick rug.
“Mrs. Dove-Lyon treats me very well.”
“Glad to hear it.” Of course, Miss Lina hadn’t been born working in a gambling den. There was a lot that could happen to a girl on her way from China to London, and he doubted much of it was pleasant.
“Well, we’ll have none of that nonsense here.” He turned toward the kitchen. “Come along. I need tea and sustenance. Then you can tackle those accounts all you want, but just until noon. Mrs. Dove-Lyon will have my ears if I force you to work longer.”
He started moving through his bedroom. Normally, he would have offered her his arm, but last night, she had clearly disliked being that close to him. He thought being brusque and leading the way would work better. Unfortunately, it made him feel like a boor. This was not how a gentleman should act. Nevertheless, he continued. He meant to do better with her than yesterday, and if trailing behind him like a ghost made her feel at home, he would allow it.
He made it to the kitchen and set about the work. He started the stove fire and inspected the basket of eggs left sometime this morning by one of his tenants. Six eggs. A good morning’s feast. Knowing his penchant for extra things in his eggs, Mrs. Hocking had left behind some vegetables for him in the larder. He would have to chop them, but his first task was the teapot. He got that started with a singular focus, and then he began to chop vegetables while his mind hopped between his work and his guest.
Miss Lina stood in her statue pose, but her eyes were wide as she watched him work. And if he didn’t miss his guess, her mouth hung open in shock.
“Have you never seen a man cook for himself?” he asked.
“No, my lord.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I’m only passable at it. Even Mrs. Hocking sets a better breakfast, but she won’t come until after noon. She’s got her own family to feed, and I enjoy my quiet mornings too much to force her to come here.”
He watched as her head lifted as if she wanted to ask a question, but the words never left her mouth. In the end, she pressed her lips tight and stood watching him work.
“Do you have a question, Miss Lina?” he said as he began to chop the vegetables. “I assure you, I enjoy a friendly conversation much more than silence.”
She frowned. “You said you prefer your mornings quiet without Mrs. Hocking.”
It wasn’t exactly a question, but he understood her confusion. “I preferfriendlyconversation.” He didn’t elaborate. He could see she wouldn’t understand why he employed a woman who was as irritating as she was an excellent cook. Surely, he could find someone who could feed him well without voicing her opinions about every aspect of village life. But the truth was that Mrs. Hocking needed a job and he needed a cook. So he had worked out an arrangement that allowed him his peaceful mornings, and he was sure to be far away whenever the grumpy woman did her job.
“Are there other servants?”
He pulled out a bowl and began to crack eggs into it. “My valet is visiting his mother in London. He’ll be back in a few weeks, thank heaven. I don’t think my clothes can stand the local laundress much longer. The stable hands, gardener, maid, and the like come over from the manor. As I’m not here more than a few months out of the year, my brother is happy to accommodate my needs…”
His voice trailed away, grief hitting him like a dark wave crashing over his thoughts. His brother had died seven months ago. Peder no longer accommodated anything, but his sister-in-law was happy to maintain the agreement. Especially since most of the work he did now was on behalf of her twelve year old son, the new earl.
“My lord?”
Daniel blinked, his thoughts returning to the present. He looked at Miss Lina who was looking at the stove. He turned and cursed. He’d let the stove get too hot, and the water was boiling over. He cursed and rapidly pulled the teapot off the stove. Just how much time had he lost in remembering his brother? Obviously too much.
Embarrassed, he dealt with the tea, adjusted the stove, then scrambled the eggs. He worked in silence, his thoughts still tumbling around beneath the wave of grief. Eventually it would recede, and he would stop feeling like he was drowning. He would speak calmly again. In the meantime, he would cook eggs for breakfast and wait until he could drink his tea.
He glanced at Miss Lina as he worked. She remained in her statue pose, but she watched him with steady eyes. She noticed whenever he looked at her, of course. And on his fourth glance her way, she pulled her mouth into a smile.
“Would you like me to cook?” she offered.
“What? No, no. You’re not here to cook.”
“Then perhaps, when you are ready, you could tell me what I am here to do.”
To paint, but he couldn’t say that aloud. Mrs. Dove-Lyon had been very clear about that. “I need you to verify the account books. I’m trying to understand what my brother’s…er, what the steward has been doing. It makes little sense to me and the man refuses to explain himself.” He frowned. “What were you doing this morning if you weren’t looking at the accounts?”
“I was studying the records. They are very lazily done, but I do not know what exactly you want me to do.”
He poured the eggs into the pan and prayed he had the heat right. “What can you do with them?”
“I can set them in order. I can search for theft. I can explain them to you. What would you like?”
“All of that! Every bit of it. I need to understand the way of things here so that I can keep it running until Stefan inherits.” He threw the vegetable mix into the eggs and stirred vigorously. “I’ve never been one to follow crops and sheep.” Even Peder had had little interest, and it was the source of his income. “But if I’m to care for things now for Stefan, I’ve got to understand it.”
