by Devon, Eva
Footsteps echoed on the other side of the door. She stared at the beautifully carved double blue doors as if she could see who was on the other side.
A shattering crash echoed somewhere overhead, and just as she looked up to the first floor, the door swung open, exposing a tall rectangle of candle glow and the silhouette of a squat man.
Kate jerked her gaze back to the butler in the doorway and blinked. Handsome the man was not.
Crusty. It was the only word that came to mind.
He peered at her silently. Tufts of his eyebrows jutted out over his myopic blue eyes. He blinked.
Kate waited, hoping to God he would say something. She doubted the words ‘I’ve come to bed your master’ would gain her admittance into the house, and suddenly she found that her lips were rather reluctant to carry out her plan. Kate mustered her most winning grin, the grin she used to coax rectors, stubborn sheep herders, and too tightly laced curmudgeons of both the male and female variety. “I’ve come to see His Grace.”
The butler coughed lightly, bringing his gloved hand to his lips. “No.”
Kate pulled back her chin before she could stick it too far forward, a terrible habit she’d never broken. “No, sir?”
“No, miss.”
“But—” Well, what a dratted nuisance! Couldn’t the fellow just let her in? What possible excuse could she give to gain admittance to the abode of her impending debauchment? “But I have an appointment!