Raising her hands to the heavens in frustration, she cried, “I’ve hardly a clue! One moment you’re kind and considerate of the boys and the next you’re insulting me beyond the pale!”
“Insulting you? You’re the one who refuses to work for ‘the likes’ of me!”
Curling her fingers into fists, Abigail tried to rein in this unfamiliar fury. “Look. This obviously was a mistake. Let us simply part ways and be done with it.”
“You can do that? You can simply desert those two boys? Orphans who’ve already lost so much?”
Abigail swallowed. “You can find another governess—”
“They’ve grown attached to you.”
“Yes, but—”
“The boys trust you. You know how hard it can be to win over young boys. You’ve already done it and you can’t let them down.”
“Well—”
“They need you.”
“I don’t think—”
“You agreed.”
“Yes, I know. But—”
“What is it, then? Are you positioning for more money?”
Abigail straightened. “I would never!”
He stepped forward, toe to toe with her, like duelists at dawn. “Then what the blazes are you about?” His breath washed over her in a pleasant, clove-scented breeze. “You flounce in and—”
“I don’t flounce!” she cried, glaring up into that chiseled, unnervingly handsome face.
“Fine, you fence your way into those children’s hearts and then, after they’ve grown attached to you, you forsake them?”
“I don’t want to leave them!”
“Then don’t!”
Abigail was quaking, her face was hot, and her heart was racing. She flushed with an unfamiliar fire surging through her.
Steele stood so close, she could feel the waves of heat and frustration he emitted. It was mesmerizing, intoxicating, and the way her body hungered for more of him was frightening. The man had to be a sorcerer of some kind to have such an effect on her.
Swallowing, Abigail forced herself to take a shaky step back. She stared down at Steele’s boots, which caught a gleam of moonlight on their polished surface.
“Don’t do that.” His voice was a teasing whisper as he stepped to follow her, keeping less than an inch separating them.
She felt the heat of his flesh and the force he emanated with every fiber of her being. “Do what?” she murmured.
“Back down. Become that gray mouse once more.”
She blinked, and her anger flared like a goddess incensed. “You, don’t do that!”
“What?”
“Charm me and insult me all in one breath!” She began to pace, sending pebbles flying from under her heels. “What is wrong with you? You’re handsome as sin, and despite your odd notions of propriety, you can be amiable—”
He straightened. “You think I’m handsome?” Then he shook his head as if to clear it. “What do you mean, odd notions of propriety?”
Abigail kept pacing, her mind lost to the puzzle of it. “You shouldn’t have difficulty finding women willing enough to bed you. It boggles the mind that you would feel the need to force your attentions—”
“Now hold on one moment!” Steele grabbed her arm and pulled her to face him. “I’ve never forced my attentions on a woman in my life!”
She glared at his hand on her arm. “The same way you’ve never manhandled a woman in your life!”
“Fine.” He released her. “But it’s not the same. I swear on everything I hold dear that I have never been with a woman who didn’t, quite clearly, want to be with me.”
“I suppose that I’m the first one who’s ever made a fuss about it! And given your appeal, I can understand why, but still!”
“Can you please explain yourself in a way I can understand? You’re being nonsensical!”
Abigail met those blazing eyes, glare for glare. “Let me be perfectly clear: I will not lie with you!”
Steele’s jaw worked. “What? I never asked you to!”
“You made it abundantly clear!”
“How? When?”
“When you set me up to sleep in the mistress’s rooms!”
Steele blinked. “You think…You think that your job requires…that you…service me?” His face was incredulous.
Abigail lifted her chin. “When I challenged Carlton about the sleeping arrangements, he said…that it was my duty to sleep in the mistress’s chamber and that my duties weren’t necessarily what I’d signed on for. No matter how odd or unorthodox.”
Steele stilled. “Did he say that you are supposed to sleep with me?” Anger so cold infused his face that Abigail realized he’d barely been vexed before.
Straightening, Abigail opened her mouth and then closed it as doubt slithered across her mind. “Well, no. But he did say that I was subject to your whims and that you specifically wanted me within arm’s reach.”
“That’s very different from a demand that you bed me.”
Even though it was starting to sound a little ridiculous even to her ears, Abigail protested, “But he also said that I had better learn to accept that what you want you get. And that…and that you wanted me to sleep near you.”
His features relaxed. Shaking his head, he chuckled. “No wonder you’re so upset.”
“So you didn’t want me to sleep in the mistress’s chambers?”
Laughing, he waved a hand. “Oh no, I do want you to. But not for the reasons you think. Certainly not to…‘service your liege lord.’” He shook his head.
Crossing her arms, Abigail was starting to feel more than a bit foolish. But Carlton had made it seem so…
Carlton clearly hated children, and his duties had changed because his employer had said so. And with the first footman ill, he’d been forced to take on those duties as well. Carlton was talking about himself, not Abigail sleeping with her employer! Abigail slapped her hand over her mouth as mortification washed over her.
“Bedding me as a job requirement!” Pressing his palm to his middle, Steele chuckled.
“It’s not that funny,” Abigail muttered, embarrassed.
“I know, I know,” Laughing, he shook his head. “I just can’t…seem to stop…laughing!”
Abigail realized she was having difficulty keeping a straight face. His hilarity was so joyful and sincere that she was finding it hard not to join in.
A little chuckle escaped her lips. She pressed her hand to her mouth to catch it.
Their eyes met, and amusement sparked between them.
Grinning sheepishly, she shook her head. “I’m a dolt.”
“No, no, anyone…” He waved a hand, trying to keep his face sincere. “Anyone might think that…there’s a reason I…pay…so well…for active duty!” He laughed out loud.
Something wild loosened inside her and she giggled.
“What do you suppose I’d give for a Christmas bonus?” He chortled.
Laying her hand on his arm, she cried, “Or for my pension!”
Abigail’s cheeks ached, as they’d been unused to smiling for so long. She blinked, realizing that her eyes were teary, for the first time in ages with joy, not sorrow.
His eyes met hers, his look piercing through the protective armor she used to shield herself from the world, and warming her in a place that had known only cold for a very long time. It felt good. Warm, happy. Yet at the same time, disconcerting.
Suddenly she realized that her hand was on his arm. Quickly she removed it, hoping that he had not noticed.
Abigail inhaled a shaky breath and looked around. They stood in the quiet, moonlit park, alone, save for the owl hooting in the trees. Looking down, she adjusted her gown and peered at Steele through her lashes. She was glaringly conscious of how handsome and appealing the man was. And how boldly she’d just spoken about bedding him.
Abigail’s cheeks flamed with heat, her blush spreading from her hairline to her toes.
“Ahhh,” Steele sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Th
at was…that was…most unexpected.”
Abigail licked her lips and tried not to be too embarrassed. “I can’t believe that I was so mistaken…” The man probably had women lining up at his bedchamber door.
“Carlton…” Stroking his hand across his chiseled jaw, Steele exhaled. “To be fair, when I hired Carlton, I had no intention of ever having children in my house. I never anticipated such a change in his duties. Or my circumstances.”
Abigail could barely contain her relief that Steele was moving on to a safer topic than her faux pas or the notion of copulation. She coughed into her fist. “You, ah…never expected to have children?”
“Are you asking because you believe that everyone should have children or because you think that all peers yearn to continue their line?”
This topic was much easier for a governess, and she jumped on it like a fish to a hook. “Not everyone is made to be a parent. Certainly not someone like Carlton, who so obviously despises anyone under four feet high.”
“I didn’t realize that he disliked children so much. Had I known…” He shook his head.
“What would you have done differently? Not taken Seth and Felix in?”
“No, but it looks as if I need to find Carlton another position and find myself another butler.”
Her brow furrowed. “If I may, I would like to know why Seth and Felix are coming to live with you.”
Steele looked down at the lovely lady, enjoying how the moon lit her blond hair, reminding him of golden gossamer. He knew that he couldn’t tell this woman the truth; she’d leave for sure. And suddenly he couldn’t imagine letting her go.
Sighing, he stared up at the stars sprinkling the dark sky. “It’s so beautiful out tonight.” He couldn’t recall the last time he’d noticed.
As if suddenly uncomfortable, she bit her lip. “It’s getting late. The boys are probably waiting…”
Steele wasn’t ready to go back to the house, to his responsibilities and everything relying on him there. He knew that he should be working; he had three legal briefs to review and a contract negotiation to plan. But he didn’t want the intimacy between him and this unique young lady to end. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed so freely or connected so easily with another human being. “We have a few things left to discuss. Why don’t we take the path the long way around to get back to the house?”
Uncertainty filled her gaze.
Extending his arm, he smiled. “I promise, I won’t bite. No matter how odd my notions of propriety.”
Even in the moonlight, he could tell that her cheeks tinged deliciously pink.
He couldn’t quite believe that she’d thought him so depraved.
Or that if she had been willing, he would’ve been sorely tempted.
Chapter 6
Sounds of the creatures of the night reverberated through the moonlit park as Steele led the mystifying Miss West down the pebbled lane. The woman was a conundrum, a shrinking mouse one moment and a fiery goddess the next. He realized he longed to unlock the puzzle she presented and reveal the secrets inside.
Inhaling the rich scent of pine traveling on the evening breeze, Steele recalled Sir Lee’s words, Not the kind of woman to run from the kitchen when things get hot. Based on how she’d handled Carlton, she seemed to be one to rush inside and put out the flames. Still, she’d cowered before Benbrook, shrinking into herself like a snail.
And what was the story with Lord Byrnwyck’s son Phineas?
Peering sideways at the lady, he noticed once more how pretty she was when she wasn’t trying to be a schoolmarm. Her profile was particularly pleasing to the eye, with her slightly upturned nose, pronounced cheekbones, and bowed lips. Had something truly transpired between her and Phineas Byrnwyck? Phineas was a lanky young man, Steele recalled, with blond curling locks, pale blue eyes, and milky white skin that any debutante would envy. Impartially, Steele could see that he might be appealing in a Byronesque sort of way. Had Miss West fallen for the young greenhorn? An unfamiliar feeling twisted in his gut, but he ignored it and forced himself to focus on the lady beside him.
Steele shortened his stride to match her smaller tread, and again was amazed at how she’d managed to fell Carlton, a much larger man. “Where did you learn that move that you used on Carlton?”
“You won’t believe me if I told you.” Her voice had a breathy quality to it that at first he’d labeled as trepidation. Now he knew it to be more of a reluctance to speak. As if words might somehow betray her, he thought.
As a barrister, Steele had learned to listen for those hidden meanings beneath people’s words, and he never dismissed the idle thoughts that whispered in his mind. As if words might betray her.
He wondered what it would take for her to open up and speak freely. Somehow he suspected that she might have some very interesting things to say; thus far she’d been a constant surprise. “Try me. I believe I can maintain an open mind.”
The moonlight blanketed the trees, giving some sense that they were alone in the world.
“Very well. I learned it from a book.”
He felt his brows rise. “A book taught you how to bring a man to his knees?”
Miss West nodded.
“I must read this volume,” Steele murmured, fascinated. “Where can I find it?”
“At Andersen Hall Orphanage, in Headmaster Dunn’s library.” Turning slightly away so that her features were masked by darkness, she murmured, “I went to live there after my parents passed.”
“I serve on the board of trustees at Andersen Hall.”
She looked up. “You do?”
“Yes. Even though I’m new to the board, I am very impressed with how the institution is managed and the progressive principles upon which it’s founded.”
“Andersen Hall reflects the man who shaped it. Headmaster Dunn was brilliant and caring and loved all the children as if they were his own…” Her voice caught.
Steele had to resist the urge to squeeze the small hand resting on his arm. “I’m so sorry for his loss. His death must have been a terrible blow for you.”
She nodded. “Headmaster Dunn was…very dear to me.”
“He was a good man. Principled. Much more so than many of the men I’ve encountered. And canny. Very canny.” Steele’s lips almost lifted as he recalled his first encounter with Uriah Dunn and how handily the man had manipulated him. He remembered this meeting without rancor. Yet it was the compromise Steele had made with Uriah Dunn that allowed Sir Lee to blackmail him into helping Benbrook. Sir Lee was one of three people in the world who knew that Steele had knowingly allowed the Thief of Robinson Square to escape justice. If anyone learned that secret, Steele’s reputation would be in tatters.
Steele exhaled. “Headmaster Dunn had a way of making one see things his way, without being a bully about it. I wish I had that gift.”
Miss West peered up at him. “Why? So you can convince Carlton that he likes children? I don’t believe that even Headmaster Dunn would be able to do that. Mrs. Pitts, on the other hand, seems quite biddable.”
Sir Lee had been right; she was perceptive. Then it hit him: She’d quite neatly deflected him from the subject of Headmaster Dunn and her grief. She seemed unwilling to allow anyone to breach the mighty walls that surrounded her heart. If he managed it, he wondered what he’d find. He filed away that notion for later consideration.
“Pray tell me the name of this book,” he asked.
“It’s called Defensive Arts of the Eastern Civilizations, by J. Imperatori. It’s filled with defensive exercises.”
“They must be very good exercises.”
“Only if one remembers to use them,” she muttered under her breath. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ve forgotten more than I’ve learned.”
“When you grabbed Carlton, you weren’t thinking. You acted instinctively. Often it’s that way with certain moves; you can’t overthink.”
She stared up at him, wide-eyed and curious.
He added
quickly, “Or so I’ve heard from some of the Bow Street Runners.” He changed the topic. “Did you simply happen upon this book or did you seek it out?”
Peering up at him from the corner of her eye, she replied, “That’s a very astute question. You must be a very good barrister. Do you like it?”
She was trying to deflect him once again. Very interesting. But he wasn’t an Officer of the Crown for nothing. “Were you being bullied? Is that why you sought out the book?”
Looking away, she stared off into the darkness. “It was a long time ago, I can hardly remember.”
“How old were you when you went to Andersen Hall?”
“Thirteen.”
Steele scratched his chin. “I wonder that Headmaster Dunn didn’t do a better job of protecting his charges.”
Her head whipped around. “Headmaster Dunn couldn’t be everywhere at every turn. He did the best anyone could have ever done under the circumstances. No, he did better!”
“So you took it upon yourself to stop the harassment.”
She gritted her teeth as if admitting to anything went against the grain. “Are all barristers this curious?”
His lips lifted into a smile. “No, I seem to be one of the more inquiring variety.” Especially as it pertained to Miss West.
“For the record, Headmaster Dunn ran the orphanage better than any navy ship.”
“I know. He was a singular character in every way.”
That seemed to mollify her. “Exactly so. I owe him a great deal and count my lucky stars to have landed at Andersen Hall.”
“So if you didn’t worry over yourself, you sought out the book to protect someone else.”
She missed a step, and he slipped his arm around her tiny waist to keep her from falling. He caught a whiff of her clean, heathery scent, far more pleasant than the cloying, flowery perfumes most ladies of fashion wore. Still, this young miss was as mannerly as any of them. Again he realized that it was only a quirk of fate as to who was a penniless orphan and who a titled heiress.
Swallowing, she straightened and stepped away, as if uncomfortable with his touch. “Uh, thank you, I’m fine.”
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