Mrs. Donnelly broke from the cluster and shooed the maids back to work. “It has been an interesting morning, Miss.”
“Has it?” Phoebe reached the bottom step and waited for more information. Interesting could be good or bad. Arwen was in her room, packing her things. Whatever it was, it would make no difference in a few hours. She would go back to Everton and await her next assignment.
“Oh yes. Mr. Blakely, his lordship’s valet, has returned and the two have been closeted in the study for nearly an hour.”
There, all was well. She could leave in good conscience knowing Markus was fine. “That is good news.”
“There is more. His lordship fired Miss Walker within moments of waking this morning. It seems he gave her a month’s pay and put her in his carriage back to London.”
Phoebe’s stomach clenched. “Why on earth would he do that? I know she wasn’t perfect, but she was all that was available.”
Mrs. Donnelly shrugged. “His lordship did not explain his actions to me. Why would he? He just said she would be leaving and sent the new driver, Dobson, to take her all the way back to London. Fine style to travel for a girl of her status.”
“It took two weeks to get that nanny. Lord only knows how long it will take me to find another with whatever qualifications his lordship wants.” Phoebe sat on the bottom step and put her head in her hands. What was she to do now? She couldn’t leave Elizabeth to be raised by maids and cooks, no matter how kind they were.
The door to Markus’s study opened and a thin-faced man in his mid-thirties exited. He nodded to Mrs. Donnelly and took the steps two at a time.
Phoebe walked to the threshold of the open study door.
Markus sat behind his desk penning a note.
“What have you done?” she asked.
He looked at her then back at his note. “I am writing to my brother, Adam, at Eton. I have a note from my sister that they will visit and wanted to see if my brother might join us as well.”
“That is all well and good, but why did you fire Miss Walker?”
He put his writing aside. “She was unsuitable to the job.”
“How so?” Remaining in the door meant that when Honoria descended the stairs, she walked directly into the conversation.
“You fired the nanny already?” Honoria walked past Phoebe and sat in the chair near the desk.
“I did, my lady. I found the girl to be inept.”
Honoria fussed with the lace at her sleeve. “In what way?”
“I just asked that.” Phoebe gave in and sat in the other chair.
“This morning when I came down, she was sitting on the stool in the alcove sewing a piece of scrap. I was sure Elizabeth was awake by that time so I asked her what she was doing. She said she never went to get a child before eight bells. I thought that a strange rule, but perhaps not so terrible. It might teach Elizabeth patience if she had to wait. So, I asked Miss Walker what she intended to teach Elizabeth today and she said they would learn some geography. Intrigued, I asked how she would teach a child of two such a topic, and she said she would show Elizabeth shapes. At that point, I explained her services would not be needed, paid her for one month, and sent for the carriage.”
Honoria bubbled with laughter.
“You could have given her more time.” Phoebe’s declaration lacked conviction, even to herself.
His smile was warm and stunning and Phoebe wanted to cry. “Time to learn the difference between geography and geometry? I think she might have learned that long before she was meant to teach my daughter. But to be fair, I did inquire about her command of language and it turned out she only spoke English. No French or German as her references indicated.”
“We were leaving today.”
Markus stood. “If you must go, I understand. You are welcome to stay, of course. My family will arrive at the end of the week, and it would be nice if someone was here to care for Elizabeth properly. However, I can manage on my own for a month or so until a proper nanny can be hired.”
Imagining him fumbling around with Elizabeth’s care and perhaps becoming overwhelmed and taking to drink again rocked Phoebe’s resolve to leave. “I will go and tell our maids to stop packing. You really must stop firing the staff, my lord.”
Laughing still, Honoria followed her out but went to the breakfast room when Phoebe climbed the stairs.
When she returned to break her fast, she was ravenous and filled her plate from the delights on the sideboard. He had manipulated her into staying. Why?
Becca brought her chocolate.
Jared arrived and sat next to her. “You look lovely this morning, Miss Hallsmith.”
Men and their useless compliments. She was tired and hungry and had not bothered to smooth her curls. Nothing about her was lovely, yet he issued the compliment anyway. “I thank you, Mr. Blunt. You are here early.”
“Yes. His lordship and I have a busy day.”
“I’m sure you do.” She stuffed a piece of sausage in her mouth, hoping it would deter further conversation.
“I finally got an audience with your brother yesterday.”
The notion of her brother Ford was enough to make the food in her stomach churn. “How nice for you.”
“It was a good meeting.” There was something smarmy about his smile.
She hadn’t noticed it before, but her skin crawled. Determined not to ask, she bit into some coddled eggs.
Clearing his throat, he leaned forward so she was forced to look at him. “I have not gained his approval to court you, though he did not outright deny my petition. He mentioned something about another offer being imminent. Is this true?”
Tension forced her back straight. Ford was up to something and that was never good. “Mr. Blunt, I cannot imagine what he is talking about. As I told you, I am estranged from my family.”
His frown deepened and a nasty little grunt pushed up from his chest. “You really should make amends. It is unfortunate for a woman to be without friends.”
“Mr. Blunt, I believe you have just overstepped your bounds. Please refrain from any further advice with regard to my life and how I live it.”
He huffed. “I only meant…”
Elizabeth giggled and Mrs. Donnelly used the opportunity to push a spoonful of porridge into her mouth. Making bubbles with the gruel made the most disgusting mess roll down her sweet face.
Jared gagged. “Is it necessary for that child to be at the table with adults? Shouldn’t she be fed in the kitchen or nursery?”
Phoebe took longer than necessary to chew and swallow her sausage. A lifetime of simple things disgusting Jared flashed through her mind. She supposed he would not look upon his own children until they were of school age for fear of vomiting at the least bit of mess. “His lordship likes to have Lady Elizabeth close at hand during meals. He was here a moment ago. Perhaps you would like to discuss his daughter’s care before your important business?”
Mrs. Donnelly smothered a laugh and scooped the food from Elizabeth’s chin and back into her mouth.
Another gag from Jared. He might become sick from watching a baby eat. “It is not my place to discuss such things, but I was not allowed to eat with my parents until I was out of school.”
Phoebe’s appetite fled. “No. It is not your place. You should go to the study.”
Just noting her annoyance, he stood. “I will be here for several hours. Perhaps you and I could walk in the garden later today when the sun warms the ground a little.”
“I am very busy today.” It was too bad Ford’s lack of approval hadn’t dissuaded Jared’s attempt at courting.
“Doing what?” His sharp tone set her teeth grinding.
The feeding had stopped in light of the argument building between Phoebe and Jared. Mrs. Donnelly and Elizabeth both watched with wide eyes and open mouths. “I need not report
to you, Mr. Blunt. When a lady tells you she is too busy to walk in the garden, you should be polite and say you will see her another time. Just as when a child of a viscount is fed in the breakfast room, you might say nothing and mind your own business. I wonder that this need to correct the behavior of others is not a flaw in your own character. If you will excuse me.” She stood, dropped her napkin on her chair and turned toward the door.
Honoria stood in the threshold grinning like she was watching a stage play.
“Must you be at the center of everything all the time?” Phoebe rushed past and up the steps.
“Time to go to work, Mr. Blunt. It seems you have done quite enough here.” Honoria’s voice lilted after Phoebe.
She reached her room, and thankfully Arwen had finished her duties. The room was blissfully empty. Opening the window, Phoebe let the cold blast ease her annoyance. Men always wanted to change things to suit themselves. Some wanted to change women too, but Phoebe could not and would not change. That had become clear in Scotland. She would never make that mistake again.
A knock startled her and the cold sank in. “Come in.”
Markus opened the door and stepped inside. He left the door standing open. “I heard yelling, then stomping. Are you all right?”
“I am fine. Can no one leave me in peace?”
He took a step back. “You are angry with me?”
“No. I am tired of men who think they know better.” Returning her gaze to the garden, she watched Duck shooing some goats from the path toward the gate.
“I am not at all certain what you are talking about, but I can assure you I do not know better about anything. I hope that makes you feel more content.”
“Oh, but you think you do, Markus. You thought it would be better to fire the nanny before we found a new one.”
He stepped close until he stood just behind her. “Is that what you are upset about? Perhaps I should have consulted you, but at the time I felt the girl was completely unsuitable and would do more harm than good.”
“It does not matter.” She turned, but his closeness was too much, and she skirted him and stood near the hearth. “Your family is coming to visit and I should not be here. Honoria and I will leave as soon as I can arrange for another nanny. Even if it takes a little while for her to arrive, I see no need for me to stay. Elizabeth is safe and in better spirits since you are taking time with her. I will only need a few days to communicate with the agency and make the arrangements.”
Fisting his hands, he stood straight as a tree. “If you are so keen to go, then you should go now. I can certainly pen a letter to the agency. Though I do not see what you are in such a rush to get back to.”
It took her several full breaths to be sure her voice would be steady. “My life, you arrogant man. I have a life. I missed all my best years taking care of my ailing grandmother. I should be married with children by now but instead I am taking care of you and your family.”
“Then you will go off and help someone else. What life is it that you have? I find this self-pitying side of you unpleasant, Phoebe. You went to take care of your grandmother because it was the right thing to do. You have spent the last month here, because you knew we needed you. If you want to go, then go, but do not blame me. You made your choices, and if I recall, I did not want you to come here to begin with.”
He was right, of course. Slumping into the chair, she sighed and put her head in her hands. “I never regretted my decision to care for Grand. I had five wonderful years with her and nearly married in Scotland. It would have been nice to have had a season in London where I could have enjoyed myself with youthful enthusiasm and not worried that I was too old. My life this last year has been tolerable, and I have people to take care of with each Everton assignment.”
His expression softened and he sat next to her. “I do not want to fight, Phoebe. I only wanted to make certain that Blunt had not upset you. Now I see that whatever has upset you goes beyond Blunt or even me. You may tell me anything. I am your friend, and will listen to whatever worries you have.”
Impossible. He was the last person she could ever talk to about her problems. “I thank you for your kindness, Markus, but I am fine. My only problem stems from a lack of sleep for far too many nights.”
“This is something I can understand. Maybe we are going about it the wrong way. Eating each night does not seem to get us anywhere, but it has added to my waistline.” He laughed and the sound tingled along her skin.
“What do you suggest?”
“Meet me in my study tonight instead of the kitchen. Perhaps a little reading would be better medicine than pie and biscuits.”
A clandestine meeting was a big mistake, yet she didn’t have the strength or desire to say no to him. Only a fool would meet a man who she could never have in his study in the middle of the night. “If I cannot sleep tonight, I will come to the study.”
Chapter 10
No. 15
An Everton lady will never bring her personal issues to the client’s attention.
—The Everton Companion
Rules of Conduct
Having the impossible had been Markus’s goal for as long as he could remember. He’d wanted parents who were loving and kind. Of course, that wish was out of his control. He had wanted Emma and had done everything in his power to win her. No man could have wooed a lady more devoutly.
Wanting Phoebe was out of the question and yet he stood in his study looking through tomes of poetry and verse in search of the perfect remedy to insomnia. A few weeks ago, a nice brandy or ten would have been the thing he reached for, and though he wanted one badly, he refrained and searched the shelves.
She cleared her throat, producing the most delicate sound.
Turning, his heart leapt in his chest. She appeared iridescent in her white nightclothes with a pale blue blanket wrapped around her. In the lantern-lit study, her state of undress was more intimate than it had been in the kitchen. “You came.”
“Foolish, I know, but I could not sleep.” She tugged her blanket tighter around her shoulders and stepped inside.
“I trust you had no more issues with Mr. Blunt today?” His hand rested on the binding of a book and he pulled it down.
Phoebe flounced down onto the couch at the far end of the study and pulled her feet under the blanket. “Mr. Blunt said Ford did not give him permission to court me and he avoided me today. Perhaps that will be the end of his courting.”
“I am sorry.”
“Why?”
“I thought you liked Mr. Blunt.” He sat next to her, placing the book on the cushion between them.
She shrugged. “He is a man from a good family and has a steady income. I suppose he would suit, and my mother would be happy to see me married to anyone at this point.”
“What does Honoria have to say on the matter?” Suddenly, his secretary was the most abhorrent man he’d ever known.
“I do not think she is very fond of Mr. Blunt. Though I cannot say why.”
The way she scrunched her nose when she was thinking warmed him like nothing else. “You did not say if you are upset by the idea of the loss of his affection.”
“Did I not?” Plucking at the edge of the blanket, she let the cloth relax, revealing the swell of her breasts above the neckline of her nightgown.
Markus swallowed the lump in his throat. “No. You only told me how everyone else might feel.”
She shrugged. “I suppose that is because I have little feeling on the subject. That is probably not a good way to think of a prospective suitor.”
“Probably not,” he agreed, but joy swamped him from head to toe.
“Have you found something boring enough to put us to sleep?” She nodded toward the book.
Holding it up he read the title. “Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Not really for sleeping but it’s better than eating every sweet
in the kitchen.”
She leaned in closer when he opened the book. “Will you read aloud to me, Markus?”
“Sit closer, so if you get tired you might rest your head on my shoulder.” A silly ploy, but it worked and soon the heat of her body pressed against his side. It was a tiny bit of heaven to have her close with the warm clean scent of her filling him. He read:
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand’ring bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me prov’d,
I never writ, nor no man ever lov’d.
Never in his life had he read a poem and had the words rivet him so directly. He’d chosen randomly when he opened the book, yet Sonnet 116 fell from his lips as if it had been written just for them.
Her breath was quick and shallow and she turned up her chin to meet his gaze. “That was not boring.”
No man could resist such temptation. “Not boring. I know you think this is wrong, but I would like to kiss you now, Phoebe.”
“I would like for you to kiss me, Markus.”
Pushing the book aside, he captured her lips with his. Soft breath escaped her mouth as she gasped. When she breathed out, he breathed in as if they were one entity. He found the edge of the blanket and slipped his hands beneath where the soft cotton gown was the only separation between his fingers and her sweet flesh. “Phoebe.”
She clutched his shirt, pulling him closer, then wrapped her arm around his neck while the other caressed his back.
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