Devoted to You

by Rebecca King

  He was only vaguely aware of the door opening behind him and initially thought it was Petal returned with his breakfast. Holding an arm out, he focused all of his attention on not falling on his face.

  “Help me get back to the bed,” he demanded as he held one arm out.

  To his horror, the room began to swirl at the same time that Edwards appeared against his side. In contrast to the delightful feel of Petal pressed against him, the somewhat harder Edwards didn’t seem as appealing. Although he tried to push her away, his strength had diminished to the point that his hands didn’t appear to work properly either. There was no power left in any of him to fight against anything this woman said, or did. Despite this, it was on the tip of his tongue to order her to fetch Petal, but he knew he couldn’t remain upright long enough for her to arrive.

  He looked down when he felt the warm press of Edwards’ hand right in the centre of his bared chest and felt his skin crawl. There was something about the warmth of her breath that brushed against his cheek that made his lip curl in disgust. He tried to edge away, but she merely followed him and pressed ever closer against his bared flesh. For the first time in his entire adult life, he felt vulnerable to a woman’s machinations. It was galling. It was horrifying. It made him increasingly determined not to allow the woman an inch while she remained under his roof.

  “Oh my, I am sorry I interrupted you,” the dowager gasped theatrically from the doorway.

  “Get out!” Aidan yelled, spinning around and lurching forward fast enough to slam the door closed. Unfortunately, that then locked him inside the room with a now smug Edwards, who hurried toward him again with her arms outstretched.

  “Get out,” he snarled again, waving a hand toward the door. Unfortunately, the strain of standing for so long became too much for his beleaguered legs which suddenly couldn’t hold him upright.

  Edwards pushed against his front, trying to take his weight. He had little choice but to slide an arm around her so he didn’t fall flat on his face.

  “Get me back to the bed,” Aidan ordered, ignoring the sweat on his brow.

  He focused on the bed but then realised Edwards was pressed suggestively against him again. She was blocking any hope he might have of escaping. Cursing Fate, and the connivance of females, he glared down at her and tried to figure out how she managed to trap him so quickly and so efficiently.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Petal hurried after Rollo, the tray she carried laden with refreshments in her hands.

  “I will get the door for you,” she murmured, edging around him.

  The sight that met her eyes inside the room would remain with her for a very long time. She gasped in dismay when she saw Aidan and Edwards wrapped in a loving embrace. Her gaze flew to Rollo, who appeared beside her, and looked a little stunned himself then a little suspicious.

  “Tea, sir,” he announced blandly without batting an eye.

  Unsure what to do, Petal hesitated. The last thing she wanted to do was enter, but she had no choice. She had a tray of tea things in her hands. She could hardly drop it on the floor and run back downstairs. Following Rollo’s lead, Petal plastered a bland expression on her face and didn’t even look up as she deposited the tray on the side table beside the window.

  “Petal,” Aidan growled as she passed him. He was horrified at just how his embrace with Edwards must look. “Help me get back to bed.”

  Petal couldn’t even look at him. The hurt in her chest had mushroomed to the point that she could barely think or breathe beyond the need to cry. She hated him at that moment and was intensely regretting the affection she stupidly felt for him. The man was clearly nothing but a cad who had a yen for servants.

  Well, he can have Edwards and deserves her, she mused snidely, ignoring his plea.

  Rollo stepped forward. “I will help you, sir. I am a bit stronger than Petal.”

  Aidan pushed Edwards aside roughly and, together with Rollo, shuffled toward the bed. Once there, he slumped wearily down onto the sheets.

  “Petal, come over here,” he demanded, determined to explain to her what she had just walked in on.

  To his disgust, she had already left.

  Out in the hallway, Petal swiped angrily at the errant tear that escaped in spite of her best efforts to keep it at bay. She took a deep breath and battled with the fierce emotions that raged through her; the first of which was anger. It wasn’t directed at him, though. It was at herself for her stupidity. She had actually believed, if only for a little while, that there could be something different between her and the master of the house.

  Nobody had forced her to love him. And she did. She knew it.

  Foolishly, she had chosen to ignore their differing stations. It had been her choice; her ignorance. So, any hurt she may feel at seeing him with someone who was quite clearly better connected was hers and hers alone.

  “Well, it is back to work for you, Petunia Biddeham,” she whispered as she hurried back down the servants’ stairs. “The nurse is welcome to the scoundrel.”

  “Are you alright?” Aggy asked when Petal appeared, pale and battling tears, in the scullery moments later.

  “I am fine,” she snapped, only to sigh and throw her friend an apologetic look at the hurt on Aggy’s face. “I am sorry. I will help you hang the washing out.”

  She didn’t wait for Aggy to follow. She hefted the heavy basket and carried it into the kitchen garden. Minutes later, Aggy appeared by her side.

  “What is it? You look as though you are about to cry.”

  Petal was, but she couldn’t admit it to her friend. “I am fine. I have just had a bit of a morning.”

  When Aggy sneezed, Petal lifted her brows at her. “Are you alright?”

  She realised then that her friend sounded more nasal than usual.

  “I just feel a little chill coming on. I shall be okay after a good night’s sleep.”

  “Are all of your chores done yet?” Petal asked.

  “Petal?”

  She turned and looked at Rollo.

  “The master wants to see you.”

  Petal hesitated. The last thing she wanted to do was go back upstairs and see him again. She needed a bit of time to herself to gather her thoughts and emotions. She had no idea what she was going to do or say when she saw him. At first, she wanted to come up with a reason not to but then realised it was her job to answer to Aidan’s demands. That made her even more despondent and, once again, seemed to reinforce her position in the household.

  Reluctantly, she handed a peg to Aggy and hurried into the house. Once inside, Rollo stopped her.

  “Don’t mention to anybody what you saw this morning.”

  “If they want to be together that is up to them,” she replied stoically.

  “You know what the master has said about her. I don’t think it was what it appeared,” he reasoned with a scowl.

  “I know what it looked like. How many other ways can you interpret a passionate embrace like that?” she whispered.

  She willed him to come up with a credible explanation. With each second that passed, and he didn’t, her heart broke just that bit more.

  “I don’t know, but she keeps giving him Laudanum without his permission. He is clearly not well. She cannot be allowed to take advantage of him. We need to help as much as possible. In that case, if he calls for you, don’t waste time getting up there,” Rollo suggested.

  “We are servants in the house, Rollo,” Petal reminded him. “It isn’t our place to object to whatever goes on in his bedchamber. You heard the dowager. Edwards is connected to a Lord, something or other. It isn’t for us to find an argument if they wish to be together. She is suitable for him, or the dowager wouldn’t have chosen her to be here.”

  Rollo had to admit that she was right. Although, from the forceful way Petal spoke, and the heartbreak in her eyes, there was more going on between her and the master than he realised, and that disturbed him.

  “Do you want me to send Aggy up inst
ead?”

  Petal nodded. She didn’t even have to think about it. Right now, she didn’t even want to see the man who had come to mean so much to her.

  “One thing we do have to be careful of is Edwards now,” Rollo sighed. “After that little debacle, she is going to be impossible to share the house with.”

  “She hates me,” Petal sighed morosely.

  “So, I think it would be best for you to swap places with Aggy. I know Edwards can be awkward, but Aggy is no threat to anyone, and Edwards knows it.”

  “I am no threat to anyone,” Petal countered, wondering what he was hinting at.

  Rollo looked at her and realised then that the young maid had absolutely no idea how the master looked at her. Having spent time in the army he had travelled to many far off distant lands and had experienced a lot of life and its foibles. The way Aidan looked at Petal went far beyond curiosity; or that of a master observing his staff. There was an undeniable attraction in his adoring gaze. It was so obvious that he was positive Edwards had noticed as well. He began to wonder if that was why Edwards didn’t like Petal being in the room. Although he hated the woman, he couldn’t help but wonder if she might be right.

  The master was dancing with fire. Someone was going to get seriously burned. In this case, he rather suspected it would be Petal. One thing was for certain, there was trouble ahead. As the butler of the household, it was down to him to protect the servants as best he could, and that included Petal. That meant, for the time being, he had to incur the master’s wrath and keep Petal out of the way.

  “Aggy!”

  “Do you want me to take over Aggy’s downstairs chores?” Petal asked once Aggy had hurried off.

  “I think you had better. Aggy can inform Sir Aidan that you are swapping roles so she can get the experience of working upstairs. He can’t object to that too much,” Rollo sighed.

  Dismissed, Petal hurried off to work. Inwardly, though, she couldn’t help but feel she had just made a massive mistake. However, keeping her distance now would protect her heart. The unfinished business between them would have to remain, well, unfinished. At some point she would have to face him again, but would have to deal with that, and the feelings that arose, when it happened. It would have to be another time, though, preferably when she was feeling considerably stronger emotionally.

  Right now, she had work to do.

  Aidan waited impatiently for Petal to appear. He used the time to think carefully about what he was going to say to her.

  “This is utterly ridiculous,” he grunted aloud. “I am the master of this house. I don’t need to explain myself to a servant.”

  Having said that, though, he felt driven to make sure she wasn’t upset. Although why he should feel she would be upset by finding Edwards helping him was beyond him. He just knew he wouldn’t settle until he saw Petal again and made sure she was alright. She had, after all, been insulted by the dowager just for reading to him. That was something he had to apologise for. He had been the one to ask her to do it. If he happened to mention the unfortunate incident with Edwards then so be it.

  At least the slate would be wiped clean between them and they could go back to the way things were.

  Deep inside, he suspected that they could never go back to how things were yesterday. The horrible guilt that had slammed into him when realise she had seen him with his arms wrapped around another woman had shaken him. He had never felt such strong emotions in his entire life. The need to apologise to Petal was so strong that he was a little stymied by it, mostly because he had done nothing wrong.

  He frowned as he contemplated that and thought over the ramifications of his current predicament.

  “I should just marry her,” he mused.

  It was one solution to his current problem he just couldn’t get out of his mind. “She is pretty. She can read. She is good company. She knows the house well, and the servants.” He sighed despondently. “Too well.”

  He leaned back against the pillows and stared at the canopy overhead. “She wouldn’t know how to run the house, but Mrs. Kempton does, and can. She is looked upon fondly by Rollo, and works well with him. But then, as Lady of the house, she wouldn’t be required to work. The dowager would have a fit of the vapours if she had Petal as a daughter-in-law, but then wouldn’t keep harping on for me to re-join the ridiculous social whirl in London. She would also have to stop parading a bevy of desperate females through my house. I could finally be myself in my own home, but then most probably wouldn’t be welcome, or comfortable, in the homes of my associates and friends.”

  “Talking to yourself again, Aidan?” Jerry drawled from the doorway.

  “This bed chamber is like Whites, but there are more people are coming and going here. I think I shall just get a concierge for the door. I don’t know why I don’t just move my bed out onto the driveway and be done with it,” Aidan drawled, throwing a rueful look at his brother.

  “I take it that you have been busy?”

  “I thought I would be bored,” Aidan murmured thoughtfully. “It has been anything but. The dowager has been again.”

  “So, who should you marry?” Jerry asked thoughtfully. He carefully closed the door behind him and began to pray that it wasn’t the irascible Edwards. He wasn’t sure what he would say, or do, at the prospect of having that woman as his sister-in-law.

  “Just how much did you overhear?” Aidan asked, contemplating the wisdom of confiding in his brother.

  “Enough,” Jerry replied. “I take it we are not talking about Edwards?”

  “No, we are not talking about Edwards,” Aidan replied.

  Jerry sighed with relief. “I take it we are not talking about Hornsby either?”

  Aidan threw him a dark look. “No, we are not talking about mother’s chaperone either.”

  “So, can I take it we are talking about the delightful maid of yours who keeps reading to you?”

  “Delightful?” Aidan frowned at his brother. “Now, why would you call her delightful?”

  Jerry grinned at Aidan’s instinctive jealousy. “Settle down, brother. She is delightful. She is spirited.”

  “I know,” Aidan sighed, feeling strangely proud of her if a little unnerved by it. “It would cause the scandal of the century. She is a servant.”

  When Jerry didn’t reply, Aidan looked at him. Their eyes met. Aidan could detect no animosity. In fact, there was nothing more than an easy-going thoughtfulness that surprised him. A part of him had only been merely contemplating taking Petal as a wife. To find himself talking so casually with his brother about such an enormously contentious issue was shocking. It was even more shocking that he wasn’t all that appalled by it.

  “I married someone the dowager claimed was of my kind and look how that turned out. We were both miserable beyond belief. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” Jerry replied.

  “I know it was difficult for you.”

  “Just don’t fall into the same situation, Aidan,” Jerry warned. “It is alright for the dowager, and the ton, to instruct you on whom you should marry and why. However, it isn’t them who have to sit opposite the breakfast table with their spouse. It isn’t them who have to go to bed with their spouse and try to create the next generation. It isn’t them who have to face the endless round of arguments; or the stoic silences when the relationship becomes unbearable. Take it from me; you are a fool if you listen to any of them.”

  “Does the dowager keep going on at you to remarry? I thought that matter was settled between you.”

  “I just won’t allow it to be discussed. She has turned her attention to getting you married first. I have no doubt that as soon as she has ensnared you with one of her selections she will turn her rather dubious attention on me. I have no intention of every marrying anyone else of her choosing, and I don’t care if she casts me out or not.”

  “She cannot cast you out. She is the dowager. You own the house and lands now,” Aidan reported.

  “Yes, but she is a terrible g
ossip who isn’t averse to using society to cast aspersions on anyone, even us. She has tried that tactic on more than one occasion as you know. I have no doubt she will use whatever tactic she can to bully, entrap, or coerce me into matrimony again.” Jerry looked quite frankly at him. “She just hasn’t got a hope in hell of ever succeeding with me.”

  “I wondered why you had taken to staying in the country.”

  “I hate the aristocracy, and everything it stands for,” Jerry grumbled.

  “I completely agree with your sentiments,” Aidan sighed.

  They were interrupted by a quiet knock on the door. Aidan frowned. Usually, neither Petal nor Rollo bothered.

  “Enter.”

  An unknown servant appeared in the doorway and looked hesitantly at them as she bobbed a curtsey.

  “You rang, sir?”

  “Where’s Petal?”

  “We have swapped duties, sir. My name is Aggy. I am to take over the upstairs work for a while,” she reported.

  Aidan stared at her in disbelief. At first, he was coldly furious, but that was quickly replaced with concern.

  “Where is Petal? Is she alright? What’s happened to her?” He threw a dark look at Jerry, who lifted his brows askance at him. “Who the devil are you?”

  “I am Aggy, sir. I am the downstairs maid, sir.”

  “Does Rollo know about this?”

  “Yes, sir. It was Rollo’s idea, sir.”

  “Where is Petal?”

  “She is downstairs, sir.”

  “Does Edwards have anything to do with this?” His voice became crisper the more his temper began to bubble.

  “Edwards, sir?” The maid looked confused.

  Aidan threw a dark look at Jerry. “All of this siring is driving me crazy.”

  He glared at Aggy, who looked utterly terrified. “Get me Rollo.”

  Aggy scurried out of the door without a backward look.

  “You terrified her,” Jerry chided. “Petal wouldn’t be that scared. I rather suspect she would have put you in your place.”

  “I know what this is about,” Aidan grumbled.