A Touch of Temptation: House of Devon Book 2
Page 1
A Touch of Temptation
House of Devon Book 2
Ellie St. Clair
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
Tempting the Scoundrel
Prologue
Chapter 1
The House of Devon
Also by Ellie St. Clair
About the Author
♥ Copyright 2020 by Ellie St Clair - All rights reserved.
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Also By Ellie St. Clair
The Bluestocking Scandals
Designs on a Duke
Inventing the Viscount
Discovering the Baron
The Valet Experiment
Writing the Rake
Risking the Detective
The Victorian Highlanders
Callum’s Vow
Finlay’s Duty
Adam’s Call
Roderick’s Purpose
Peggy’s Love
Blooming Brides
A Duke for Daisy
A Marquess for Marigold
An Earl for Iris
A Viscount for Violet
The Blooming Brides Box Set: Books 1-4
The Unconventional Ladies
Lady of Mystery
Lady of Fortune
Lady of Providence
Lady of Charade
Happily Ever After
The Duke She Wished For
Someday Her Duke Will Come
Once Upon a Duke’s Dream
He’s a Duke, But I Love Him
Loved by the Viscount
Because the Earl Loved Me
Happily Ever After Box Set Books 1-3
Happily Ever After Box Set Books 4-6
Searching Hearts
Duke of Christmas (prequel)
Quest of Honor
Clue of Affection
Hearts of Trust
Hope of Romance
Promise of Redemption
Searching Hearts Box Set (Books 1-5)
Standalone
Unmasking a Duke
The Stormswept Stowaway
Christmastide with His Countess
Her Christmas Wish
Chapter 1
March, 1818
Charlotte sighed as she stared dreamily at Abigail practically floating out of the small chapel.
She was stunning today, it was true, in her pale-yellow gown with her hair intricately designed by Delilah, the duchess’ lady’s maid, but it was more than that. There was a glow about her. A glow of love that transformed her.
“She is beautiful, isn’t she?” Charlotte said, leaning over to whisper in Ellen’s ear. The other maid nodded with a small smile, though she said nothing, respecting the silence of the ceremony much more than Charlotte did. But she couldn’t help herself.
She had loved Abigail ever since she had joined the House of Devon. The housekeeper – soon-to-be former housekeeper now – was friendly, fair, and a pleasure.
Charlotte was happy that her friend had found love – and Rex Ableman was ever so handsome.
When the happy couple passed through the chapel, Charlotte found her gaze connecting with another – with mischievous chocolate brown eyes that she knew nearly as well as she knew her own. Then one of them winked at her, as though their owner knew her thoughts, and she rolled her eyes back at him.
She had known Philip Webster since she was a child, and often she found that he still treated her like one, despite the fact he was but two years older than her – two years to the day in fact, for they shared the same birthday.
As they filed out of the chapel to resume their duties, she met him in the center aisle.
“Are you jealous, Lottie?” he asked, reaching out to tweak her nose, and she swatted his hand away as Ellen snorted beside them. Raine, one of the newer maids, said nothing, although she looked down at her hands with a small smile on her face.
“Of course not!” she exclaimed, looking around to make sure no one else had heard. “Why would you think such a thing?”
“I could sense you pining away from across the chapel,” he said, laughter in his eyes as she glared at him. “Ableman is a good-looking man, if you like that sort of thing. The blue eyes, dark hair, muscular stature. Too bad Abigail caught his eye first.”
“I have no feelings for Mr. Ableman!” she insisted in a low voice, looking around to make sure no one else heard Philip’s teasing and might make assumptions they shouldn’t. She knew that she was only allowing Philip to goad her, but she was unable to resist responding. “I am happy for Abigail, that is all. They are so in love,” she continued dreamily.
“And now Abigail no longer has to work as a servant,” Philip remarked.
“Do you have no romance within you at all?” she asked with a sigh, and he shrugged.
“Not really. No need for it.”
They walked out into the sunshine of the beautiful summer day. Charlotte took a deep breath of the fresh air and the delicious scents wafting through the air from the flower gardens just beyond the hedgerow of beeches.
She tilted her head up to feel the warmth on her face.
Philip reached out and tugged at her Sunday bonnet to bring her head back down.
“You’re a maid, Charlotte. Where are you going to find any romance around here?”
“Romance can be found anywhere, Philip. It just takes finding the right person.”
“Like you would know.”
“I do!”
“How?”
“My parents found love.”
His face twisted somewhat as he likely thought of his own beginnings. While Charlotte’s parents had worked at Hartland Abbey for years until their recent retirement, Philip’s mother was still in their employ as the Cook. She always said what else would she do? She had no husband, no other children, and she was still able-bodied.
“I suppose,” he finally relented, before beginning to whistle as he strode jauntily along to where cake and breakfast treats were laid out for the servants. Charlotte had to nearly break into a run to keep up with him and she rued her short stature.
“Speaking of parents…” he said, tilting his head forward toward his mother, who was hustling as fast as her larger frame could take her back to the kitchen after preparing the breakfast for the rest of them. “I’m going to see if my mother still has any of the good stuff in the kitchen for the family.”
“Philip, you can’t,” Charlotte said, shaking her head at him. “We should join the others.”
But he just winked at her again.
“Are you coming?”
“Of course not.”
“I heard a little rumor that Mother made raspberry scones for the duke and duchess.”
Charlotte bit her lip, assessing him. Raspberry scones were her favorite, but she wondered whether he was telling the truth, or if he was simply saying what he knew would entice her.
“I have much to do this morning,” she hesitated. “With the wedding, we were able to cut our duties short, but now—”
“It’ll just take a moment.”
“Fine,” she sighed, finally relenting. It wasn’t the first time Philip had shaken her from her responsibilities, and she had a feeling that it wouldn’t be the last. “Let’s go.”
* * *
Philip laughed as he watched Charlotte close her eyes when she bit into the scone. It was easy to tempt her. He was well aware of what could make her leave her duties behind, though he hoped they wouldn’t get in too much trouble. But everyone was otherwise occupied so no one should miss them. He hadn’t liked the sorrow in her eyes at her wish for her own romance and had wanted to distract her.
“Philip,” she said, opening her eyes, her tongue darting out to catch a crumb that remained on the side of her lip, “do you think…”
“Do I think…”
“Do you think there’s any chance that I might be assigned a new position?” she asked, her eyes lighting up, though he could sense the uncertainty in her question. “If Abigail is leaving, then the housekeeper position is open. I know I’m a bit young for that, but perhaps one of the lady’s maids might be moved, making room for me? You know how much I would love to be a lady’s maid myself. What do you think?”
He leaned his hip back against the counter as he bit into his own scone, tilting his head as he considered her question. He hadn’t put much thought into it, but he supposed she had a point.
“I don’t see why not,” he mused. “The family knows you better than any other servant, and you’ve certainly shown your loyalty over the years.”
Loyalty, yes. He didn’t tell her that she wasn’t entirely the most proficient maid in the house, though she wasn’t overly terrible either. It was simply that her head was too often lost in daydreams or she was more inclined to be chattering on with another maid than giving her actual duties their full attention.
Of course, he would never, ever, say such a thing to her. His mother eyed him from across the kitchen as though warning him not to, and he gave her a slight nod. He wouldn’t be so stupid.
He returned his attention to Charlotte, who was now looking at him imploringly.
“What is it?” he asked with some hesitation. He didn’t like that look. It meant she had something on her mind, something that she wanted him to help her with.
“Do you think… that you could maybe help me?” she asked.
“How?” he said somewhat warily.
“By putting in a good word.”
“With who?”
“With William.”
“Lord William.”
“Right. Lord William.”
It had been a strange transition for all of them, going from calling their childhood friend by his given name to his honorary title. While all of the family spent their summers at their estate near Yorkshire, William was the one who had snuck out to spend much of his time with children outside of the family. Over the years, they had slowly lost the closeness they’d once had as children, but Charlotte would always see him in a different light.
“I can try to mention it,” he said, not wanting to promise her anything but also unable to deny her request. She’d been Philip’s closest friend for as long as he could remember. How could he?
“Charlotte?”
Philip breathed a sigh of relief when their topic of conversation was interrupted by Ellen.
“Oh, there you are!” Ellen said, peeking her fair head around the doorway. “Reeves is looking for you. Wondered where the two of you went off to. I don’t think he trusts you.”
“Who, us?” Philip said, flashing a charming smile at her. “What would give him the idea we aren’t trustworthy?”
Charlotte rolled her eyes, although they were both well aware that their longtime connection to the family had likely saved their positions on more than one occasion.
“You have talked me into far too many schemes and practical jokes,” she hissed at Philip just before he saw her swallow the evidence of her scone and rush past him to follow Ellen out the door to join the party in the gardens.
He smiled to himself as he pushed off the counter, kissed his mother on the cheek, and then quickly closed the distance to reach Charlotte. He tugged on an errant lock of her dark curls that were just visible beneath her bonnet as he passed by her, before finding the rest of the servants around the tables in the garden.
“Lovely ceremony, wasn’t it, Reeves?” he asked, clapping a hand on the butler’s shoulder. Reeves looked down at it with some distaste, although Philip knew the longtime servant was all bluster. He loved them all like his own children, though he was sometimes as cross as any long-suffering father – or grandfather – might be.
“Of course, Webster,” he said, eyeing him suspiciously. “Where have you been off to?”
“Just a quick hello to my mother,” he said, turning to Charlotte with a smile.
“I don’t know what has Reeves in such a mood,” he said to Charlotte as she took a sip of punch.
“Perhaps he’s remembering the time the two of you hid in the shadows and scared him half to death. Or when you stole his timepiece,” Thomas, one of the footmen said with a laugh.
“Perhaps,” Philip shrugged, just as the coachman joined them. “Hello, John.”
“Hello,” he returned, saying nothing more, which was usual. He was a man of few words, his origin unknown to the lot of them, and he didn’t seem to have any desire to share it.
“If Ableman is done here, does this mean Frederickson is returning?” Philip asked, wondering about their former stablemaster who had been laid up with an ankle injury – the entire reason Rex Ableman had joined their staff for a time.
“Should be, in about a month or so,” John said. “There will be other staff joining us soon, too.”
“There will?” Charlotte said, turning to the coachman, her curiosity obviously piqued. “Who? When?”
John shrugged. “I only know there are plans for me to fetch them from Yorkshire in a few weeks. Don’t know who they are or anything else about them.”
“How very interesting,” Charlotte said, her eyes shining. “I shall hardly be able to wait.”
Philip inwardly winced. What Charlotte hadn’t yet realized was that new servants likely meant positions had probably been filled – including the one that she had apparently set her hopes on.
But he would allow someone else to shatter her dreams. He liked her smile, and he had no desire to be the one to erase it.
He’d leave that task to someone else.
Chapter 2
Mid-April 1818
Charlotte had never completed her morning duties so fast before.
She cleaned and aired the rooms she was responsible for, brushed, washed, and dried the hearths with linen cloth before laying new fires, swept the carpets, and dusted the window sashes.
She was, of course, most particularly curious about the new staff who would be arriving that very afternoon. But even more so, she was keeping herself available for a summons – a summons that would tell her she had moved up in her position within the household.
So far, however, her day had progressed as usual. When she saw Philip walk through the doors of the staff dining room for their luncheon, she rushed over to sit next to him.
“Philip,” she said quietly in his ear as he sat down and tucked into his meal. “Has Lord William said anything?”
“About…”
“About my position!” she said, dismay running through her at the fact he had obviously forgotten. “You never asked.”
“I haven’t had the opportunity,” he protested, and she eyed him with contempt.
“Do I look like an idiot?”
“Charlotte! Of course not,” he sa
id, his brown eyes finally meeting hers.
“Well then, do not treat me like one,” she said, turning her nose in the air and away from him. “It’s been a month.”
“The subject never came up,” he mumbled, and she rolled her eyes.
Apparently, he would be of no help to her at all.
Their attention was soon caught, however, by Reeves, who had entered the room and stood at the head of the table, awaiting the rest of them. They stopped eating and stood at attention.
“Good morning,” he said in his dry tone. “Now that Mrs. Frank has left Hartland Abby, there is an opening for the position of housekeeper,” he said, the vision of propriety as he crossed his hands in front of him. “I am pleased to inform you all that Miss Miller will now become housekeeper.”
Charlotte smiled warmly at Delilah, who blushed a pretty pink. She had always liked her, and was happy for her good fortune. Now she could only hope that the good tiding would extend to her as well.
Oh, please, Charlotte prayed, let me be named lady’s maid to the duchess or to Lady Ann.
She was tired of cleaning out the grates of the fireplaces, of emptying chamber pots, and of serving tea to the family and visitors. How lovely it would be to spend her days choosing dresses, creating all kinds of hair styles, mending the fine fabrics, and seeing to all that she required.
She looked up hopefully at Reeves, who continued.
“I am pleased to introduce two new members to our downstairs family,” he said, portraying a glimpse of what he truly thought of them all. He did love each and every one of them as much as a member of his family. Murmurs began amongst the rest of them seated at the table. Two new servants?