The Spy Who Loved Her: Once Upon an Accident, Book 3

by Melissa Schroeder

  With a grumble, he took the seat opposite her and dug into the meat pie. As usual, it was amazing, the delicate flaky pastry and the savory meat fairly melting in his mouth. He had tried more than once to steal her away from Joanna, but her staff was much too devoted to her.

  “Now, do you want to tell me what this is about? Did you have a falling out with Lord Michaels again?”

  He grumbled as he took a drink of ale that Cook had put down in front of him.

  “No. I have not been by there.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You said you would take care of that this morning.”

  “I will take care of it this afternoon. This was…personal.”

  He felt, rather than saw, the servants shift away to leave the two of them alone.

  “Personal. Hmm, if I were to guess, I would say this has to do with Lady Anna.”

  His head shot up. Her smile grated on his already frayed nerves. He glared at her.

  She laughed. “Ah, so it is Lady Anna. What happened?”

  “I went down to that…orphanage to tell her that she should not be there.”

  A suspicious snort erupted as Joanna covered her mouth. She cleared her throat. “And just what did Lady Anna have to say to that?”

  The image of Anna, her face flushed with temper, her gaze direct and burning, came to mind. He had not seen her show that much emotion since before the entire episode with Dewhurst. She had looked amazing. He had known she had passion, but now he was sure of it. It was embarrassing just how it had affected him. Even now, he could feel his blood heat, his cock stiffen. He shifted in his seat.

  “She read me the riot act. Then she had the audacity to point out that it wasn’t any of my business.”

  “I have to agree with her.”

  “I only went to her because Sebastian refused to do anything about it.”

  Jo’s mouth fell open before it snapped shut. “Please tell me you did not go to her brother.”

  He offered her a bland look, and this time she did not hold back the laughter.

  “I am so happy that I could bring joy to your world today.”

  Disgusted with her, with himself, he picked up his plate and took it to the sink. He knew better than to leave his dirty dishes around in this house. Cook had strict policy and she did not care if he was a peer of the realm, she would smack him in the back of the head for leaving a dirty dish on her table.

  “What did you think would happen?”

  “That she would listen to me. As she should.”

  Silence greeted that comment. He turned around and found her staring at him, one eyebrow raised.

  “You think you decree it, she should follow? For what reason?”

  “I am a…”

  He trailed off when she narrowed her eyes at him. “What? A man?”

  He opened his mouth, but like with Anna earlier, she rolled right over him. “Is this why you think you have the right to kill Duchovny? Because you are a man? My right as a widow is more important, but you are overruling me because you are a man. It is not right.”

  “In this case, it is important you stay objective. I am not sure that you can.”

  “If I were a man and Harold had been my wife, would you object?”

  “No, that—”

  She stood and marched past him. “I am sick to death with men thinking they know everything and that we are the weaker sex.”

  With that, she stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind her and leaving him alone.

  Women. From his mother, to Anna to Jo…he could not win. They were the bane of his existence. He could not say or do anything right today. He needed to escape to his club to avoid any more contact.

  Chapter Five

  Later that day, Anna set out to scrub the floors of one of the boys’ dormitories. She needed something to work off her temper. All day long, all she had thought about was her confrontation with Daniel. She was sick to death of the men in her life trying to protect her from the world. Granted, Sebastian had given up on her a year or so ago, but Daniel…

  Well, it made her madder than when Sebastian did it. Sebastian was her brother and would always see her as a girl. But Daniel, he was a man, one she was not related to by blood. The fact that he saw her as a young girl pushed her temper higher.

  “Anna?”

  Anna looked up to find her cousin smiling down at her. Cicely, Duchess of Ethingham looked every bit of her station today. The fine wine-colored travelling dress was made of the best fabrics. Her once solemn brown eyes now danced with happiness.

  “Cicely.” Anna rose from her position on the floor. “I would hug you but…” She held out her hands.

  “Oh, goodness. A little soap and water won’t hurt.” Cicely stepped forward and pulled Anna into her arms. The warmth in her voice and in her embrace was the same as always. It had been the one thing she had salvaged from her mistake years earlier. When she finally let go of her, Anna stepped back. “Is there something you needed?”

  Cicely nodded. “Can we talk in your office?”

  Anna would not be rude. She might not understand why her cousin never blamed her, but she would never be rude to her.

  “Follow me. I need to clean up.”

  Mrs. Markham stepped into the hall.

  “Could you be so kind as to get the bucket from the hall? Have one of the lads carry it down. You do not need to be carrying anything so heavy down those stairs.”

  “I could say the same for you, my lady.”

  She wanted to snap at the older woman, but she could not. Anna knew she was only looking out for her safety, even if she did try to treat her too kindly from time to time.

  Anna continued on to her office, hoping that Cicely was following her.

  “I do apologize for being indisposed when you arrived.”

  Cicely said nothing as Anna dried her hands and then pulled down her shirt sleeves. She must look like a mess. She knew for a fact her hair was in disarray.

  “I did not know that you had such duties around here.”

  Anna finished her task then looked at her cousin. “Our regular cleaning lady for the day is sick, influenza. So I took over her duty. If not, Mrs. Markham would be down there on her knees. She is getting too old for that. But I will swear I did not say that if you tell her.”

  Cicely laughed. “She reminds me of a dragon whenever we cross paths.”

  “She is very protective of the boys.”

  “And of you.”

  That caught Anna’s attention. “Yes, well. What is it that you needed?”

  She motioned to the chair in front of her desk.

  “I know that Douglas let the cat out of the bag the other night to several people, I assumed he said something to you about the baby?”

  Anna nodded.

  “Oh, good. We would like you to be godmother.”

  Anna felt her eyes widen. “Godmother.”

  “Of course. Colleen was there for Frederick, and we would like to have you to be the godmother of this precious one. Douglas is telling me it is a boy again, but if you must know, I secretly think he wants a girl. I know from the way he treats Colleen and Sebastian’s Millicent, he wants a little girl to spoil. You know how Douglas likes to be surrounded by adoring women.” Her eyes danced. “But I will not complain because I would love to have a girl.”

  Anna’s ears buzzed as Cicely continued on, talking of her pregnancy, the plans they had for the rest of the year, the plans for the baptism.

  “Cicely, excuse me.”

  Her cousin broke off in midsentence and stared at her. “Is there something wrong?”

  “Why?”

  “Why do I think that Douglas would want a girl, or why are we leaving London soon?”

  Anna waved both questions away. “No. Why me?”

  Cicely’s face softened. “Anna, dear, you are my friend. When I thought I did not have a friend in the world, you were there.”

  The pain of that, knowing that she had betrayed her cousin, was m
ore than she could handle. “Only to help trap you.”

  The sweet biddable look dissolved from Cicely’s face. Her frown had Anna blinking. “I do not want to hear such foolishness from your mouth, do you hear me?”

  Her harsh tone should have been for Anna’s actions three years ago, not for questioning her behavior now.

  “But—”

  Cicely rose to her feet and glowered at her. “No. I do not want to hear any excuses. Do you want me to think that you hate me?”

  “Hate you? Why would I hate you?”

  Cicely smoothed her hands down the front of her dress. Regret filled her eyes. “Your whole problem started because of my actions. I daresay that you would be married now if it had not been for me.”

  From her tone, Anna realized that Cicely truly thought she had caused Anna’s problems. “It isn’t true. Truly, Cicely, I hate to think you have been worried about that.”

  She rounded the desk and took her cousin’s hands. “I have not been anything but happy for you. Those mistakes were mine to make. I was a bit of an empty-headed twit.”

  “Oh, I do not believe that. You were in love.”

  She had thought she had been. When his betrayal had come to light, the pain of her stupidity had been almost too much to bear. But now, looking back, she was not sure she truly loved him. “Whatever it is, it is past. I do not spend my time down here as a type of penance as everyone believes. I love my work here. I feel like I have accomplished something good.”

  Cicely squeezed her hands then tugged her in for a hug. “I just want you to be happy, cousin.” When she pulled back from the embrace, she was alarmed to see tears in Cicely’s eyes.

  “Oh, don’t cry.”

  Cicely shook her head. “No, I get a little emotional during this time. I really hate watering up like this.”

  She took out a handkerchief and blew heartily into it. The rather loud sound made both of them laugh.

  “Douglas really does not know what to do with me when I am like this. The man cannot handle the sight of female tears.”

  “I will have to remember that next time I ask for a donation.”

  Cicely laughed. “Do that. And please, come more often. Frederick misses you something horrible when you are not around.”

  “I shall.”

  After seeing Cicely to the door, she walked back to her office, her mind on the conversation. She should have seen that her actions would make Cicely think she was mad at her. There was no way she could ever blame her cousin for what happened. When Dewhurst had turned her head with pretty words, it had been her own fault. She wished she could say that she had been in love and lost her head. That was what everyone thought. What she let them believe. But deep in her heart she knew the reason she had even allowed Dewhurst to court her was to spite Daniel.

  Those few weeks had been a dream come true. She’d had men pursue her before, but not so…ardently. Being young and hurt by Daniel’s rejection, she had wanted nothing but true love. She had tried, tried so hard to be in love with Dewhurst, but there had always been another there. In the back of her mind, she had compared everything Dewhurst did, from the way he walked and talked to his dancing, to Daniel. The worst part of the whole mess was that everyone thought she was in love with the man, trying to mend a broken heart. The truth of the matter was that she had almost lost her cousin because she had been trying to prove something to herself. That she could fall in love with a man other than Daniel.

  She had failed. In a twist of fate, the man had not been in love with her either. She’d just been a means to an end. For the sake of pride, she had almost gotten her cousin killed.

  She closed her eyes and fought her way back to reality, to the present. Thinking about the past did her no good at all. She had accounts to balance before she left.

  Anna paused in bringing her teacup to her mouth when Daniel walked through the door of her mother’s day room. It had been three days since the scene at the office, and she had been thankful that he had not returned. It seemed that her reprieve was over.

  “Good day, Lady Anna,” he said.

  For a moment, she did not respond. It was decidedly odd that he not only appeared for tea, but in her mother’s day room.

  “Sebastian is in his study.”

  “Ah, yes, well.”

  For the second time in just a few days, he seemed to be at a loss for words. It was completely out of character for Daniel. His intense stare had every nerve in her body shimmering with heat.

  She took a sip of tea before asking, “Is there something you wanted?”

  Everything in him seemed to still, his whole body going rigid. He visibly swallowed then cleared his throat. Growing concerned, she rose. “Daniel?”

  He took a step back when she started for him, so she stopped. “Uh, I just wanted…to ensure that there were no hard feelings between us.”

  Of course. He was worried about their friendship. She forced herself to smile. “Daniel, there have always been hard feelings between us.”

  “Come now, there was a time when we had camaraderie between us. I believe I did help you sneak out of your lessons more than once.”

  She laughed, remembering her childhood friend and the way he had understood her need to escape. “Yes, I do remember more than once or twice sneaking out of lessons to ride. My mother has never been able to discover who helped me out of the house. She has always blamed Sebastian for it.”

  The smile that curved his lips did delicious things to her insides. “You mean to say you have never told anyone who helped you. I thought with your…”

  She shot him a wry look as she moved back to her seat. “Big mouth? Yes, I used to be a bit of a tattler…especially where Sebastian was considered. He seemed to get away with too much in my opinion.”

  “When we were at Eton he would regale all of us of your ability to get him into trouble.”

  “Oh, really.” She assumed Sebastian had complained, but to think he whined to his friends made her laugh. “I can see him now, all injured pride being caught trying to tup one of the local girls.”

  The moment it came out of her mouth, she regretted it. Daniel’s eyes narrowed and he stepped closer. “That he did not tell us. And really, Anna, what language.”

  “I learned it from you or Sebastian, that I am positive about.”

  “I do not think so. I knew better than to say things like that around impressionable young ladies.”

  “I wasn’t an impressionable young lady. I was a pesky brat who ruined all your plans by tagging along.”

  He cocked his head to one side. “I want to hear about this local girl.”

  “It was really all by accident. Nanny Alice was sick and I had the day off, and it was a glorious day.” She closed her eyes, remembering the day, the heat of the sun on her face, the feel of grass under her feet. Anna liked London, but she truly enjoyed country life.

  “Anna?”

  She opened her eyes, puzzled by the strange tone in his voice.

  “The story.”

  “Oh, yes. Well, I saw Sebastian heading toward the stable, and I thought it odd because he told me earlier he didn’t have time for a ride. And come to think of it, he smiled when he said it.” She shook her head. “I was hurt that he had decided to go off on his own. So I followed him to the pub, which I knew he wasn’t supposed to go to. But then he came out with one of the miller’s daughters and they snuck off to her father’s barn. I followed.”

  He cleared his throat and she smiled. “I did not have one clue what was going on. What I did was call attention to them. Everyone came running into the barn, thinking I was hurt. Sebastian came running down to save me, straw in his hair and his shirt undone. When word got back to Mother, she was not amused.”

  “I cannot believe you have not told me of this before.”

  She smiled at him over her cup. “I can keep secrets. Why does no one think I can?”

  He took the seat opposite her and studied her. “It is because you are honest. Yo
ur emotions show on your face.”

  She truly hoped that was not true. Everything in her seemed to be shimmering with some unexplainable heat. It was always like this, but the past few days, it had been growing. Just thinking about him, the way it had felt to have his hands on her… Oh, bother. When would she outgrow this silly fascination with the man? She had thought she had. But the last few nights she had dreamed of him, of having him in her bed…touching her.

  Silently, she cursed herself. Would she ever learn? He did not see her as a woman, just Sebastian’s pesky little sister. After arriving in town and being treated as if she had the pox, she had vowed to ignore him. It had been difficult because the man was constantly in their house. Whenever their paths did cross, it erupted into an argument. If she had said the sky was blue, Daniel would say it was green. And vice versa. Until the last few years. Then they had seemed to just…avoid each other.

  “Oh, so those of us who are honest cannot keep secrets. I think you do not know of which you speak.”

  His smile faded, his gaze turning cold. “I know more than you would ever want to know about it.”

  The air around them seemed to still, his serious tone pulling any heat out of the room. She shifted in her chair, uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her.

  “But then you say you never told your mother about the times I snuck you out of the house, if you are to be believed.” His tone told her that he didn’t.

  “I assure you that I did not. First you say that I cannot keep a secret, now you are accusing me of lying.”

  “Hmm.” He continued to stare at her as if trying to delve into her mind and discover what she was thinking.

  “Do you think if my mother knew you were the one who snuck me out of the house that she would not have said something? There is one thing my mother would not allow and that is not letting someone know just what she thinks.”

  That made him laugh and the air between them softened. “That I have to agree with. Your mother is as much of a harridan as my own.”

  Had it been anyone else she would have taken exception to the comment. There was a wealth of warmness in his voice that spoke of his admiration for both women.