“Yes.” He cast her a straight look. “And pardon my frankness, even if you found a place, your outspoken attitude means you’d be unlikely to keep it.”
She looked troubled. “Last night, you caught me by surprise.”
“And I’m exceptionally annoying.”
When she didn’t reply, he laughed. “Bravo. You resisted responding to that.”
She set Smith down on the floor. “Proving I have some manners.”
“Hmm.” He headed off to fetch more oats from the bin.
She watched him curiously. “Do you always take such interest in the hired help?”
“I do when they’re as comely as you are.” He returned to fill Emilia’s manger to the brim.
“I wish you’d stop saying that.”
He carried the bucket back to the oat bin. “Whether I say it or not, it’s true.”
He swore he heard her grinding her teeth, but she didn’t pursue the argument. “I’ll go and make you something to eat.”
“Thank you. I’ll check the tack room for something to put on Emilia’s leg.”
“Mr. Welby keeps it well stocked. But if you can’t find what you want, let me know.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll see you inside in a few minutes.”
She dipped into a curtsy. “Yes, sir.”
Before he could protest, she marched away. The saucy sway of her hips put the lie to any lip service she paid to deference.
Chapter 4
“Good morning, Margaret.”
Maggie looked up from where she fried bacon and eggs for Mr. Hale’s breakfast. “Good morning, sir,” she said warily, wondering why he was in the kitchens, instead of safely waiting for her to serve him upstairs in the dining room.
For the last two days, she’d mostly managed to stay out of his way, in the hope that lack of contact might discourage him from seeking her out. If they encountered each other, as they inevitably did when she gave him his meals, she’d managed to act like a servant, despite his best efforts to crack her composure.
Curse him. The house, although modest by manorial standards, was big enough to ensure that they met infrequently at other times. Three floors. Six bedrooms. A couple of public rooms of manageable size.
Two people positively rattled around inside it, and it should be easy to ignore Mr. Hale. But with every second, she was more and more conscious that an alien presence invaded her territory.
She didn’t want to share more of those disturbing conversations where he effortlessly slid beneath her defenses, so she found herself treating him like a friend. He couldn’t be her friend—he was a guest in the house, and she was a servant. She didn’t want him to be her friend—she was painfully aware how unbearable the loneliness would be once he left.
At first, she’d been grateful that he hadn’t made any improper advances. In that, at least, he played the gentleman, even if he wasn’t a gentleman in much else. But last night, she’d woken, perspiring and restless, from dreams where Mr. Hale had behaved in a most improper fashion, and she’d surrendered to his kisses with wild abandon. As she’d lain staring into the thick darkness, she’d finally admitted that the prospect of Mr. Hale putting his capable hands on her was far from distasteful.
Yet more reason to shun his company and raise the barriers of rank high between them.
He wore the coat and breeches he’d had on yesterday. Of course he did. He wouldn’t wear his greatcoat inside. While he might cut a formidable figure in the billowing coat, she preferred that. When he was in indoor clothes, she was far too aware that his impressive size was all brawn.
The wild mop of inky curls showed traces of a comb—just. And he’d shaved. By evening, black whiskers usually shadowed that square jaw. The nascent beard always made him look a ruffian, but something secret and female in her liked to see a touch of the pirate about big, powerful Joss Hale.
Maggie tried to tell herself it was natural to notice the details of his physical appearance, seeing he was the only other person in the house. But she couldn’t help feeling that her fascination with this young, virile man was inappropriate. And dangerous.
Because he was fascinating. Since his arrival, the air crackled with energy. A good morning from that rumbling bass made her very bones vibrate. Yesterday, she’d found herself surreptitiously watching from the windows, as he’d crossed to the stables from the house. Even as she warned herself how risky it was to feed her interest.
He always moved as if he knew where he was going. To a woman who had stagnated so long in this backwater, that quality was breathtakingly attractive.
Breathtakingly attractive? She was asking for disaster.
Now she needed to shoo him out of her kitchen as quickly as possible. “I’ll bring your breakfast up in a moment.”
“There’s no need to go to that trouble.” He leaned over her shoulder and sniffed appreciatively.
She stifled the urge to sniff appreciatively herself. The scent of healthy male animal pleased her senses even more powerfully than frying bacon. “It’s no trouble,” she said, without looking at him.
With Mr. Hale standing so close, she was irresistibly aware that he was so much bigger than she was. Who knew the thrill a girl could get from the contrast between her slender smallness and a huge brute of a male?
He wasn’t touching her. If he was, she could protest. But the breath jammed in her throat as she imagined him bridging that tantalizing gap between them.
When he’d hoisted her about that first night, she’d wanted to slap him. How odd that since then, when she recalled how effortlessly he’d hurled her across his shoulder, her heart raced with giddy excitement.
By the time he stepped back, she was lightheaded for lack of air. Glancing down at the pan, she also saw she was close to overcooking the eggs.
“Margaret,” he said gently, so that low voice sounded like distant thunder, “I’m going to eat breakfast with you. You can join me upstairs, or we can stay down here. Your choice.”
Oh, how glad she was that her back was turned. Otherwise he might see the devastating effect that velvety tone had on her. She closed her eyes against the lure of his soft, impossibly deep voice.
“It’s not suitable,” she said, making a great showing of plating the two meals.
“Perhaps not, but I feel a fool eating up there in state, while you play at humble domestic a floor below.”
“I am a humble domestic,” she said, struggling to keep her voice even.
“Domestic perhaps. Humble never.”
When she turned around, he was setting two places at the ancient kitchen table. She watched him in surprise, the two full plates in her hands, as she was forced to accept that she’d lost the battle of the dining locations. She’d done her best, she really had, but the temptation of his company proved too powerful. And he made her sound petty for sticking to her guns.
He poured two cups of the coffee she’d planned to take up to him. “What’s wrong?”
She was about to lose the battle of the discreet servant, too. But it was impossible to preserve formalities, when he was quite as determined to treat her as an equal.
“You’re an unusual man, Mr. Hale.”
He shrugged and pulled out her chair for her as if she was a fine lady, even if one who ate in the kitchens. “I’ve been called worse. For example, by you.”
She frowned, not because she resented his teasing, but because the silly, dizzy girl who lurked inside her liked it too much. “Dr. Black pays me to serve.”
He inclined his head toward the chair. “Then you may serve by joining me for breakfast, Miss Carr.”
At least this time, he didn’t call her Margaret.
“Thank you,” she said, giving in gracefully, because they both knew he’d won.
She couldn’t really blame him for wanting someone to talk to. Even if she worried that it might all prove too heady for a woman who had spent years training herself to solitude.
He circled the table to sit opp
osite her. For someone his size, he was light on his feet. It was a sign of a man at the peak of his fitness. He’d bounced back impressively fast from that snowy trek three nights ago.
The table was large, as were the kitchens, a reminder that this house had once bustled with activity. When he’d originally employed her mother, Dr. Black had said that he’d inherited the manor from a ne’er-do-well relation who had squandered his fortune on wild parties, featuring all kinds of debauchery. A long time ago, these empty, echoing rooms had rung to the laughter of profligate young men and expensive courtesans.
Thinking about all the wicked acts that had taken place under this roof made Maggie blush. She hid her unruly thoughts by starting to eat. As always, she’d started early, feeding the hens, milking the cow, and looking after the horses. She was hungry.
Mr. Hale seemed equally enthusiastic about his breakfast. There was something satisfying about cooking a man a good meal, then watching him enjoy it.
Stop it, Maggie. You’re falling into a silly fantasy where you’re part of a family. When the dream crumbles to nothing, you’ll be devastated.
“It’s still snowing,” she said, seizing on the weather as a suitably uncontroversial topic.
“Yes. And Emilia’s leg is no better. I’m sorry to impose.”
She hadn’t been complaining about him staying, although if she had any sense, she’d want him to move on as quickly as possible. The slightest hint of a shady reputation, and a servant became unemployable. Not that while the snow lasted, anyone was likely to intrude upon their time together.
“You’re lucky you made it through.”
He shrugged, a characteristic response. “It’s odd. In the midst of danger, you’re too busy putting one foot in front of another to realize your next breath could be your last.”
“I’m glad Jane left before the worst of it. If she’d delayed even a day, she’d miss the delivery.”
“When is she back?”
“After Twelfth Night, if everything goes well.”
“It means a rum kind of Christmas for you, though.” He glanced around with a frown. “You don’t decorate for the season? I notice you haven’t put up any greenery.”
Maggie cringed to think he saw her as pathetically sad and lonely. With a sinking feeling, she realized that she didn’t want this large, unconventionally attractive man viewing her as a charity case.
She wanted him to see her as beautiful and proud and brilliant. Equal to the sophisticated ladies she had no doubt he flirted with in London.
“I make a little…” A very little. “…more effort when Jane’s here.”
A knowing spark lit his eyes. “A vase of holly in the hall.”
She blushed. He really had guessed how paltry her Christmas celebrations were these days. “Actually we bring it down here, seeing this is where we spend most of our time on cold days.”
“And I bet Jane cut it.”
Her lips twitched. “I can’t remember.”
“If you like, I can help you collect a bit of greenery. I hate to think of moving on and leaving the house so dull.”
Sitting here, sharing breakfast, she hated to think of him moving on at all. It was nice having someone close to her own age to talk to, and while she knew she was playing with fire, she liked the way he looked at her.
As if, by heaven, he found her almost as interesting as she found him.
He’d emptied his plate, so she rose and started to clear the table. “Don’t you have work to do?”
He lifted his coffee, keeping those deep-set eyes glued to her every movement. She still couldn’t tell their exact color. Given his night-dark hair, she guessed they must be dark too.
Odd she’d thought him so gruff and grim when he arrived. Now she looked into those rugged features, and while he was definitely rough-hewn, she saw beauty of a kind. Intelligence. Humor. Spirit.
Maggie blinked. She was staring at him like a moonling. What must he think?
Except Mr. Hale stared back. For no particular reason, her cheeks heated, and the plates in her hands started to shake.
“I’ve made plenty of notes so far.” He sounded disconcertingly normal, while their eyes seemed to conduct another conversation entirely. “We could go out this afternoon.”
She should say no, invent some task, although at this time of year, there was never a huge amount to do. But the truth was she wanted to go with him and pretend that Christmas was something to look forward to, instead of dread.
If only mistletoe grew this far north. Then perhaps he’d…
One of the dirty plates tumbled from her hand and shattered on the flagstones.
In an instant, he was on his feet and fetching the broom. “Don’t move. I’ll clean it up. If you’re pitching crockery at me, it’s time you got some fresh air.”
She mustered a smile, even as her heart started to gallop with anticipation. Living here with Jane, she often forgot she was young. It was impossible to forget when she was with Mr. Hale.
“Very well.”
Vivid pleasure lit his expression, as he leaned on the broom handle. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Well, that’s capital. I’ll meet you out the front at one.”
With impressive efficiency, he swept up the shards. She should tell him to stop, that this was her job, but there was something very nice about having a handsome—there, she’d admitted it—young man fussing about her welfare.
When he got the dustpan and kneeled at her feet, she had to fight not to bury her hands in that thick mop of hair. Was it crisp or soft? Warm or cool?
She bit her lip against the surge of curiosity and made herself speak. Silences were becoming a little too meaningful. “You seem to know what you’re doing.”
His wry smile had her heart doing somersaults. “Did you think I was a useless ornament to society?”
No, she didn’t. She’d seen the way he cared for Emilia and fed her animals. She suspected he was impressively competent in everything he did. Including how he touched a woman’s body.
Maggie was blushing again. She hoped to heaven he wouldn’t notice.
This improper situation filled her head with all kinds of improper thoughts. Thoughts she’d never had before.
And the most improper thought of all was that she started to hope it kept snowing into the next century.
Mr. Hale went on, which was a relief. She was having trouble finding her voice. “I work for my living, I’ll have you know. And I’ve had to fend for myself for years.”
“In that case, you don’t need me to run after you.”
He raised his eyes, and at last she saw what color they were. A dark, serpentine green like the sea under a rocky overhang. The erratic breath jammed in her lungs, and she had a strange feeling that she plunged headfirst into that deep green sea. Down. Down. Until she feared she might never come up again.
She waited for him to smile, but he looked deadly serious. “No, I want you here. You, my girl, are not going anywhere.”
Oh, my…
Because heaven forgive her, while her buzzing ears heard every word, her reeling senses heard only three.
I want you.
Chapter 5
Joss waited for Margaret in the snowy yard. He felt on edge, the way he had the very first time he’d asked a girl to take a walk with him. Which was absurd, when then he’d been a stripling of thirteen, and now he was a grown man approaching thirty.
But the same suspense tightened his gut. The same anticipation sharpened his senses.
If he was honest, this was worse. The word at Eton had been that the bandmaster’s daughter was generous with her favors and would kiss any fellow behind the cricket pavilion in exchange for sixpence.
Miss Margaret Carr was made of sterner stuff.
Except this morning for a few tremulous seconds, she hadn’t looked stern at all. Instead she’d looked like a young girl stepping out of the shadows to discover a new world. And even better, she trusted Joss
Hale to show her.
Since leaving her downstairs, he’d wandered the house in a daze. He hadn’t noted a single fine cornice or ill-favored window. Instead he’d seen the soft light entering those perfect blue eyes as she’d watched him kneeling at her feet.
For a few mad moments, he’d wanted to say that he kneeled in worship, not because, much more prosaically, he cleared up a broken plate.
“Will she come, Bob?” he asked the stocky pony he’d harnessed to the cart he’d found in the stables. “Or will she think better of it?”
Bob, an affectionate creature, he’d discovered, butted him with his head and whickered.
“No, I’m not sure either.”
If Margaret deigned to spend the afternoon with Joss, he needed to remember her innocence. Because he couldn’t pretend that he was that unworldly schoolboy. He knew what that soft flush on a lovely face meant. He even knew why she’d dropped the plate.
She wasn’t immune to the attraction flaring between them. If she were, she wouldn’t be nearly so jumpy. But while he might know the steps, this particular dance could only lead her to disaster.
He checked his pocket watch. It wasn’t one o’clock yet. Impatience ate at him. He’d been early for the bandmaster’s daughter, too.
At least the snow had stopped. Although if the weather cleared, honor dictated that he leave Thorncroft Hall and delay his return until this one too beguiling girl had more company.
Joss heard her boots squeak in the snow, and his heart rose as he turned to see her tramping toward him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d found a female so bedazzling.
When had he started to lose his enthusiasm for the chase?
Perhaps he was spoiled. He was far from handsome, and his manners were atrocious. Not to mention he was the size of a barn. But he’d never had any trouble attracting women. Whereas Margaret was making him work for her favors.
“My goodness.” She stared at the cart. “You’re taking this seriously.”
He gestured toward the basket hanging off her arm. “You’re not.”
She smiled, and his heart performed one of those flips that were becoming almost commonplace in her presence.
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