Breathless (16 page)

M
iranda was in her room for no more than a few minutes when Bridget appeared, looking slightly nervous as she helped her out of her nightclothes. “I'm that sorry I wasn't here earlier, my lady. Mrs. Humber kept coming up with things to keep me busy, and then she forgot to make you a breakfast tray, and then his lordship stopped me on my way here, so it's no wonder it took me that long to get here.” She looked nervous. “I'm talking too much, aren't I? Mrs. Humber says a proper ladies' maid never speaks unless spoken to, never volunteers information, and she says I'll be a ladies' maid when hell freezes over, begging your pardon, my lady.”

“You'll be fine,” Miranda said in a soothing voice, ignoring her sudden uneasiness. “What did his lordship want to talk to you about?”

Bridget blushed a fiery red, and Miranda thought,
oh merde.
She should have known he wouldn't take her word for things.

“Uh…he wanted to make sure you were comfortable up here, that you had everything you needed….”

“Such as?” Bridget was doing up her corset, pulling
the laces tight, and Miranda took a deep breath, holding it in.

“He wanted to make certain you had everything you need,” Bridget mumbled again.

“You already said that. Exactly what did he ask you about, Bridget?” Miranda turned and caught Bridget by the arms, forcing her to meet her gaze even though she was fiery red.

“He wanted to make sure I could find rags for your monthlies. I was that embarrassed, my lady! That a gentleman would be asking about such things! But I couldn't very well not answer, and I told him that you said you'd just finished and wouldn't be needing anything for at least three weeks, possibly more because you were never certain and he just nodded and said ‘I thought as much' and I thought I might have said something wrong but it was the master and…”

“Don't worry about it, Bridget,” Miranda said calmly. She should have known he'd check. She was simply going to have to come up with some new excuse, like Scheherazade putting off her execution. The chair under the door handle might work, at least for one night. He wouldn't rouse the household by banging the door down.

She would come up with something. She was blessed with an inventive mind, and if she could avoid doing
that
with Lucien de Malheur she would. At least for as long as possible. If she had to, she could lie there and take it. Recite poetry or poems in her head. Count to one hundred in Latin. Anything to take her mind off what was happening to her body.

In fact, that would be a most excellent way to avoid the deleterious effect of his kisses. Of the way her skin
warmed when he put his hands on her. Latin was the perfect antidote to desire.

She was forced to admit the clothes he'd provided were beautiful, and fit perfectly. How long had he been planning this that he had an entire wardrobe made up by her own modiste? It would have taken a while. When, if, she ever got back to London she was going to have to find a new dressmaker. One who didn't accept orders from strange gentlemen without the lady's consent.

She wondered what a proper young lady would do in the circumstances. Not that she'd ever been a proper young lady, but she'd tried. An innocent young miss would refuse to wear clothes a gentleman paid for. She should probably insist that Bridget clean her soiled dress and wear that all the time.

But that could present its own set of problems, particularly if she had to wait around in skimpy night rail. In fact, should she have slept naked rather than worn those clothes?

Behaving in a decorous manner was long gone for her, and it would be foolish to ignore the lovely clothes. As long as she was going to be here she may as well be decently dressed.

He must have enjoyed his evil machinations. All the while he'd been gentle and charming and flirtatious he'd been a lying snake. No, a lying Scorpion. She only wished she could stomp him as effectively as the French landlord had stomped his pet.

And yet…the thought of his pet, no matter how strange a creature it was, being killed by a stranger was somehow heartbreaking. She knew little boys. She had many cousins, and boys had an absurd affection for the least cuddly of creatures. It was always possible
that Lucien had kept his scorpion with him as a murder weapon, but she doubted it. He'd even named her.

He was a man who refused to show true emotion, empathy, feeling. And yet she knew he'd mourned that blasted scorpion.

She was quite hungry, and she ate everything on the tray—fruit and toast and lukewarm eggs. Bridget had no knowledge of a lady's hair, so she made do with hip-length plaits, then tucking them into a bun at the back of her neck. Wisps of curls had an unfortunate tendency to frame her face, ruining the severe look, but she was determined not to let anyone get in her way.

The first to try would be Mrs. Humber. She found that redoubtable lady in the kitchens of the big house, and she paused, momentarily appalled.

The huge room smelled of rotting meat, moldy cabbage and things she didn't want to identify. Mrs. Humber was sitting at one end of a long, scarred table, a cup of tea in her hand, next to a smaller woman who looked even less welcoming. She wore a white apron stained with all sorts of nasty things, and Miranda guessed she was the cook.

The two of them looked up at her, and Miranda stood her ground, waiting, her foot tapping softly beneath the hem of her skirt, and finally the two of them rose to their feet, their reluctance both arrogant and insulting. Miranda gave them a polite smile.

“Good morning, Mrs. Humber. I'd like a tour of the house, if you please. I'll be interested in seeing just how bad the condition of the place is.”

“I'm very busy this morning,” Mrs. Humber said.

Miranda gave a speaking glance to the cup of tea.
“I'm certain you can find the time,” she said in a civil voice. “Now would be good for me.”

“I can't right now, I've got…”

“Now would be best,” she reiterated gently. Mrs. Humber glared at her, but made no more demurrals, and Miranda turned to her companion. “You must be Cook. When we come back I'll be interested in looking at menus for the next few days. I may want to make a few changes. For instance, I have a particular dislike of beets, and small birds distress me.”

“The master never questions my menus,” the woman said in a hostile voice.

“No, that's your mistress's business, isn't it? And please change your apron before we return. That one has seen better days. If you need to order more, then see to it.”

Cook might have hated her even more than Mrs. Humber, Miranda thought cheerfully, but short of outright rebellion there was nothing she could do about it. She made one attempt. “I'll talk to his lordship about this,” she said in a sullen voice.

“I have little doubt he'll insist you change your apron, as well. If you wish to waste his time with domestic squabbles you may certainly attempt it. In my experience the earl is easily irritated, but if you think he will find this of interest be sure to go ahead, and let me know the results.”

There was pure hatred in the woman's beady eyes, reflected in Mrs. Humber's eyes, as well. A good beginning, Miranda decided, unruffled.

“Come on, then,” the woman said. “I haven't got all day.”

Miranda had been prepared for the absolute worst,
but in the end she was pleasantly surprised. The house was very old, built sometime in the latter half of the sixteenth century, but it appeared basically sound, the roof intact, though there was clearly a problem of rising damp in several areas. As far as she could see the most pressing problem was neglect. No one had cleaned or dusted the majority of the rooms in what appeared to be decades, and the smell of mouse and moth was an unappetizing undernote to the wood and wool of the old house and its hangings. It appeared that Mrs. Humber saw to it that only the rooms Lucien needed were kept clean. The rest were simply closed up and forgotten about.

She counted seventeen bedrooms, a number with modern powder closets. Hers was far from the largest, and at least one was cleaner, doubtless the bedroom used by whatever doxy Lucien had brought with him in the past. She wasn't sure whether to be offended or relieved.

Mrs. Humber stopped at Lucien's door. “It's not my place to show you in there,” she said.

“Why? Is it full of skeletons and murdered brides?”

Mrs. Humber was not amused. “It's the master's suite.”

“Is it as filthy as the rest of the house? I would think the earl would insist that at least this room be cleaned.”

“We clean it.”

“Then what are you afraid of? I gather his lordship has gone out for a ride, so we shan't run into him.”

“If you wish to go in then I won't stop you, my lady,” Mrs. Humber said in a low voice. “But I only enter when the master requests it.”

“I'm not so cow-hearted,” Miranda replied, and pushed open the door to Bluebeard's chamber.

Indeed, the room was dark and dreary enough to have held the remains of a score of dead wives, if the old fairy tale were true. It only had a light layer of dust, but the walls had dark, worm-eaten paneling, the curtains the same heavy brown velvet. She looked around her, assiduously avoiding the bed for as long as she could. It was a massive thing, with dark hangings and heavy linen sheets. She could imagine him lying there. She could imagine him there, naked, with a woman, his pale eyes intent, his long, clever hands stroking, touching, arousing…

She shivered, turning away. He had a small dressing room with a cot for his valet, a powdering closet and even a small sitting room, all relatively clean, if dark and depressing. It was little wonder he had such a dark soul, living as he did in such gloomy places. The house in London wasn't much cheerier, at least as far as she could see.

She was surprised to find Mrs. Humber still waiting for her when she emerged. “Well, my lady?” she said in a frosty tone.

“We'll need, as a conservative guess, at least twelve women. Four to serve as chambermaids, four as parlor maids for the public rooms and the remaining four to do laundry and scullery service. Bridget says you have her doing both, which might work out very well with no one in the house, but with it being opened we'll need a great deal more help.”

“And what about Bridget?” Mrs. Humber demanded “She's slovenly but I have need of her…”

“I'm training Bridget to be my personal maid.”

Mrs. Humber snorted with laughter. “That girl is lazy and disrespectful. I was about to turn her off.”

“Then you won't be missing her. Twelve maids, Mrs. Humber. Plus I think at least four footmen for the heavy work.”

“My Ferdy can handle that just fine.”

Miranda controlled her instinctive shudder at the memory of the unprepossessing Ferdy. “That was when the house was deserted.”

“I don't think he's planning on filling the place with anyone but you, my lady.”

“And are you privy to Lord Rochdale's plans, Mrs. Humber?”

The woman subsided. She knew too much—she probably listened at keyholes. “What's Cook's name?” Miranda started back toward the kitchens, and the old woman had no choice but to follow her.

“Mrs. Carver.”

Miranda chortled. “A perfect name.”

“Why?”

Clearly Mrs. Humber was totally devoid a sense of humor, and Miranda knew better than to try to explain it to her. By the time they reached the kitchen the place was marginally cleaner. Someone had managed to wash the dishes, she suspected it was Bridget, and Mrs. Carver had indeed donned a fresh apron and even a tasteful cap for her flyaway gray hair.

“You'll be getting two new helpers, Mrs. Carver, at the very least,” Miranda announced. “Plus two for the laundry as well, who can help out when needed. And that will be apart from the maids who actually serve the meals and tend to the needs of the owner. In the meantime, what were your plans for dinner tonight?”

Mrs. Carver had more malice but less courage than Mrs. Humber. “A consommé of veal and potato, followed by roasted pheasant stuffed with mushrooms. The fish course would be trout from his lordship's own waters, a brisket of beef with a remove of winter squash and asparagus, with lemon pie for dessert.”

“It sounds heavenly. I hope you can manage all that without Bridget's help. She'll be busy with me. If you're forced to pull back on the magnificence I'm sure we'll survive with fewer courses.”

Mrs. Carver gave her a look of intense dislike. “I take my orders from the earl.”

“Of course.” Miranda was all affability. “Be certain to let me know his response.”

 

What a treacherous little darling she was, Lucien thought coolly. Prattling on about such wholly feminine matters as if she were discussing gardening, all without a blush, over the subject matter or the lie.

He was becoming quite in awe of her. When he'd first begun to lure her into his net he'd found he had a reluctant admiration for her, for her ability to turn her back on the ton as effectively as they turned their back on her. He'd enjoyed conversing with her, flirting with her so discreetly that she hadn't even realized that was what he was doing, she'd simply responded in kind.

And there was something about her smooth, pale skin, her rich brown hair, her warm brown eyes that unexpectedly aroused him.

In fact, despite St. John's clumsiness, he found he didn't regret her initial ruination one bit. Granted, he'd hoped to accomplish his revenge and still keep a distance, but that was before he'd seen her.

He was quite grateful for the fact that she wasn't a virgin, no matter how badly St. John had botched it. Deflowering was a tedious business, never worth the trouble. He liked the fact that she found sexual congress tedious, and the thought of any kind of variation quite unsupportable. He could just imagine her reaction when he used his mouth on her, which, of course, he intended to do.