Eugenia chuckled. “I expect that is quite true.”
“Besides,” he added. “I am not a complete idiot when it comes to someone’s good or bad character. And I am the one who sought you, not the other way around.”
“True again.”
Eugenia started walking again, Maximilian at her side. “That is a very beautiful pendant you wear,” he commented.
Glancing down, she toyed with it. “It is the only thing I have left from my parents.”
“Were they killed?”
“I have no idea what happened to them or who they were. I was found outside the Whitingtons’ gates as an infant. Their cook and butler raised me as their own.”
“What a terrible thing to do to a baby,” he said with a bitter twist to his mouth, “leave a helpless infant like that.”
“Outside of not knowing who they were, or why I was abandoned,” Eugenia continued, “I have had a good life. The Whitingtons are kind people, and I love Lady Helena as my sister.”
“That is why you are so close to her.” He smiled. “You grew up together and became her maid.”
“Speaking of Lady Helena,” Eugenia glanced down the corridor, “you walked me back to her apartments.”
Maximilian feigned shock and surprise. “How did that happen? Perhaps I got lost in your beautiful eyes, intoxicated as I was by your presence.”
Eugenia laughed. “Yes, I am quite certain that is why. Or could it be because you are concerned about a potential murderer running about loose and unfettered?”
“You are astute, Eugenia.” His smile faded as they paused outside Lady Helena's chamber door. “Too many people are taking this too lightly. I ask that you be cautious and look after your mistress.”
“You can be certain of both.”
Maximilian bent toward her. Shock and pleasure coursed through her as he kissed her tenderly on the cheek. “Good night, Eugenia.”
“Good night, Max. Sleep well.”
She watched him walked down the corridor – tall, handsome, humorous. A man who could have his pick of women throughout the kingdom, and he choseher.A wave of giddiness swept over her as she opened the door to Lady Helena’s spacious and opulent chambers. The rooms were dark, indicating Lady Helena was still with her mother. Carefully feeling her way to the lamp, she lit it and turned the wick up.
Eugenia walking through the rooms and headed to the fireplace to build a hearth fire. A piece of paper lay on a table caught her attention. She thought it was a missive for Lady Helena and left it alone, until she recognized her name at the top. She wondered if it could possibly be from Maximilian, so she picked it up.
She gasped.
If you value your life, stay away from the Duke.
Chapter 15
Eugenia stared at the note, the message, the implications. SomeoneknewMaximilian was interested in her and she in him. Despite their discretion, they had been discovered, and someone does not want them to see one another. The trembling began in her stomach and radiated outward until she stood in the near dark and shook like a flower in a high wind.I must show this to Max.
The outer door to the apartments opened and closed with a short slam. “Eugenia?”
Panicked, Eugenia folded the paper and shoved it into a pocket, then spun around to begin building a fire. “In here,” she called, fearing her voice shook as much as the rest of her. She knelt to set kindling in the hearth, added a few small logs, and used flint and tinder to light them. She heard clothing rustle and knew Lady Helena stood behind her.
“Oh, good,” Lady Helena said. “We are going to need a fire this night.”
“After all that rain, the air is damp, My Lady.” Eugenia felt proud of how steady her voice sounded. “Did you enjoy your evening with the Countess?”
Eugenia rose and turned in time to see Lady Helena flop onto a couch near the hearth, still wearing her formal gown from supper. “It was nice enough, I suppose,” she said. “She is growing concerned about the lack of attention from His Grace. The ball is in two weeks, and she had high hopes of announcing our engagement at that time.”
“Perhaps the Duke will have begun courting you by then.” Eugenia felt like a traitor.
Lady Helena shook her head. “I do not think he ever will,” she complained. “At supper, again, he barely looked at me, even when the Duchess tried to encourage him to speak to me. The only one who did was Lord Wilmot.”
