Thea smiled over her shoulder. “That will work only if he believes me. But your word against the Baron of Ampleforth’s? No. That cannot work, as my brother will not take the word of a commoner over his best friend’s. Nor do I want you getting into trouble on my account.”
I already am.Liam thought this but cut the words off before they reached his throat. “What can I do?”
Thea turned to him. “Just be there for me? I really need a friend right now.”
Liam took her hands in his. “I am, Thea. Your friend and more.”
I love you,he wanted so desperately to say.I would die for you.But he could not say those words to her. Not yet. While he knew she liked him more than a little, even letting him hold her hands told him that, he could not add to her burdens right now. If she simply liked him as a friend, then telling her would no doubt make her feel guilty that she did not return his love. And he feared that more than anything, even death.
“Thank you, Liam. It is nice you care about me.”
“I always will.”
Turning back toward the black lake and the stars gleaming in the night sky, Thea pulled him with her until they stood side by side, still holding hands. Liam longed to have her face him and tell him that she loved him. If she did, he asked himself, what then? Lord Willowdale did not like commoners, and would never permit him to marry his sister, no matter how much Thea loved him. Liam had no wealth to bring to the family coffers, no titles, no blue blood in his veins.
“One day you will marry and go away,” he said, his voice thick.
Though he did not look at her, Liam felt her eyes on him. But all she said was, “Perhaps.”
He bit off the question of what she meant by that and contented himself with simply standing there, his hand in hers, gazing out at the lake.
* * *
Emotionally wrung out, Liam remained in the cover of the trees as Thea walked back to the house. Watching her leave with the things he wanted to say to her still unsaid broke a hole into his heart. “You have to tell her, fool,” he muttered, watching her enter through the side door and vanish. “She should know how you feel.”
Allowing her the time she needed to get to her rooms, alone in all respects, Liam remained where he was for another thirty minutes. Then he, too, went back inside and walked to the servants’ quarters in the east wing. The hour was late, and he yawned, thinking of sleep, and wondering if Thea was in her own bed by now. He smiled slightly, thinking of how she would look while she slept.Angelic, no doubt.
“Why are you smiling, Liam?”
Startled from his thoughts, he had not seen the pretty cleaning maid until she emerged from the shadows of a doorway. “Hello, Vanessa,” he said, “I was just thinking.”
“Of what? Me, I hope?”
Liam drew back a fraction. Though he did not know her well, he had sat with her at meals in the servants’ hall and had made light conversation with her. Being that he had long ago fallen in love with Thea, he scarcely noticed other women or paid much attention to their looks. In the case of Vanessa, she worked for his mother and was one of the many women and girls who cleaned the rooms in the vast house.
“I am afraid not,” he said, trying to go around her.
Vanessa stepped back into his path, blocking his escape. “That disappoints me,” she purred, gazing up at him with dark, sultry brown eyes. “I had so hoped I was the one to catch your eye.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
She laughed low in her throat. “You cannot tell me you do not notice how many girls want you to pay attention to them. Court them even.”
“I believe my mother may have mentioned it.”
Her eyes widened. “You seriously have not noticed?”
“No, I am afraid I have not. I am rather busy, you see.”
Vanessa’s full lips pouted. “All the other unmarried footmen have time to talk to us. Why is it you do not?”
“I am really tired, Vanessa,” he said, trying to go around her again. “I must get up early.”
“Would it not be nice to wake up to a warm body beside you?”
Halted in his tracks, shocked beyond belief, Liam stared down at her, unable to reset his slack jaw. Vanessa laughed again. “Oh, come now, Liam. You are a grown man. You know what adults do behind closed doors. Why should we not, er, get to know one another? Then perhaps you might find in me a worthy wife. I know I would adore having you as my husband.”
Liam finally found his tongue. His brow rose. “Am I mistaken? I thought men were to do the courting.”
