‘Kate. Stop.’
‘I am nearly done.’ The rug squelched as she came to the damp patch. She winced but carried on.
He reached out and lightly touched her elbow. ‘Kate, what are you doing?’
She turned to him, her eyes wide, lashes spiky and cheeks wet. ‘I am rolling the rug to take it to my room and make it as good as new.’
‘Do you even know how to clean something like this?’
‘No, but I…’
‘I am telling you it does not matter. It is highly unlikely the duke had anything to do with the decoration in this room. The blue seems to be a thing of amusement for us all, but none of us are passionate about it. If the rug is beyond repair, no one will be cross, because it was an accident. Do not worry.’ She managed to get the fabric into a wide roll. ‘Why can you not hear what I am saying, Kate?’
‘He will be angry.’
‘Who? Who will be angry, Kate?’
Her whole body stilled; he wasn’t even sure she was breathing.
‘The Duke of Glanmore,’ she said eventually.
‘I promise you he will not.’ A quick dip of her head was the only sign she had heard him. ‘But I do not think you were referring Tobias. Is there anything you would like to talk about?’
Knowing what it was like to fear someone, he wasn’t going to push her for an answer. It had been a long time for him, but he had not forgotten what it was like to be under his aunt’s control, knowing she could punish him for a misdemeanour he had not even been aware he had committed. It was why he liked things orderly. If things were meant to be in a certain place, then that is where they should be to avoid any harm befalling him. It did not matter that he had not lived with Miss Dunn in years; things still had to be just so for him to relax.
Slowly, her shoulders released their tension and she sagged until she was sitting on the ground. ‘My last employer was not very pleasant. I found it wise to avoid drawing attention to myself.’ She shuddered and Edward suppressed a primal urge to hunt this man down and kill him. ‘For a moment, I forgot His Grace is not the same.’
‘No one here will hurt you, Kate. I promise you.’
She looked up at him; the whites of her eyes were pink but no longer glassy. ‘I know. You have all been very kind. I do not know what to do about this though.’ She gestured to the roll of carpet.
‘I am going to ring for Mrs Bishop.’
‘But I should…’
‘How would you feel if we took this off to your room and you spent hours cleaning it only to make it worse?’
Staring at her handiwork, she shuddered. ‘Terrible,’ she admitted at last.
‘Exactly. Let us ask Mrs Bishop to take a look.’
When Tobias had gained his majority, he replaced the indoor staff who had served them while the brothers were growingup under the strict rule of Miss Dunn. He either pensioned them off or offered them the opportunity to go and work under Miss Dunn in the country pile to which Tobias had her moved. Edward hadn’t given the replacement of the staff much thought; he had been busy living his own life and not thinking of Glanmore House any more than absolutely necessary. When he had moved back in, he had noticed that the servants were far more pleasant than those he had been used to, but he still hadn’t pondered the fact a great deal.
Watching the way Mrs Bishop talked to Kate, the way the older woman reassured her that she knew just the thing to make the carpet as good as new and the mess wasn’t the disaster Kate thought it was, he was incredibly grateful to his older brother. The previous housekeeper would have made Kate feel awful about the damage, with pursed lips and endless tutting. She would have enjoyed making Kate’s distress worse. Mrs Bishop and Kate interacted like they were old friends trying to outdo each other in their pleasantries. Edward hadn’t considered it before, but now he thought Tobias’ choice of employee must be deliberate and he realised, not for the first time, how little he knew the duke, even after all these months of living with him. Perhaps there was a kind, thoughtful man behind the aloof, stern exterior.
When Mrs Bishop had finally been allowed to take the rug away, with promises to inform Kate if there was anything she could do to help restore it to its former glory, Edward finally said, ‘I was looking for you actually.’
‘You were?’
‘Yes.’ He hoped she had forgotten the way he had barged into the room, pretending he hadn’t realised she was in there. ‘I was wondering if you are available to come with me now to talk to Charlotte. I spoke with my brothers and we would all like toknow what you think about her speech after talking with her for a longer time.’
Her whole body brightened at his words. ‘I would like that very much.’
Seeing her joy at being asked to do something made him wish he had asked her sooner. So what if being around her made him wish he could run his fingers through her hair? He was a grown man; he could cope with unrequited desire. He was not a brute who would act on his impulses. And no one need ever know where his mind went when he imagined her in his bed.
Arriving at the nursery compounded his guilt at not acting sooner. Charlotte’s whole body tightened in delight when she saw them, and she ran towards them, throwing her arms around Kate’s legs as if they were long-lost friends. He should have done this days ago; his own pride had kept them apart for no reason.
Charlotte’s nurse, an older woman whom Charlotte adored, looked pleased to be given some time off and wasted no time in heading to her own rooms for a quick lie-down. ‘To prepare myself for this afternoon’s entertainment,’ she said, smiling at them as she made her escape.
