Even the nightmare was preferable to a reality such as this.
Tom hitched his trousers and walked into the empty kitchen, his stomach growling at the lack of breakfast smells.Usually, Kate was baking bread long before now.And there was always a little something ready for him.Where was she?
Abruptly he remembered where she had been when he left her last night, and he hurried toward the servant’s stairway, taking the worn steps as fast as his aged legs could carry him.He didn’t even stop at Kate’s door, but went straight to her father’s old room and walked in, without bothering to knock.
His fears, vague and formless, faded away as soon as he saw her.She was asleep in a chair beside the bed, curled up like a kitten, her dark curls tangled, her lovely face serene.The smile that formed at the sight of her disappeared when he glanced at the man stretched out face-first on the bed.Barely covered by a pile of blankets, the fellow was a sprawling mass of hard muscle.
He didn’t look like any marquess.
Tom’s eyes narrowed at the broad expanse of naked male back while he contemplated a quick trip to London.If he couldn’t take this gent with him, then maybe he could at least put his ear to the street and see what he could hear about the real Wroth.
Yes, he thought, scratching the stubble on his chin, after breakfast he would do just that.But meanwhile, his belly was rumbling, and since he didn’t want to disturb Kate, he backed out of the room, pulling the door shut silently behind him.
In a few minutes, he was down in the kitchen, lighting a blaze in the big fireplace and slicing some of yesterday’s bread for toast.Lucy liked hers just so, with a dab of butter and jam.And if she didn’t get it, they would all suffer.
He had just poured the tea when she arrived, a vision in one of her mama’s dresses that she had reworked into a new style.Not that he knew what was what with ladies’ gowns, but Lucy always looked lovely, even if she spoiled the effect with her manners sometimes.Like now.
“Where’s Kate?”she asked in a petulant voice.
“Up tending his nibs.”
Lucy frowned.“You would think that man was more important to her than her own family.See how she is neglecting us?”
Tom grinned at her inclusion of him among those of her exalted heritage, but hid his amusement from her.She would not like to be reminded that she had just adopted a coachman.He placed her plate before her and was rewarded with one of her beautiful smiles.
“Oh, bless you, Tom!”
He brushed off the careless statement as he sat down to join her.Although the eggs he had fetched from the henhouse were cooked as well as he could manage, they were not as tasty as any of Kate’s dishes, and his thoughts drifted back to the girl upstairs.
“She’s got that wounded-pup look again,” he muttered between bites.
“Who?”Lucy asked, absently, as she reached for her cup.
“Why, Katie, of course.”
Glancing over at him with some surprise, Lucy drew herself up regally.“Katie may not be a great beauty, but at no time has she ever resembled a canine.”
“No!Katie don’t look like a dog.She has that expression she gets whenever she brings home one of her injured curs or a bird with a broken wing or that one-eyed cat.”Tom shuddered and looked around, half expecting the mention of the feline to conjure up the creature.The furry devil was well-known to steal your meal when you weren’t looking.
Once convinced the cat was not lurking about, he turned his attention back to Lucy.“You know how she must take in every sorry creature that she comes across.”
Lucy assumed a thoughtful expression, then frowned slightly, as if the effort had pained her.“Well, I suppose he is rather like all her pets in that he is hurt, but she will see him back to health and then he shall be on his way.”She lifted a pale hand and dismissed the stranger with a languid wave.
Tom paused over a mouthful of eggs.“I don’t think it will be that easy, Miss Lucy.”
“Whyever not?”
Tom laid down his fork.“Remember how she looked when that pigeon flew away?And that lamb with the bad leg disappeared?”At Lucy’s reluctant nod, he continued.“Well, this fellow is a lot bigger than any of those dumb animals.What do you think she’ll do when he takes off?”
“Rejoice, as I will,” Lucy said, not bothering to hide her distaste for the gent.“Really, it is not at all the thing to have a strange man recuperating in Papa’s room, and when he is sufficiently recovered, Kate will demand his departure.”
Tom shook his head.“No, I tell you, a man’s a bit different from a dog or a bird.What if she gets attached to him?What happens then, when he up and leaves her?”
“I am sure I don’t know what you are suggesting, Tom,” Lucy said, obviously bored with a conversation that did not focus on her.Having finished her breakfast, she pushed her plate aside and rose to her feet.“But I refuse to worry my head about Kate.She always knows what she is doing.”
Tom let her leave the dishes to him without a protest, but he could not agree with her assessment of the situation.As usual, Lucy could see no farther than her nose.Nor could she be bothered about any problems.But Tom could feel trouble brewing.He could feel it in his bones the moment he set eyes on the big fellow Kate shot.
“Whatever happens, it won’t be pretty.I can tell you that,” he muttered to himself.“Not pretty at all.”
