He shook his head, chuckling.“Get to work with you.I’m amazed I can get anything done around here with you tempting me.Next thing I know, you’ll be wiggling those delicious buttocks at me as you work.”
She did exactly that until it was time to work through more correspondence together.
Chapter Twenty-Two
They supped together that night as they did most nights in the past sennight, without even attempting to pretend it was to teach him the formalities of entertaining.
The next morning, Mrs.Betters assigned her to dust the artwork on the walls of the entryway.She was wielding her duster on a stick along the top of a frame, leaning over a side table, when horses clattered in the drive.Her heart pounded, fearing exposure.Or perhaps worse, something that would pull Xander to London without having found a way to confess her true identity.
With Rogers right there, she could not duck into the front parlor to identify the riders.Stuck, she focused on dusting without pulling the frame off the wall as the footman answered the door.
A man said, “I believe His Grace is expecting us.”
He said more, but Evie’s ears buzzed with fear.She recognized that voice.’Twas the Marquess of Hollibrook back for a second visit, this time with a younger duke she knew only in passing.She lowered her gaze and realized she was in front of a mirror rather than a painting.
Glancing at the men waiting for the footman to go find the duke to announce them, her gaze met the marquess’s as he stared at her.He tilted his head, frowning, and took a half step toward her.
Gulping, she tugged her cap lower on her forehead and raised her arm to hide her reflection.The footman returned, saving her.“His Grace will see you in his library.This way, gentlemen.”
A breath of relief escaped out her mouth.He wouldn’t look for a distant relative to be a maid, especially when he knew her family was flush.Hopefully, he did not recall that her aunt lived here.
Her hopes were dashed when, after the footman had disappeared down the hall to request tea service, Hollibrook stepped out of the library door and pulled it closed behind him.
She stared unblinking as he strode toward her.
“Evie.”His voice held wonder.“Itisyou.Why are you dressed thus?”
“My lord.”She curtsied as her heart threatened to pound out of her chest.
His gaze narrowed.“If I recall, you were betrothed to the former duke.I was excited to have family nearby again, as was my father.What are you about, Evie?”
“Shh.”She looked around him for Rogers’s return, then scampered into the front parlor, gesturing for him to follow.
“My father sent a note requesting that Xa”—she corrected herself at his censorious look—“His Grace honor the previous betrothal without asking me or any of us having met the man.”
“Then why not invite him to London?Or have the family pay a visit?Or anything rather than masquerading as a maid in his household?”He turned his hands up and shook his head.
“Surely, you understand that women have little to no say in these things, and I desired to know what he was like before he—and I—decided if we wanted the marriage contract honored in light of the previous duke’s unfortunate demise.”Her hands twisted in her apron.Realizing that, she shook them out and fisted them at her sides.
“That doesn’t explain spying on him like this.”The marquess frowned.“Wait, did your mother’s sister have anything to do with this?”
She shook her head, declining to answer that.“I know your politics are more in line with mine than with my father’s.Only after the betrothal did I discover that the previous duke’s were closer to my father’s.I was young and silly when he asked for my hand, and now…I am not.”
Hollibrook grimaced and waved one hand up and down her length.“I would argue that you are, given this getup.”
“What would you have had me do?”
"Visit with your family like a proper young lady.”
She caught herself before she stamped her foot.Men couldn’t understand.But she had to try to explain it to her second cousin so he wouldn’t betray her confidence to Xander.“You know we’d be supervised every minute.Besides, you met him.If we’d visited before now, Xander had only just come into his title.He would not have been ready to consider marriage.”
“Ignoring the fact that there are good reasons for such supervision, whether or not he is ready, ’tis time.”His mouth set in a grim line, the marquess turned toward the door.
“No, please!I need to be the one to tell him.’Tis just—I need a bit more time to determine how to do that.”
“You have two days.You will tell him before we leave, or I shall.”
“Yes, my lord.”She needn’t have bothered with the curtsy, as her second cousin was already halfway back to the library.
