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“A bit cranky this afternoon, eh?” Perriwick said, grinning.
“I was perfectly fine until you came along.”
Penelope said to the butler, “He's been acting rather strangely all afternoon.”
Perriwick nodded regally. “Perhaps we ought to leave him be. A bit of rest might be just the thing.”
“Very well.” Penelope followed the butler to the door. “We shall leave you alone. But if I find out you haven't taken a nap, I'm going to be very angry with you.”
“Yes, yes,” Blake said hurriedly, trying to usher them out of the room. “I promise I'll rest. Just don't disturb me. I'm a very light sleeper.”
Perriwick let out a loud snort that was definitely not in keeping with his usual dignified mien.
Blake shut the door behind them and leaned against the wall with a huge sigh of relief. “Good Christ,” he said to himself, “at this rate I'll be a doddering fool before my thirtieth birthday.”
“Hmmph,” came a voice from the washing room. “I'd say you're well on your way already.”
He looked up to see Caroline standing in the doorway, an annoyingly huge grin on her face. “What do you want?” he bit off.
“Oh, nothing,” she said innocently. “I just wanted to tell you that you were right.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
“Let's just say I've discovered the humor in our situation.”
He growled at her and took a menacing step forward.
But she appeared unintimidated. “I can't really remember the last time I laughed so hard,” she said, grabbing the tray of food.
“Caroline, do you value your neck?”
“Yes, I'm rather fond of it. Why?”
“Because if you don't shut up, I'm going to wring it.”
She darted back into the washing room. “Point taken.” Then she shut the door, leaving him fuming in his bedroom.
And if that weren't bad enough, the next sound he heard was a loud click.
The damned woman had locked him out. She'd taken all the food and locked him out.
“You'll pay for this!” he yelled at the door.
“Do be quiet,” came the muffled reply. “I'm eating.”
