“Auntie did not want to prepare a feast tonight,” Isadora said helpfully because her father seemed to be stumbling. “She did not want to share her food or servants, so Papa became angry with her and she ran off and took her servants with her. Courtly and I have been working in the kitchen and cooking. She wanted to make a good meal for you and I have helped her.”
She said it rather proudly as Kellen put a hand over his face, appalled at the words that had just come out of his daughter’s mouth. That which he had been trying to conceal was now common knowledge for the entire room. He didn’t dare look at Maximus, who was staring at Isadora as if attempting to comprehend what she had just told him.
“Yoursisterhas been cooking?” he repeated. “Do you mean to tell me that she has actually cooked a meal?”
Kellen’s hand came away from his face. “It is not as bad as it sounds,” he insisted weakly. “Courtly is a fine woman, my lord. Cooking is a servant’s task and she certainly would not do it habitually. She….”
Again, Isadora cut her father off, eager to tell Sir Maximus of Courtly’s accomplishments. At least, Isadorathoughtthey were great accomplishments.
“She wanted to make sure you were presented with a great feast,” she said enthusiastically. “She did it herself, all of it. She made a stew with beans and pork, and she made a boil of vegetables that has vinegar and honey and pepper in it, and she also fried the pork and made a sauce of onions and butter to put on it. But she had trouble with the bread… it has eggs and milk and onions in it. She couldn’t make it puff up like real bread.”
Maximus listened to the child rattle on. He was stunned, but not for the reasons Kellen might have thought. True, it was shocking for a noblewoman to cook, but he was overcome with the fact that Courtly actually went to the trouble to do it. Once again, faced with a situation that was seemingly difficult, in this case an aunt running off with all of her servants, Lady Courtly showed her ingenuity by cooking a meal herself so that there would be food to eat for guests.For him. Truly, he was astonished by the lengths the woman went to in order to please her guests. The fact that cooking, by noblewomen, simply wasn’t done had never even entered her mind.
“Where is your sister?” he asked after a moment.
Isadora pointed to the door near the fire pit. “In the kitchen.”
Maximus’ gaze found the door. It was difficult to read his thoughts for his expression remained neutral. He had learned long enough never to show his emotions. After a moment, he turned to Kellen, who was not so adept at hiding his thoughts. He spoke.
“You are ashamed of this.” It was not a question.
Kellen was looking up at Maximus with some hesitance in his features. “I did not want you to think my daughter is anything other than a fine lady,” he said. “Noblewomen do not spend time in the kitchen, cooking, and I do not want you to think I forcedmy daughter into some manner of servitude. It was her idea, I assure you. She simply did not want me to be embarrassed when you attended a feast with no food.”
“So she cooked an entire meal by herself?”
Kellen nodded with some resignation. “She did,” he said. “I apologize that I have no cook or servants to offer you this evening. Although it is unseemly, it would seem my daughters must do the work tonight. I pray you can overlook that breach of etiquette.”
Maximus just looked at the man. Then, he moved away from the table and headed for the small door near the fire pit. Isadora, not to be left behind, trotted after him. When they disappeared through the door, Kellen turned his perplexed expression to Tiberius.
“Where did he go?” he asked. “Surely he does not intend to humiliate or berate my daughter.”
Tiberius wasn’t sure where Maximus had gone but he shook his head firmly in response. “Never,” he said firmly. “My brother would not do that. I am sure he intends to thank the lady for her efforts.”
Kellen, now concerned over Maximus and his daughters, alone in a kitchen, returned his focus to the small kitchen door. “Then mayhap I should go also.”
He started to rise but Tiberius put out a hand, forcing the man to stop. “No need,” he said evenly. “I am sure Maximus will return shortly. Meanwhile, you will tell me of Kennington House. I have never heard of it before, you know. How long has it been in the de Lara family?”
Kellen allowed himself to be reluctantly engaged in a conversation about the history of Kennington House, but the truth was that his thoughts were on the kitchen where Maximus had gone. He didn’t like the idea of the man being alone with his eldest daughter, even if Isadora was present. There wassomething unsettling and unseemly about it. He didn’t like men around his daughters as it was, not even men who had saved their lives, so it was very difficult for him to remain and allow himself to be engaged by Tiberius de Shera. All the while, he kept wondering what Maximus was doing, speaking to Courtly, unchaperoned. Nay, he didn’t like it at all. Men were only after one thing, even men like Maximus de Shera.
The more Tiberius talked and the more time passed with Maximus missing, the unhappier he became.
*
“Greetings, my lady.”
Courtly heard the voice, deep and gentle, coming from behind. She had been bent over a boiling pot of vegetables and she turned, startled, to see Maximus standing in the doorway. Overwhelmed by the unexpected sight of him, she couldn’t even manage to find her tongue. She simply stared at him, wooden spoon in hand, and her mouth hanging open. She was trying to think of something to say to the man, for surely, he was expecting some manner of response, but through it all, she could only think one thing–Sweet Jes?, the man is more handsome than I remember!
Seeing Courtly’s obvious shock, Maximus grinned. “Please tell me that you remember me,” he said, sounding as if he were pleading. “Surely you have not forgotten my name.”
Red-faced from having been bent over a boiling pot, Courtly lowered the spoon. “Of course I have not forgotten, my lord,” she said. “I… uh… well, the cook is out in the yard and I was simply… helping so that….”
Maximus cut her off gently. “Your father told me what happened,” he said quietly. He could see that she was deeplyshaken from his unexpected appearance. “In fact, he said you have cooked the entire meal.”
Courtly glanced around the kitchen. The big, simmering pot of beans and pork rested over the fire and a pile of bread was on the table. It would be difficult to deny such a thing and she supposed that it was too late to run off and hope he forgot he ever saw her in the kitchen. She was deeply surprised her father should tell Sir Maximus what had occurred and rather embarrassed that she had tried to lie to him about it.
“I… I did, my lord,” she finally said, sighing. “He really told you that?”
Maximus nodded, his eyes never leaving her face. “Aye,” he said. “Your father said that your aunt fled and took the servants with her. I came to tell you that I am deeply honored that you would go to so much trouble to feed me and my men. Is there anything I can do to help you?”
