Page 22 of Better Off Wed

His head tilted, as if he had never considered the matter before now. “I daresay they would prefer to be avenged, even belatedly, than forgotten.”

“Vengeance is easier said than done. Why, even with careful study and preparation, Lady Sterling’s campaigns sometimes go awry.” Hearing the confession from her own lips startled her. She need not strive to match Lord Sterling for honesty. “For example, in the present case, I had intended to spend a few days in the nearest village, gathering information. After I had formed a plan, I would’ve sent Miss Godfrey a note and asked her to meet me on her half day.”

“Surely being right inside the house is an advantage?”

“Oh, yes, yes,” she agreed, rolling her eyes. “Creating a stir with one’s entrance, drawing the notice of every family member and servant in the place…”

“Thanks to that entrance, Miss Godfrey not only knows you are here to help but was able to specify your very room—this room,” he said, gesturing calmly around him, “and not another. Surely she must have had a reason?”

Had Miss Godfrey suggested the blue bedroom for some reason other than its proximity to the great hall? Laura could not say which surprised her more: the fact that she had not considered the possibility, or that Lord Sterling had.

Clearly pain was addling her thinking.

“And that’s another thing,” she continued, tossing a scowl at her injured ankle. “I’ve failed to best Thornton when I had the use of all my limbs. How am I to manage anything now?”

Slowly, he stepped toward her, one hand extended, and returned both the watch and the card to her possession. She curled her fingers around them, noting the contrast between the cool paper and the metal, warmed by his touch. “Perhaps you just need a little assistance,” he suggested as he took up the nearby chair once more.

“Absolutely not. Lady Sterling works alone. I cannot—”

He raised a peremptory finger to silence her. If he had been just a little closer, she might well have snapped it between her teeth. How dare he?

“We’re not alone anymore,” he mouthed, tipping his dark head toward the door.

Laura strained to listen. All was quiet except the crackle and hiss of the fire. Her lips popped open to issue a reprimand, but before she could speak, those words disappeared beneath the tap-tap-tap of a quiet knock.

Lord Sterling cocked his brow and lifted one shoulder as if to say, See? Pushing to his feet, he cleared his throat once more. “Come in.”

Chapter 7

When the person behind the door did not immediately enter, Jeremy considered whether the proper thing was to repeat his invitation or open the door. His concern about how much of his and Miss Hopkins’s conversation had been overhead could only be eased when he knew who had been listening.

He had taken three steps toward the door before the quiet creak of the hinge revealed the governess, Miss Godfrey. Against the rich walnut paneling, she looked almost colorless in her gray gown, with her ashen complexion.

Behind him, he heard Miss Hopkins stir on the sofa. “Miss Godfrey! Do come in.”

The governess appeared more inclined to accept that second invitation, apart from a chary glance in Jeremy’s direction. She crossed the floor and took the chair he had vacated, nearest to Miss Hopkins’s head. He might have taken the one opposite, by her feet, but he instead elected to stand, leaning one shoulder against the mantel.

Miss Godfrey turned in the chair toward Miss Hopkins. “How are you feeling, my lady?”

“Considerably more comfortable than I was. Mr. Phelps seems to think the ankle will be better in a few days.”

“Oh, I am glad to hear it,” she said, looking anything but as she wrung her fingers in her lap. “How could I live with myself if I were the cause of your injury?”

“Should not the blame be laid on the driver who nearly overturned the coach?” Jeremy ventured, genuinely baffled by the governess’s overdeveloped sense of guilt.

She started at his voice but did not raise her eyes to his face. “If I had not written and begged Lady Sterling for help, she would have had no cause to come into the country…”

“And if Lord Thornton were a different sort of man, you would have had no cause to write.” Miss Hopkins’s words were gentle but firm. “As we know precisely the sort of man he is, we may dispense with this game of conjecture.”

“Yes, my lady,” Miss Godfrey replied.

“Has he harmed you?” Jeremy asked.

The question earned him a sharp look from Miss Hopkins, but no direct answer. “I—I did not know you were married, Lady Sterling,” Miss Godfrey stammered, looking to her for reassurance.

“It is a recent development. But being a married lady has its advantages. Far greater freedom of movement, for one,” his supposed wife explained, with no touch of irony.

At the utter absurdity of the situation, a laugh rose in his chest which he only narrowly managed to turn into a cough.