Page 5 of Broken

Dithers made another of those disapproving noises he favored, but Giles chose to ignore it. The longer the man worked for him, the poorer his adherence to the strictures of the master-servant roles. Given Dithers’ exceptional performance in all other areas, Giles chose not to chastise him for his slips. Avoidance made for comfortable living, after all.

He took another swallow of coffee and nearly spit it out. There was no greater ill than cold coffee. He pushed it aside. “Have you seen Atticus this morning?”

“I saw his tail and not much else,” Dithers replied. “He is with Miss Winter.”

Giles could understand if Atticus behaved this way because of another dog, but from what he could gather, Lillian Winter was barely conscious. Despite Giles’ considerable unease over her presence, he wondered what she was like.

He set aside his napkin. “What about the rest?”

“The rest of what, milord?”

Giles glanced at his butler. The man had to know curiosity over the woman he might have married if circumstances had been different was killing him. Did he have to spell it out? “What are the servants saying about Lord Winter and his daughter?”

“They’re happy with Lord Winter’s decision to leave her here.”

Giles’ breakfast flipped in his stomach. “Why?” Were they all mad?

Dithers’ face hinted at a smile. “They are relieved Miss Winter will remain behind in comfort when her father departs. They have no fear for her safety.”

Giles scowled. “Servants can be an overly opinionated nuisance.”

“Of course, milord, we can surely be a trial.” Dithers grinned. “Can I fetch you fresh coffee?”

Giles glanced into the half-empty cup. “Yes. But I’ll take it in my study.”

He left the smug butler behind and strolled along the hall, thinking about his uncomfortable situation. He did not want the awkwardness of having the woman who could have become his wife under his roof. It was embarrassing.

“Did ya see the nurse’s reaction to Atticus licking Miss Winter’s hand, Daisy?”

Giles stilled beside the staircase, listening to a maid gossiping on the upper floor.

“Thought she’d keel right over on the spot. And that nurse! What a foolish woman to climb onto the windowsill when Atticus came back. I wouldn’t count on her for comfort if I was feeling poorly.”

“Well, the dog did growl when we straightened the bedding, but Miss Winter don’t notice a thing. She lay so still I was sure she was a corpse until her papa picked her up and she moaned.”

“Hush, Maisie, you’ll get us into trouble gossipin’ about the quality.”

The maids moved away and Giles considered the nurse Lord Winter had brought with him. He hoped the woman was as competent as described and that she could do her job without supervision.

As he pushed open his study door, he tried to guess Lilly’s age. The accident had happened when she was perhaps fourteen. Just below the age of becoming a woman. She would be about twenty now, he supposed.

Six years of pain and suffering had passed when she should have been dancing, giggling, and marrying. And having babies to hold. He shuddered. If all had gone according to plan, they’d have been married for the last two years.

“Is anything the matter?”

Giles spun to find his butler gazing at him in amusement. Dithers knew full well what bothered him. He would be saddled with an unwanted responsibility. Female, no less, and not one he could associate with without that shackle reattaching to his leg. His servant could show a sliver of compassion. “Nothing that concerns you.”

“Of course. Your coffee, milord.” An innocuous statement, but laced with the tremor of barely suppressed humor in his tone.

Damn all butlers to hell.

Giles took the cup, his mind still occupied by the woman upstairs. In age, Lillian Winter was a woman. But in her mind, would she still be a young girl? Giles had no interest in girls. He liked his women intelligent, initiated into love play by someone else, and independent. He did not have the patience to deal with emotional, needy women.

“Do you require anything else, milord?”

Yes, an experienced woman to take his mind off his current nightmare. “No, go about your usual duties and stop bothering me.”

The sooner he returned to London the better. Giles smiled. Perhaps Lady Huntley would hold another ball at Huntley House, the location of all his encounters with his little ghost. Given his eagerness to attend all her functions, he thanked God Lady Huntley had no daughters still unwed.