Page 48 of Discovering Her Earl

“I think I shall get you a glass of whisky while you’re in the bath. So you might relax before going down to dinner.”

Julian stared at the man who generally spoke of the foolishness of overindulging. And who was now suggesting he drink his problems away.

Giving in, he simply nodded and went to change.

If the whisky didn’t work, he could always leave for London in the morning.

*

Lainey was waiting outside the dining room when Bentley came downstairs, heading for the study at the end of the hall.

“Good evening, Miss Bantham,” he greeted her with a bow and a smile.

“Good evening, Mr. Bentley.” She swallowed and decided to ask for the man’s help. “Could I bother you for a moment of your time?”

“It is no bother at all. You may have as much of my time as you require.”

She didn’t miss the way his gray eyes darted toward the stairs as he answered. As if he didn’t want to be away from Julian for very long.

“I am worried I may have made a grave error in regard to Lord Melville.”

“There is a fair amount of worrying going around. What has you concerned?”

“You see, at the site earlier today, Lord Melville became distraught over removing an artifact from its current location in the ground.”

“It is my understanding this is the whole purpose of archaeology, is it not?” the man mentioned casually.

“It is. But you see, Jul—Lord Melville found the artifact and was then reluctant to continue the extraction for fear he might ruin the piece in some way.”

“And what has you worrying over his worrying?”

“I fear I may have pushed him to do something that truly made him uncomfortable. I wanted to be encouraging, but according to my uncle, my version of encouragement occasionally borders slightly into… well… bossiness. I assure you I had every intention of helping the earl when I practically forced him to continue unearthing the pitcher. But now, after some time to think, I realize I may have pushed too far and maybe caused real damage. Not to mention, ruined this experience for him.”

Mr. Bentley smiled in that kind, knowing way of his.

“Shall I pass on an invitation to join you for dinner where the two of you may discuss the situation and work it out before moving on?”

“Oh.” She blinked. When the man said it like that, it seemed like the easiest thing in the world to do. “Yes. Please.”

“I’ll do it straight away. I’m fetching him a restorative.”

“Do you mean whiskey?”

“Quite.”

They shared a smile and Mr. Bentley leaned a bit closer.

“For what it’s worth, I think you handled the matter perfectly. Julian needs more people telling him he is capable and not at all what his father told him he was. Not everything he touches is destined to fail because he had a hand in it. I think he often believes that to be the truth.”

“Gun luach,” she whispered. What a horrible word whether in English or Gaelic.

“Aye.” The man suddenly looked heartbroken.

“We must convince him otherwise.” Lainey was always happy to find an easy solution to a problem.

“Aye, lass.” He winked. “I’ll see that he is down to meet you momentarily.”

Lainey went into the dining room to wait for the earl. Usually when they’d dined, she’d taken the seat at the far end of the table across from him.