AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Well, most women did.
This one just raised her eyebrows.
Then, she stood. What was she doing? His soup was not even half-finished.
Nick watched as she crossed to Jack and spoke to him quietly before leaving. She actually left the room. If Nick had not been so surprised, he would have laughed. Instead, he felt disappointed.
“The lady wants to freshen up for her dinner with the earl. Allow me.” Jack’s face held a suppressed smile as he picked up the spoon and brought it to Nick’s mouth. What had felt intimate moments ago now dripped with awkward humiliation. Nick grabbed the spoon and shoved it into his mouth.
“I can feed myself, you half-wit.”
“Go ahead.”
Jack watched as Nick got through four bites before his arm slackened. “This is bloody disgracing.”
“Your behavior?” Jack asked.
Nick narrowed his eyes. “My inability to feed myself.” He handed the spoon back to Jack without looking him in the face. “My arm feels so blasted weak.”
“You lost a lot of blood, Nick. The doc said he wasn’t sure if you were going to make it. It’s a near miracle you did.”
“And I owe it all to her, don’t I?”
Jack nodded, but Nick didn’t need the reassurance to know what he’d said was true. Miss Pepper had saved his life. She had stopped the bleeding and ran for help. She’d elevated him in the carriage ride. She had kept him awake until he knew he would be taken care of.
“I suppose I owe a lot to Miss Pepper.”
“Yes, and you may want to start with respect.”
* * *
Giulia changed into the nicer of her gray gowns and looked in the mirror, taking in every inch of her average height, frizzy hair, and plain face. She had rebraided her coronet and splashed cool water on her cheeks, but her overall appearance wasn’t much different than normal. Pulling the elephant pendant from her high-necked bodice, she kissed the jeweled surface for luck before tucking it neatly away again. That habit had developed long before her father had gotten heat stroke at the sugar plantation they were observing in Africa. It was the one time the elephant had failed her.
She straightened her spine and glanced at the clock. Time to go.
This was bound to be an interesting evening. The earl was a surly and unapproachable man and had been coerced into having a dinner companion he not only didn’t want, but rather despised. She could see it when she looked into his eyes. She was the embodiment of things Lord Hart hated. His brother, for one. Most likely Giulia’s mother, as well. And there was something else there, something she hadn’t discovered as of yet.
But she would.
Turning for the trunk at the foot of her bed, Giulia knelt on the floor before it and lifted the lid. A stack of periodicals, yellowing with age, were nestled on one side; she removed the set of gloves lying on top of them. Brushing her fingers over the worn letters that graced the cover of the top periodical, Giulia itched to open it and read her father’s stories—tales full of adventure and life and deeply reminiscent of the man who wrote them.
But now was not the time. She closed the lid and drew herself up. She was scheduled to dine with the earl, and that required that she keep her wits about her.
Giulia made it to the landing, her mind floating somewhere far away from her, when a soft voice called her name. She looked up at the staircase that led to the east wing and found Jack standing at the mouth of the corridor. He began to descend, and she met him halfway.
“I am sorry to burden you,” he said apologetically, “but Nick would like to see you when dinner is over.”
“Oh. More flirting? Is he always so shocking?”
Jack dipped his head. “I believe he had an apology in mind.”
Giulia held the valet’s gaze, her own direct. “I won’t put up with his behavior and I hope he has realized it. Either way, I planned to check his dressing after dinner. I haven’t had a chance all day.”
“I changed it when he bathed, but it could probably do with a glance from a professional.” He shot her an amused glance.
She laughed again. “Do not go throwing that in my face, sir. I am more qualified than the earl. Though it might have been wiser to keep my mouth closed.”
He contrived an innocent look that she did not believe for one second.
