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Denny looked to the open doorway. Afraid someone might overhear, perhaps?
“If you tell me where I can find the earl, then I will do so on my own. You’ve no need to introduce me. And no need for anyone to ever find out who my informant was.” She looked him squarely in the eye. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
He was not quite ready to go against his master, and she did not blame him. It could not be comfortable, working for such an ogre. Giulia dipped her head, affecting a helpless look. “It was a horrible thing, coming upon a body in the road last night. A woman could certainly swoon over less. And now, to be tossed into the cold without delivering a very important message to the earl? I do not know how I will live with myself.”
Denny cleared his throat. “If you would like to write a message—”
“Oh no,” she said at once, her voice grave. “It is nothing I could put to paper. My father entrusted only me for the job. I cannot let him down.”
Denny maintained his post beside the wall, but she could see that his resolve was weakening.
Giulia sighed, drawing out the breath as she pushed pieces of broken bread around her plate.
Despite her overwhelming hunger, she could only eat so much before her stomach threatened to explode. What a disappointment. Her plate had hardly been touched, and she knew she would be hungry again soon. Such was the process of regaining her full appetite, as she had learned numerous times over the years.
Her motivation to convince the earl to let her stay was now multiplied as she stared at the uneaten rolls and bacon smothered with gravy.
“Very well,” Denny said at last, and Giulia did her best to look grateful. “As you leave this room, go east. Pass the stairs and turn north down a long corridor. You’ll find the earl in his study through the door at the end.”
She thanked the man and slipped from the breakfast room before he could think better of having helped her. Winding her way down the dark corridor, she found the door at the end swathed in colorful light. A beautiful stained-glass window was positioned high on the wall beside the door, light streaming down through it. Gathering courage, she tapped at the door and waited.
“What?” the earl barked.
Giulia opened the door and stepped inside. The earl spoke without looking up from his desk. “What is it now?”
“I was hoping for a moment of your time, my lord.”
The earl glanced up, eyes widening under bushy, unkempt brows. He quickly shuttered his expression and frowned. “I thought I instructed that you be on your way.”
“Yes, I heard as much. Only, I thought that we should clear up a misunderstanding before I do so. And I have a proposition for you.”
This seemed to pull his interest. “Be quick about it,” he muttered. His shoulder-length, scraggly hair was salt and peppered, and Giulia wondered how she had not caught the Pepper family resemblance right away. Her father had maintained a close shave and trimmed his hair on a regular schedule. Giulia knew because it was her job to do so. In fact, it was something she did with the very sewing shears that she had used the previous evening to cut off the injured man’s coat. Whatever had she done with those shears? Had she put them back before running for help?
Obviously now was not the time to ruminate.
“Well?”
“I apologize, my lord. It is just…your eyes. I have not looked into those eyes in nearly a year.”
The cool gray eyes pierced her. If she ignored the unkempt, bushy hair, she could very well be looking into her father’s face. The revelation moved through her and pricked the back of her eyes. She quickly cleared her throat and snapped out of it. The earl, it seemed, was not the sort of man to be moved by emotion. In fact, it would probably harm her cause.
“You see,” she continued with a flat, unaffected voice, “my father is dead. It happened about eight months ago in Africa.” She paused to gauge the earl’s reaction and was disappointed to see that he showed no sign of emotion. In fact, it looked as if he was holding his breath. She shook off her disappointment. “On the journey back to England I was under the care of a doctor and his wife, the Hendricks. Since I have done my share of nursing over the years, I was taken on as an unofficial nurse and assisted the doctor with his patients during the journey, as his wife was struggling with sickness from the boat.”
The earl continued to stare at her. She smiled and made her plea. “I want to offer my assistance. I understand that you did not invite me here, but as it is, I have nowhere else to go. In order to—”
“What of your mother?”
The question caught her off guard. She must have looked it, too, for the earl pinked slightly in his cheeks. “She left when I was four, my lord. She went back to her family in Italy.”
He nodded once, slowly, holding her gaze.
She continued, shoving away thoughts of her mother as she had for the last sixteen years. “Since I was falsely led here,” she said, then paused. She searched the earl’s face for any sign that he had written the letter but found nothing. Sighing, she continued, “I plan to look for a position, but in the time it will take me to find employment I could nurse your injured friend. He would not be my first gunshot wound patient, and I do know the signs to watch for to catch infection early on. If it is agreeable to you, my lord, then I will do so in trade for room and board; the moment I find a position elsewhere, I will leave.”
He brought a pudgy finger to his lips and tapped. “No.”
Giulia deflated. She tried not to show it, but she could not help her disappointment.
She would have to beg. She opened her mouth to speak but the earl stayed her with a hand. “You will remain until he is healed and fully well. If I am going to engage your services, I would like to see the job finished. I cannot abide a half-given effort.”
That was better than she could have hoped. The weeks it would take the man’s wound to heal would give her sufficient time to obtain a position. She tried not to look as relieved as she felt. “Very well, my lord. These terms are agreeable to me.”
He nodded once more before returning his attention to the papers on his desk in dismissal. Giulia bobbed a curtsy and turned to leave.
Relief flooded her as the door clicked shut and she leaned against the opposite wall. She ran her hands over her arms in a comforting self-embrace and closed her eyes. She was going to be fine.
