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“Yes, Your Grace,” Louisa curtsied. “And thank you for helping me home.”
“My pleasure, Miss Stone.” Isaac’s lips flickered up before he strode off to the staircase.
Louisa’s eyes traced after him for a moment then after biting the inside of her cheek, she hurried off to her quarters. She hung up the wet coat and stripped off the damp dress before donning a thick housecoat. She contemplated how to get some warm water to bath with when her door was knocked on.
Opening it, she saw a footman there holding two buckets of warm water. “His Grace has sent these for you, Miss Stone.”
“Oh,” Louisa blinked in shock. “Oh, sorry, come in, come in.”
After the man placed them in her closet, Louisa said goodbye to the footman. She sagged againstthe door after it closed behind him. Her eyes landed on the buckets and a small smile tugged at her lips. It was a simple act of kindness, but it spoke more to the attention Isaac was paying to her and the consideration that had grown from it.
She went to wash and loved the feel of the warm water on her skin as it banished the chill that had started to set inside her body. Drying and dressing into her maid’s uniform, Louisa took the buckets back to the kitchen and handed them off to a footman then went off to do her duties.
The only thing on her mind was, what would Isaac want to speak with her lateron that evening?
***
It was past ten that evening when Louisa slipped into the library. A fire was roaring in the grate and Isaac was in an armchair with a book on his lap and a glass on winein his hand. In his shirtsleeves, Isaac’s virility was even more pronounced.
The collared shirt stretched across his wide shoulders, but the neck was partially unbuttoned, revealing the corded column of his throat, and acaptivatingglimpse of his muscled chest.He looked up from his book and smiled—and her heart seemed to flip over from such a simple act.
“Thank you, Isaac, for sending the warm water to me,” Louisa said, as she stood just inside the door.
His left brow archedup and he slowly sat the wineglass on an end-table near him. “I don’t bite, Louisa. Why are you standing so far off?”
Her skin heated. Silently she moved to take the seat across from him and sat, folding her legs to the side, and resting her hands on her lap. “I apologize. I did not mean to offend you. Are we going to pick up from our earlierdiscussion?”
Setting the book aside, Isaac said, “After a lot of consideration, I would rather not.”
Blinking Louisa asked,“So why am I here?”
