Page 46 of In Bed with the Earl

It hadn’t been stated, either explicitly or implicitly.

But neither could there be a doubt as to what Mr. North had intended with the older man’s presence.

With his back against the wall and his arms folded at a barrel-size chest, her guard remained motionless with his rheumy gaze firmly locked on Verity and her every movement. She repressed the nervous shudder that ran the length of her spine.He is just a man. He is just a man. Albeit a large man. But a man.Harmless, surely. With long white hair lazily drawn back and equally white brows, the nameless man put her in mind of the wizard Merlin from the book her father had brought her as a girl and read passages from each time he visited.

That memory of her father proved strengthening.

Verity forced a smile. “My name is Verity Lovelace.”

He grunted. “Don’t. Care.”

Well, then.

Verity tried again. “Do you have a name?”

Another grunt. “Of courseI have a name.”

And mayhap it was the madness of this entire night, but a smile pulled at her lips. “Do you wish to share it?”

“No.”

Hmph.

They were a tight-lipped bunch, the peculiar men who lived here ... wherever “here” was.

With a sigh, Verity stole another restless glance around at the chambers which had become a prison of sorts. That was, acomfortableprison with porcelain baths and delicious soap and warm garments, but a cell, nonetheless. Verity tried again. “Given that we are keeping one another company, mayhap it would be important for us to exchange n—”

“No.”

She tapped her foot on the gleaming hardwood floor ... Mahogany floors that gleamed. It was another peculiarity in this place. “You don’t like me, do you?”

“I don’t like anyone,” he said instantly.

“Do you like Mr. North?” she asked, rabidly curious about the older man’s relationship to her savior that night.

“Do ya ever shut up?”

“Actually, no. Very rarely,” she allowed. Such had been the way since she’d been a girl, which, in the work she’d eventually come to do, had proven only a skill and a benefit to her.

Alas, Mr. No-Name went even more tight-lipped. Who would have imaginedthatwas possible?

That deliberate silence only intensified her intrigue. Was the bear of a man Mr. North’s father? They certainly were both of a similar impressive height and size. Except their tonality was altogether ... different. She nibbled at her lower lip, her mind growing with questions as it was wont to do. Or perhaps the older man was a servant?

Except if he was one ... what manner of man was Mr. North that he had them in this place?

A small crystalline drop leaked out of the inside corner of Mr. No-Name’s left eye. In the candle’s glow, she caught the trail it wound, and also the discreet attempt made by her guard to hide it.

“Do your eyes always leak in that manner?”

And with that question, she managed to unsettle the older fellow into uttering something other than “no” or some other condescending response.

He angled his head, sending a shock of white hair toppling over one of those leaking eyes in question. “Wot?”

Encouraged, Verity took a step toward him. “Your eyes.” She motioned to the slight crystalline leakages, tear-like in color and consistency, which had left his eyes red. “They’re rheumy.”

“So wot about it?” he snapped like a cornered pup.

“It is just I’ve some experience with them.”

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