Page 34 of When She Loved Me
A chorus of “yes, milord” greeted him, being neither too eager nor occupied with disdain. He gave then a curt nod and turned on his heel to depart, hearing behind him, “I thought Franklin was your first name,” this from the little maid, to which the butler’s response was, “My given name is Alvertos.”
The door swung closed behind Trevor just as the older footman intoned, “Makes sense, then, that you prefer Franklin.”
Next, Trevor found Mr. Wendell in the steward’s office at the rear of the house. He pushed open the door to find the man at his desk with several books opened before him, the topmost appearing to be a ledger of sorts. Trevor called upon a reserve of forbearance for the coming conversation. It was not in his best interest to sack the man as was his want, to literally remove the bounder from his home—not if he had intention of proving to Nicole that he was sorry for his behavior, that he deserved a chance to prove himself, that he wanted a real marriage.
If he had actually believed Nicole had been unfaithful—even to their thus far sham of a marriage—he’d have by now knocked this man on his ass.
Ian stood when he noticed his presence just inside the door, though Trevor hadn’t bothered to knock.
He met the man’s steady gaze, finding neither arrogance nor a challenge, which allowed Trevor to assume only protection as the motivation for his noteworthy response to Trevor at their first meeting yesterday morning, and not jealousy or possessiveness.
“Mr. Wendell, I am to understand my wife herself hired you for this position.”
“She did,” said the man, answering in a level tone as Trevor had begun.
“Had you experience before this assignment?”
“None, save for what was learned in reading.”
“And aside from your particular affinity toward the countess, how are you finding your responsibility here at Hyndman Abbey?”
“The countess,” he said, with no small amount of deliberate emphasis, “is of too kind a nature and often needs reminding that there are people in this world who will take advantage of that.” Before Trevor could even raise a brow at the man’s daring, he clarified—though the initial point hung there still, “But she’s learning to deal with unscrupulous merchants and insincere tenants just the same, though luckily they be few and far between.” He glanced down at the books on his desk. “In regard to the abbey, the books are a mess, neglected and error-riddled, my lord, but I am beginning to make sense of them. There is no waste here at the abbey, as you can see, but we have no directives from your men in London.”
“Yes, my wife has said as much. I will look into that immediately.” Trevor didn’t like the man but could certainly appreciate the earnestness with which he approached his position, and this was a good thing indeed. “I’d like to start going over the estate with you. Hyndman Abbey is likely the property I know the least about. We shall take meetings over breakfast each morning, as I’m sure my wife will want to be included, and then ride about in the afternoons for a bit.” At Ian’s nod, given without even a hint of surprise, or any that was shown, Trevor said, “I’ll be sending for my valet and I’ll leave it to you to hire several more maids for the house and the kitchen and the scullery, and a few good stable hands. If you feel those boys are fit to be proper footmen, we’ll leave off hiring more of them.”
“They are young yet but anxious to please...the countess.”
“Very good.” And with an agreeable nod, Trevor left the office.
He indeed felt a lightness to his step afterward, considering he’d made much progress this day. He looked forward to this evening and dinner with his wife.
NICOLE HAD LEFT THElibrary only moments after Trevor had. She took the back stairs to her chamber and closed the door, her back sliding against it. It made no sense for her legs to give out now, but they did, bringing her down to the floor. With her knees drawn up and her elbows upon them, she dropped her face into her hands and cried.
Oh, this was not going well at all! How could her body betray her like that?
But oh my, his kiss! Had she actually forgotten how it felt? How it had made her feel? Obviously, or she’d not have agreed to his ridiculous little trick—and a trick it was! He apparently had not failed to recall how quickly, how very capably he could turn her to pudding in his arms.
Nicole lifted her face, staring around the pretty blue room she’d called her own since that first night almost a year ago. It was likely meant as only a guest room, one of many, but with its soft blue and ivory color scheme, in the subtle chintz wallpaper, the counterpane and bolster and pillows, and the long cotton draperies, she’d quickly chosen this room as hers, deciding it was by far her favorite room, so delicate and pretty compared tothe other chambers, which were decorated in a more handsome, distinctly masculine fashion.
It was a good thing, indeed, that she enjoyed this room, for it might become her refuge if her husband did for certain plan to stay. And,“we’re going to do things my way”—what could that possibly mean? She hoped this was stated only in regard to her very cozy routine with the servants, as she believed this could easily be gotten around.
She lowered her arms and let her shoulders slump, pushing out a heavy sigh. Unbidden— she certainly didn’t want to be recalling anything from the last few minutes in the library with Trevor! —the picture of his hungry gaze came before her. Truly, he had stared at her as if he might have consumed her, body and soul, if she but allowed it. As if she and her very treacherous body had a choice!
She shook her head in disgust with herself. And here she’d thought she might be able to be so unaffected by his presence that she might carry on with her daily routine as if he were not here at all.How insufferably pitiful I am!
Nicole rose from the floor and flopped herself across the wide bed.
The truth of the matter was this: she wanted Trevor to love her, but she was afraid that she might, as she’d done before, mistake passion for love. And she wanted to love Trevor, but she was afraid that this big ugly thing—their wedding day—lay powerfully and resentfully between them.
She had heard of the expression ‘emotionally exhausted’ but had never understood the phrase before this moment. She grasped it completely just now and as her tears dried upon her cheeks, she fell off into a rather deep slumber.
Nicole was wakened only an hour later by a nervous but excited Lorelei.
“Oh, miss—I mean Lady Leven—you must wake!” The little maid shook Nicole’s shoulder gently and she rolled over to see Lorelei pull open both doors of the wardrobe. “We’ve to get you ready for—oh, no! Where are your fine silks?” Lorelei turned her startled gaze to Nicole, who now was sitting up on the side of the bed. “There are only these two.”
“I took them to Mrs. Lemmon,” Nicole explained groggily, wakeful enough now to wonder why Lorelei was here. She hadn’t ever had need of her assistance before. “There’s no need for them here. She will make some serviceable gowns for me instead.”
Now Lorelei appeared truly panicked. “But, miss, I mean milady!” —this, with exasperation— “the earl says you are to dress for dinner. He specifically said silk!”
