Page 19 of The Viscount in her Bedroom
As he’d hoped, discussion of her sister brought Miss Shelby’s attention to something other than singing. His grandmother seemed particularly quiet after that, and Simon felt her attention on him. He let her think what she wanted.
~oOo~
That night, Louisa couldn’t sleep. Even Mr. Dickens’ novel held no allure. In her mind she kept seeing Lord Wade’s face while she sang. She’d tried to concentrate on reading music, but she’d known the piece by heart, and her gaze had kept wandering to him. Thankfully Lady Wade’s eyes had been closed as she nodded in time to the music, and Miss Wade had been working on her embroidery.
Lord Wade had tried to appear pleasant, but a frown kept peeking through, furrowing his blond brows. She had not thought he considered her performance poor; in fact, he had praised her and began a discussion about music.
Or had he been distracting her? He hadn’t even brought up the subject of the archery lesson.
He made her feel so flustered, and she wasn’t used to that.
Her thoughts were scattered and restless, and after midnight, she finally donned a dressing gown. She would go down to the kitchen for some warm milk. She could have rung for a maid, but even back home, she’d hated to awaken a hard-working servant in the middle of the night. She couldn’t do it here, when she was barely more than a servant herself.
She held a candle before her as she walked, and the manor stretched away into dark shadows like a cave. She could hear the faint creaks of an old house settling, and she was comforted by the sounds.
She entered the dining room, meaning to pass through on her way to the kitchen. Before she was even halfway down the table, the kitchen door ahead of her opened. She gave a start and froze, but in the gloom, the candlelight reflected off the blond hair of Lord Wade.
He was alone. To her surprise he moved confidently, straight toward the table. She was about to call out a warning, but he turned before his cane even hit the end chair, and came around the table.
She backed against the wall and remained quiet, feeling like she was intruding on the man’s privacy. She knew he didn’t like to be stared at. And she was stunned at how easily he moved about alone.
She held her breath as he passed, then grimaced when he paused.
“Miss Shelby?” he said.
Letting her breath out, she softly answered, “Yes, my lord?”
He turned to face her, and as was her usual habit, she drank in the beauty of his face, the way his dimples etched deep shadows in his cheeks by candlelight.
He frowned. “You have a distinctive perfume. We seem to keep running into each other in the night. Were you following me?”
“No, my lord. I couldn’t sleep, and I came down for milk. I didn’t mean to disturb you—I would have just let you walk on by—”
“Leaving me ignorant and foolish,” he said, an edge to his voice.
“You’re twisting my words,” she said firmly. “You’re walking down here alone. It is obvious you want no one to know. It wasn’t my place to intrude.”
“I don’t care who knows.”
Though mindful of her place in this household, she couldn’t help her curiosity. “If you don’t care, then why don’t you walk alone by day?”
An ironic smile touched his face. “Because they’ll want to help me, to follow me to make sure I don’t hurt myself. But I don’t need help—and neither does Georgie.”
He protested far too much.
“It’s not just concern about people helping you,” she said, feeling bolder.
He cocked an eyebrow. “Reading my mind now?”
“You don’t want them to see you looking unsure, or looking lost.”
He scowled.
“Or you don’t want people coming on you unawares when you can’t see them. You care very much what people think about you.”
He took a step closer to her and raised a hand, passing it slowly before her. She watched in surprise and curiosity. When he neared the heat of her candle, she almost called out a warning. But he leaned toward it and blew out the flame.
Because she was so startled, a small gasp escaped her. She knew she shouldn’t have betrayed herself, because a reaction must be what he wanted. Her eyes, unaccustomed to the dark, could not see him.
