Page 79 of The Texan Duke
“You made the coffee?”
“I like mine a bit strong,” he said.
“Texas style?”
He grinned at her and she couldn’t help but smile back.
“That it is.”
She sat opposite him. “How are you feeling?”
His eyes were clear and his cheeks weren’t flushed. He had no indication of fever. She wanted to reach over and place her palm against his forehead, but doubted the other two women would understand.
She wasn’t certain she did, either. She had no right to feel irritated when Addy and Betty looked at him with smiles on their faces and stars in their eyes.
The truth, and it came as a shock, was that she had considered him hers, and wasn’t that idiotic? From the first moment in front of Bealadair with the fallen statue, she’d felt as if she protected him, supported him even when the family had ridiculed him. She’d tried to explain him, defend him, and none of that was necessary.
“I’m as good as can be, what with another hole in me.”
He grinned at her again, and this time she didn’t smile back. Really, he had no right to be so charming so early in the day.
Had he slept well? Was that a question she could ask him? She didn’t, only because Addy and Betty were looking at her with great interest.
“Would you like to try some of His Grace’s coffee?” Addy asked.
“No, thank you. Tea, please,” she said.
“What are you going to do today?” Connor asked.
“What am I going to do today?”
No one had ever questioned her about her duties. Not even Gavin. She’d met with him in the morning, and then gone about her business, knowing they would meet again at dinner.
“I’m going to give the maids instructions on waxing the ballroom floor,” she said, beginning to explain her schedule. “I have to interview a footman with the majordomo, look over the household expenses for the past month, and inspect the repairs to the barn roof. After that I have a meeting with the steward to tell him what I’ve found.”
“All that?” he asked, still smiling.
“All that,” she said.
“So you’ll be staying at Bealadair? No riding out to far pastures?”
“Not today.”
He only nodded in response.
How very odd to feel as self-conscious as she did at the moment. Did he think she wasn’t busy enough? Was he going to criticize how she used her time?
“Why are you asking?”
“Curiosity,” he said. “Do you never take a day for yourself?”
She thanked Betty for her tea and took a sip before forming her answer.
“No. I don’t think you do, either. If you were the indolent type, Your Grace, you’d still be in bed.”
“When I was injured in the war,” he said, “I was expected to be up and about the next day. Maybe it’s just a habit I learned.”
She took another sip of her tea, conscious that Addy and Betty were listening intently.
