Page 67 of Lady Guinevere & the Rogue with a Brogue
She nodded and was about to ask where to find the butler when he appeared from a side hall, as if he had been waiting. “Your Grace,” he said.
She startled but then grinned. It was the first time someone had addressed her by her new title, other than the priest who had announced it formally. She didn’t give a fig for the title, but she cared very much that it meant she was wed to the man she loved.
“If you’ll follow me,” the kindly butler said.
“Of course,” she replied, falling into step behind him.
They got two steps up the stairs when he paused and turned toward her. “Might I inquire if your lady’s maid will be coming, or shall we hire you a new one?”
She bit her lip, casting her gaze toward Asher and his brother. Talbot had his back turned and was looking toward the front window, but Asher’s gaze was on her.
“Her lady’s maid will be coming,” Asher answered for her, likely thinking that because she was staring at him, she wanted him to reply.
“I’ll give you the details,” she hurriedly added, barely resisting the urge to tug on the man’s arm to get him to move. Her heart pounded as she climbed the stairs once more, thanking God above that Talbot had been preoccupied.
Chapter Seventeen
Asher found it impossible to tear his attention away from his wife’s lovely form as she ascended the stairs behind Thornhill, but when she disappeared from his sight, he refocused on Pierce. He felt sorry for him, but he wanted Guinevere to himself for a while. He’d waited five years for this.
Asher considered what to say without causing unnecessary strife between himself and Pierce.I want you out as soon as possiblewasn’t exactly an olive branch.
“It’s funny your wife’s lady’s maid should be mentioned,” Pierce said.
Pierce’s long pause suggested he wanted Asher to speak. “Why is that?”
“Well,” Pierce started, motioning for Asher to follow him.
Asher sighed, wanting to go to Guinevere, but he also did not want to make his relationship with Pierce any more strained than it was, so he relented.
As they moved through the corridors, Pierce said, “Because I was going to tell her that I saw her lady’s maid, Miss Ballenger, on her errand to Kilgore’s home last week.”
Every fiber of Asher’s body warned him against going down this path, but he damn well could not leave that statement unexamined. “I see,” he said, unease stirring inside him as they entered the study. Asher closed the door behind them.
Pierce, unsurprisingly, fixed himself a drink before continuing. “I wanted to tell your wife how very professional her lady’s maid is. It’s refreshing to meet servants who know how to keep a stiff upper lip. So many of them blab one’s private affairs these days. I confess I tried to pry out of her why she was on Kilgore’s doorstep so early in the morning, but she offered me a bold lie without batting an eye. Of course, the woman does not know that I know she was lying, and I let it pass because I am a gentleman. If I’d not been coming home from the club, I’d have never seen her. Quite coincidental.” Pierce sat back while taking a drink.
A tic started at Asher’s right temple. “How early isearly?”
“It was eight in the morning.”
Damn. He pushed back against the instinct to let jealousy rule him. He’d done that once before, and it had cost him Guinevere. “And what exactly did Ballenger say that makes ye think she was lying?”
Pierce looked suddenly reluctant. “Now, Carrington,” Pierce said, his tone stern. “Just because the lady’s maid lied does not mean your wife was involved in anything illicit.”
Asher’s mind had not fully gone to the possibility until that moment. He flinched with the thought. “What did Ballenger say?” he repeated, his temper stirring.
Pierce pressed his lips together, but finally answered after a pause. “She claimed she was there to deliver a message from Fairfax to Kilgore that the children’s orphanage meeting had been canceled.”
Asher frowned. “Though it is hard to believe that Kilgore has the capacity to think of anyone other than himself, I don’t see why ye believe Ballenger offered ye a lie. Perhaps Fairfax’s usual messenger was busy. Perhaps she volunteered.”
“Each of your points is noted and valid,” Pierce replied, finishing his drink and setting the glass on the desk. “But I, too, sit on the orphanage board, and Fairfax let me know a day earlier by way of his footman that the meeting was canceled because Kilgore had told Fairfax that same morning that he had to go out of Town on personal business.”
Sodding Kilgore. Why did everything come back to him? And damn it all that itdidseem as if Ballenger had lied. Whether she was lying to cover up something for Guinevere or not was the question. He didn’t want to doubt his new wife, but trying to keep all the doubt out was like trying to hold back a tide—impossible.
He stood, not wanting to battle with himself in front of Pierce. “I appreciate ye telling me, but I trust Guinevere.” It wasn’t entirely true, but he wanted it to be. And he felt guilty that it was not.
“You bloody well should trust her,” Pierce said, scrambling clumsily to his feet and swaying a bit as he stood. “I wasn’t implying that your wife was engaged in anything untoward with Kilgore. I’m sorry you jumped to that conclusion. I suppose upon thinking about it, I can see how you might doubt your wife given the way she and Kilgore have seemed to flirt, and the skit at the house party, not to mention his wager in regard to her.”
Asher clenched his teeth in irritation. He knew Pierce was trying to help, but he was not doing so.
