Page 68 of The Devil of Clan Sinclair
He kept his smile anchored with difficulty.
“You’ll never find a man more devoted than I, your ladyship.”
He bowed slightly, not above such gestures in her presence. He would have knelt at her feet if it would have done any good. No, time was what he needed, and time was on his side.
Smiling, he descended the steps, patient for the day when she realized who he was.
Virginia watched as Paul descended the stairs, taking the first deep breath since seeing him.
Wasn’t there any way to prevent him from approaching her?
If they’d still employed a majordomo, she would have gone to him with her complaints about Paul. But Albert had left their household two weeks ago, citing illness in the family.
Someone needed to take Paul in hand. He laughed with too much abandon with Ellice. The girl’s excuse was that she was sixteen. He complimented Eudora outlandishly and the elder girl smiled, accepting the words as her due.
How dare he question Elliot’s health? Nor did she care for his examination of her son, almost like he was matching physical features and coloring with his memories of Lawrence.
What did he know? What he might suspect was an entirely different thing, however.
Perhaps she should think of retiring to one of the other properties Lawrence had purchased with her father’s money. Surely the girls and Enid would be willing to quit London for a while.
Lawrence had spent a goodly sum on a house in Cornwall. From what she’d heard of the region, the winds were fast and chilled. Although too close to the sea, at least they wouldn’t be subjected to the odor of London’s sewers.
She would go and try to talk Enid into Cornwall, and while she was with her mother-in-law, she would bring up the subject of dismissing Paul Henderson.
A few minutes later she put Elliot in his crib, bid the nursemaid to watch over him, and went in search of Enid.
She found her in the library.
“I’ll come back,” she said when she realized Enid was going over menu plans with Cook.
“Nonsense,” Enid said, motioning to the other woman. “We’re done.”
Cook stood, bobbed a little curtsy to both of them, and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Cook always smelled of bread and the scent was a pleasant one.
“The price of beef is so dear today, we have to conserve where we can.”
Virginia nodded, but her attention was on what she was about to say or perhaps how to say it. She eased into the chair in front of the desk.
“We need to dismiss Paul Henderson,” she said, a little more bluntly than she intended.
Enid settled back, her eyes on the papers in front of her. “Do we?”
“Yes,” she said firmly. “We do. He does not act appropriately with either Ellice or Eudora. Nor does he seem to do anything except watch people.”
She smoothed her hand over the curved edge of the mahogany desk. How long had it been in the Traylor family? Was it, too, another possession that must pass from heir to heir?
“I know he reminds you of Lawrence,” she said.
“Don’t be foolish.”
Startled, she glanced at Enid. Her mother-in-law stared back at her, eyes steady. Her lips were clamped together, plumping her face in an unattractive way, until she bore a striking resemblance to an angry bulldog.
“He knows about your trip to Scotland,” Enid said. “He’s intimated Elliot is not Lawrence’s child. I’ve kept him on because if I don’t, he’ll go to Jeremy.”
Virginia clenched her hands together. “Oh.”
“Indeed.”
