Page 34 of Entrancing the Earl
At least he knew she was here and safe, he grumbled as he trudged back to the castle. That should be enough.
It wasn’t. Memories of a heated kiss, tears of despair, and courageous vows—and fear—rubbed at his formerly distant soul.
Max Ives met him as he reached the courtyard. A giant of a man, Max swatted Gerard on the back in an attempt to make him stumble. Familiar with his cousin’s tactics, Gerard side-stepped and punched a massive bicep.
“Good to see you, too,” he said dryly. “How is family life treating you?”
“Better than my vagabond days,” Max crowed, gesturing at the yard full of workmen. “Who knew I could stay home and still engineer?”
“Wealth has some privileges,” Gerard said, following his host inside. “Has your bride located the missing heiresses yet?”
“And do you think Lydia would tell me if she had? Until the runaways are ready to make themselves known, we can only hope they’re safe.” Max led the way to a dark room of heavy furniture that he’d claimed for entertaining his male guests.
Currently assured that Iona was safe, Gerard examined his surroundings. “I like what you’ve done with the place. The building blocks on the billiard table are particularly unique.”
He strolled over to the table of artifacts Max had dug out of the sewers and dungeons beneath the tower. Poking around in pot shards, coins, and utensils he couldn’t identify, Gerard didn’t find one that called to him as the medallion had.
Max grinned and circled his handiwork on the table. “It’s a model of the keep. I want to shore it up so it won’t lean again. Lydia can’t picture what I mean to do unless I show her.”
And since Max could barely read, he liked working with his hands. Gerard didn’t feel quite so uncomfortable with his own peculiarities when he was with someone who understood. That didn’t mean he had any intention of mentioning voices in his head.
One of these days he might explode with all the secrets he hid. “When you run out of projects here, you can probably hire yourself out to repair all our crumbling edifices. You’ll never need to leave for foreign shores again. Will you miss the travel?”
Max poured a finger of Scotch and handed it over. “Ask me again after the babe arrives. So what mysterious errand brings you up here? Do you think we hide heiresses in our cavernous and empty rooms?”
Gerard disliked lying, but until he had Iona’s permission to tell her tale, he had to fudge the truth. “I sacked my estate agent. The women want me to hire a female steward like yours. I’d like your opinion of how she handles the workers, and I’d like to talk with her.”
“Nope, you can’t have Bell. Lydia swears by her.” Max circled his building blocks, poking at them here and there.
“I already have someone in mind, so no, I’m not stealing her. I just need some idea of how she manages the laborers. Did I meet her when I was up here for the wedding?” Now that he thought about it, he had some recollection of a small, dark female being introduced as the new steward. He hadn’t thought anything of it at the time. Calder Castle wasn’t a working estate. It had a few tenant farmers, and the steward mostly handled rents and maintenance. An accountant could do it.
“Most likely. Bell came to us just before the wedding.” Max stopped sipping and narrowed his eyes. “The ladies at the school sent her. You think she’s one of the heiresses? I’m not letting you have her for the reward.”
“The so-called earl can’t afford a reward. They’re being hunted. Keep your steward safe, and she’s all yours—or Lydia’s. I would simply like to speak with her.” Gerard knew his family was quick. He hadn’t had to reveal a thing.
Max raised his eyebrows, pulled a bell rope, and sent a servant in search of his new steward.
A short while later, a drab female in vaguely fashionable dark skirt and white bodice appeared in the doorway. “You have a question, sir?”
Gerard’s pulse escalated, and he bit back a grin of satisfaction.
“Bell, Lord Ives would like to ask you how a female steward handles obstinate laborers.”
At this idiocy, Gerard threw his host an incredulous look. “You don’t even know your own steward? That’s not Bell, that’s her sister.”
Fourteen
Iona bitback a laugh at the earl’s reaction and curtsied. “Most people can’t tell us apart, my lord. I daresay only our mother knew. What gave me away?”
“Your imperious air,” Lord Ives said grumpily, leaning against the mantel and swinging his whisky glass. “I’ve only met your sister once. She’s either a very good actress or she’s a much mousier version of you.”
Iona was almost giddy with relief that he had actually come looking for her. She’d never had anyone other than Bell and her mother who she might hope to depend on. Despite the earl’s unhappy demeanor, she could smell his relief. “I told you Bell is the quiet one. That doesn’t mean she’s mousy, by any means.”
She turned to Bell’s employer, who leaned against the billiard table and didn’t seem particularly happy to discover a cuckoo in his nest. “I apologize, sir. I have not tried to play Bell since we were children. I merely wanted to protect her from strangers.”
Mollified, Mr. Ives nodded. “Lydia knows you’re here?”
“She doesn’t, actually. There didn’t seem to be any reason to disturb the Librarian.”
