Page 50 of Beneath the Beastly Duke's Mask
Mrs. Cooper entered the room with the young maid he had kept his eye on since she arrived at the estate. He couldn't recall her name, but that didn't matter to him. Names were a fuss anyway.
“Jane, put the tea tray before His Grace,” Mrs. Cooper said, instructing the younger maid.
“Yes, Mrs. Cooper,” the maid called Jane replied.
Her name suited her, but Basil would likely forget it as soon as he left the house. Unless a maid did something remarkable, her name was an unnecessary piece of information.
“Lord Kersey will not be having any,” said Henry. “Just milk for me today, Jane. No sugar.”
“Why? Have you had too much of it already?” Basil asked, grinning.
Henry looked at him, lost, not understanding what he was saying. "I just prefer tea without sugar sometimes," he said.
Basil had meant that perhaps Henry was spending much of his time with someone he was sweet on, but it had flown over his cousin's head. Such comments always seemed to elude his cousin, as though his mind simply didn't have the capacity to understand anything with a suggestive undertone.
“I prefer everything sweet,” said Basil. “Beverages, food, women...”
Henry said nothing. He wasn't one to get into conversations about women, no matter how much Basil tried to goad him.
“Have you done anything interesting lately?” Basil asked.
“I was in Thetford today,” Henry revealed.
Basil's eyes almost bulged out of his head. “You went to the market town?” he said. “Why?”
Henry never left the estate.Never. Keeping himself isolated was what ensured he remained the Beastly Duke. It created a fear around him, the belief of a monster who kept himself chained to his estate because he was too hideous to look upon. That belief worked in Basil's favor. If Henry started to parade himself about and show people his nature beyond his scars, they might grow tolikehim.
Not everyone was terribly shallow so as to hold his appearance against him. Once they understood that he was truly a good man and not a horrible beast with a dark heart, removing him from his position as duke would be doubly hard. Basil could not have that.
“...several books to update the library,” he heard his cousin say. Basil shook himself out of his thoughts, paying attention to what his cousin had to say. “It has been so long since the library received new books. I'm quite pleased with the selection. Arabella was a great help.
Arabella. Of course, it was her. She was the one bringing about changes she had no business with. Basil had had enough of that.
“I've been thinking about your maid,” Basil began.
“Which one?”
“Arabella.”
“Why?”
“I don't trust her,” Basil revealed. “I took it upon myself to look into her background. I wanted to understand why a woman like her would want to work here. For you.”
Henry raised an eyebrow. “What is that supposed to mean? Ah,” he said, understanding dawning in his light green eyes. “You meant why would she want to work for the Beastly Duke.”
“Precisely,” said Basil, glad he understood. “But it's more than that. She's rather well off—she needn't have taken up work as a maid or anything else. It doesn't make any sense. She must be after something. I know you do not wish to consider it, but she could be a woman looking to become the next duchess.”
Henry sighed, rubbing his brow. “I thought I told you the last time to stop flinging accusations,” he said. “Did I not say that I do not pursue my maids as you do? I warned you off my land the last time you were here because you said several inappropriate things. Are we going to have a repeat of that today?”
Basil's jaw clenched. He was still smarting from his cousin chasing him off the land the last time.
"I have done nothing inappropriate with any of your maids," he said, trying to keep the bitterness and anger out of his voice. "I am merely here because I am worried about you. Arabella's presence in this house makes no sense. I thought an intelligent man like yourself would understand that."
Henry put his cup down and leaned back in his chair. He had rolled up his sleeves as he habitually did, revealing the scars on his arms. Basil believed they went all the way to his legs, likely his feet as well. No woman could stomach that many scars, not unless they were attracted to them. Basil had heard of women who grew excited by the number of scars on a man's body, especially if they were acquired through much violence.
Fire was generally considered violent or unfortunate, but Arabella didn't strike him as a woman who would feel an attraction to scars.
"Thank you for your concern," said Henry, interrupting his thoughts, "but Arabella is no threat to me. She bears no ill intentions, and I would be much obliged if you stopped badmouthing her."
