Page 46 of The Heiress in Disguise
Antoine nodded. “She does seem that sort.”
“She is. Very much so.”
Angelique was quiet for a moment. Antoine glanced at her. “Is anything troubling you—Ella?” He had almost slipped and forgotten to refer to her by that name. It pained him to do it.
“I’m all right,” she said. “But I do think I had better get back to the house. I came down here foraging for berries for myself, you see—they don’t know I’m gone. And I think there will be trouble if they find out.”
“They wouldn’t want you to have berries?”
“Oh, they don’t want me to do anything that only benefits me and not them.”
“I see.” Antoine frowned. “Can I walk you back to the house?”
“I don’t think we ought to do that,” Angelique said. “They won’t like knowing that I’ve made a friend. They might try to forbid me from seeing any more of you, and—I’ve come to enjoy the times we spend together. I wouldn’t want to lose them.”
“Neither would I,” Antoine agreed. “Well—perhaps I’ll be able to see you again before too long. Lord Cambridge means to invite Lord Leicester and his family to dinner before you leave the city. And perhaps I can come over in the meantime and play cards with the servants. I do enjoy a game.”
“I’ll speak to the stable hand,” Angelique said with a smile. “He’s a friend of mine, and he organizes the card games. If he knows you would like to play, I’m sure he would be happy to include you in the next one.”
“Thank you,” Antoine said. “In that case, I hope it won’t be long before we meet again.”
Chapter 20
“I saw you outside, Ella,” Gwyneth taunted. “You were speaking with the earl’s servant.”
Angelique saw no reason to lie about it. “He came up and greeted me, so I said good day to him,” she agreed.
“I suppose you probably think he has some particular interest in you now,” Gwyneth said scathingly. “Rub my feet, Ella, they’re sore from so much dancing last night.”
Angelique held up the bundle of logs she carried. “I was about to make the fire you asked me for—have you forgotten?”
“Don’t speak to me that way,” Gwyneth said. “I’m telling you now that I want you to rub my feet. Do as I say. Marcus can make the fire.”
Angelique glanced over at Marcus. He was half asleep on the settee. He’d woken up enough to drag himself to the breakfast table, but it was clear that the events of the night before were still taking their toll on him physically.
Angelique fully expected him to take himself back to bed if he woke up enough to do so, but she also anticipated that he might not. It would be very like her cousin to spend the rest of the dayasleep on the settee with no regard for what anyone else might think of him.
She set down her bundle of logs and knelt to rub Gwyneth’s feet.
“It’s so chilly in here,” Gwyneth complained, and Angelique almost laughed aloud.It wouldn’t be chilly if you’d allowed me to finish making your fire, she wanted to point out, but there was almost never anything to be gained by contradicting Gwyneth.
“I saw the earl’s servant too,” Grace said. She was sitting up nearest the fireplace and had a shawl wrapped around her, and Angelique supposed that she was also chilly. For Grace’s sake more than the others, she wished she could go and finish the fire, but of course she couldn’t.
“No one cares what you saw,” Gwyneth informed her sister.
Grace ignored that, which rather impressed Angelique. It seemed to her that Grace was growing bolder lately, standing up for herself and refusing to be dominated by her siblings. It was refreshing to see.
“He’s an attractive man, isn’t he?” Grace went on. “I don’t blame you for spending time talking to him, Angelique. I think I would do the same if he approached me.”
“You’d better not let Mother hear you calling Ella by that name,” Gwyneth said.
“It’s her name,” Grace said. “It doesn’t stop being her name just because Mother doesn’t want to use it. Besides, she isn’t here. She won’t hear me.”
“Maybe I’ll tell her what you said,” Gwyneth threatened. “She won’t be very happy with you then, will she? She’d probably forbid you from socializing with anyone for the rest of the time we’re in London.”
“She wouldn’t do that,” Grace said. “You may think you’re the only one who matters, Gwyneth, but Mother wants me to have a successful trip as much as she wants it for you.”
“Only because she doesn’t wish to still be responsible for you in ten years, when you’re an old maid and nobody wants you,” Gwyneth said dismissively.
