Page 16 of The Marquess' Disguised Heiress
“Never.” He shook his head, “I have the earl’s permission to pluck fruits and flowers if I wish.”
Eliza laughed, his compassion contagious.
“I must thank you again for this. You are very kind, George.”
“Thank you.”
“Here, eat something.” Lara suddenly emerged again, a board of cold meat, cheese, and bread in her hand, placing it in front of George.
“You must not try to ruin me with such hospitality, ma’am.” He laughed, addressing Lara.
“I absolutely must.”
They sat down around the board, eating and talking, and Eliza could not help thinking about his smile again, which was exactly like Alexander’s. The man before her was much too familiar, almost too familiar to be real, and everything about him screamed as if Eliza had already met him.
But she knew he could not be Alexander. Alexander would never be a stable hand.
Then who was he? And why did he tug at Eliza’s heart like only someone from her happy past could?
She needed to find out. But how?
Chapter 4
Alexander slipped the mask over his face, knowing fully well that the mask covered him in a way where no one would be able to recognize him at the masquerade.
As he stood at the gates of what was now the Russel Estate, he knew there would be no better time than right now to go about his investigation. He simply needed to find Lara, and a part of him was certain she was going to be in the kitchen.
The only problem was, dressed as a noble lord, he would not be able to slip into the kitchen unnoticed, but he would have to take the risk.
“Let’s do it,” he whispered to himself, ignoring the front entrance to the house, which everyone used to enter the ball, and moving towards the back.
He already knew where the back gate was located in the gardens since the servant girl, Beth, had led him to the kitchen through it.
A part of him hoped to find her in the kitchen as well, his heart already wishing to see her again. Even though theyhad just met yesterday, he enjoyed her company immensely and wanted to do nothing but get to know her better. Although yesterday, he had almost been scared of Lara’s sudden interest in him.
For a second, he felt as if Lara knew or recognized him.
However, now, he would have to go ahead and tell her himself. Only disclosing his identity to her would make her reveal the truth about Eliza once she realized that George was actually Alexander and had come with good intentions. He moved towards the back door, thankful that the place almost appeared empty through the windows in the garden.
All the servants must have been occupied somewhere throughout the house.
Where are you, Lara?
He hastened forward, raking his gaze over the almost empty kitchen, when he suddenly saw a familiar face. Lara stood just by the large sink, her eyes on the plates she was washing, and Alexander felt as if he had done the right thing. Although,he would still need to pull Lara outside, away from all the other servants.
He had no other choice but to call her attention towards him. Alexander stood there, concealed in the shadows, waiting for a few servants to be at some distance before he finally called her out through the open window.
“Lara,” he whispered loudly in the night air, but Lara’s gaze did not once turn towards him.
He tapped lightly on the windowsill, which finally got her attention, and she turned towards Alexander at last. Her eyes widened as she saw him, the furrowed expression turning to worry. He could see she was confused about the whole thing.
“Come here,” he whispered, making a come-hither motion with his hand, which Lara must have understood.
She wiped her hands on a cloth by the sink, looking around to see if anyone was focused on her but thankfully, each servant in the house was too occupied to consider what the old maid was doing.
Alexander moved away from the window, not wanting anyone else to see him, and quietly made his way into the shadows of the gardens. He turned around at last, finding Lara standing right behind him, her face still turned up into a scowl.
“Who are you?” Her question was bold and unhesitating, and Alexander could see she was not afraid of him.
