Page 24 of The Masked Baron
“Thank you,” Andalin began, attempting to start on a gracious note. “First, I would like to apologize for breaching your privacy. I have acted abominably on numerous occasions during my stay here. I will do my best to improve my behavior, I assure you.”
Ellis shifted in his seat like the topic made him uncomfortable. Andalin didn’t wait for him to accept her apology; instead she charged on. “In the desk in my room I stumbled upon something I think might be of value to you.”
“Snooping again, were we?” Thankfully, his tone was more teasing than angry.
Andalin lifted up the blue book as her answer. At first Ellis looked confused, but she saw recognition slowly cross into his eyes.
“May I?” Ellis asked reverently.
“Of course.” She handed him the book. A lump formed in her throat as she watched Ellis gently stroke the cover. He slowly opened it and took a deep breath of the scent left on the pages. Andalin hadn’t noticed any distinct smell when she had read it, but it was clear Ellis had only to draw on his memory to recreate a bit of the life he had once known.
Guilt plagued her soul. She had been eager to throw question after question Ellis’s way and demand the story behind the Cadogen secrets. Seeing Ellis with the diary felt like an intrusion.
Ellis began reading as if Andalin weren’t even there. She was encroaching on his privacy once more, and it was time for her to leave. She quietly stood and walked past him toward the door. He grabbed her hand to stop her.
“Thank you,” Ellis whispered. He brought her hand to his mouth, paused to meet her gaze, and then pressed his lips against her skin.
The whole world seemed to stop moving. He slowly released her hand, but his eyes did not leave hers. Her skin burned where he had kissed it, and her arms erupted in gooseflesh. She took one last glance at the diary and left him alone.
Hannah was sitting at Andalin’s desk, knitting a scarf, when Andalin opened her bedroom door. “Please, make yourself at home,” she joked, still not used to someone waiting on her.
Hannah grunted, stood, and tossed her sewing into her large apron pocket. “I didn’t want to waste me time while I waited for ye to be ready for bed.”
Andalin’s laugh came out louder than she intended, her emotions still piqued from Ellis’s touch. “Are all servants like you?”
Hannah put her hands on her hips and scowled. “What do ye mean?”
“It’s not an insult,” Andalin said, grateful for a distraction from her thoughts of Ellis. “We’ve only ever employed a boy or two to help with my father’s shop, and while our neighbors helped a great deal, servants still feel like a foreign concept. I’ll never adjust to needing someone to help dress me.”
“I’m too old for this,” Hannah muttered.
Suppressing a giggle, Andalin said, “It appears as if neither of us is happy with the situation. Next time I see Lord Cadogen, I will speak to him about employing a young lady’s maid. If he refuses, I will demand to wear plain clothes without as many buttons.”
Hannah started unhooking the long line of buttons down the back of Andalin’s gown and undoing her stays. “I don’t think his lordship will agree, but he’s a sight more likely to listen to ye than he is to me.”
“I highly doubt that,” Andalin said. “However, I can be very assertive if I want to be.”
Hannah chortled. “You’re cheeky.”
Andalin climbed out of her dress and sighed. “I would normally be affronted by such a comment, but since I am trying to act more ladylike, I will let it pass.”
“Nay,” Hannah countered, “yer spirited side is what endears me to ye. Can’t endure life at Braitwood Hall without it.”
Andalin turned to face Hannah, a little taken back. Did this normally gruff woman actually like her? A feeling of kinship flooded her heart. She thought about all the residents at Braitwood Hall. They were hardworking, but she would never have thought about Mr. Lewis or Mrs. Lewis as spirited. Each of them had an inner strength despite the loneliness and seclusion Braitwood Hall seemed to breed. They all seemed to belong, but did she?
***
Andalin found herself alone the next morning at breakfast. For many weeks she would have preferred to dine alone rather than eat with Ellis. But today she was eager to hear his thoughts about the journal and about Eliana. The journal had altered Ellis from just a distant, troubled man into someone real, with strengths and weaknesses. It was another character witness she’d been searching for.
She was on her way out for her riding lesson when she heard a noise come from Ellis’s study. The room was so seldom employed; she wondered if she’d imagined it. As she came closer, she noticed the door slightly ajar. Her curiosity took over. She peered through the crack before she could think to do otherwise. The sight surprised and angered her. She swung the door open wide.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Brennan?” She demanded in her most authoritative voice.
Mr. Brennan, the very man who had come snooping in the gardens weeks before, had returned. This time he was not a casual passerby, but he had invaded the house. Andalin instantly lost all respect for him.
Mr. Brennan dropped the papers he was holding onto the desk in surprise. “Miss, please understand. I was searching for signs of treasure a highwayman might collect before I rescued you. Though, I don’t require any more incriminating evidence once I have you.”
Andalin folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrow. “Pardon me, but do you hear me calling for help? Would a damsel in distress be on her way out for a riding lesson where she could easily steal a horse and ride in any direction she wanted?” Even as Andalin said it she realized all along she had been perfectly capable of escaping on horseback and yet never had. The reality stunned her, and for a second her thoughts strayed from Mr. Brennan and to what caused her to stay.
