Page 4 of One Night of Surrender
Barkley looked from Val to Isabelle and back to Val again.“I see you’ve met our governess.”
“Yes—”
Anything Val might have said next was drowned out by her response.“Yes, we’ve just met.I’m afraid I got turned around looking for the stairs.His Grace was kind enough to direct me.If you’ll just excuse me.”
Val looked toward her, narrowing his eyes slightly.They’d just met?
Her gaze met his, and in the depths of her eyes, he saw a silent plea.Apparently, she didn’t want him to say they knew each other.What did she think he would do, reveal theextentto which they knew each other?
“Before you rush off, Mrs.…”
“Cortland,” she supplied.
Not knowing her name certainly supported her insistence that they’d just met.To him, she’d been Isabelle Highmore, the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
“Before you rush off, Mrs.Cortland, I do hope you’ll join us for dinner.”
Isabelle looked toward Barkley, who inclined his head, then returned her attention to Val.“What time shall I have the girls ready?”
The girls?Barkley’s daughters.Val hadn’t invitedthem.But to exclude them now, in front of their father no less, would be rude.The fact was that he didn’t even want Barkley at the bloody dinner.He wanted Isabelle alone so he could learn every single thing she’d done in the past decade.
“Seven,” Val said.
Isabelle dipped a curtsey and turned.Val tried very hard not to stare at her swaying backside as she walked to the other end of the gallery.With great reluctance, he turned to Barkley.“How long has Mrs.Cortland been in your employ?”
Barkley cocked his head to the side and stuck his lower lip out while he pondered the question.“Going on five years now, I think.Yes, has to be five.When Caroline had her fifth birthday, we hired Mrs.Cortland to tutor the girls.When she wrote and said who her father had been, I knew she was perfect for the job.Truth be told, she’s more clever than I imagined a woman could be.”
Val stared at the man, momentarily bereft of speech at his implication.Rather than call out Barkley’s rudeness—and idiocy—Val ignored the asinine comment.Unlike Barkley, Val wasn’t the least surprised by Isabelle’s intellect.She’d always had her nose in a book.It was one of the things he’d liked best about her.In fact, the times they’d sat together on a bench outside simply reading side by side were some of his favorite memories.“It sounds as though you are quite fortunate to have Mrs.Cortland.”
“Indeed we are,” Barkley said with a nod.“Are we still having that glass of brandy before dinner?”
Val wanted to interrogate Barkley about Isabelle—did she still love Voltaire, and did she still snort if she laughed too hard?Instead, he pasted on a smile and clapped the baron on his shoulder.“Yes, let’s.”
They went downstairs, and all Val could think of was the woman upstairs and how in the hell he was going to get her alone.
CHAPTER 2
He couldn’t mean for her to sit next to him.
Isabelle stared at the chair to the right of the head of the table, where Val—she couldn’t help but think of him by what she’d called him ten years ago no matter how hard she tried—would undoubtedly sit.
“Sorry to be running late,” Val said as he strode into the dining room, causing them all to turn.“I had an urgent matter.”Smiling, he went to his chair and looked around at them—Lord Barkley to his left, Beatrice to her father’s left, Caroline across from Beatrice, and Isabelle next to her.As well as next to Val.
“Shall we sit?”their host suggested, and Isabelle had her answer.Yes, he absolutely meant for her to sit beside him.
Logically, it made sense for the two adults to sit closest to the head of the table.That didn’t stop Isabelle from wondering if he had a motive.Was that because she wanted him to have one?
Mentally chiding herself, she took her seat and resisted the urge to drink her entire glass of wine to calm her nerves.Instead, she didn’t even take a sip, reasoning that she needed to keep every wit about her.
“I hope you’re all settled in,” Val said.“And that you’ll let Sadler know if there is anything you require.”
“It’s just splendid, Your Grace,” Lord Barkley said jovially as the first course was served.“Capital of you to open your bachelor home to our family.”He chuckled good-naturedly.
Isabelle waited for her employer to ask about the need for a schoolroom.She’d brought it up when they’d arrived in the dining room.When he said nothing, she contemplated how she might broach the subject.However, before she could do so, Caroline beat them all to it.
The youngest person at the table addressed their host without blinking.“Actually, Your Grace, we do need something.”
Her father shot her a look of pure horror.“Caroline, you will not speak unless His Grace addresses you.”
