Page 55 of A Duke's Unwanted Bride
“Mrs. Green. She is the Duchess, and it is her right to go where she wishes. I will not have you disrespect her; do I make myself clear?”
“She is cooking Your Grace! She has chased my girls out and refused to let me do it!” Mrs. Green wrung her hands. “It is not proper. A lady like her should not be doing such things. And there is all manner of harm that could befall her in the kitchen. The knives and the hot water…”
Of course, she is — I should have known better than to expect her not to cause trouble.“I will see to this.” Warner strode from the room and down the stairs, the two servants following along behind him.
The smell of burning greeted him as he walked down the hallway towards kitchen followed by the sound of cursing and something breaking.
“Wait here,” Warner instructed his housekeeper and the cook.
“Of course, Your Grace,” they chorused.
What the devil has the woman got herself into this time?Warner strode into the kitchen and looked around, spotting purple liquid on the floor and shattered China.
“Are you trying to burn the place down?” Warner fanned away some of the smoke as he turned to face Adele. “You have the cook and half the house in an uproar.”
Her eyes were brimming with tears, and she clutched her hand to her chest. “I was trying to do something nice. Mrs. Green told me that blackberry pie was your favourite, and she made it sound so simple, and I thought I could do it — after all, I have cooked a little before. And surely a pie could not be that hard? Now I have ruined everything, and no doubt the staff will all hate me, and I just wanted to make you something that would make you smile. And dash it all, I cannot even do that right.”
That would make you smile.The words settled into his chest, filling him with an unfamiliar warmth.
“Hush.” He moved towards her and gently brushed a tear from her face. “You have ruined nothing.”
“How can you say that? I have broken a dish, and the pie is basically charcoal. I would not even feed it to a dog!” Adele gestured to the mess on the floor and then winced, hastily drawing her hand back to her chest.
“Both are replaceable. I am far more concerned about you.” His eyes traced her face then the rest of her, searching for any other signs of injury. “Let me see your hand.”
“It is nothing. You need not worry about it. I will clean up this mess, and you can get back to whatever else you were doing. I should not waste any more of your time.” She made to move past him, but he shook his head, gently taking hold of her arms.
He felt her stiffen slightly at his touch and then relax. She looked up at him with her red-rimmed eyes, her hand still clutched to her chest.
“Adele, clearly you are hurt. I am not going to let you injure yourself further cleaning.” He gave her a frank look.
“But I cannot expect the servants to clean up a mess that I made.” She shook her head.
“If you insist on trying to clean, I will pick you up like a sack of potatoes and carry you to my study.” Warner was still holding her arms, his grip gentle — he did not want her to feel trapped, but nor did he want her to move out of his grasp.
“You wouldn’t dare.” Her eyes narrowed, but they did not contain her usual fire.
He met her warm gaze with his own, resisting the urge to stroke away the hair that had fallen across her face. “When it comes to your safety, there is little I would not do.”
“But I was being an idiot. An utterly arrogant fool!” She shook her head and stepped away from him, not quite breaking out of his grasp but with enough pressure that he released her.
“No, you were trying to do something kind. Mistakes happen. That is part of life.” He gentled his voice and held out a hand to hers, making it a question. “Please, let me see your hand.”
Adele hesitated a moment and then held her hand out to him. He took it gently in his own, frowning at the burn starting to spread along it. “This is not too bad, but we need to get something on it. Stay there a moment.”
He spotted an aloe vera plant and a knife and cut off one of the spikes, squeezing the liquid onto Adele’s hand. “It will not smell very pleasant, but it will help with the healing and the pain.”
“And I take it this is another leftover from your wilder days?” She arched an eyebrow at him, her eyes still watery.
“It is.” Warner gently dabbed at her hand, letting the aloe vera sink into the burned skin.
“It is hard to imagine you wild. Especially when you seem so intent on following rules,” she murmured, and Warner was impressed that she managed not to yelp in pain as he tended to her wound.
“That is why I follow the rules. They keep me from slipping.” Warner moved away, searching the drawers until he found a clean cloth bandage and wrapped it around Adele’s burn.
“Would it be so bad to slip?” she asked, her voice breathless as Warner’s hand brushed against her skin.
“If you knew what I was like then, you would not ask that.” He chuckled at the spots of colour on her cheeks, even as the memory of whiskey and regret threatened to steal over him. “I was… Well, I doubt you would even recognise me.”
