Biting her lip, she bent and rolled up the rug in front of the hearth. What could Avery have meant by that?
Was it to be expected from a man who was unused to having a woman speak her mind? Or was it something more? She blew an exasperated breath as she straightened.
She wasn’t exactly the most graceful and soft-spoken of women, but did that make a difference in this time?
Mrs. Knightsbridge hadn’t given her much to go on.
As she dragged the rolled up rug toward the door, she recounted the lady’s words.
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of Granville’s Town home.” She’d smiled, patting Leah on the cheek. “Be careful, my dear, and do not settle for less than the man of your heart.”
Leaving the rug propped against the jamb like an overgrown and drunken Cuban cigar, Leah dusted off her hands with a decisive snap. It didn’t matter what Avery thought. She liked herself just fine, and her destined true love would adore her just the way she was.
She grabbed the fireplace brush and began raking the ashes out of the fireplace. What matters is that I meet the duke and let him decide. Mrs. Knightsbridge is right. I can’t settle for less than the man of my heart. And it has to be the duke, right? That’s how all the stories go.
The pointed clearing of a throat brought Leah’s head around. Holy crap, it was the duke himself. Almost like her thoughts had conjured him from thin air.
“Good morning. Where is Russell?” the duke said in a calm tone. “I have need of him.”
Leah gripped the fireplace brush tightly, jamming it hard into the hearth to make up for the Jell-O in her knees. He was there, and he was in his nightclothes. His grayish hair was tousled, his wrinkled skin pale, his long fingers tapping against his leg lazily. This was a decisive man used to moving, to getting what he wanted. He was like a perfect statue, he really was. Like George Clooney or Sean Connery. She could work with that, right?
“He’s just stepped out, Your Grace, to get something.
He’ll be back in a minute.” She smiled, hoping her nervousness didn’t show. She was talking to the duke, finally! “Can I get anything for you?”
“No, thank you. Inform me when he arrives,” the duke said.
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Her heart fell when he turned around and headed
back toward the bedroom. Her hands shaking on the brush handle, she resumed sweeping out the ashes, trying like hell to keep her disappointment in check.
“Oh, there is one thing.”
Her heart stuttered. “Yes, Your Grace?”
“What is your name?”
He smiled down at her, and his entire being changed then. The haughty pride that had surrounded him before melted into a pleasantly warm friendliness that Leah was dying to wrap herself in. His too-thin face widened, his brows lifted, and she could picture how he’d look if he was about twenty years younger and his eyes shined with love for her. She nearly sighed aloud in relief. This was the man she was here for.
“It’s Ramsey, Your Grace. And my first name is— ”
“Thank you, Ramsey.” With a polite nod, the duke disappeared into his bedchamber, taking that beautiful smile with him.
The handle cut into her palms as she stared at the closed door.
Oxygen.
That was important somehow, wasn’t it?
What was it for again?
She dropped the brush and flew toward the stairs.
Avery. She had to find Avery. The duke wanted Avery, and he knew her name, at least half of it, and he wanted his valet so where the hell was Avery?
And if she got to rub the duke’s interest in the snarky valet’s face, then that was just a bonus.
“Where are you off to, then?”
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back of her neck like a slap from a long-dead tuna fish.
Stopping on the landing, Leah turned and faced the younger maid.
“I’m doing my job. What are you doing?”
The younger girl shoved her mobcap back, narrowing her eyes as she stared. “You were to be attending to His Grace’s dressing rooms, I was told.”
“Exactly.” Leah walked back upstairs, stopping by the doorway that Henrietta stood in. Her proximity forced the younger maid to look upward into Leah’s face.
Stiffening her spine and raising her brows, Leah said, “And you’re supposed to be working in the breakfast room. So why are you up here?”
Henrietta’s mouth opened, but only a half-formed squeak escaped it.
“So how about this? You do your job, and I’ll do mine.”
Turning on her heel, Leah hurried downstairs after Avery. If that little devil Henrietta wasn’t careful, she’d get on Leah’s bad side. And considering how many times Leah had gotten the best of Jamie at that age, it was a pretty safe bet that Henrietta would regret it.