The nobleman closed his eyes, a picture of long-suffering.
“The dowager duchess is hosting a rout tomorrow evening, and she has need of more staff. See to it that Mrs. Harper provides her with everything she requires.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Avery stood still as the duke yawned.
“You may take yourself off, Russell, and begin preparations for our journey. I’ll ring if I have need of you.”
The duke smiled at him, almost a gentle, fatherly expression, and waved in dismissal. Avery left the room with a mixture of relief and foreboding. The next tourney was set. He must fight once more.
The dressing room carpet was turned up at the corners, and Leah was nowhere to be seen. Filling his chest with air, he tipped his head back and stared at the beamed ceiling. He should not be disappointed at her absence. He should not think of her at all. But he was, GeekGirlsDontDateDukes.indd 83
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and he did, and he could not resist searching the nearby corridor for her.
The doorknob squeaked softly as he twisted it.
“Miss Ramsey?” His whisper echoed down the long hall.
There was no answer.
You shame yourself, his mind seemed to chastise him.
Mind your duties. The chit is about her tasks, as well she should be.
With his rationality restored, Avery turned and marched down the main stairs toward the butler’s pantry.
Mrs. Harper and Smythe must be informed of His Grace’s journey and of the dowager’s rout. The Duke of Granville’s ancient mother did not entertain often, but when she chose to do so, it was a highlight of the ton.
Most people lived in fear of the dowager, and rightly so.
But they also desperately sought her good opinion. If she was entertaining, there would be such a crush that the servants of two households would be a necessity, not a luxury.
The timing, however, was less than ideal. If Miss Ramsey were to commit an error in service at the dowager’s home, more than her own position would be at stake.
Avery’s blood chilled as he rounded the corridor and knocked on the door to the butler’s pantry. The dowager had been known to have unsatisfactory servants tossed into prison for the merest offense. There was not much time for Miss Ramsey to learn to serve properly.
“Enter,” Smythe called.
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he thought her mad or merely a dreamer, she could not
last in Newgate.
She’d not go on his watch.
i
The bucket of ashes was freaking heavy. Leah thunked it down on the top step, breathing heavily as she eyed the long back stairway to the servant’s hall downstairs.
Take the bucket to the kitchens to dump it out. Grab a broom and go back upstairs. Sweep the dressing room, then dust it, then put the carpet back. Set the fire, however the hell you do that.
The list of chores swirled in her head, weighing her down, and she gripped the banister to stop herself from tipping forward.
The last thing she needed was a tumble downstairs.
How did anyone remember this ridiculous list of stuff to do? No wonder all these servants were so pissy. Their brains were overworked as well as their bodies.
Leaning sideways to ease the crink in her back, Leah let her eyes flutter closed. If only she’d had a couple hours more sleep, then maybe she’d be sharp enough to handle the enormity of this job.
A heavy metallic clang ripped her eyes open, and she watched dumbfounded as the formerly full bucket bounced down the stairs, scattering ash and dust in all directions.
Whirling, she caught a glimpse of a too-large mobcap and dark skirts disappearing into a nearby bedroom.
That little snot.
With Henrietta’s name poised in an angry roar on her lips, Leah charged toward the door after her.
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“Ramsey! Whatever have you done, you clumsy girl?” Mrs. Harper’s voice stopped Leah short. Wincing, she turned and rubbed suddenly sweaty palms down her skirt. The housekeeper glared up at her from the bottom of the stairs.
“Mrs. Harper, I’m so sorry about that. I’d set it down for a second, and someone ran by and tipped it over,”
Leah explained lamely. “I didn’t— ”
“Blaming your faults on others will not be tolerated in this household. Sweep up these stairs at once.” With a disdainful sniff, Mrs. Harper disappeared into the kitchens.
Longingly eyeing the door Henrietta had disappeared into, Leah trudged down the ashy stairs. Her morning had started out so promising, with that delicious ducal smile.
How had it plummeted into drudgery so damn fast?