I nodded, having expected that was all he would say.
But he surprised me by adding, “He . . . doesn’t like his orders to be disobeyed.” There was a cynical twist to his lips. “Still thinks he’s on the quarterdeck of a ship, in that regard. And, let’s just say, visiting an old friend does not rank high on his list of priorities for me at this moment in time.”
I offered him a grim smile of commiseration, wondering just what exactly those priorities were. Did Lord Gage have a case he wanted his son’s assistance with in London? Or was there some other pressing matter that demanded his son’s attention? There was no way of knowing, of course, unless Gage decided to share, which I did not anticipate happening. However, his willingness to confide what he had buoyed my hope that he was beginning to trust me.
“Well,” he murmured, that gleam returning to his eyes as he slid closer to me.
My heart sped faster as I realized what was coming.
“I’ll wish you a good night then.”
“Yes. Good night,” I replied breathlessly.
He reached forward with a single finger and tipped my chin upward, sealing my lips with the kiss I had been anticipating. I felt him smile against my mouth as he pulled away, a satisfied smirk that was both appealing and infuriating. That smile never left his lips. Even when he turned away to retreat down the stairs, I could still feel the power of it.
Pressing a hand to my still-tingling lips, I backed into the shadows of the corridor, lest he catch me staring after him like some lovesick fool.
I knew I shouldn’t be allowing Gage’s kisses to distract me—that I probably shouldn’t be allowing them at all—but I couldn’t help but feel happy. I had never been pursued like this, not when it wasn’t some lecher trying to win a bet with his friends as part of yet another mean-spirited wager made at my expense in the betting books at one of London’s gentlemen’s clubs. It was exciting and flattering, and a whole host of other emotions I wasn’t certain I’d ever felt, at least, not quite in this way.
I knew I should be demanding explanations. And I would. But for the moment, it was simply nice to feel that for once a man was interested in me, and not how my talents could benefit him, or how bedding me would enhance his reputation for daring to seduce an unnatural woman like me.
I understood that whatever this relationship was between Gage and me, it could only go so far. It would be imprudent to think otherwise. But for the moment, I didn’t want to contemplate the future. I just wanted to be.
I returned to my bedchamber, surprised to find Lucy once again waiting for me. I studied her closely, hoping she was in a more cooperative mood. And she was, insomuch as she didn’t handle me roughly as she unlaced my clothing or gore me with my hairpins as she removed them. But she also didn’t speak.
Now, Lucy was not as garrulous as some maids, but she always had something to say, and more often than not, more than one something. Not tonight. Her lips were sealed into a tight line and her brow gently puckered in an expression that some might mistake for concentration, but I knew better. I repressed a sigh.
“Are you still angry with me?” I asked her as she pulled the last pin from my hair.
I could see her pause in the reflection of the mirror before setting the pin in the enamel box where they were stored.
“Don’t lie,” I told her.
She looked up to meet my gaze, still not saying anything.
This time I could not hold back a sigh of exasperation. I was as irritated with myself as I was with her. Most of the ladies of my acquaintance couldn’t care two figs for the happiness of their servants. They were there to do a job, and that was that. I should have been the same way, but I could not quite manage to ignore their feelings, particularly when they unsettled my own.
“Do we need to discuss it?” I asked as she ran a brush through my hair.
She shook her head.
Fine. If she didn’t want to talk about it, I wasn’t about to argue. Instead, I would try a different tack. “Were you able to learn anything about Donovan?”
She hesitated again, halting the hairbrush in midstroke, before continuing on as if nothing had happened. “Just that he worked at an infirmary in Edinburgh before comin’ here.”
“Yes, and at one in Glasgow. I discovered that, too.”
She glanced up at my reflection and then set the brush aside to braid my hair. The concentration she was exerting to do a task she’d done perhaps five hundred times before was excessive, and it made me suspicious.
“There’s nothing more?”
She lifted her chin. “Nay, m’lady.”
I couldn’t be sure, but I was almost certain she was lying. It wouldn’t do to push the matter. I knew just how stubborn Lucy could be. However, my sense of responsibility for her drove me to caution her again.