The Housemaid’s Scandalous Secret. Helen Dickson

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ much to think about. But I agree, Araminta, you really do need a maid of your own.’

      ‘Then might I suggest someone?’ Ross said, feeling a strange lift to his heart. ‘I met a young woman yesterday. She’s been in India and is employed as maid to a lady and her daughter who reside in Chelsea. Her position is to be terminated in three weeks and she is looking for another post.’

      ‘Why?’ Araminta asked suspiciously. ‘What has she done?’

      ‘Nothing. Her employers are moving to Brighton and she will no longer be required.’

      Ross’s suggestion cheered Araminta somewhat. She studied the almost fond smile upon her brother’s face as he spoke of the girl and noted the gleam in his eyes. He seldom smiled, she knew, unless the smile was seductive or cynical, and when he was in the presence of his uncle, the Duke of Rothermere, he rarely laughed. It was almost as though he believed sentimentality silly and anything that was silly was abhorrent and made a man vulnerable. She was intrigued. Was it possible that he’d developed a special fondness for this maid?

      ‘What is this extraordinary female’s name and what does she look like?’ Araminta asked, anxious to discover more about the girl who’d had such an unusual effect on her brother.

      ‘Her name is Lisette Napier. She is quite tall, slender and dark haired. Her speech is as cultured as yours and mine. Her manners are impeccable and she is presentable.’

      ‘And how old is she?’

      ‘I believe she is twenty.’

      ‘I see. Isn’t that a little young to be a lady’s maid?’

      ‘And will she make a suitable maid?’ Aunt Grace asked.

      ‘I really have no idea about such things, but I’m sure Mrs Arbuthnot would not employ her if she wasn’t any good at her job.’

      ‘Well, heaven forbid if she’s prettier than Araminta. It would never do for a maid to be more becoming than her mistress.’

      ‘Oh, that doesn’t matter,’ Araminta remarked happily, having already decided to take Miss Napier on—for her brother’s sake as well as her own need and curiosity. ‘I should very much like for you to hire her, Ross.’

      ‘I expect you could do worse than give her a chance—perhaps for a trial period of a month. See how she gets on.’

      ‘Yes—yes, I will. Decent servants are neither easy to find, cheap to train, nor simple to keep. I would like to meet her first.’

      Ross nodded and began to attack the roast lamb with renewed relish. ‘I’ll do my best. I have no doubt that Mr Arbuthnot’s address can be located through East India House.’

      The Arbuthnot family had been at home in Chelsea for a few days when Lottie dressed early and told Lisette to prepare for a trip to the Royal Exchange to do some shopping. There were some items she wished to purchase before she left for Brighton. Glad of the opportunity to escape the stilted confines of the house, where she found the work hard for both Mrs Arbuthnot and Lottie demanded their pound of flesh, and eager to see more of London, Lisette put on her coat and bonnet and prepared to enjoy herself for a couple of hours or so.

      When the carriage turned in to Cornhill, both girls were in good spirits. They stared with excitement at the immense stone front of the facade of the Exchange with its high arcades and column and the clock tower reaching skyward.

      Alighting from the carriage they went through the archway where the arcade square of the Exchange opened up before them. It was filled with merchants and traders and hawkers of wares, mingling with people of all occupations and positions and gentlemen in military uniforms. It was a fashionable place to shop and used as a rendezvous, much frequented by beaux waiting to meet a lady bent on flirtation.

      ‘Oh, what a wonderful place,’ Lisette murmured, breathing in the different smells that reached her, from roasting chestnuts to hot pies and horse dung. She was captivated by the sight and would have stopped, but Lottie was moving on through the yard. She hurried after her.

      Taking hold of Lisette’s arm, Lottie was unable to conceal her excitement, blushing delightedly when a handsome young soldier touched his hat and winked at her. ‘I think I would like to have a look round the little stalls in the yard first but the shops upstairs are always the best.’

      And so they passed a pleasant half-hour browsing among the stalls with Lottie dipping into her silk purse for coins to buy fripperies and handing them to Lisette to place in her basket. They mounted the staircase and strolled along the upper gallery. It was thronged with shoppers and Lisette found it difficult to keep Lottie within her sight at times. When she disappeared inside a shop to purchase some gloves, telling Lisette that she would probably be a while since she wished to browse, Lisette slipped in after her. She was distracted when some beautiful lace collars caught her eye. Pausing to take a look, she could only wish she had the money to buy one. It would certainly enhance the grey dress she wore day in and day out.

      She had not been inside the shop very long when she had an odd feeling that she was being watched. The short hairs on the nape of her neck rose on end and her spine tingled. As she began to turn slowly to see if her suspicions were correct, she was half expecting to see Lottie behind her for she was sure now that she was only being fanciful.

      Her eyes flicked round the shop and turning round she passed the stranger with hardly more than a glance, not even pausing for the sake of politeness as the man swept his hat from his dark head. Instead she lifted her skirts to descend a step.

      Ross leaned back against the fixtures and smiled his appreciation as his eyes caressed her trim back. Suddenly Lisette stopped, and sensing his eyes on her she whirled to gape at him, her amber eyes wide in disbelief on finding herself face to face with Colonel Montague—tall, lean and strikingly handsome, recklessly so, with magnificent dark brows that curved neatly, a straight nose and a firm but almost sensuous mouth. The lean line of his jaw showed strength and flexed with the movement of the muscles there.

      ‘Colonel Montague?’ the question burst from her.

      ‘The same, Miss Napier.’ Now having her full attention, he held his hat before his chest in a bow of exaggerated politeness, before taking her arm and drawing her aside.

      He had appeared too suddenly for Lisette to prepare herself, so the heady surge of pleasure she experienced on seeing him again was clearly evident, stamped like an unbidden confession on her lovely face. For a long, joyous interval they held each other with their eyes, savouring the moment, enjoying afresh the powerful force that sprang between them. Then he smiled.

      ‘Miss Napier! How odd to find you here.’ Desire was already tightening his loins—and that with just the sight of her. He didn’t understand why she had such a volatile effect on him, but he understood that he wanted her—he wanted her warm and willing in his arms, in his bed.

       Chapter Two

      Lisette stared at Colonel Montague, her heart doing a somersault. ‘It is?’ His smile sent a flood of warmth through her body to settle in a hot flush upon her cheeks and other, less exposed places.

      ‘Most certainly.’

      Without relinquishing his hold on her arm, his touch igniting fires inside her, fires that flared to a startling intensity when he led her to a СКАЧАТЬ