She tilted her head. “And you would rather dance attendance on Julia.”
They were almost the exact words he had used with Amherst. If I must woo for favors, I would rather court a woman. But coming from her, they made him sound like a sulky schoolboy.
He glared at her, annoyed. “I have responsibilities,” he said curtly. “People who depend on me.”
“We must both be grateful, then,” she said in a polite tone, “that I am not one of them. Good-bye, Mr. Hartfell.”
She slipped out of his coat. Her wet pelisse molded to her small br**sts.
“Keep it,” he rasped. “You are half soaked and shivering. I’ll send a maid up to your room to get it.”
“The servants will all be busy in the nursery.”
“I will send a maid,” he repeated stubbornly, fixing his gaze on her face. “You need one, anyway, to help you out of those wet things and into a bath.”
A short, charged pause while he thought she might argue with him. He was torn between amusement and exasperation. Damn the wench, must she question everything?
And then she smiled, a wide, genuine smile that curled warmly around his heart and dazzled his eyes. “Then . . . Thank you. For everything.”
Turning, she ran up the steps, the sodden hem of his coat dragging behind her.
He watched her slender figure retreat up the dim passageway and out of sight, feeling as if all the light and warmth of the day went with her.
Chapter Five
Only fools and children wasted time wishing for what they could not have.
Aimée regarded her bright eyes in the spotted tin mirror and sighed. It was entirely possible she was a fool.
Because despite all her practical words to Lucien Hartfell, when she was with him she could not help wishing that she were Lady Aimée again, with wealthy and indulgent parents and a dowry sufficient to secure the attentions of a tall, blond, and angelically handsome fortune hunter.
She pulled off his coat and dropped it on her bed with a little shiver of loss and longing.
It would not do.
She fumbled with the fastenings of her wet pelisse. She did not think she had misinterpreted the gleam in Lucien’s eyes or the kiss on her knuckles. Quite possibly he desired her. Most certainly he felt sorry for her.
But he was not for her. Not only was he her cousin’s suitor, but he had openly admitted he intended to marry for money.
All of which made him more dangerous to her peace of mind than Howard Basing could ever be.
Standing in her damp chemise, she pulled her second-best gown from the wardrobe. The door to her room opened. She had forgotten to prop the chair under the knob.
Aimée whirled, her heart in her throat.
But it was only Finch carrying towels and a pitcher.
“Sorry, Miss Amy,” the lady’s maid said. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Aimée swallowed her rapidly beating heart. “You surprised me, that is all.”
Stupid, stupid to let her guard down with Howard in the house. Had he rejoined the other guests? Or was he upstairs, changing?
Finch set the towels on the bed. She was a personable young woman, with coal black hair and a round, usually cheerful face. “I couldn’t manage a hot bath, like Mr. Hartfell asked for you. But I brought up some warm water.”
“That was kind of him. And you.” No one lugged hot water up four flights of stairs to the servants’ quarters. Aimée had grown accustomed to breaking through a film of ice in her pitcher every morning.
“It’s no problem, miss.” Finch poured water into the basin, holding the pitcher at an awkward angle, as if its weight was too much for her.
“They don’t require you downstairs?”
Finch shook her head. “Miss Julia and them’s all still in the drawing room. Taking tea.”
“Are the children all right? Harriet?”
“Seem to be. I hear Mrs. Netherby visited the nursery, which is more than she’s done since they got here.”
So poor little Harriet had gotten her wish.
“And Mr. Basing?”
Water splashed. The heavy ironstone cracked against the floorboards. Aimée jumped backward as the pitcher rolled under the bed.
“Oh, miss, I’m sorry.” The maid looked close to tears.
“It’s all right, Finch.” Aimée stooped to retrieve the pitcher. “See, it’s not really broken. Just a chip.”
Finch reached out a shaky hand to take the pitcher.
Aimée sucked in her breath. “Why, you have hurt your wrist.”
A mottled bruise circled the maid’s arm like a bracelet.
Finch colored and tugged on her sleeve. “It’s nothing, miss.”
Aimée drew in a slow breath, taking in the maid’s red eyes and nervous manner. Something wasn’t right. “You can tell me.” she said gently.
“I can’t tell anyone. He said.”
“Who said?”
“I’ll lose my place,” Finch burst out.
Ah. Comprehension slithered down Aimée’s spine. She met the maid’s gaze in perfect, horrified understanding.
I might find it harder to escape the attentions of an employer. She had said it herself, to Lucien, less than an hour ago.
“Howard?”
Finch looked away.
Outrage kindled under Aimée’s breastbone. Determination squared her shoulders. “We have to tell Sir Walter.”
Finch trembled. “Please, I can’t risk her ladyship finding out. I’ve only got another couple of months to save up, and then where will I go? Nobody’s going to hire a lady’s maid with a full belly and no character.”
Aimée’s gaze dropped instinctively to Finch’s waistline. Did she mean . . . ? “You are with child? His child?”
“He says it isn’t his.”
Of course he did. Connard.
“And you?” Aimée asked. “What do you say?”
The maid’s mouth twisted. “It doesn’t matter, does it? Who’s going to believe me?”
“I do.”
Finch looked at her sadly. “Begging your pardon, miss, but your word doesn’t carry much more weight around here than mine. You can’t help me.”
Aimée flushed at this bitter reminder of her own powerlessness.
But this wasn’t about her. If the Basings cast out Finch, the maid would be pregnant, vagrant, and destitute. How long before she ended in prison or a pauper’s grave?