Free Less Than a Gentleman by Kerrelyn Sparks Page B

silly, boy.” Dottie sat down to resume her eating. “Why would that sweet girl do something like that?”
    “ Sweet? ” Matthias gulped down some ale to wash away the taste of the vixen’s cooking. “She’s a liar. With sharp teeth.”
    “I like her,” Betsy said quietly as she sat across from him. “She doesn’t act as if she’s better than us.”
    “Yep.” Dottie buttered her cornbread. “She’s a sweet girl, all right.”
    “She’s deceiving my mother,” Matthias growled.
    “She’s made your mother very happy,” Dottie argued.
    “She’s made us all happy,” Betsy added. “She cleaned the nursery today, so I wouldn’t have to. And she helped your mother in the garden.”
    “More proof that she’s lying,” Matthias grumbled. “The real Agatha Ludlow would never engage in physical labor.”
    Dottie snorted. “So now you find fault with her for working hard?”
    Actually, he was impressed, but since he didn’t want to admit it, he ate his stew in silence.
    “She helped us cook dinner,” Dottie continued, “even though I told her she didn’t need to.”
    Betsy nodded. “And she helped me carry all the dishes to the Great House. She doesn’t want her family to be a burden on us.”
    So the little vixen had a guilty conscience and was trying to atone for her crime with hard labor. Did that mean she regretted her lie? Matthias shoved that thought away. He couldn’t allow himself to feel sympathy for her.
    But if she had behaved like the real Agatha, she wouldn’t have helped the servants. She would have made them miserable with her selfish demands. What if Caroline Munro was actually a kindhearted person?
    He finished his stew and eyed the cornbread. It would be a shame for it to go to waste, especially when there was so much hunger in the world.
    “Eat.” Dottie shoved the saucer closer to him.
    He took another bite. Damn, it really was good. And if she was making his mother happy . . .
    He shook his head. He wouldn’t excuse her deceit. Even if she was beautiful. And hardworking. And kind and helpful to the servants. He’d still wring a confession from her tonight. Before he was done with her, she’d know the full power of his wrath.
    He smiled as a vision flitted through his mind. She would fall to her knees, begging forgiveness, and he, being a gentleman, would be merciful and allow her to remain at the house. In gratitude, she would sink into his arms, and he would hold her close to comfort her. With a gentle sigh of surrender, her pretty mouth would open, and he would . . .
    He winced, quickly reining in his errant thoughts. Apparently, he was less than a gentleman.
    Dottie gathered up the dirty dishes. “If you spend the night here, I can make more bread in the morning for your boys in the swamp.”
    He nodded. “Thank you. I’ll do that.”
    Dottie smiled, then motioned toward the bathing room. “You should wash up before seeing your mother. There are some clean clothes in the cupboard.”
    Ten minutes later, he stood in the garden, studying the balcony to his bedchamber. The window was slightly ajar. Most probably, Miss Munro was sleeping in his bed again.
    As hard as she had worked all day, she might be sound asleep. Was it necessary to confront her tonight? He could unmask her in the morning just as well. And he should do it with his mother present. That way he wouldn’t be tempted to hold her. Or comfort her.
    Aye, the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that being alone with Caroline Munro was dangerous. He shoved his damp hair back from his brow and entered the house through the back door. Betsy usually locked up before retiring to her small room on the third floor, but she was washing dishes now in the kitchen. The arrival of Miss Munro and her family had increased the workload for Betsy and Dottie, but they didn’t seem to mind. They liked her. Even though they knew she was lying.
    He strolled up the stairs to his mother’s bedchamber, then