Free Tempting Fate by Alissa Johnson Page B

suited better, he thought with a private laugh.
    Certainly, he’d never seen her smile at him for such an extended length of time. She had a rather nice smile, he decided, as he pulled off his cravat and tossed it over a chair. It made her nose wrinkle just a little, and the humor in her expression reached all the way up to her chocolate eyes.
    He stopped in the act of unbuttoning his shirt. She didn’t have chocolate eyes, did she? Surely not. The imp’s eyes were brown. Just your everyday sort of brown. Where hadhe gotten the idea they were something else? And what the devil had he been thinking, looking the chit over as if she were a bit of muslin?
    Damn blue satin, he mentally groused. That’s what he’d been thinking.
    “Been working too hard,” he decided and resumed undressing.
    “If I may be so bold, my lord—yes you have.”
    Whit tossed a smile over his shoulder at his valet. Even half asleep the man looked a fashion plate in his dressing gown and quickly, but effectively, arranged hair. “Go back to bed, Stidham.”
    “Of course, my lord. Let me help you with that—”
    “If I needed help undressing, you may be sure I would have had the foresight to find a pretty young thing to see to the job.”
    It felt odd enough, having another man pick out his clothes as if he were a child or an incompetent fool. Under no circumstances, outside of complete physical incapacitation, was he going to let said man undress him as well. In truth, he’d just as soon take care of the whole business on his own, but a gentleman of his station was expected to retain the services of a valet. Besides, he was quite fond of Stidham.
    “I’m sure there are a host of pretty young things in the house who would be all too eager to oblige you,” Stidham said with a straight face. “Shall I fetch one for you?”
    “Generous of you, but I’ll pass for to night.”
    “Very good. If you have no need of me then, I’ll wish you a good night.”
    “Good ni…Stidham?”
    “My lord?”
    “You’ve been here with me at Haldon for some years now.”
    “I have.”
    “What…” He hesitated, wondered if there might be a way to form the question without making a complete ass ofhimself. And came to the conclusion that there really wasn’t. “What color are the imp’s eyes?”
    “Miss Browning?” If Stidham was surprised, or amused, by the inquiry, he was too dignified to show it. “I believe they’re a very dark brown, my lord.”
    “Very dark brown,” he repeated. “Would that be another way of saying chocolate?”
    “I suppose it would.”
    In the small hours of the morning, while the rest of the house slept, a man and a woman stood in the darkest corner of the library and spoke in hurried whispers.
    “Is this it, then?” the man asked, reaching for the small box wrapped in brown paper that the woman held.
    “It is.” She drew her hand back, out of his reach. “I’ll have your word this won’t come back to haunt my family.”
    “I’d like to give it,” he said gently. “I’d like nothing more, but it’ll be for Whit to decide what’s done.”
    She nodded once and pressed the package into his hand.
    “You’ve great faith in the boy,” he murmured.
    “When one has trust and respect, faith becomes irrelevant.”
    “Then it is to be hoped our trust is not misplaced.”

Seven
    M irabelle hadn’t enough personal experience with over-imbibing to fully appreciate her good fortune in waking the next morning feeling whole and hale, but she could appreciate fine health on a warm spring day in a general sort of way. She was a trifle muzzy perhaps, but that was easily countered with a cup of hot chocolate and some fresh air.
    She avoided the guests in the breakfast room, preferring to take her cup from the kitchen to a small bench in the garden. There wasn’t anyone presently up and about she cared to speak with, at any rate. Kate, Evie, and Sophie were all still in bed. The first two by choice, and the last, no