Free Eros Element by Cecilia Dominic Page B

this, but I can’t bear to go on a journey. I’ve been seeing the Scotts’ footman and was hoping you’d accept Lord Jeremy’s suit so we could be together, but since you’re determined to go on your adventure rather than being sensible and marrying him, I had to take matters into my own hands. With Lord Jeremy’s help, we’ve run off to Scotland to be married. I will see you when you return and would be happy to resume my position as your lady’s maid.
    Best, Sophie
    Accept her back after she’s run off like that? Hardly. Cheeky wench! Iris’s cheeks burned, and she crumpled the vellum. What was she going to do now? She couldn’t go on the journey without her maid.
    â€œMiss, begging your pardon for bothering you at such a time because I know how much Miss Sophie meant to you, and I’ll miss her too,” Cook said. “But I need to buy eggs today since our chickens aren’t laying, and I need money for the market.”
    â€œOf course,” Iris said. “The hens seem to know when something is amiss. I’ll get some money for you and leave enough for the household while I’m gone.”
    â€œYes, Miss. Are you still going on your journey?” Cook shot her a concerned glance, but unlike Sophie had never voiced her opinion of Iris’s actions.
    â€œI need a moment to think.”
    Iris went into the office, where she fetched the key for her father’s strongbox, and she opened it and counted the money remaining. Even if they were down to a household of two—and Iris would need another maid if she were to maintain the appearance of her social class—she needed to bring in an income. She closed her eyes and thought about her options—stay and accept Lord Jeremy’s offer of marriage or go on the journey by herself. The thought of his shocked look when she turned him down and the way the scone crumbs clung to his puffy lips made her stomach turn, but thinking about how he would desecrate her father’s study and ruin his work made up her mind.
    I cannot marry him. There’s no other option. I’ll go on the journey unchaperoned. If I return with my reputation ruined, it will be with enough income that Cook and I can go somewhere and start over. And if I don’t return…
    She refused to consider the possibility.
    A line from Sophie’s letter came to mind— with Lord Scott’s help. What if she had revealed the plan for the journey to her lover’s employer?
    The grind of wheels on the stones outside made Iris grab enough money for two months of household expenses for Cook, some for herself for the journey—in case of emergencies, she admonished herself, since Parnaby Cobb had promised he would pay their expenses—and slam the lid of the box. She locked it, hid it and the key and ran into the kitchen. Three loud booms echoed through the house, but from the office Iris couldn’t tell whether it was the front or side door.
    â€œCook, go to the door and see who it is,” she called. “If it is Lord Scott, please tell him I am not at home. If it is a porter for my trunk, send him in.”
    â€œYes, Miss.”
    Iris dashed upstairs and finished her toilette. She attempted to pin her hair up and hoped her buttons in the back weren’t askew, but there was little she could do about either. Her fingers trembled too much.
    Cook appeared in the doorway followed by a tall young man whose eyes took in everything about the bedroom including Iris herself. The look he gave her made her stand straighter and lift her chin to show she wouldn’t be intimidated. Instead of bowing or looking away, his lips peeled back into the sort of smile one expected to see on the patron of a naughty peep show.
    â€œThese your things, Miss?” he asked, his tone respectful unlike his expression.
    â€œY-yes,” Iris said. The whole situation seemed ill put-together, so she asked, “And who