Free Secrets to Seducing a Scot by Michelle Marcos Page B

It’s no’ been used in some time. But stationing myself in that corridor will give me a strategic advantage. This way, should an intruder make his way into Miss Marsh’s room, no one will suspect her protector to burst in from the very wall.”
    Earlington pondered this carefully. “Make whatever arrangements you must to ensure my daughter’s safety.”
    Serena shook her head. “But Father, you don’t understand—”
    “No, Serena. You don’t understand. Mr. Slayter is your protector. I’ve hired him to keep you from harm. With the exceptions of the bath and the bedchamber, Slayter has been tasked by me to stand beside you at all times. Make full use of your abigail, but Slayter must also be present wherever you go. He is not a guest and
he is not a servant. You don’t need to entertain him, you don’t need to govern him. You don’t even need to talk to him. But you do have to put up with him. All right?”
    “But Father—”
    “Do it for me. Now I really must dash. I’ll take Askey’s carriage. You can take ours. Go into town. Go shopping with Zoe. And just pretend that Mr. Slayter isn’t there.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek.
    Earlington felt empowered. His daughter was in good hands. Now he would make sure the Scottish people were in good hands, too.

TWELVE
    As a chaperone, Quinny was about as useful as a bucket with a hole in the bottom. But Serena had no intention of spending the day alone with the indomitable Malcolm Slayter, so she went to kidnap Zoe. Zoe refused because she was scheduled to have a lesson with her French language master, a man on whom she had a hopeless crush. Only after Serena promised to accompany Zoe to the Saint Swithin’s Day Festival the next day did Zoe agree.
    The young girl was intrigued by the lover’s corridor in Serena’s room, so the two of them went back to her room to see it.
    “Ooh!” exclaimed Zoe. “This is amazing! How on earth did you find it?”
    Serena rolled her eyes, and pointed to Malcolm. “He found it.”
    Zoe blinked her widened eyes at him. “I’ve lived here nearly my whole life and never knew about this hidden room. How did you know it was here?”
    Serena interrupted. “Perhaps he has intimate knowledge of such concealments. Ask him how many ladies’ bedchambers he’s infiltrated through such places.”
    Malcolm snickered. “Yer friend is as curious as a cat in a room full of mouse holes. But she’ll no’ get the gossip she seeks from me. Tell her that my affairs are none of hers.”

    Zoe seemed oblivious to their tense exchange. “Can I see where it leads?”
    “It’s rather dirty in there, miss. The servants are on the way up to muck it out.”
    “I don’t mind,” she said, seizing a candle.
    “I do, miss,” he said, gently taking the candle from her hand. “Besides, the passage is fair bursting with rubbish.”
    Serena whirled around. “You’ll have to get used to being treated that way, Zoe. That is, unless you complain to your father about him. Maybe then he’ll be discharged for good.”
    Zoe sat upon Serena’s bed. “Could you see if there’s a passageway like that into my bedroom?”
    “I will. Tomorrow.”
    Two footmen came to the bedroom. Malcolm held a candle aloft and showed them into the dark corridor. Serena sat at her escritoire and watched as the two footmen began to cart away the crates and broken chairs that cluttered the secret passageway.
    Zoe sat next to her, whispering something about how she would swoon with delight if her handsome French master came into her bedroom through such an opening. Serena only heard half of what Zoe was saying. Because at that moment, Malcolm Slayter took off his coat.
    Never mind that no self-respecting gentleman would ever remove his coat in front of a lady he wasn’t related to. Never mind that his shirtsleeves weren’t voluminous, and they didn’t even go all the way down to his wrists. The sleeves of his fitted shirt, made of coarse linen, ended at his