and replied. "'Is grace would take your word — "
If only the duke was the only one he needed to convince, he'd have had to agree with her. "But would the countess take his?"
She gave in with a little frown and a shake of her head. "You've got that right." A little sigh escaped her. "Very well, I'll 'elp you sneak in tonight, but I 'm staying, too. I can be a . . . a chaperone."
Valentine readily nodded his assent to that condition. He could not afford to let his emotions get the better of him while he was alone with Emily. Nan would make sure that he kept to his good intentions. "Will you have a chance to warn her? I don't want to startle her."
"I'll warn 'er. If she says she doesn't want your company, then I can't help you." She uncrossed her arms. "An' it'll be past midnight before it's safe for me to come and get you."
They hurried down the stairs, aware that their simple errand had taken them longer than was reasonable. Soames was an exacting man, and already Valentine had seen evidence that the butler kept a close eye on every household matter within his purview. As he slipped into his hard cot, unnoticed by his fellow footman snoring away on another cot, he felt like a mouse trapped in a house full of lazy cats. It would only take one to notice him, and then — he did not want to think further than that.
* * * * *
"Lord Granbury is exasperating, to say the least." Emily tossed the feather that had been scratching her scalp for the last three hours onto her dressing table. What she really wanted to do was pound on the door until they let her out so that she could find Valentine and scold him for choosing such a dangerous disguise. Her heart still beat like a hammer when she thought of what could have happened if she had not gotten control of her first reaction to seeing him. She could have blurted out his name, she had been so shocked.
"The marquess does have enough presence for two or three lords, my lady," Nancy agreed dryly.
"Hah! Enough presence for ten men. After all, he told me himself that he was no ordinary man." How had she managed to survive the rest of the dinner? To pretend she had not paid Valentine any more notice than she might have the usual footman? It had been sheer torture not to look at him, or drag him aside to question him about how he had ended up in a footman's uniform in the countess's dining room.
Nancy stepped around to pick up the feather, wrap it carefully in tissue paper, and put it in its box. She said soothingly, "It's time for bed now, my lady. You needn't see Lord Granbury again tonight. Don't get yourself all worked up. 'Er ladyship will not like it."
"Her ladyship likes very little I do these days. I must have played a dozen songs partway before she found one pleasing enough to let me finish it through. My fingers are aching." Emily was horrified to find tears in her eyes. Surreptitiously, she bent her head and dashed them away. Crying in front of Nancy would be the final humiliation of her day. And, despite wracking her brain, she could not think of a single way to ask about the newest footman without betraying unusual interest. Locked in her room as she would be, she could not even sneak below stairs to speak to him. It was maddening not to know what he was planning. Nancy fumbled at her hair, not at all the smooth lady's maid that Emily had come to take for granted. She looked into the mirror and gasped as she saw that the girl was pale and trembling. "Nancy, are you ill?"
"No, Lady Emily. I . . ." the girl's eyes were huge and dark in her face. "I . . . need to ask you if you mind a visitor tonight."
Emily could not suppress her gasp of outrage.
Nan hurried the next words, "I'll be with you, my lady I will protect your reputation."
Anger coursed through Emily and she stood and half turned to face the girl. "Do you mean to tell me that Lord Granbury has seen fit to bribe you to admit him to my room tonight?"
"No, my lady." Nancy's tone lowered in shock and her
If only the duke was the only one he needed to convince, he'd have had to agree with her. "But would the countess take his?"
She gave in with a little frown and a shake of her head. "You've got that right." A little sigh escaped her. "Very well, I'll 'elp you sneak in tonight, but I 'm staying, too. I can be a . . . a chaperone."
Valentine readily nodded his assent to that condition. He could not afford to let his emotions get the better of him while he was alone with Emily. Nan would make sure that he kept to his good intentions. "Will you have a chance to warn her? I don't want to startle her."
"I'll warn 'er. If she says she doesn't want your company, then I can't help you." She uncrossed her arms. "An' it'll be past midnight before it's safe for me to come and get you."
They hurried down the stairs, aware that their simple errand had taken them longer than was reasonable. Soames was an exacting man, and already Valentine had seen evidence that the butler kept a close eye on every household matter within his purview. As he slipped into his hard cot, unnoticed by his fellow footman snoring away on another cot, he felt like a mouse trapped in a house full of lazy cats. It would only take one to notice him, and then — he did not want to think further than that.
* * * * *
"Lord Granbury is exasperating, to say the least." Emily tossed the feather that had been scratching her scalp for the last three hours onto her dressing table. What she really wanted to do was pound on the door until they let her out so that she could find Valentine and scold him for choosing such a dangerous disguise. Her heart still beat like a hammer when she thought of what could have happened if she had not gotten control of her first reaction to seeing him. She could have blurted out his name, she had been so shocked.
"The marquess does have enough presence for two or three lords, my lady," Nancy agreed dryly.
"Hah! Enough presence for ten men. After all, he told me himself that he was no ordinary man." How had she managed to survive the rest of the dinner? To pretend she had not paid Valentine any more notice than she might have the usual footman? It had been sheer torture not to look at him, or drag him aside to question him about how he had ended up in a footman's uniform in the countess's dining room.
Nancy stepped around to pick up the feather, wrap it carefully in tissue paper, and put it in its box. She said soothingly, "It's time for bed now, my lady. You needn't see Lord Granbury again tonight. Don't get yourself all worked up. 'Er ladyship will not like it."
"Her ladyship likes very little I do these days. I must have played a dozen songs partway before she found one pleasing enough to let me finish it through. My fingers are aching." Emily was horrified to find tears in her eyes. Surreptitiously, she bent her head and dashed them away. Crying in front of Nancy would be the final humiliation of her day. And, despite wracking her brain, she could not think of a single way to ask about the newest footman without betraying unusual interest. Locked in her room as she would be, she could not even sneak below stairs to speak to him. It was maddening not to know what he was planning. Nancy fumbled at her hair, not at all the smooth lady's maid that Emily had come to take for granted. She looked into the mirror and gasped as she saw that the girl was pale and trembling. "Nancy, are you ill?"
"No, Lady Emily. I . . ." the girl's eyes were huge and dark in her face. "I . . . need to ask you if you mind a visitor tonight."
Emily could not suppress her gasp of outrage.
Nan hurried the next words, "I'll be with you, my lady I will protect your reputation."
Anger coursed through Emily and she stood and half turned to face the girl. "Do you mean to tell me that Lord Granbury has seen fit to bribe you to admit him to my room tonight?"
"No, my lady." Nancy's tone lowered in shock and her