Free Desire Me Now by Tiffany Clare Page A

the kindness from the
     staff.
    “My son runs errands, so you’ll meet him over dinner. Devlin is presently out delivering
     letters for Mr. Riley.”
    While the maids wore gray dresses, Mrs. Coleman’s was a rich, dark blue. The other
     two maids, whom she hadn’t met—twins, easily set apart, as one had a scar that slashed
     through her right eyebrow and arched around her cheek—stood from the table and in
     tandem said, “Jenny” and “Josie.” They were red-haired, robust women who stood a few
     inches taller than Amelia, with hands worn and craggy from a life of hard work. Jenny,
     the one without the scar, had kinder brown eyes than her sister, as though life hadn’t
     been as cruel to her. Both spoke with a soft Scottish lilt.
    Amelia dipped her head. “A pleasure.”
    “Liam, miss,” a tall lanky boy of no more than twenty years said, extending his hand.
     Amelia didn’t hesitate to accept his hand, even though it was not at all proper for
     a lady to do. Height alone told her this was the footman. His blond hair was parted
     to one side and pomaded tidily in place. An apron covered his uniform, as he was in
     the midst of polishing the silver.
    A rotund, balding man came forward and clasped his hands on either of her arms, as
     if giving her a good measure up. “You can call me Joshua.” He looked her up and down,
     the motion made eerie as one eye—made of glass—stayed in place as he did so. “Just
     a wee thing you are. Give me a month to fix you up to a better state.”
    She wanted to argue that she was perfectly healthy but bit the inside of her cheek.
     It was important that she make a good impression. They did all have to live under
     the same roof, and Amelia had every intention of befriending each and every one of
     them.
    She smiled. New beginnings, she kept thinking. The staff here were nothing like those at Sir Ian’s. New beginnings,
     indeed, and by all appearances, the fresh start she’d intended when she’d arrived
     in London.
    “It is a pleasure to meet you all. I was lucky to have landed in this position and
     couldn’t be more grateful for your welcome and your kindness.”
    “How did you end up in Mr. Riley’s service?” Jenny asked. Josie jabbed her elbow into
     her sister’s ribs.
    Of course they would be curious to know where she came from and what she’d done in
     the past. “My fall here was not so glamorous. As that is literally how I met Mr. Riley.”
    “Is that the way of it, then?” The housekeeper came around the table and took her
     arm, waving off Huxley. “Let me show you where everything is down here, though I’m
     sure it’s not much different from the last household where you were engaged.”
    “No, not much different from the last.” She kept her smile to herself, since Mrs.
     Coleman was referring to the layout and not the situation, which she found to be the
     exact opposite of the last place.
    “So you fell into service here?” the housekeeper said.
    “Did Mr. Riley not tell you he had hired me?”
    “He did, but where you came from and how he acquired your services is your own business,”
     Mrs. Coleman said. It sounded like a warning that she shouldn’t ask the others how
     they’d ended up in Mr. Riley’s employ. She had no problem respecting their privacy,
     considering she needed to keep a tight lid on her past.
    “And what of Huxley?” Amelia asked. “Did he not inform you of how Mr. Riley and I
     crossed paths?”
    “Huxley’s a kind man and knows something of everything, but he’s mum on anything to
     do with other people’s secrets that are under Mr. Riley’s protection.”
    The housekeeper’s assessment didn’t surprise Amelia. She had a feeling that finding
     out any information through Huxley was like prying open a lock without a key. Actually,
     it was probably more difficult than even that.
    “I see,” Amelia muttered.
    “We’re all lucky to have found work here. Everyone has had some misfortune along