Page 16 of The Paid Companion

A tiny warning bell clanged somewhere in her mind. There was nothing objectionable about his words, she thought, but she was convinced that there was a thinly veiled disdain buried in them. Perhaps it was her imagination.

“Thank you, Ibbitts.”

She handed him her bonnet. He immediately turned to set it on a dusty marble-topped table.

“Never mind,” she said quickly, snatching the hat out of his hand before he could put it on the grimy table. “I’ll keep it with me. About my trunk. I do not want it left out there in the street.”

“I very much doubt that anyone would steal your trunk, madam.” Ibbitts could not have made it plainer if he had tried that he was certain her trunk contained nothing of value.

She had had enough of his polite sarcasm. “Send a footman for it now, Ibbitts.”

Ibbitts blinked owlishly, as though confused by the unsubtle reprimand. “Any thief with a bit of common sense knows better than to steal from this household.”

“That is only somewhat reassuring, Ibbitts. I fear that there are a great number of thieves who lack common sense.”

Ibbitts’s expression tightened. Without a word, he reached out and yanked hard on a velvet bell pull.

A tall, thin, gangly-looking young man of about eighteen or nineteen years appeared. He had red hair and blue eyes. His pale skin was sprinkled with freckles. He had a nervous, rabbity air.

“Ned, fetch Miss Lodge’s trunk and take it upstairs to the bedchamber Sally prepared this morning.”

“Aye, Mr. Ibbitts.” Ned scurried out the front door.

Ibbitts turned back to Elenora. He did not actually say,there, are you satisfied now?But she was certain he was thinking the words.

“If you will come with me,” Ibbitts said instead. “His lordship does not like to be kept waiting.”

Without waiting for a response, Ibbitts led the way along a dimly lit hall toward the back of the big house.

At the far end of the corridor he ushered her into a long room paneled in heavy, dark wood. She was relieved to see that the windows in the library were not covered by heavy curtains as they were at the front of the house. Instead, the thick, brown velvet drapes had been tied back to frame the view of a wild, chaotically overgrown, rain-drenched garden.

The library was furnished with a murky carpet badly in need of cleaning and several items of substantial furniture in a style that had been out of fashion for several years. The high, shadowy ceiling had been painted with a dreary scene of a twilight sky at some point in the distant past. Bookshelves lined most of the walls. The leather-bound volumes were old and dusty.

A narrow, circular staircase studded with wrought iron balusters twisted upward to a balcony that was lined with more bookshelves.

“Miss Lodge, my lord.” Ibbitts made his announcement as though he was reading Elenora’s name from an obituary notice.

“Thank you, Ibbitts.” At the far end of the room, near the window facing the unkempt garden, Arthur rose from behind a heavily carved desk.

Silhouetted against the poor light his hard face was unreadable. He came around the front of the desk and walked toward her down the length of the room.

“Welcome to your future home, my dear,” he said.

It dawned on her that he was playing his part in front of the butler. She must do the same.

“Thank you. It is so good to see you again, sir.” She made her best curtsy.

Ibbitts backed out of the room and closed the door.

The instant the butler disappeared, Arthur halted midway down the room and glanced at the clock. “What the devil took you so long? I thought you would be here an hour ago.”

So much for his role of gallant fiancé, Elenora thought. Evidently her new employer did not intend to maintain the charade when they were private.

“I apologize for the delay,” she said calmly. “The rain made the traffic quite difficult.”

Before he could respond, a woman spoke from the balcony overhead.

“Arthur, please introduce me,” she called down in a warm, soft-spoken voice.

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