Page 36 of The Heir's Fortune
He sat back down in the delicate green chair that sat in front of a fireplace which was a good deal smaller than his own. He would have to speak with his few staff about making sure that the fires in their guests’ suites were built up higher.
Madeline must freeze in here all night.
Gideon couldn’t sit still for long and was soon up, pacing again, this time Scout stepping in time with him back and forth. He would have been worried that he was wearing a hole in the rug beneath his feet, but it was too late for that, for the rug was already far more worn than any rug should be in a duke’s home. He wasn’t sure this one would even be appropriate for the servants’ quarters, let alone a guest’s chamber.
But, of course, he was in no position to purchase a new one. Not when he should be using that money for another maid or footman or to do something about the crumbling brick at the front entrance. Or to maintain the grounds. Or replace the sofa in the parlor which had holes currently covered with a blanket.
He sighed. This was why he needed Madeline to arrive – and quickly. For without her, his mind would rattle around to all of the places and all of the things that needed attention.
She was able to draw it all away.
She had seemed enthusiastic and her “do not disappoint me” comment led him to believe that she very much wanted him to follow her. Once he had cleaned up their mess in the kitchen, he had found that it wasn’t much of a difficult decision to make as his feet took him up the stairs and directly to her bedchamber.
There was one benefit to having very few staff – there were not many people to worry about encountering along the way.
Now he was here. Alone.
He might have misread the situation. Although, where else could she possibly be?
A thought hit him. Perhaps he hadn’t been wrong in his assumption.
Perhaps he had just been wrong in understanding where she had been expecting him.
Madeline beganthe agonizing return walk to her bedchamber. It was in the same wing of the house, but down the next corridor – and it meant that she had to walk by Cassandra and Lord Covington’s rooms.
She only hoped her friend wouldn’t step out and ask what she was doing out here in the middle of the night, for Madeline still didn’t have a ready excuse. She supposed she could say that she had been hungry, but even as close as she and Cassandra were, it didn’t seem appropriate to complain about the food here.
Even if she and Gideon had done so together – he had been there along with her, so somehow it hadn’t seemed like it had counted.
She was walking so stealthily, keeping her movements so controlled, that she wasn’t doing a very good job of watching where she was going – until she ran right into a solid object in the middle of the corridor as a small dog pranced around her feet.
“Oo—” she began, but a large hand covered her mouth and her eyes widened as she recognized the scent and looked up to see Gideon staring down at her.
“You were—” she began whispering, but he shook his head and placed a finger over his lips.
She began pointing in one direction, him in the other, until he pressed his lips together, bent down, and lifted her over hisshoulder. She was so surprised she had no words but then he was hurrying down the hall, returning her the way she had come.
“Gideon, what are you doing?” she hissed in his ear.
“We had a miscommunication. I do not like miscommunications,” he said, his voice low and growly.
“I wouldn’t call it that.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“You did not do as I said.”
That earned her a surprising swat on the rump and she tried to kick him in return, but he held her ankles tight.
“The last time I checked, women do not order around a future duke.”
“This one does.”
He sighed. “So you do.”
They reached his door and in a remarkable move of dexterity, he managed to open it and fit both of them inside, Scout following behind them. Gideon did not ignore the bed at all, but instead strode right over and tossed her down on top of it, the bed linens enveloping her like clouds.
“Scout,” Gideon said, his eyes not moving away from her. “On your bed.”
