Page 22 of Gambling with the Earl
Thank goodness,she thought. Her skin still burned with shame as she recalled the way Lord Ulric had so casually announced that he would spend the night with her. As if she were worth nothing. It had taken all her self-restraint not to flee from the table, but she’d known a real servant would stay in the great hall until she was dismissed. Fear, though, had knotted her stomach. The Earl of Darkmoor was an old man, his hands trembled and his cragged face was creased and lined, but he was a warrior still. His toughness was apparent in his every move. Despite her youth, she would have been no match for him in strength. And his son positively burned with energy and might. ‘The Feared One’ Agnes had called him, downstairs in the castle kitchen. Then she had nudged Kitty’s arm and said she was sure she’d feel no fear in his arms. Cook had shaken her wooden spoon at the both of them, even though Kitty had played no part in Agnes’s smutty talk.
The Earl of Rossfarne had saved her.
It was an unexpected twist. The man she thought would ruin her honour had in fact defended it. What should she make of that?
Kitty worked through her morning chores, deeply lost in thought. What concerned her most of all was how her eyes had instinctively flown to him for help. She had known, somehow, that he would not let Lord Ulric near her. She had felt protected in his presence, more so when he bade her to bolt her door from the inside. Was he a man of integrity, after all? She shivered a little at the memory of how he had jumped up from the table, anger flashing from his dark eyes. “She is mine,” he had said. And even though that sentiment flew scarily close to the secret truth, her heart had gladdened at his words.
She had never thought to have such a handsome protector.
Kitty leant her sweeping brush against the wall and put her hands to her flushed cheeks. What fresh madness was this now? She had no time for such flights of fancy.
The big castle kitchen always knew a moment of quiet directly after luncheon. Cook would sink into an overstuffed chair pulled near the fireplace and close her eyes. Agnes would slip outside to meet Gwen the laundress, and Kitty, up until now, would retire to her narrow bedchamber and pace the floor in a flurry of nerves. Not today though. Today begged to be different, especially after the conflicts of yesterday.
Kitty ached with desire to leave the restrictive, grey castle walls. She longed to feel the sun on her face and sand between her toes. For almost a week her every waking thought had been consumed with recovering Rosalind’s jewels, but her focused efforts had gotten her nowhere. The jewels were not secreted in the solar. She’d been able to overturn every inch of the room over the last few days. The castle did not have vaults, and her discrete enquiries had failed to uncover where the silver and coin chests were stored. Surely there must be a room dedicatedto them? But for as long as she had known, the earl had always been a single, unmarried man with no family. Mayhap no stash of treasure was kept here? Mayhap that was why the new earl had been so keen to get his hands on her family’s remaining jewels?
Kitty pushed such thoughts from her mind. She would grant herself a short break from all jewel-related worries and wonderings. For the next hour, until the belltower tolled, she would remember what it was to be something other than a chambermaid in the Castle of Rossfarne.
Katherine. Her real name was Katherine. As a child she had worn elegant gowns and travelled in a carriage. She had a tutor who had taught her music and praised her singing. A maid had combed her unruly mop of hair and told her she was pretty.
Kitty hung her apron on the hook by the pantry door and stretched her tired arms above her head. Hours of scrubbing, carrying and helping in the kitchen had left her sore and aching. What she would love to do would be to soak in a tub by the fire. She remembered how Alfred would stoke the flames and Lizzie would fetch them hot water. Those days were gone now.
Not gone, she corrected herself. She would return to her old life and the people who loved her just as soon as she found the jewels.
She shook her head in amusement. Despite her best efforts, it was impossible to stop her thoughts circling back to the real reason she was here.
She was about to walk outside when her name was called down the servant’s staircase.
“Kitty.”
The voice was masculine and harsh. One she couldn’t fail to recognise. Her heart sank.
“I’m here.”
She walked steadily along the stone-flagged passageway until she could see up the stairs. Thomas peered down at her, his face made even more querulous with a deep frown.
“His lordship wants to see you, in his solar.”
“Now?” She couldn’t help herself. The request baffled her.
“No, on midsummer’s eve.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “Of course, now. What are you waiting for?”
Should she re-tie her apron, tidy her hair? Kitty had been preparing to walk on the beach and look for pretty pebbles, not go in front of an earl. But Thomas’s snarl made it clear there were to be no further delays. Hastily wiping her hands on her woollen skirts, Kitty ascended the stairs and followed the manservant through the great hall.
“I know the way,” she couldn’t resist stating as Thomas ushered her past the vast stone fireplace, their footsteps echoing through the empty room which bore no traces of last night’s feast. The trestle table had been pushed back against the wall and the grate was dark and empty.
Thomas didn’t respond, not even with a darkening of his expression. Kitty knew she shouldn’t tease him, but her days were long with little to break the monotony.
“Why do you think he wants to see me?” she asked. Her impish question hid genuine curiosity. She had felt safe in his presence yesterday, but would that have changed with the morning light?
This time he turned, his face thunderous. “Why would any earl wish to see a chambermaid alone?”
His words winded her, but she wouldn’t let him see. “To complain about my work, maybe?” she suggested innocently.
Thomas made a noise that sounded like a horse grunting, before knocking gently on the solar door and flinging it open with a flourish.
“Thank you, Thomas. You may leave us now,” came the earl’s voice.
Thomas’s face turned a darker shade of red, but he turned without a word and stalked back through the great hall, his boots clumping against the stones.
