Page 41 of Defying the Earl
That thought about speaking to the grooms crossed his mind as he was arriving home to ready himself for another round of social events that night. He stopped in to speak to his secretary before submitting himself to the ministrations of his valet.
“I’m glad you’re still here. It seems to me that all you ever do is work.”
“Not at all, my lord, just doing my job. Lucky for me that it’s so varied and interesting. It’s good to see you, too, as I’ve been meaning to speak with you about something you asked me to look into a week or so ago.”
“What’s that?” Nate asked with a frown.
“Lady Beatrice? Your aunts’ companion? Have you forgotten or do you no longer need the information? I did hear some of the servants speaking so…” he trailed off, embarrassed.
Nate’s gaze sharpened on the other man. “I had almost forgotten. Thank you, what did you find out?”
“Well, for one thing, it’s terribly odd that she has remained so quietly in your aunts’ employ. In fact, I wasn’t perfectly sure if she was actually employed by your aunts. She might merely be living with them. Did you know she is the Earl of Houndseith’s granddaughter? Not the current earl, the previous one, of course.”
“Houndseith? Are you certain?”
“I am,” the secretary answered simply. “If I understood correctly, your aunts were friendly with Lady Beatrice’s grandmother when they were girls and all through their lives. So when the young lady was orphaned and then her grandfather died and a distant cousin she wasn’t close with inherited, your aunts took her in.”
“But why would she be their companion and not, well, just company? Why did they not bring her out? Was there something unacceptable about the girl?”
“Nothing that I could dig up, my lord.”
Nathan’s frown deepened. She wasn’t badton, that was for certain. He ought to have known that. She was a lady after all in both title and actuality. But why was she acting as a glorified servant in his aunts’ home?
Not that it mattered, he reminded himself. He wasn’t ready to wed. Nathan’s heartbeat picked up. But if he was, she would be the perfect woman for him.
“Thank you!” he called to his secretary as he hurried from the room. He needed to speak with Beatrice. He was shouting for his valet as he ran up the stairs.
Of course, the man was already waiting for him.
“My lord,” the haughtiest of servants said in a rebuking tone, bringing a grin to Nathan’s face.
“My apologies. I’ve had a rather harried day and need you to work your magic to make me acceptable to Lady Worth and her guests.
“Is that where you are attending tonight?” the valet asked rather redundantly.
Nathan just grinned as he stripped off his clothes.
Despite his fidgets, Nathan was ready in near record time. The valet had seemed to sense and be energized by Nathan’s feelings of urgency rather than hampered by them. With a nod of approval to his valet in the looking glass, Nate was up and out the door before he checked his pace. He didn’t want to arrive unfashionably early. It wouldn’t do to appear too eager. Or perhaps it would. He didn’t rightly know.
Either way, he wasn’t truly very early, not rudely so in any case. It would be good to arrive and see what else he could accomplish that day. Speaking with Beatrice was only one of the many things he needed to attend to. She wasn’t likely to be so early that evening but she wasn’t the only person in Town despite his inclination to think solely of her, he reminded himself as he was being announced into the ballroom that was far less crowded than he was used to.
But as usual the evening drifted by quickly. Nathan was in conversation with a few men he was hoping to persuade to vote in his favour on a Bill being argued that week in the House when he felt a prickle along the back of his neck. He was certain that Beatrice had arrived.
Turning his head toward the stairs confirmed that Lady Beatrice was slowly, gracefully descending the stairs behind Lady Frampton and Lady Charlotte. Nathan was riveted in place for the briefest moment before he was recalled to his surroundings and carried on with his conversation. But hisawareness of her never waned. He could have identified where she was in the crowded room at any given moment.
And then she was dancing with Lord Henley multiple times and the whispers were spreading and Nathan knew that was the man who had come up to scratch. Suddenly Nate wanted to punch something or someone. Why he was suddenly furious had no explanation that he could identify. He shouldn’t have approached her in that state of mind.
“Might I have this next dance, Beatrice?” he asked, bowing politely.
“Are you back to being overly familiar, Nathan?” she asked with slight emphasis on his name but keeping her voice low so as to avoid scandal and light to reveal she was jesting.
Despite fully understanding that she wasn’t seriously reprimanding him, Nathan’s anger deepened. “I suppose we ought to both be more formal now that you are to wed.”
“Am I to wed, my lord?” she asked, her tone cooling even as she stepped into his arms and into the dance.
“So my aunt tells me.”
“It’s not official,” she began.
