Page 59 of What's an Earl Gotta Do?
“No, Michael, I do not rent space in this building.” She wrenched her arm free from his grasp. “I own this building.” She turned on her heel and strode up the steps.
Michael made to follow her, but found his way blocked. “And where do you think you’re going, m’lord earl?” Black Beard asked.
“I need to speak with Anne. Let me pass.”
“Oh,” Freckles exclaimed, “Anne, is it? A bit overfamiliar with her ladyship now, aren’t you?”
Michael was startled to realize that these… these vagrants didn’t seem bent on harming Anne. Much to the contrary, they seemed to be trying to protect her. “Not at all, considering she is my betrothed.”
This brought the two up short. Black Beard looked him up and down. “Her ladyship’s betrothed, you say?”
“Yes,” he replied curtly.
“Just a bit of a lovers’ quarrel, then?” Freckles asked.
“Indeed,” Michael muttered, gesturing to the flowers.
The two men exchanged a look. “I suppose that’s alright, then,” Black Beard said, stepping back so Michael could pass.
He started toward the building, then turned. “May I ask why you stopped me? What concern is it of yours?”
Black Beard shifted from foot to foot. “Me old gaffer was always a working man. Spent his days unloading ships from dawn ’til dusk. But last year, a cask of wine fell right on his wrist. The break didn’t set right, and now he can’t lift his own glass, not with his right hand, leastways. We try to do what we can for him, my brothers and me, but it ain’t much. Somehow ’er ladyship got word of him, and now he gets meat and potatoes twice a week, he does. And he wouldn’t get by without it.”
Freckles nodded beside him. “Her ladyship took me sister in, along with her four children, after her husband died.” He nodded toward the building. “They’re in there right now. Me sister takes in some sewing. Her ladyship just got the oldest boy apprenticed to a shipwright. And the three little ones are in school, learning their letters and such. I don’t like to think where they would’ve ended up had her ladyship not stepped in."
“I see,” Michael said.
At least, he was starting to.
He entered the building. Anne was still in the entryway, kneeling amongst a flock of children who were clamoring for her attention. He saw her adjust the bow in one little girl’s hair. Another pressed her rag doll forward for a kiss; dolly received one, as did dolly’s owner. A little boy presented Anne with a bouquet. Truth be told, it was just a bundle of weeds, but you never would have known the way Anne sniffed it appreciatively.
“Thank you, Charles,” she said. “I will tuck these in my pocket, so I can enjoy them for the rest of the…” She spied Michael, and her smile vanished. “Oh. Are you still here?”
“Yes. I’m here to apologize.”
“You are doing a magnificent job of it,” she hissed, rising to her feet.
“I would like to do better,” he said, offering her the irises. She made no move to accept them. “Is there somewhere we could go to talk?”
“Lady Wynters!” A woman in a plain grey dress entered the foyer and curtseyed deeply.
“Mrs. Godfrey,” Anne said, curtseying in return. “How are you this morning?”
The woman wrung her hands. “Oh, my lady, I’m so glad you’re here. Mr. Branton just arrived, and—oh!” she said, noticing Michael for the first time. “I apologize, I didn’t realize we had a visitor. A new patron, my lady?”
“No,” Anne replied, “he’s not a patron. He was just leav—”
“Allow me to introduce myself, Mrs. Godfrey,” Michael interrupted smoothly. “I am Lord Morsley. I have the honor of being Lady Anne’s betrothed.”
Mrs. Godfrey gasped. “Betrothed! Why, I had no idea, Lady Wynters.”
Anne was glaring at him. “I don’t know that betrothed is the word I would use.”
“That is the word one generally uses, darling, after one has promised to marry a man,” he replied cheerfully, taking Anne’s hand and tucking it into his arm. “As you did last night.”
“That was before I knew you were planning to drag me off to Canada,” Anne said through clenched teeth.
The room fell silent. “Canada?” Mrs. Godfrey said softly. “But—do you truly mean to move to Canada, my lady?”
