Rescued by the Earl's Vows by Ann Lethbridge

Author:Ann Lethbridge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-12-05T20:20:25+00:00

Chapter Nine

Jaimie wiped his dirty hands on a rag. ‘Is she alone?’ he asked his butler who had brought in her calling card.

‘No, my lord.’ The man sniffed. ‘Brought her maid along.’

Thank the Lord for small mercies.

He glanced down at the worktable where he was in the midst of a critical graft. If he left it now the stems would dry and the graft would fail. If that happened, he’d have to wait another six weeks for the right shoot to appear. ‘Offer tea to the maid in the kitchen and bring Lady Tess in here.’

‘Here, my lord?’ He sounded scandalised.

As well he should. Jaimie glanced around his conservatory. It really was not the best place to entertain a lady, but really, he hadn’t asked her to come here. Why could she not simply wait for him to get in touch? He was busy. He glared at his butler. ‘I am sure I can rely on you to be discreet, Rider. After all, any gossip and I would know from where it came. And send up a tray of tea with biscuits and cake, would you, please?’ He was starving. He glanced at the clock on the far wall. No wonder. He’d missed luncheon, though he was pretty sure it had been announced. He’d been too engrossed in what he was doing for it to register.

The butler left with another sniff.

He was certainly going to have a word with Tess about upsetting his servants with her madcap ways.

He began the careful work of binding two stems together at the precise point where his knife had removed the outer layer of bark. Focusing on the intricate task was all that was stopping him from losing his temper. The more he thought about Tess’s folly, the higher his ire rose. And the last time he’d truly lost his temper the result had been utter disaster. He’d stomped off to London after a blazing row with Hester about her lack of driving skills after she’d scraped the paint off his brand-new curricle. Just to prove she was better than he, she’d then driven the horses he’d forbidden her to have put to and had ended up with a broken neck. He should have known better than to have left her alone and angry. He had known better.

But he’d been unreasonably angry himself and had lost his wife as a result...

‘Lady Theresa,’ the butler announced. He directed a footman to put the tray on the end of the workbench and the two men left.

‘Sandford,’ she said.

He preferred it when she called him Jaimie. He nodded and continued inspecting his handiwork to the sound of tea being poured.

It pleased him that she got on with things without waiting for the formalities. It also irritated the hell out of him that she thought nothing of taking charge. ‘Why are you here, Lady Tess? I thought we agreed this would not happen again.’ He took up another piece of twine. You could never use too much in his opinion.

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