Dangerous Secrets (77 page)

He did not respond. Indeed, he remained still
as stone as she pressed her lips to his. The sting of rejection left her
feeling the cold night air and the flimsiness of her thin nightgown and robe.
When she pulled back, she could not look at his face.
‶
Good night.″

His own
‶
Good night″ in answer to
hers was terse.

She could not doubt that he wished her out of
his room. For the first time, she began to wonder if he regretted their
impulsive marriage and wished her out of his life, as well.

Simon opened the door to Miranda′s
adjoining room quietly and glanced inside. If she was not yet fully clothed, he
wanted to be able to perform a rapid tactical retreat. He told himself he was
relieved when he saw that she was almost ready to go down to breakfast.

Chapter 12

Something made him pause in the doorway,
though, just watching as a maidservant fluttered around, offering scents and
powders. He smiled at Miranda′s courteous rejection of all offerings. He
liked the vanilla scent of her and the near perfection of her powder-free skin.

He stepped into the room.
‶
Are
you ready to meet Arthur this morning?″ He kept his tone light and
bantering, hoping that a maid′s presence would encourage Miranda to do so
also.

She whirled from her toilette, surprised that
he would just walk in on her as she dressed. The maid, too, seemed more
startled than she ought. For a moment he considered turning around and leaving them
in peace to get on with the business of dressing. The impulse passed quickly as
he savored the view of Miranda with her hair still down, as she had come to him
last night.

Though she was already dressed for the morning
in a peach gown with cream trim, the fall of her hair made her seem barely
decent. It was a luxury he had decided to allow himself. There was little
danger of anything untoward happening between them once she was safely dressed
and the day had begun. It was evening — and the middle of the night that were
dangerous.

Miranda smiled uncertainly at him and once
again settled herself so that the maid could pin up her hair. Her eyes met his
in the looking glass.
‶
You seem to be well rested and cheerful
again.″

The little maidservant seemed unnerved by his
presence, and Miranda winced as a lock of her hair was clumsily tangled in the
brush. As she let out a soft cry of pain, the girl stopped her ministrations
and looked as if she might burst into tears.

He stepped forward and took the brush from the
maid′s trembling fingers.
‶
You may go.″

The girl stared uncomprehendingly at him for a
moment.
‶
But
Your Grace, I must see to Her Grace′s hair.″

‶
I shall take over for this
morning.″ Simon gave the girl a slight push toward the door, afraid if he
didn′t she might remain rooted to the floor forever. With a muted cry,
she ran from the room, her cheeks blooming scarlet, her eyes filled with tears.

Simon brushed Miranda′s hair gently.
‶
I′m
sorry, my dear. I know she is inexperienced, but I thought you might prefer to
hire your own personal maid, so I had Mrs. Hoskins promote her into the
position of temporary maid.″

‶
She has done her best, Simon.
She is simply very young.″ There was a reproachful look in
Miranda′s eyes that suggested she was displeased with him, almost as if
he had beaten the girl instead of dismissing her from the room.

‶
Of course. I would never have
promoted her not even temporarily — to this position if she had not shown
promise.″

‶
She just needs someone to show
her how to behave as a lady′s maid.″ Her eyes met his in the mirror
and she smiled warily.
‶
Someone to show her how to brush hair as well as you
do it. I must wonder where you learned such skills. Did you ever serve as a
lady′s maid?″

He laughed and kissed the top of her head. It
was sweet torment to go no farther, and he began to regret having sent the maid
from the room.
‶
It
is not proper for a wife to be jealous of her husband′s acquired skills,
merely to appreciate them. Some things a wife is not meant to know.″

In the mirror, he could see the confusion in
her expression. He did not want to explain himself, or last night, however.
Explanations would close the distance between them, and for his sanity he
needed to keep Miranda a few steps away from him, emotionally as well as physically.

So instead of answering , he concentrated on
brushing out the tangles he found, reveling in the smooth silky feel of her
hair in his hands.· He had decided during his sleepless night that he would
enjoy every aspect of being a husband, except one. And he meant to record each
day in his memory to warm him in the long, lonely years ahead. He absorbed the
feel of her hair into his fingertips as he brushed.

Soon it lay shining and tangle free as it fell
down her back. His very own Rapunzel. Simon enjoyed the sight for a moment
before he lifted his gaze to hers in the mirror.
‶
I′m afraid my expertise
ends here.″ He sighed, laying the brush on the table beneath the looking
glass.
‶
I
could no more put your hair up than I could stitch you a gown of moonbeams and
sunlight.″

His words surprised him, coming from nowhere.
But he could see her thusly dressed and suddenly wished he could order it done.
Impossible dreams, like the ones he sometimes had of a wife, a family, a life
that was truly his own.

‶
Perhaps you can. Hero once
called you our fairy godfather.″ She smiled, her eyes alight with
imagination at his fanciful analogy and he felt a breath of relief that she had
put aside her questions about the previous evening.
‶
I can put it up,
Simon. I haven′t had a maid since — ″

She paused. Her eyes darkened briefly before
she smiled again.
‶
Hero and Juliet used to help me, but I′ve
often· done it myself. I suppose I shall have to get used to doing without
their help in the future.″

He heard the lonely note in her voice and
stilled the hands she had raised to pin her hair.
‶
Leave it like this
for today, and come and meet Arthur.″

She lifted one hand to her hair.
‶
He
shall be forever shocked. I cannot meet him like this.″ She looked at him
uncertainly, and he cursed himself for bringing her to this. She was bright and
beautiful, not meant to be buried in a mausoleum, as this house was. And it
would be dangerous for him to offer her too much companionship to ease her
natural loneliness.

‶
Of course you will not shock
him. He will be charmed by you, my dear. And jealous of my having rescued my
own Rapunzel.″ At her continued doubt, he added,
‶
I′ll take all
the blame upon my head for not finding you an experienced lady′s
maid.″

An idea came to him, one that might cheer her
up slightly, and possibly keep her too busy to feel neglected.
‶
We′ll
find you an experienced maid immediately — in London.″

Her eyes widened.
‶
London? Oh no,
Simon, that will be too tiring for you. I′d rather we stayed here where
it is peacefully quiet and — ″

Damn these lies.
‶
Nonsense. A young woman needs
laughter and dancing.″ He saw that she intended to argue, so he
continued.
‶
And
I need to show off my beautiful bride. How can I do that if I don′t find
an experienced lady′s maid to make sure that all the young bucks are
green with jealousy?″

She smiled at him, suddenly nervous. Her eyes
did not meet his as she confessed,
‶
You needn′t bother about
the lady′s maid. I hired one before the wedding. She should be arriving
soon.″

He was surprised. Though, of course, since he
was dealing with Miranda, he should not have been.
‶
When?″

‶
I should have told you.
I′m sorry. But it′s done now. She′s very experienced.″
Miranda smiled and stood, coming up on tiptoes to press her lips to his cheek.
‶
Now
let′s go meet that heir of yours — and see if your mother has taken
herself off as promised.″

The reminder of his mother stopped him from
giving in to his impulse to pull her into his arms. He followed her, drinking
in the scent of vanilla that seemed always to surround her.

Briefly, he wondered what kind of a woman she
might have found in the vicinity of Anderlin who would have experience at being
a lady′s maid. No doubt one who was supremely incompetent but in dire
need of a job.

He sighed. Perhaps it would not be wise to
bring her to London just yet. A few weeks spent to acquaint her with the
reticence of a proper duchess might prevent another scandal. He knew he should
be applying himself diligently to molding her into a proper wife, one who
realized that fairy tales were for children. Yet he did not want to spoil the
magical spell she had woven over his life and his home with the discord that
was sure to result.

She stopped at the top of the stairs and turned
to him.
‶
Have
you done with the idea of taking me to London, Simon?″

He nodded.
‶
If you do not wish to go, I
will not press the issue.″ Yet, he added silently.

She smiled at him, her eyes glowing, despite
his behavior toward her last night. Was that his fate then? To take her trust
in him and twist it until her eyes no longer reflected a belief in the goodness
of life?
‶
Thank
you for considering my wishes, Simon. You cannot imagine what that means to
me.″

It chilled him to think of her at the mercy of
the wolves and rakes in London. No doubt the lot of them would scent her
innocence and devour her whole, as Grimthorpe had tried five years ago. But how
to bring her some worldly ways and keep that beautiful core of sweetness?

It would take weeks, perhaps months, to give
her a polished shield to safeguard her. Would there be time to introduce her to
London and make certain that she would be safe after he was gone? He took her
arm to lead her down the stairs and the feel of her hand in the crook of his
elbow was pleasure and pain in every pulse of blood through his veins.

Downstairs in the breakfast room, there was
blessedly no sign of his mother. Arthur, however, was enjoying a plate of eggs
and smoked sausage. He rose when Simon and Miranda entered the room.
‶
Simon,
I beg to be introduced to your lovely new bride.″ He came around the
table and clapped Simon on the shoulder as he beamed at Miranda.

Simon could not help reflecting that Arthur
would have been just as effusive if Miranda had been four feet tall and
possessed of hairy warts on her nose and chin. Arthur had always been a bit
unsure of his ability to carry out the duties of an heir. Simon′s mother
had sarcastically called him the
‶
heir-reluctant.″ Simon
might have laughed, if it were not so patently true.

He patted Miranda′s hand briefly and then
released her.
‶
Yes.
Miranda, I am pleased to present you to my cousin Arthur. Arthur, this is my
bride, Miranda.″

Arthur beamed.
‶
Welcome to the family, my dear.
I have been telling Simon that what he needs is a bride and children-not a
distant cousin culled from nowhere to learn to perform duties he′s not
very good at to begin with.″

Miranda looked at him in puzzlement.
‶
Culled
from nowhere? Surely not.″

Arthur colored.
‶
Of course I am a bonafide
Watterly. I am just from a very distant branch of the family. We′d quite
forgotten our ties to the Dukes of Kerstone until Simon reminded us, I
daresay.″

And happy to have done so, Simon thought to
himself as he remembered the arguments that had preceded Arthur′s
agreement to be trained as Simon′s heir. It was only the fact that, as
the closest male relative, he would indeed inherit the title and lands whether
or not he trained for the task that convinced him to take the offer and come to
learn about his future duties.

Arthur seemed also to be thinking along those
lines.
‶
Your
husband is trying to mold me into a proper duke.″ He smiled gently as he
spoke, as if the outcome — failure — were assured.

‶
Come, come, Arthur. You have
improved greatly in your abilities since you′ve arrived. You will make an
excellent duke.″

Arthur raised a skeptical brow.

Simon continued, embellishing upon
Arthur′s small strides forward in ducal behavior.
‶
Haven′t your
accidents been much more infrequent of late?″

‶
Accidents?″
Miranda′s eyes widened with curiosity and Simon was suddenly sorry he had
brought up the subject. The best thing he could do for Arthur was steer them
away from this discussion before his cousin became a fresh target for her
ministrations.

Arthur, aiding Simon unaware, blushed at her
interest and quickly down-played his string of mishaps.
‶
Trivial incidents,
really. I just seem to be a clumsy thing.″

‶
I think you are much less
clumsy,″ Simon added, to help ease Arthur′s obvious discomfort at
the discussion.

‶
And a duke must not be
clumsy?″ Arthur smiled again, refusing to take offense, or, Simon thought
with chagrin, to take seriously that he would be the next Duke of Kerstone. At
least, Miranda was diverted. For that he was grateful.

As they spoke there was a discreet cough from
the direction of the door. Dome stood patiently.

‶
Yes?″ Simon asked.

‶
A young lady and her daughter
have arrived, Your Grace. The young lady claims to be a new employee?″
His eyes were frosty and his back rigidly straight as he glanced at Miranda.
‶
She
claims to have been hired by Her Grace.″

Simon was outraged.
‶
My mother has hired
a servant? For my home? Send her packing at once.″

Miranda touched his arm, checking his outrage.
‶
No.
She′s my new lady′s maid.″

His sudden rage receding, Simon noted
Miranda′s unease and wondered what sight would meet his eyes.
‶
Very
well, take her up to the servant′s quarters and get her settled
in.″

The butler nodded, and asked,
‶
And
her daughter, Your Grace?″

‶
Put them in a room down the
hall from me.″ Miranda said.