The Devil Rogue (7 page)

“Rosemary
?
S
h
-she
told you about me?”
Angela
experienced a
sinking
sensation in the pit of her
stomach.

“Yes, indeed
.
She told us how you
always
tried so hard to make your own servants comfortable, and how you
often
helped with
some of the
work
, in times of need.”

“Oh
, that
.”

“Now, the master has given me instructions on what he wants you to do today, but considering your condition, I believe some light chores would be more in order.”

“M-my condition?”
What has Rosemary been telling these people?

“Why, your injuries, dear girl, from your tumble down the stairs
. Rosemary told us how you tried so valiantly
to save that poor little kitten.”

“Kitten?” Angela
asked weakly
.
Then she realized what Rosemary had attempted to do.
“Oh
!
Yes, the kitten
!
”
Cautiously
, she said, “
I did manage to save it after all, as it turns out
.
”
She hoped
to high heaven
she did
save the imaginary kitten
, or Rosemary was in big trouble
.

“
Oh, you did indeed,
” Emma confirmed brightly
.
“Are you up to
a little dusting
?
Rosemary
has
told us about your sore shoulder. I
f you think it would be too taxing, I can find something less strenuous
for you to do
.”

Sore shoulder
?
Rosemary ha
d
been very busy
this morning
,
bless her heart
.
“No,
that
will be fine, Emma
.
If you
w
ou
ld
tell me what needs dusting
, I’ll get started
on it
right away.”

Angela had
always helped with the chores at home.
T
hey were
woefully
understaffed
due to
their lack of sufficient finances
.
She’d
felt responsible for the added burden heaped upon the remaining servants, so she
’d
often made daily rounds, assisting where it was needed.
Her father
could be unpredictable and
quick to temper when they fell behind in the
ir
work or
when
mistakes were made.

“You’re such a dear, sweet girl,
Miss Hopkins
.
I don’t know what his lordship was thinking to insist that you scrub floors
.
That’s why the housework should always be left up to us women
.
Men don’t know the first
thing about running a household
, d
on’t you agree
?
”

“Yes, Emma, you’re quite right.
”
Angela
knew exactly what the barbarian was thinking
– to work her like
a
scullery maid
. . .
but why?

THE MORNING WENT
by quickly as Angela moved from room to room
.
Several times she’d
tracked Emma down to
ask
for more
difficult
work,
insisting
she was perfectly able. She’d finally given up after being told everything was already covered. Angela
suspected that the
head housekeeper
deliberately
refus
ed
to
giv
e
her anything more strenuous
to do
.

They were trying to protect her, Angela knew, and it warmed her heart that these strangers seemed to care so much for her well-being
.
S
he
just
hoped
Blackridge
didn’t
get wind of
it
.
She dreaded what he would do to the poor servants if he did
.

For some unfathomable reason, h
er presence here seemed to annoy him
. It
didn’t make any sense
. He’d
offered such a large sum for her to take up residence
. Why would he go to such lengths to get her here, and then behave as though he could hardly stand being around her?

It
almost
seemed as if he sought to punish her.
She couldn’t imagine why he would want to do such a thing.

H
ow would he react
when he found out how nice the servants have been toward her?

Angela pushed those unpleasant thoughts from her mind, and enjoyed
a
tasty luncheon
of sandwiches and lemonade in the kitchen with a few of the other staff
.
The event progressed,
thankfully
,
uninterrupted by
plate-snatching
v
iscounts
.
Afterward, she
continued her
work
in the master’s study
.
Emma had assured her
the room was vacant
, so she was free to dust to her heart’s content.

Moving methodically from one surface to another, Angela admired the beautiful figurines and statuettes in the room
.
When her mother was alive, she remembered that they
also
had such
nice
things in the house
.
After her mother’s death, however,
item
s began to
disappear
one by one
until ev
entually
nothing of any value was
left.

Angela was attempting to move a large,
overstuffed wing
chair
.
Her plan was to stand on the chair so she could reach
a wall sconce
she
intend
ed
to
clean
, but first she needed to position the chair beneath it.
She strained, trying to move the heavy piece of furniture.

“
Miss Hopkins
, let me do that for you,”
Phillips, the doorman
said, rushing over.

“It’s all right, Phillips, I can manage.”

“Please, let me do this for you,
Miss Hopkins,” he insisted.

She chuckled good-naturedly
, gesturing toward the chair
.
“If it pleases you, sir, th
e
n by all means.”

Phillips was a handsome young man,
with laughing blue eyes and sand
-colored
hair
.
He was tall and
gangly
, having not quite grown into his youthful body yet
.
He
’d been
kind and
respectful
ever since meeting Angela this morning,
and she had to wonder what other tales Rosemary had told
.

It couldn’t be
such
a big secret what her purpose for being here was
.
They had to know she wasn’t a servant, especially since she’d brought her own
maid
with her
.
They were all being so nice to her
.
Phillips
, especially
,
always
seemed to appear when she needed a helping hand.

“To be sure,
Miss Hopkins
,
”
he said,
easily
pushing the chair into position.
“A
woman in your condition should not b
e moving heavy furniture around.
In fact, if you’ll just hand me that duster, I’ll have it cleaned in a
thrice
.
”
H
e
flashed
a boyish grin.

Angela chuckled
, smiling back at him
.
“
That’s quite all right, Philli
ps, I can manage on my own, now.
Thank you for helping me
.
It was very kind of you.”

Phillips’ neck
flushed an interesting shade of pink. He
dipped his head
.
“It was my pleasure, Miss Hopkins
.
If you need help with anything else, you just let me know.”

Ian stood in the doorway listening to
Miss Hopkins
and Phillips
.
She seemed to have wrapped Phillips sufficiently around her spoiled little finger
.
And t
he reference to her ‘condition’ had
Ian
burning with rage
.
She was quite a clever girl to make her bargain
with him
while she was already carrying
another
man’s bastard
.
No wonder she was so ready to acquiesce to her father’s pleading
.

Ian wondered if p
erhaps she
’d
planned on pinning him as the father.

Not
bloody
likely.

“Excuse me, Phillips, but I would like a word with
Miss Hopkins
. . .
alone
.
”

“Yes, your lordship
.
” Phillips
bow
ed and
hastily le
ft
the room.

Angela blanched a little at the dark
expression
on
Blackridge’s
face
.
It could mean nothing but trouble, the way he was looking at her.
He stalked into the room, stopping directly in front of her.

He crossed his arms and glared at her.
“Explain yourself, princess
.”

He was such a
large
and intensely masculine man
.
He exuded confidence and virility from every pore, it seemed
.
Angela
trembled
, at a loss as to why he appeared so angry
.
“Please, don’t blame Phillips, it wasn’t his fault
.
I-I asked him to help me.”

Blackridge’s
eyes were dark
and serious. It was
reminiscent of her father’s
display of temper
. Not that his face was red and he was bellowing at her, but in a much more subtle way. Blackridge held himself in check, keeping his displeasure under tight control. It
frighten
ed
her
more than her father’s anger ever did
.

Would
Blackridge
strike her
?
She didn’t know him well enough to be sure
that
he wouldn’t.

“What are you talking about?”
he asked,
interrupting her thoughts.

“All of them, my lord
.
The – the servants, I mean
.
I’m the one you should punish
.
None of it was their fault.”
She clasped her hands in front of her, fighting the urge to twist her fingers
.
He’d told her she was to have no assistance from
anyone
.

Ian had
seen how she
’
d
manipulated the other servants into giving her easier work
.
He’d been covertly watching her throughout the morning
.
She’d done nothing more strenuous than lift a feather duster
.
B
ut for her to take the blame for it was uncharacteristic of his impression of her
.
Why would she take full responsibility for her actions if she was such a devious person
?
And why did she think he would punish his servants for coddling her
?
Not only that, she’d asked to be punished in their place
.
She obviously had it all wrong why he was angry
.