"How...appetizing." Hairy chests notwithstanding, she'd been tall and slender ever since she'd reached womanhood and she didn't think she'd thicken out no matter what Cook concocted.
"Now," said Gertie, whisking Pippa out of her new room and back through the vast wardrobe, "through that door is the master's bedchamber."
Pippa nodded, growing curious about the earl even though she would never meet him. It must be the close proximity to all his things that made her wonder about their owner. "Can I ask you something?" she said.
"Of course." Gertie paused at the door to the master's chamber and crossed her arms in a way that pushed her large breasts up and out. Then she winked. "You can ask me anythin', Pip."
Pippa cleared her throat. Somehow she felt more in danger with this girl than she had in two days. "Is he feeble-minded? Or ugly? Or is he both perhaps?"
"Who?"
"The earl."
Gertie threw her head back and laughed, a high, nasally sound that ended with a snort. "He's very clever and one of the handsomest devils in London if you ask me. Why?"
Pippa shrugged. "Curiosity. He's not married and he's past the age that most men of noble birth are wed for the first time. Well past it, I believe."
"That is his lordship's business, not yours or mine, Pip," Gertie said with a wag of her finger. "Best not to wonder how your betters conduct their affairs. They're a mystery to me, especially this one." She stuck her thumb at the door leading to the backstairs.
At precisely that moment, it opened. Gertie gasped then quickly bobbed her head as she tucked her offending thumb into the folds of her apron. "My lord! You're not expected! I mean, I didn't know you were here."
Pippa froze as a man entered. Not just any man.
Him
. The rider. The one she'd angered in the field. And of all the cruel twists of Fate, it seemed he was the Earl of Ashbourne.
"My business finished earlier than expected," he said.
Pippa choked back her anguish.
Dear God, I promise to attend church twice every Sunday if you strike me dead now!
Perhaps he wouldn't remember her. He was an earl after all, and she nothing but an ungainly youth. But when he looked at her, recognition flared.
"You again!" He made a sound—half grunt, half laugh, all humorless. "It seems our paths have crossed once more."
"So it would seem, my lord," she said, bowing low to hide her face which ran hot and cold.
"Are you going to fall in front of me again, lad?" he said. "Because you look quite ill."
"This here is Pip," Gertie said, nudging Pippa forward. "He's the new page of the wardrobe."
The earl cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Well, lad, I'm sorry."
"My lord?" Pippa dared to ask.
He smiled. "You'll see."
Pippa felt sick. Her stomach rolled, her skin felt cold and damp and she had to grip the back of a chair to steady herself. With any luck she was dying and her misery would soon be over.
But her luck had run out because Lord Ashbourne's smile broadened, leaving her with no doubt he was aware of her discomfort and enjoying it.
She had the distinct feeling her day was about to get a whole lot worse.
***
KISS OF ASH
is available for immediate download***
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