Dangerous in Diamonds - Madeline Hunter [28]
The footman appeared increasingly nervous and unsure what to do. Inappropriate flushes and fidgeting revealed his distress. Presumably the more experienced footmen had gone to the coast with Summerhays.
Castleford crossed his arms and gave the lad a good look. The footman’s face got redder by the instant.
“What is your name?”
“P—” A strangled cough. “Perthy, sir. Your Grace. Horace Perthy. Sir.”
“You seem an honest sort of person, Mr. Perthy.”
“I try to be, sir.”
“Then I am sure that you will tell me the truth now. Mrs. Joyes is indeed in this house, is she not? She sent down that message as women do at times, when they do not wish to see someone who has called. Am I correct?”
The fellow looked like he might faint. One could see him thinking hard to find some lesson on how he was supposed to handle such a blunt question from a visitor who refused to play by society’s rules.
“Your silence speaks eloquently for you, Mr. Perthy. Now, find your tongue, and tell me just where in the house Mrs. Joyes resides.”
“Oh, I cannot. . . . I mustn’t. . . .”
“Mr. Perthy, there is no cannot or mustn’t with me. Not even from the prime minister, and certainly not from you. Tell me where she resides, and no one will be the wiser. The alternative is that I will have to search the entire house to inform the lady of my displeasure.”
Perthy’s eyes bulged at the threat the house would be searched. He surrendered, relieved, forgetting that at least one woman would be the wiser in a few minutes. Whispering, he gave up the information.
Castleford favored him with a smile and sent him away. “Remember, Mr. Perthy, what you do not see, you cannot know.”
A few moments later Castleford strode up the stairs. He must remember to tell Summerhays that the training of his servants lacked the requisite discipline. The boy had been intimidated too easily.
He found the apartment young Perthy had indicated. He opened the door to a bedchamber that did not even have an anteroom. It seemed fairly small for a house like this and was decorated in white with some green here and there. No flowers, he could not help but note. The park could be seen through the window, though.
A movement to his left stirred the air. A chilled little breeze wafted his way. Mrs. Joyes rose from a chair on the far side of the bed with a book in her hand.
She glared at him. “You are too bold, sir!”
Pride and insult stiffened her spine, and wonderful color marked her cheeks. Her fair hair had been dressed in the simplest way. It appeared only bound at her nape with a ribbon. He wondered how long it was. The bed spanned most of the space between them, and he imagined her kneeling on it, with that hair falling over her naked breasts.
He strolled into the chamber. “You refused to receive me, Mrs. Joyes. You sought to turn me away like some clerk or apprentice who forgot his place. And you think I am bold?”
Her nose rose. “A gentleman would have accepted my choice with grace, not invaded like a barbarian.”
“I am no graceful gentleman, I am relieved to say. Being one forces the most stupid behavior on a man. However, I remind you that I am Your Grace.”
He made his way to the window and checked its prospect. She could see Park Lane’s length from it, which had probably been this small chamber’s appeal.
He turned and faced her. “Do not do this again.”
She did not like that. He did not care. She pressed the wall behind her to put more distance between them. She made it a point never to allow her gaze to acknowledge that big bed beside her.
“I am not obligated to entertain you, Your Grace, especially when I have reason to believe you will not behave well.”
“You had no reason to believe anything of the kind today.”
“I saw you approach, while looking out that window. You appeared too happy.”
“You hold it against a man that he is in a pleasant mood? Hell, you are strict.”
“You were merely in a pleasant mood when you visited The Rarest Blooms. Today you exceeded that. I believe that you have been imbibing