He had stayed with Beatrice until she had eaten every bit of food and had drunk the entire pot of tea, but the meal had been finished in a tense silence. Not that he could blame her. He was not at all sure what to say either.
Now, in his own bedchamber, he paced the floor before the fireplace, wondering how he had gone from speaking of her marriage to Henry to kissing her.
“What a foolish thing,” he murmured to himself and shook his head.
Yet even as he said so, he felt the lingering pleasure of their kiss upon his lips. He reached up, touching his fingertips to his mouth. In his younger years, he had had much fun chasing women and visiting brothels. It had been an excellent wayto blow off steam and let loose from the tight restraints and pressure that came from being not just the Duke of Morcaster but also the guardian of his younger brother.
After a while, though, he had grown bored with such a lifestyle and had turned his focus solely on his duties. Which, unfortunately, had led to him not keeping an eye on Henry, and now, they were in such a predicament that had Algernon bringing Beatrice into his home.
“I should apologize,” Algernon said aloud, still pacing back and forth.
Yet even as he said so, he knew it would do no good. The kiss had been an accident, but since he was going to have to teach her the art of flirtation, it would have been a necessary lesson eventually.
He then thought back to what Beatrice had told him about her father and stepmother—how they had made her a servant and ceased her education completely. It was no wonder she had no idea what wine would do to her head, he realized. It also made sense as to why she had been so hesitant to eat in front of him and Henry. She’d had no proper training on etiquette and had not wanted to embarrass herself.
He would have to be more careful with her, he decided. He would have to keep in mind that so much of her birthright was stolen from her. Such a thought angered him, despite the fact that they had barely known each other a week. Yet even so, he felt more determined than ever to help her change Henry’smind. Even if he could not make the two of them fall in love with one another, even if a strange sort of possessiveness overtook him at the thought, at least by marrying the two, he could provide them both a safety net.
He just had to help Beatrice convince Henry to change his mind.
CHAPTER NINE
“Hello, Alice,” Beatrice chipperly greeted as she skipped into the kitchen the next morning.
Alice looked up from her mixing bowl, her ice blue eyes full of mirth as she saw Beatrice, and she smiled.
Like Beatrice, Alice had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, but the resemblance stopped there. Alice’s bright, copper curls were always springing loose from the white cap she wore, and while Beatrice’s blue eyes were deep and dark, Alice’s were full of light and mischief and framed with laugh lines that spoke to years of joy. She was a curvier woman compared to Beatrice as well, with strong forearms that could whisk a batter or knead dough for hours.
“Good morning, Lady Beatrice,” Alice replied, her tone warm. “Did you break your fast?”
Beatrice twisted her fingers together and looked sheepishly down at the freshly scrubbed wooden floorboard of the kitchen.
“I was not hungry,” she said with a casual shrug. Wanting to change the subject, she asked, “So, what do you need help with this morning?”
“Oh, no, you cannot help with anything today. Not until you break your fast,” Alice replied, shaking her head as went back to whisking. “The Duke came down earlier this morning with strict orders that you were not be allowed to help anyone until you ate something. He said you were no longer allowed to skip meals.”
Beatrice scowled, even as heat rose from her core. She had tried all night to find something else to think of other than Algernon’s kiss, and now, she was reminded of it all over again. The man was quickly taking over all aspects of her life, despite his insistence that he did not want anything to do with her.
“And if I break His Grace’s rules?” Beatrice asked, pushing the memory of their kiss from her mind.
Alice chortled.
“I would not risk it, child. The Duke does not do well with disobedience. Furthermore, why would you want to? He is treating you as a guest, is he not? Put you in fancy dresses and gave you a nice room instead of making you a servant as you were before?”
Guilt shot through Beatrice’s heart at Alice’s harsh but true words. She was right. Even if she had been born a lady or not, Algernon could have forced her into servitude or worse if he so wished, yet he hadn’t. Instead, he’d treated her like the lady her father and stepmother never had, and he was even trying to give her a husband with a good title and decent fortune.
“You are right,” Beatrice sighed, going to the already sliced loaf of bread on the other counter, “But just some of this bread will do. I do not wish to make more work for you.”
Alice thumped her mixing bowl atop the counter, making Beatrice jolt then pause mid-step toward the bread.
“You will sit, Lady Beatrice,” Alice instructed, giving her a warning grin as she pulled the tea towel tucked into her apron and wiped her hands, “and you will eat what I make you which will be a full breakfast. Now, sit on that stool and clean those eggs while I cook.”
Beatrice gave Alice a sheepish grin and did as she was told. Even though she had not known the cook very long, Beatrice had known right away she was not a woman to argue with. For the next few moments, Beatrice sat in content silence as she cleaned one egg after the other and transferred the clean ones to a new bowl. The chore was small but filled her with a sense of normalcy.
“You are a strange one, you know that?” Alice asked, setting a full plate in front of Beatrice a few minutes later.
Beatrice blushed as she looked up and met the cook’s eyes.
“How do you mean?” she asked, exchanging the wet rag for the fork sitting on her plate.