I'm His Property

ocks a

ph, over the noise of the card games surrounding them at Grey's. He turned to Samuel Theob

o idea at all? You are the lor

ervants. Your bloody sister has pretended to be his valet for months, Samuel, and he did not even feel an ounce of suspicion. How do you expect him to know wha

brother Maxwell's wife, had fooled him for months on end, pretending to be a man-and his own valet!

y scoffed as they reac

u respond to th

ho

butler and th

a very tight man, too tight for his own good. And Molly seems to be a good influ

ne di

chambermaid months before," said Samuel.

be at the wrong places in most cases-first in my own household pr

is eyes. "Maxwell

suffered enough with Samuel and his older brother when Maxwell went off to Tiny Tow

writer for the Town Herald, the man's mind could very well be c

e table who would not wish for Samuel to be curious about the help Nicholas was t

marvelous article you wrote about Maxine,

sman might be inclined to do if you ruin their reputation, even if it was about a servant beating. A law protecting servants

sighed

s I was attacking but the many other gentries who think themselves too high that they can beat their servants to death over a spilled fifty-year-old brandy! Who would tell the

rely scans the other pages under a blink of an eye but spends an entire mo

ing a lot of attention on yourself by publishing these articles, Samuel. It was different befo

s feet and said, "I see Wynne Hastings, gentlemen. Perhaps I can ask

slim and awkward man sitting across the table with a dr

amuel before he left

l was pulled down a chair by the drunk

"Samuel appears better alone with us, but with that Hastings in tow you can spot no diffe

d with Samuel or Hastings. He was

, he ought to scowl at his brother for treating him as if they were of the same age. But t

tated under his breath for Ralph to only hear, "the

tration. "I am starting to truly que

pent an hour or more inside her chamber the other day. Can you believe it? Baldwin!

uld I when we both know he co

sted his chin over his knuckles. "If I could only gain access int

hind the door is a woman? F

r once," he

ong

He did yesterday when Emma burst into my study without warning and I do assure you, Nick, I

ld you ask your footman

d by our sister-in-law into think

pe his attack. Samuel and Hastings managed to escape the drunken lord's table a

e murmured under his breath, draw

f if we cannot dig further than this. The numbers of missing women and children from the f

as he said under his breath, "No one has displayed their suspicion of me in Rock'

*

she had been naught but grateful for her spacious chamber in Rock'oles. She ha

ather than the s

il

ound the room restlessly. "Sorry," she murmured. She may be perfectly oriented

and Sophia st

she talked to the animal. "I am merely n

, including Marcus, she had never felt intimida

low an innocent man to enter her chamber. Because that would definitely

em. The men who entered her chamber all had their own selfish reasons for being involved in the trade and

the letters she received and handed to others or Marcus. She

ld be the first that she would have to deal with an

e had after that night s

he knew that to survive she ought to have a hard heart. Conscience was not part of h

he was not one of the many who were lucky to experience it. Her life so far had been naught but evidence of what this li

her door and she turned to run toward it. She blindly

he sighed with disappointment when she failed to see Nicholas Everard

agged away from your door." Sophia bit her lips to suppress a chuckle. "I have seen countless men being dragged by the notorious guards o

a long time ago when he had found her door. Mayhap if she did s

ir conversations were filled by his monologues that ranged from funny t

emerged in her line of sight once again. The longing to see beyond the shadows of his face came rushing

ce. But pulling that bell would mean not hearing his voice again. Pulling it would m

in his playful tone, the one she liked the most. "Ah, mind me not," he said, dismissing his own n

a replied

very beautiful door and the wall it is attached to. We have grown intimate in the months I have been visiting. The wall, you see, is a very r

tifled a

what I think of the l

shoulders. He had said enough, she thought, as

opped when he heard the lock turn. Sophia reached out to turn off the ceiling lamp and moved away from the door to

he regained composure. It must be done. T

e distinct voice said, "I was not aware t

erence for she shut out darkness to welco

that Nicholas Everard was i

er in disbelief. "This is real, i

She slowly let it out a

was finally ins