Page 10 of An Enchanting Kiss (Captivating Kisses #5)

Rupert thought he might get more out of her if she were comfortable in his presence, so he said, “Please take a seat, Newton.” As she did so, he added, “Or should I call you Bets?”

She flashed him a flirtatious smile. “Bets is fine, my lord.” Batting her lashes at him, she added, “It is short for Betsy, but I’ve always preferred Bets. A little saucy, don’t you think?”

“Your speech is bold for a servant’s, Bets.”

She cocked her head. “Well, I am not so much a servant as I am someone who... looks after one of your family members. I have learned that Lord Cressley is no more. Not directly, of course. Strictly through the gossip of servants.” She paused.

“You must be the younger brother. Maude mentioned you once to me.”

“Maude?” he asked easily, knowing he was getting somewhere now.

“Yes. Maude is Celia’s mother. She was my dearest friend in the world.”

“I am surprised Cressley did not have Maude accompany Celia and you to Crestbrook.”

“That’s because she died giving birth to the brat,” Bets said brazenly, and then looked contrite. “The girl, my lord.”

“You must have been very good friends with Maude to have known about her liaison with my brother.”

“Oh, Lord Cressley got a house for us. A bit on the smallish side, but a house, all the same,” she said breezily. “He would come and visit Maude there. Gave them some privacy.”

“And the viscount approved of you living with Maude? I do not know of many men who keep a mistress and a mistress’ friend.”

“Well, I had fallen on a bit of hard times,” Bets revealed. “I was acting as a lady’s maid to Maude while she was seeing his lordship.”

Rupert doubted the two women had been friends. He believed this woman nothing more than a servant.

“It was gracious of you to volunteer to care for my niece when your friend passed.”

“I didn’t know what to do,” she declared, suddenly agitated.

“There was so much blood. The midwife took her time getting there. By the time she arrived, Maude was so weak. Broken. The head was already crowning. The midwife delivered the child, and Maude was no more. I sent word to Lord Cressley. He didn’t come for three days! ”

Knowing only Newton and Celia had arrived at Crestbrook, he asked, “What of a wet nurse?”

Color quickly flooded her cheeks. “Well, my lord, that was part of the trouble I found myself in. I, too, had a titled gent who got a child on me. He was not half as kind as your brother, though. He washed his hands of me when he learned I carried his child.”

He stared at her stonily, not certain he could believe everything this woman said. “What happened to your child?”

“She died,” the servant spat out. “And I was glad for it. I lost my good figure because of her. I knew with Maude gone that I would be turned out by Lord Cressley. When he finally came, I told him I’d been nursing his babe to keep her alive.

I was the one who told him that he needed me .

That Maude had loved him beyond measure, and he owed it to her to take care of their child. Give it a home. And I came with that.”

“So, you served as wet nurse, and the viscount sent you to Crestbrook.”

“He did,” she said, resentment sounding in her voice. “But I knew nothing about babes. Or children. I’ve had to figure things out with Celia.”

“I do not think you have done anything except abstain from your obligations to my niece, he said coldly.

When she started to protest, he held up a hand to silence her.

“I have only been at Crestbrook a few hours, and I see how neglectful you have been regarding my niece. Celia’s clothes are stained. Her hair is like a rat’s nest. She had no table manners whatsoever and is left to roam the house and the estate while you are off doing God knows what.”

Leaping to her feet, Newton said, “I never wanted to be here this long. I thought his lordship would have come by now and possibly offer another position to me instead. ”

The coy way she said that made Rupert burst out in laughter. “You were never going to be Cressley’s mistress, Newton. If Celia has been an afterthought after all these years, why do you believe he would have thought of you, much less as his mistress?”

She sputtered, her body simmering with anger.

“I did not know of Celia’s existence. Neither did our family’s solicitor. And you have barely acknowledged the child you were charged to care for.”

Rupert rose. “You are dismissed. You have never done a minute’s worth of work. You are the last person I wish to be looking after my niece.”

She crossed her arms. “You can’t simply let me go.”

“I just did,” he said flatly.

“I am owed. I need to be paid for this quarter. I need coin to leave this horrible place in the middle of nowhere.” Her eyes narrowed.

“I kept the brat alive when no one else did. I nursed her until my nipples cracked. I could have tossed her out with the rubbish and told Lord Cressley that she and Maude both died. But I didn’t do that, my lord. ”

He would do anything to get this woman as far as possible from Celia and Crestbrook.

“Where do you wish to go?”

“Back to London.”

“I will give you adequate funds to purchase a ticket on the mail coach, along with a bit more so that you can have meals along the way. But that is it. Prater!” he called.

The door swung open, and he wondered just how much of the conversation the butler had overheard.

“Yes, my lord?”

“I wish for you to personally escort Newton upstairs and watch while she packs her things. See that she takes nothing which does not belong to her. And do not under any circumstances allow her into Miss Celia’s room. ”

“I understand, my lord.”

“After that, she is to be taken into Kidsgrove and left at the inn. Tell the innkeeper that I will pay for one night’s stay.” He turned to Newton. “Get on that mail coach tomorrow. Is that understood?”

“Yes, my lord ,” the woman snapped, flouncing from the room.

Prater hurried after her, and Rupert opened the top right-hand drawer, where he had found some pound notes and coins. He guessed at the amount needed and took it to Mrs. Prater.

“Newton is packing now under your husband’s supervision.” He handed the money to the housekeeper. “She is to be given this so she can return to London.”

“Thank goodness she will be gone,” Mrs. Prater declared. “We have been told by others in the village that Newton spent much of her time at the tavern, drinking the night away.”

He wanted to call her out since she had known of Newton’s frequent absences and had done nothing to protect Celia. Then again, all this had taken place under his brother’s watch, or lack of it. He had told the Praters they were to have a fresh start, and he meant it.

Rupert remained in his study watching out the window until a cart appeared, Newton sitting next to the driver. It moved away from the house. Only then did he feel his niece was finally safe. He then went up to the nursery and sat beside Celia’s bed.

Stroking her hair, he said to the sleeping child, “That woman is gone. She will never be seen again. I vow to protect you, Celia. No harm will ever come to you.”