Page 11 of Not His Usual Style (Diamonds of London #10)
Mayfair, London
As she entered her father’s townhouse and gave over their outerwear to the footman, she told the fellow, who lived-in—and who slept in a tiny room beside the kitchen belowstairs—to seek his bed, Tori led the way through the shadow-filled corridors and up the stairs to the drawing room.
For the first time since she’d discovered the Marie Antoinette necklace, her thoughts were not on the jewels or their value.
Instead, every thought in her head revolved around the Earl of Greystone and how when he’d kissed her the second time, there was a return of the immediate heat between them, and what was more, he’d awakened feelings within her she thought had died with her fiancé years ago.
The long-case clock in the corridor just beyond the drawing room door chimed the midnight hour, which meant the one live-in maid had long ago sought her bed, no doubt thinking Tori and her father wouldn’t return home for at least another hour.
She covered a yawn with a hand, and invited the earl to make himself comfortable. “If you wish for tea, I’d be happy to go down to the kitchens and fix it for you, Yo—”
“So help me, if you call me ‘Your Lordship’ one more time…” In the light of the candles burning in the silver sticks on the mantel, emotions she couldn’t read shadowed the brown depths of his eyes, the color of melted drinking chocolate.
“Er, I mean, we are well beyond such formalities, don’t you think? ”
“Perhaps we are.” Did that kiss not affect him as it had her?
To him, was it just a matter of course and he thought nothing of betraying his fiancée like that?
But why did he enact that second kiss? If the first one was only to make her silent in the garden, why have the second at all? “So, about that tea?”
“To be honest, I could do with a drop.”
“Right.” Tori nodded. “I’ll be back in perhaps fifteen minutes.”
“No. I’m coming with you.”
She frowned. “That isn’t necessary. You don’t need to keep watch over me.”
“It’s not that.”
As she left the room, he followed, and though it was a bit unnerving, she was curious as to know why. “Then what is it?”
“I feel somehow responsible for you since we first met in that library, and since I do still have the jewels in my possession, I want to keep you in my sight until your father arrives home.”
As excuses went, it wasn’t that convincing, but she didn’t question it while she led the way belowstairs to the kitchen.
“You needn’t stay. I’m capable to taking care of myself.
” Then the words he’d said to her in the carriage, that her looks were striking and that she wouldn’t be safe on the streets, came to mind. Did he truly think her attractive?
“While that might be so, you are stuck with me for the duration.”
“Hmm.” While the earl lit a candle in a tarnished brass holder that rested on the worktable, Tori moved a kettle onto the warm side of the stove, for a low fire still smoldered.
The cook had probably only vacated the house two hours prior.
The water would heat momentarily, and that meant she wouldn’t need to ask the earl to refire the stove.
“Do you take yours with cream and sugar?”
“A splash of cream in the afternoon or evening, but when I’m taking tea in the morning, I like it without additions.”
“I could see how you would take it straight, though I would have thought you might be a coffee man.”
“There are times when I prefer that.”
Had he gotten a taste for it in the military?
As the water came up to temperature, Tori puttered about the space, locating a tin of tea leaves as well as the container of sugar lumps and the carafe of cream which was kept in a cupboard of sorts with a slab of thick ice to maintain coolness.
She put those things on a tray, then added two cups and saucers.
“There are some cold cuts here if you’re hungry, or I can find some biscuits. ”
“Biscuits would be best. Thank you.” He watched as she measured tea leaves into the bottom of a squat, plain white porcelain teapot. “Where did you learn to make your own tea?”
“Well, Papa doesn’t keep a full staff due to his penchant for gambling away much of his profits from his jewelry shop, so it was essential that I learn a few basic tasks around the house.
I can do tea and put together a few bits and bobs in the kitchen, though cooking is a skill that has escaped me.
I burn more than I cook.” She shrugged. “I can also dress my own bed, launder unmentionables if needed—gowns and dresses require more learning—and I’ve even learned how to tighten the laces on my own stays when a maid isn’t available.
” The heat of embarrassment fired in her cheeks to admit such to this man, but there was nothing for it. That was the truth of her life.
“I’d imagine in sure circumstances, the windfall that could be acquired by selling the Marie Antionette diamonds would go a long way into improving your lifestyle, hmm?”
One of the silver teaspoons dropped from her fingers and clattered on the floor as she gaped at him in shock. “Are you accusing me of stealing the necklace for my own purposes?”
“I can’t help but think it’s a possibility.” He shrugged, and she wished he weren’t so damned handsome. In the low light, a few lines crinkled the delicate skin at the corners of his eyes and mirrored the corners of his mouth.
“How dare you.” She retrieved the spoon, and though she wanted to hurl it at his head, Tori calmly put it in the sink at the back wall.
“Yes, it would ease the strain of the household, but that necklace doesn’t belong to me and shouldn’t be sold to anyone.
It belongs to the current sitting King of France. ”
With a frown, he came closer, caught her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and then peered into her eyes.
What he searched for, she couldn’t say, but she trembled in his hold even if her blood boiled with annoyance.
Finally, he nodded and released her. “Fair enough, and it doesn’t appear that you’re lying. ”
“I never lie.”
He snorted. “Everyone lies, especially to themselves, no matter the good intentions.”
In silence, Tori ferreted out the tins where the cook had stored tiny seed cakes and jam tarts from the day before.
She put a few different offerings on the tea tray then she lifted the steaming kettle off the stove.
Next, she poured the hot water into the tea pot, replaced the kettle, and then fit the lid to the teapot.
“Have you lied, Grey?” The shortened bit of his title felt foreign on her tongue, and she would much rather refer to him as Montague, but she didn’t know him well enough.
Yet.
For the space of a few heartbeats, he stared at her. Finally, he nodded. “I have.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.” Shadows appeared in his eyes, and she couldn’t help but wonder why.
“Would you carry this up to the drawing room for me?”
“Yes, of course.” When he hefted the tray, she blew out the candle on the worktable and then followed him up the stairs.
Once he’d placed the tray on a low table in the drawing room, she settled on a sofa and then poured out a cup of tea as he sat next to her with a bit of space between them.
When their fingers brushed, heated tingles went up her arm to the elbow.
Had he felt that? But when she sneaked a glance at his face, he wore a mask of boredom.
Was it carefully learned and curated so as to not give away his emotions?
That was a slightly sad way of living one’s life.
“You must be excited about your upcoming nuptials, hmm?” Tori asked as she put a splash of cream into her cup and then a smallish lump of sugar.
He grunted. “To be honest, I am not. It is merely another responsibility I must meet.”
“Oh.” The tinkling sound of her teaspoon hitting the sides of the porcelain cup seemed overly loud in the silence of the room.
“Well, she is a lovely lady, and you must be so proud that she’ll soon be your countess.
” Yet when they’d been in the library with her earlier this evening, they didn’t interact like a couple in love and ready to wed.
“I quite agree that Sarah is lovely and beautiful.” He sipped his tea. “As for being my countess, she knows what is expected of her.”
“That is such a dismal statement.” After she took a sip of tea, she frowned at him. “Can I assume yours isn’t a love match?”
“It is not, but we both know our responsibilities, so here we are.” He drained half of his cup in the silence. “I’m afraid that is the way of the beau monde .”
“How sad that is.” And how distracting his presence was!
The warmth of him constantly called out to her, while the scents of citrus, sage, and leather wafted to her nose each time he moved.
The remembered strength of him when his arms had been around her or when he’d carried her sent tingles of need tripping down her spine.
“Everyone should have the chance to marry for love.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You must be one of those fortunate women who have known such. A real romantic, are you?”
“I did. Eight years ago, I fell madly in love with a young man. He was a soldier in the infantry. Louis Fortner, and he was simply the best of all men.” Since it had already been quite an emotionally confusing evening, tears welled in her eyes.
“He was home on leave, and when he proposed, I immediately accepted, and was so happy and proud to do so. Though Louis wasn’t overtly handsome, he was adorable and had a good spirit. ”
“What happened to him?”
She shrugged. “The same fate that took thousands of other men during the war. He died on a battlefield somewhere. Two months after he’d asked for my hand.
I was but a young woman of twenty, and to me at that age, it was the end of the world when he left it.
No more romance, no more looking forward to letters or a future. ”