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Since you’re so early… How about waiting in his office and, when he arrives, making some very smart remark about him being a bit late for work?
I grinned. That would nettle him to no end, I was sure!
With light steps I crossed the length of the hallway and stuck the right key into the keyhole when I reached the door to his office. I couldn’t wait to see his face when he arrived and I was already there, waiting for him.
The door swung open - revealing a Mr Rikkard Ambrose, sitting straight as a ruler behind his dark wood desk, studying papers. He glanced up briefly from the papers he was reading, his cool expression not altering in the slightest.
‘Ah, Mr Linton. You are here, finally.’
Bloody Work
Looking down at his papers again, Mr Ambrose gestured to a pile of files and a box beside him on the desk. ‘Deposit these in that box over there, will you?’
I gaped at him, speechless. It was five in the morning!
When, after a few moments, he noticed that I still hadn’t moved, he looked up again. Mr Ambrose would never go so far as to actually raise a questioning eyebrow, but he didn’t need to.
‘You are still standing, although I gave you an order. Any particular reason?’
‘Do you sleep here or what?’ I demanded indignantly.
He looked down again.
‘Why so interested in my sleeping arrangements, Mr Linton? Were you thinking of joining me? If so, I must disappoint you. I do have a bed here, but it would not be wide enough.’
Several things ran through my mind at the moment which I could throw at him, none of which were fit for polite conversation and all of which were likely to get me sacked on the spot. I swallowed my anger and hoped it wouldn’t give me indigestion.
Instead I said: ‘I am three hours early, Mr Ambrose.’
He nodded.
‘Yes, I noticed. Now stop dawdling and take care of those files. Return to me when you are done. Since you are here, I have something else for you to do.’
I went and got the files, praying vehemently that the ‘something’ he wanted me to do involved a sharp sword and the severing of his head from his body. In no time at all I was back in front of his desk, and I still had not exploded or run to get sharp weapons. I was rather impressed with myself.
‘The files are stored as ordered, Mr Ambrose, Sir,’ I said in as sweet a tone as I could manage.
‘I see.’
No ‘Well done’ or ‘Thank you’. He didn’t even raise his head from his papers.
‘Sir? What is it you wished me to do?’
‘To wait until I have finished reading. Then I will give your instructions.’
I closed my eyes and slowly counted to ten to calm myself. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, so I continued to fifteen and then to twenty. But when I reached fifty, I was still just as infuriated as I had been at one. Did he have to be so… cool? So distant?
51, 52, 53…
Well, he was Mr Ambrose, so he was naturally about as warm and welcoming as a freshly calved iceberg, but still. It aggravated me more now than it had before, having seen, in contrast, his infatuated behaviour towards that bloody female the other night at the ball.
64, 65, 66, 67…
And of course he had to have horrible taste in ladies! I wouldn’t have minded if she had been a halfway decent creature, but this Hamilton person was a femme fatale and would leach all the life and money he had out of him.
‘Mr Linton?’
79, 80, 81…
I was incredulous that he couldn’t see it or that he couldn’t find a better woman.
‘Mr Linton!’
He should be able to find another. After all, he was, I had to admit, abominably handsome. Very, very handsome…
97, 98, 99…
‘Mr Linton? Mr Linton, I am talking to you!’
‘What?’ My eyes flew open and I blinked at Mr Ambrose, who was staring at me coolly over the top of his business papers.
‘Mr Linton, I have called your name about five times now and you have been just standing there with your eyes closed. If you are not fully awake yet, I had rather you return home and waste your own time sleeping there than waste my time here. There is work to do.’
I raised my chin and met his gaze unflinchingly.
‘I am completely awake, Sir.’
‘Indeed? Then go and fetch a small leather-bound volume out of the left part of the lowest drawer of your desk. And keep your eyes open while you are walking, will you? I would hate for you to walk against a wall by accident.’
I managed a smile, though I doubt it was very polite.
‘Thank you for the concern for my welfare, Sir.’
He had put his papers aside now, but still he hadn’t looked up. Instead, he was methodically arranging them into several small piles.
‘Who said anything about your welfare, Mr Linton? Stone walls are quite expensive, and I would not like to have to spend money on repairing any cracks.’
I got out of there before I committed a justifiable murder, and marched through my office towards the desk. Of course he had been right, blast him. There was indeed a small, leather-bound book in the lowest drawer of the desk, in the back left corner. I retrieved it and opened it out of curiosity.
‘Bring it directly to me,’ his voice sounded from the other room. ‘There’s nothing in there that would interest you particularly, I can promise you.’
I did not blush as easily as Ella, but my face might have just been a tiny bit red when I returned to Mr Ambrose’s office, the book in hand. Stopping in front of the large, dark wood desk, I held it out to Mr Ambrose. He waved me away.
‘Keep it. It is your responsibility now.’
‘But… you didn’t want me to look inside?’
‘I didn’t want you to waste time on idle curiosity. Remember: Knowledge is power is time is money.’
‘I would have gained knowledge if you had let me read it,’ I pointed out, my rebellious spirit flaring.
He considered this, the coldness in his eyes for a moment replaced by thoughtfulness. Then something sparked there. Surely I was mistaken, but for just a fraction of a second, it looked almost like… humour?
‘True. You may take it home with you and study it in your leisure hours. I shall expect that you have fully familiarized yourself with it by tomorrow morning.’
My mouth popped open in astonishment.
‘What?!’ I demanded. He wanted me to work even after I was out of here?