Bad Kitty Read Online Free PDF Page A

Mrs. Bush’s frantic pace.
    “Punctuality is a must. While here, you will receive no visitors. There are few male employees here but fraternizing with them is strictly forbidden on charges of dismissal. Damages to household items will be deducted from your wages. Do you understand, Miss Hartley?”
    “Yes ma’am,” Kitty said breathlessly.
    Mrs. Bush suddenly stopped and turned to her. “And Miss Hartley, no matter what the master tells you or requires of you, know this—he is your better. Do not take on any childish hopes he will take you as his wife, or even as his mistress for that matter.”
    Of course that was the furthest thing from Kitty’s mind but, oddly, Mrs. Bush’s statement angered her. She was not a maid. She was a member of the ton , albeit a lowly daughter of a baron. Still.
    “Do you understand?” Mrs. Bush asked.
    “Yes ma’am.” Kitty understood all too well. That was why she was here. Had Mrs. Bush’s warning lent truth to the rumor Bram had indeed used and left the Earl of Rochford’s daughter in a predicament?
    “Good. I feel certain there will be no need for this conversation again then,” Mrs. Bush said before she descended the stairs into the bustling kitchen.
    Kitty followed, at once surrounded by the aroma of meat roasting and the pungent fragrances of exotic spices. Heat radiated from the brick ovens and steam rose from a bubbling pot on the hearth.
    The kitchen was one of Kitty’s favorite places at her uncle’s house. There, they only had two servants, Holt and Laura, whom Kitty loved like they were her own family. Here at the Earl of Wiltshire’s, Kitty counted at least twenty in the kitchen alone.
    And she quickly saw why Mrs. Bush had placed her in the kitchen instead of in Bram’s private chamber. All but one of the kitchen staff were older, unattractive types. For some reason, Mrs. Bush sought to keep Kitty out of Bram’s clutches.
    Kitty should have been grateful. Instead, she was irritated. She told herself it was because she would not be able to watch Bram Barclay herself, but the shadow side of her knew it was because her body longed for that all-encompassing feeling only he had ever tapped. In the short time he had known her, Bram had been able to strip her defenses until she was a mewling ninny bent naked over his desk.
    After a brief introduction to the head cook, Mrs. Bush left.
    “Alice will show you the ropes,” the cook said, gesturing with her knife toward a bright-faced girl who was chopping carrots.
    Kitty nodded.
    Alice wiped her hands on her apron. “I’m Alice. There’s a knife for you there,” she said, pushing half the carrots on the chopping block toward Kitty.
    Kitty took her time, watching how Alice held and chopped the carrots. She had no experience in a kitchen and hoped she could pull this off. She doubted being reprimanded by the robust head cook would be as gratifying as the reprimand she had received from Bram.
    Kitty knew Alice was watching her as she struggled to hold and chop the first carrot but, thankfully, by the time she picked up a third, she had grown adept enough not to draw too much attention to herself.
    “So the master hired you on himself, did he?” Alice whispered.
    Kitty nodded.
    Alice wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. “That’s why you’re in the kitchen.”
    Kitty quickly saw her opportunity to learn more. “The master wanted me on staff in his private suite.”
    “All the more reason for Mrs. Bush to cast you into the kitchen,” Alice said. “She’s hoping he’ll forget about you.”
    “But why?”
    “She doesn’t care for anyone the master takes to.”
    Heat flamed in the back of Kitty’s neck. The master had taken to her? Some part of her was thrilled. Another part tried to reason that a man like Bram Barclay was only taken with her the same way a cat was taken with a mouse.
    “Does that include women like the Earl of Rochford’s daughter?” Kitty asked conspiratorially.
    “Silence!” the