Forbidden in February Read Online Free PDF Page A

you may as well take a few.” Her eyes went to the clock situated on the sideboard. It was still late morning. “I don’t suppose you’d want luncheon as well right now?”
    He took two biscuits from the plate and shook his head. “I think these will do for now. I’m not a growing lad anymore. If I let you have your way, I’d find myself needing to purchase a new, much larger wardrobe soon.”
    She laughed, the sound reminding him of his youth and all the times he’d stolen away to the kitchen to steal a biscuit or two. Mrs. Harris had known, of course, but she’d never said anything to him about it. “I’ve never seen anyone eat as well as you and never gain a pound. I’d swear you had the devil in you if I didn’t know you so well.”
    “I need to sort through Mother’s paperwork today, so I fear I’ll be buried in the office for quite some time. Perhaps you could have a tray sent up in a couple of hours?”
    With a tsking sound, Mrs. Harris took the two biscuits from his hand and dropped them onto a napkin. She added two more from the plate before wrapping the small bundle and handing it back to him.
    When she hesitated before speaking, he braced himself for the condolences he knew were coming and the wave of guilt that would follow. “I’m so sorry things ended the way they did. You deserved better, but so did your mother.”
    Damn. He knew Mrs. Harris understood why he’d had to leave, and he knew she’d never truly think ill of him, but her words definitely hit their mark.
    “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry as well.”
    He didn’t miss the tears that sprang to her eyes, and he felt himself in danger of following suit. His throat clogged and he couldn’t speak again, but he didn’t have to. Mrs. Harris lifted a corner of her apron to wipe at her eyes before patting him on the arm.
    “Off with you, now. We both have work to do.”
    Thankful for the respite, he dropped a kiss on her cheek before turning and making his way upstairs. He’d almost forgotten how easy it was being home. Since becoming the Duke of Beckworth’s valet, he’d grown used to the more frantic pace of life belowstairs. His duties had eased with the duke’s passing to the point that he constantly sought out tasks to fill his day, but the estate was very large and required a small army for its upkeep. The London town house, while much smaller, was just as busy, especially now that the duchess was in Town.
    When he reached the second floor landing, he paused for a moment, wondering where Isabel had gone. Would it be too much to hope she was waiting for him in the library?
    He hadn’t really expected to find her there, yet he was disappointed to find the room empty. Determined to push thoughts of the all-too-distracting Miss Durham from his mind, he went to the desk and sat. He cleared off a section of the desk for the small bundle of biscuits Mrs. Harris had given him and started chewing on one as he tried to organize his thoughts.
    If he wanted to get through all this paperwork today, he’d need to organize them into piles first. He’d handed Walters the paperwork his mother’s solicitor had given him, and he studiously ignored the corner of the desk where the butler had placed them. With any luck, most of the papers would be receipts for bills his mother had already paid. He’d be able to drop all those back into one drawer, perhaps two, depending on how many she’d kept. Somewhere in the mix, he hoped to find the reason behind why the staff were still at the house even though, if his mother’s solicitor was to be believed, they hadn’t been receiving a salary.
    Two hours later, he’d long since dispatched all the biscuits and was fighting off a headache. But at least he’d made much headway. His mother had held on to every bill and receipt she’d received over the past several years, and separating them out had turned the alarming piles into a few more manageable ones. But he still hadn’t seen anything that