The Earl and the Highwayman's Daughter Read Online Free PDF

serious.” Lord Trentham’s faint voice made a mockery of his words. “Send a footman to collect Lady Beale. Tell her I require her services. And to pack for a long stay.”
    “Yes, my lord.”
    “Miss Hawthorne requires a bedchamber, in the guest wing, Barker. Assign her a personal maid. She will require a bath and dinner in her room.”
    Eugenia stood as the butler attended his lordship. It seemed nothing was required of her. Her life was to be arranged without her consultation. She chewed her lip, not sure she approved.
    “It shall be done, my lord.” Barker hesitated and eyed Molly, restless in Eugenia’s arms. “And the…goose, my lord?”
    Eugenia’s grip on Molly tightened, making the bird squawk as she hurried after him. “You promised to take good care of Molly.”
    “Let it be known to all, and most particularly my chef, that the goose is not on the menu. It is Miss Hawthorne’s pet.”
    “A pet, my lord?”
    His lordship slowly climbed the front steps. “I do wish you’d stop repeating me, Barker.”
    “I beg your pardon, my lord.”
    “Have the goose taken to the home farm,” Lord Trentham ordered. “And Barker? Please remember that anyone who harms the bird will answer to me.”
    “Right, my lord.” Barker snapped his fingers, and a burly footman stepped forward. “You heard his lordship,” he said. “Have the goose taken to the home farm.”
    “Are you sure she’ll be safe?” Eugenia asked suspiciously as the footman reached for Molly.
    “Safe and well cared for, Miss Hawthorne,” his lordship said, his voice weary.
    With reluctance, she placed the bird in the man’s arms. “She needs food and water.”
    “Very well, miss.”
    Her heart thudded as she followed his lordship into a marble entrance hall where a grand staircase swept to the floors above. “We’ve never been apart, not since she was hatched,” she explained, her voice rising in the lofty space.
    “She will have company at the home farm. A gander perhaps.” In pain, he turned and bowed his head. “We shall discuss such matters later. But now you must excuse me.” He leaned on the footman, who assisted him up the stairs. Having gone a few steps, he stopped and looked down. “After breakfast tomorrow you might like to explore the gardens and count the lilacs.”
    “I believe you are teasing me, my lord.” She would go to the home farm instead, if she could find it on this vast estate.
    “Never say so,” his lordship said as he continued upstairs.
    “Allow me to escort you to your bedchamber,” a tall, burly footman said.
    “Thank you.” Embarrassed at how shabby her brown pelisse and straw hat were in this luxurious house, Eugenia followed him. They climbed another flight of stairs. At the end of a corridor, he threw open a door and stood aside for her to enter.
    The room took her breath away, all pinks and golds and larger than the whole of their cottage at Woodland Farm. Astonished, she spun around, observing the wide four-poster bed that she would be lost in, and the gilt-framed pictures and mirrors, and wallpaper patterned with flowers and birds. She crossed the deep-rose-pink carpet to the window, but it was too dark to see the garden.
    A brown-haired maid, who seemed very young, entered the room carrying a china pitcher. “I’m Vanessa, miss. Do you care to wash?” She filled a flowery china basin. “Or would you prefer to bathe? I’ll tell the footman to bring the bath.”
    Would the footman and maid see her naked? She cringed at the thought. “No thank you, Vanessa. I’ll just have a good wash.”
    “May I assist you out of your clothes?”
    “Heavens no.”
    “You’ll find the water closet to the left at the end of the corridor.” She went to the bed and turned down the cover then drew the curtains closed against the night.
    After the maid left her, Eugenia slipped out and located the water closet, which she found a novel experience. When she returned, she stripped down to her stays