Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Algernon regretted offering to make Maggie his secretary at precisely six o’clock the next morning, because she woke him early and had bullied Sims into action, too, announcing that Algernon was to ride in Hyde Park.
He would also be making a call to his intended bride.
He rolled his eyes but complied, dragging himself from his warm bed. This was more the Maggie he knew.
He was dragging his feet on the matter of making a call to Lady Kent, since she was likely in Town already. He should have made it a priority to call on her sooner, but Maggie had needed him, and he had needed to be needed, too.
But now Maggie was making it her priority, and he would have to as well.
He rode for an hour in Hyde Park and returned to watch her bustle about the town house, moving purposely from morning room to study to library and back again, glad to see there were no tears in her eyes that morning.
Keeping busy had always helped him banish any black moods, and it seemed to work for her as well. Watching Maggie take charge of his town house, servants, carriage, and belongings was both fascinating and amusing for him.
He ate his breakfast alone but kept an eye on proceedings through the open doorways.
Maggie seemed to have a role that challenged her finally, though it was one that might never come her way in any other place. He was only slightly less worried about her future this morning. With her father gone, she did have to support herself somehow.
Maggie brooked no tardiness among the servants but listened to them with patience and respect. She seemed to be in her element ordering them about, and he knew he’d done the right thing for everyone’s sake when the staff responded favorably.
When she finally returned to the dining room, hands on her hips, he pushed back from the table and stood. “Shall we discuss the day ahead?”
She put her hands behind her back. “Yes, Your Grace.”
He held out his arm. “We’ll adjourn to my study.”
“His Grace should go first,” Maggie murmured.
“Ladies first,” he countered, leaving his hand extended, refusing to be ignored.
“I’m but your humble secretary,” she insisted, stepping back from him. “I will follow behind you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Algernon barked out a laugh and grabbed her arm to thrust her ahead of him. He set his hands on her shoulders and pushed her all the way into his study.
However, he was not amused by her attempt at deference still. It did not sit well with him not to offer her any of the courtesies of a proper lady. When Maggie sat herself down on the chair before the desk, it seemed a misplacement yet again.
Sims arrived and sat close beside her, presenting all the correspondence he’d been carting about for Algernon since they’d left Ravenswood, acting in the role of secretary.
He began to describe the most urgent matters at hand, passing over the appointment book and other valuable papers Algernon had brought with him on this trip.
As the whispering continued between them for longer than he deemed necessary for the task, Algernon ground his teeth that he was excluded from the conversation. In fact, he suspected he could leave the room and neither would notice he was gone.
He had never imagined that making Maggie his secretary would deny him her conversation. Hadn’t she, just two nights ago, clung to his body and asked to be kissed?
Of course, he shouldn’t have kissed her then, and he silently vowed to do nothing else to bring about her ruin. She’d been disappointed in him, of course, but it was for her own good. And now he could hardly make love to his secretary. How would any work get done?
He sat behind the large desk, determined to suppress his irritation with the new situation he’d brought about, and opened a book to read while he waited for the pair to finish their discussion. They talked together exclusively for another half hour, and then fell silent.
When he looked up, Sims was gone, and Maggie was watching him. “Are you enjoying that book, Your Grace?”
“You should know I would, you read it last night.”
“Yes, but I did not attempt to read it upside down.”
Algernon snapped the book shut and threw it aside.
Maggie moved around the desk and sat on the edge. “You have changed your mind about hiring me already, haven’t you, Your Grace?”
“Why do you say that?”
“You’ve been scowling at me all morning, and at Sims, too.”
“Not all morning,” he said.
“Particularly since we entered this study and started discussing your business and schedule for the next few days. You will be quite occupied, it seems, and given the tasks ahead for me, I don’t think we will see much of each other.”
Now he had another reason to scowl.
Maggie sighed. “You should have made Sims your secretary instead. He is quite smart and wants the position.”
“But I offered it to you,” he reminded her.
“And believe me, I am grateful for the opportunity to prove myself.”
“I don’t want gratitude from you,” he muttered, and could not meet her eye.
He looked again at the tired gown she wore with such quiet dignity.
The small, pale hands gripping the edge of the desk.
Hands that would not touch him again. “You’ve nothing to prove to me.
What I want is for you to be happy and safe. ”
“I am safer and happier than I’ve ever been,” she promised.
He looked up. “How is that possible?”
“Because I am with you, Your Grace,” she said.
“Have you forgotten my name?”
“I forget nothing about you. But a secretary should not act so familiar with her employer,” Maggie explained. “You cannot treat me any differently from any other servant.”
He laughed at that and stood, crowding her against the desk. “I cannot see you any other way than I already do. We are friends, and we have kissed.”
“But you don’t want to kiss me anymore, which just goes to prove my suspicions were correct.”
“What suspicions were those?”
Maggie, however, only shook her head stubbornly. “I can never be your equal. I am your employee now, and as such, I cannot expect deferential—”
She was too lovely, too appealing to let her continue with her misguided delusions. Too maddening and dear to his heart. He was drawn to her in a way he’d not expected to ever be with any woman.
It was a problem she seemed utterly unaware of, though, as she continued with her nonsense about having no place in his life.
Algernon caught her face between his hands and kissed her soundly to silence her. Something he’d wanted to do from the moment their last kiss had ended.
He drew back almost immediately and looked down into her eyes. He saw the beginning of a blush forming on her cheeks.
“You were my friend first and always will be, Maggie. My equal. My superior in intellect. You will allow me to help you into carriages, buy you books, and you will sit beside me and not next to my servants in the future. I want to take care of you.”
She stared at him, and then licked her lips. “Will you kiss me goodnight, too, and come to my bed at night if I stay?”
“No, that was our last kiss,” he vowed, and then placed her in his seat behind the desk, aware that he was being bossy again but unable to stop himself. “While I might wish for more, I cannot ruin you. I cannot share your bed if I am to marry Lady Kent.”
And there it was again.
If.
He’d said it out loud this time.
He’d much rather continue his scandalous friendship, his affair with Maggie Black, than wed the wealthy viscountess he believed was the more sensible decision. It was a problem he had still to reconcile in his own mind, choosing between heart and head. He certainly could not have both.
However, the prospect of losing Maggie and their close friendship caused him the most concern. He needed her around much more than she seemed to want him. He could not have her take up a position elsewhere, so he would behave and cherish the time he had left alone with her.
Her expression remained serious as she reached for his hand. “I understand.”
“Good.” Algernon breathed a sigh of relief. He could not lose this woman. Not yet.
It was hardly proper for a duke to hire a female secretary, but he had no regrets about the bad example he was setting.
It wouldn’t be the first time he’d defied convention, or a member of his family had done so either.
For now, hiring Maggie as his secretary was the only way to keep her busy, and in his life, and ensure she was treated with the utmost respect.
He glanced at Maggie now, studying her familiar face and expression. She seemed resigned to becoming a servant, and he hated that future for her. She deserved more, especially after all she’d been denied in her life.
She could have made a good match if her father had protected her better and provided funds for a dowry.
Clearly, Maggie had not noticed the same, or if she had, she was letting her past disappointment color her view of the future. He hung on her every word. Even Sims had remarked on Algernon’s fascination with her.
He twined their fingers together. It was only when Maggie squeezed his hand back that he felt better about the future. “What plans have you made for me this week?”
She drew the appointment book toward her and studied the page. “You are long overdue to speak with Lord Thompson to discuss a matter currently before parliament. He’s desperate for your support. I propose a dinner with him here tomorrow night would help you decide one way or another.”
“Yes, he’s been writing to me for weeks.” He glanced at Maggie. “A dinner here at home is acceptable, but it will set tongues wagging and signify an alliance in the making. Though he will have my support in the end, I suppose. He also has a wife about your age.”
“Jane,” Maggie supplied.
“Yes, Jane. She might have come along with her husband, had I any family here to dine with us.”
“Or if you were married,” Maggie murmured.
He tensed and glanced at her. “Let us not discuss marriage today.”
Not when he had significant fears about his bride’s character.