Chapter Nine #2
“A situation has been brought to my attention by one of the other housemaids,” Mr. Tompkins said, glaring at Mary. “It would seem there have been some missing items throughout the house and I believe we’ve finally found our culprit.”
Sam looked back and forth between the two.
“I hope this accusation isn’t founded on any false pretenses.”
“I assure you, sir, it is not.”
Samuel turned to the maid.
“Mary? Is this true?” He nodded toward the wrapped object in her arms. “What is it?”
The redheaded maid’s blotchy face crumbled.
“Oh, Mr. Milton… I’m so sorry.”
Sniffling, she glanced up and down the corridor, before taking a step toward a credenza.
She dropped the length of towel, which had been the fabric she was holding to her chest, and unrolled it to reveal several pieces of silverware and a pair of candlestick holders, and placed them on the surface, all the while sniffling and crying. Samuel glanced over at Tompkins.
“A moment, please.”
“Of course, sir,” the man said, though he leveled a stern look at Mary before he disappeared.
Once alone, Samuel picked up a rather fancy-looking serving fork and twirled it around, before looking at Mary.
“This is my fault. I’ve not been paying you enough.”
“Oh no, sir, it isn’t that. It’s just… My Brian, you see.
He’s developed a terrible habit since his injury’s kept him from work.
He’s taken all our money and lost it in the gaming halls.
” She sniffled. “I know I’m supposed to be a good, Godfearing sort of wife and I give him all my earnings so that he might manage it, but…
” She choked back a sob. “He says it’s not a problem, and that what’s a handful of spoons and forks to someone like you, but I don’t think it’s right, Mr. Milton.
It just, we haven’t had anything to eat but the bits of bread I manage to take from here for the last few days and I don’t know what to do. ”
But Samuel understood. He had come up in the same city, in the same class. He knew what it was to scrape by, and while his father had never had an issue with gambling or drinking, he had known countless others who had.
“How much do you need, Mary?”
“Oh no, Mr. Milton, I couldn’t let you.”
“I’m afraid I’m not interested in hiring a new maid. Particularly since I suspect that you’re the one who has the talent for tending to Miss Atherton’s hair.” Mary looked up. “Was that your work?”
She sniffled.
“Yes, sir.”
“It was very pretty, Mary. I’m sure Miss Atherton would rather you stay on as well.
So, you see, it would cause me a bit of grief if I were to have to fire you, only to hire a new maid who didn’t have your talents.
” He paused, giving her some time to process all that he said. “How much money do you need?”
She sniffled again.
“T-twenty-three pounds,” she said, her tone shaky.
Not a steep bill for Samuel, but incredibly high for a maid. Not to mention that from the sounds of it, she was the only one making money.
“Tell me, how is George’s leg since the accident?”
She shook her head.
“It’s mangled, sir. I can barely describe it, though he won’t ever let me see it. I think he’s ashamed. He can hobble around a bit, but he’s not much good for anything else but drinking and gambling.”
“Hm. Can he read?”
“Er, yes, sir.”
“Can he write?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Have him report to the house next Monday, shall we say? Nine o’clock in the morning.
I may have some work that could keep him busy and hopefully keep him away from his vices.
But, in the meantime, I want you to bill the house for your groceries.
” She tried to open her mouth to argue, but he shook his head.
“I’m not saying forever, just until you can manage to save a bit.
And I won’t tell you how to conduct your marriage, Mary, but you really should always have something of value that George can’t readily access. Just in case.”
“You mean, lie?”
“I think, maybe, a wife is entitled to at least one trivial lie if it doesn’t hurt anyone and it is for the benefit of her household. But,” he added as he handed her back the silverware, “I’m not a Godfearing man, Mary. So be wary of whatever advice I give you.”
Mary’s eyes began to flood and she burst into tears. He reached his arm around her shaking shoulders and patted her arm.
“Thank you, Mr. Milton. God bless you.”
He shook his head.
“There’s no need for all that.”
“Oh, but there is, Mr. Milton. Any other grand house such as this would have me arrested and thrown in jail if not the streets.”
“This is not a grand house, Mary. It’s a business. It wouldn’t work without you, same as it wouldn’t work without me.”
“You’re too good a man, Mr. Milton. Too good.”
Samuel let her go. He did not like to be called good but wouldn’t argue. Particularly when he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. The hem of a silk gown? Someone was hiding down in the corridor.
Was someone spying on him?
“If you’ll excuse me, Mary,” he said, his attention elsewhere. “I think it’s time to retire.”
“Of course. And bless you again, Mr. Milton.”
Waving off her words, Samuel strode down the hallway, turning into the library with purpose. Immediately to his right he spotted a figure that he quickly cornered. He reached for their shoulder and forced them to turn around.
“I don’t appreciate being spied on—oh.” He blinked, releasing her so quickly that it almost seemed as if it stung him to touch her. “Miss Atherton. I didn’t realize it was you.”
Wearing a heavy red silk dressing robe, Jane was clutching the edges of her robe tightly together beneath her chin. She appeared equally worried and ashamed.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, instantly. “I only came down for a book. You see, I couldn’t sleep so I thought I might find something to read and came down to the library.
I nearly reached it when I heard voices, but I didn’t want to intrude.
I was trying to hide over there.” She pointed at the enclave.
“And I was going to wait, but then I heard crying and decided to make a run for it and, well…” She hung her head.
“I apologize for having intruded on your conversation.”
He exhaled, annoyed that he had already forgiven her before she spoke.
“It’s no trouble.”
He gave her a small, curt smile and turned to leave, when she spoke again.
“Mr. Milton?” She spoke his name as if it were a question. He glanced back at her and saw her biting her bottom lip. He had to steel his nerves from focusing too much on her mouth.
“Yes, Miss Atherton?” he replied, his voice husky.
“I wanted to apologize. For what I said in the carriage the other day.” He cocked his head.
“I don’t remember you saying anything that would warrant an apology.”
“I do. When I accused you of being charitable for selfish reasons? After having witnessed you just now, what you did for Mary… I think I might have been wrong about you.”
He turned fully to face her as one brow lifted.
“Wrong how, exactly?”
“Well, for one thing, I think you are a good person. Or at the very least, you are a genuine person.”
“Is that so?” he asked, oddly chuffed and embarrassed by her statement. “I thought I was doing it all for nefarious reasons. What did you say? To get people to be loyal to me.”
Jane blushed and damned if it didn’t stir something within him.
“I think perhaps I spoke out of turn when I said that. I might not know why you do the things you do, but I believe that your reasons are genuine, even if your goals are out of reach.”
He smiled at the challenge.
“You really think the world is such a wicked place, don’t you?”
“I know it is.”
“And there is nothing that I can do that would make it better. Is that right?”
She shook her head. “Not in the amount that would change it for the better, for good.”
The finality of her tone agitated him, although it could have been that damned constant jasmine aroma that seemed to follow her everywhere.
“I may be Godless, Miss Atherton, but you’re faithless. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as pessimistic as you. I hate to think how you became this way.”
Jane ducked her head.
“I’d hate to tell you.”
He nodded slowly.
“Hm. I understand. But if I could ask a favor,” he said, coming toward her.
Without thinking, he reached out his hand and tilted her chin up, cursing himself as he did because of how satisfying it was to touch just a small fraction of her skin.
“Please, don’t spy on me, Miss Atherton.
I don’t like it and will not allow it. Even from you. ”
His eyes scanned her mouth as it opened slightly, then closed before she spoke. For some reason, his pulse inadvertently leapt and his blood seemed to warm. Her gray eyes shimmered up at him.
“Yes, Mr. Milton. You have my word.”
And though it was just a small promise, the thought of having any part of Jane made Samuel’s heart expand. Among other things.
“Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he said quickly and without waiting for her to respond.
He left her stranded in the library, but he needed to get hold of himself. It was late, and he was tired, annoyed, and wanting things that he absolutely could not have. Climbing the stairs as if the devil were at his heels, he retired to his room as quickly as possible.
Once in his room, he shut the door and leaned his back against it. Closing his eyes, he imagined Jane just as she was in the library. Wrapped in a dark dressing robe, with her pale blonde hair plaited and hanging over her shoulder, her gray eyes wide and searching.
His fantasies often lacked the hedonism and debauchery of most of the clubs he had been to. If Samuel wanted wild nights or orgies, all he needed to do was visit a club. It had always been within his immediate reach and because of this, he found it less tempting.
But Jane was a different sort entirely. There was something more palatable to Samuel’s senses as he liked to imagine every step he might take in seducing a woman. He found the anticipation to be the sweetest dish, and he wondered what it would be like to woo a woman like Jane.
He imagined her standing in the center of a room, possibly his office, with her cool gray eyes curious and calculating.
She would say something clever, he mused, something biting and brilliant, and he wouldn’t be able to help but approach her.
He’d lift his hand slowly, so as not to frighten her, and let his fingers graze her cheek.
Her expression would be equally offended yet desperate at the feel of his touch, but he wouldn’t continue until he memorized the feel of her skin beneath his fingertips.
Samuel pushed off the door with a groan as he began to undress.
It wasn’t worth imagining, he thought bitterly as he removed his coat.
For years, he had understood the position and power he had cultivated, and the risk wasn’t worth it.
Even if he did find himself increasingly drawn to Jane, he couldn’t do anything.
She was in his employ and therefore untouchable.
He unbuttoned his vest and tossed it on the floor before removing his trouser straps.
He stalked over to the bath that had been poured for him hours ago and dipped his hand in.
It was closer to cold than to lukewarm, but he wouldn’t complain.
In fact, he welcomed it. Maybe a chilly bath was just what he needed to cool his desires.
But after lowering himself into the water, his mind instantly went to Jane. There was no helping it. The mere thought of Jane caused his blood to burn.
Slowly, Samuel’s large hand slid down his abdomen to grip his own length.
It felt wrong to think of her while he touched himself, but if he didn’t meet a release soon, he worried that it might manifest elsewhere.
Tilting his head back, he stared at the ceiling as he rolled his fingers up and down.
He imagined Jane, naked, with her pale blonde hair undone and cascading over her shoulders and hiding her breasts from his sight.
He moaned as his hand began to move faster.
God, she was the sort of woman to make him throw away all of his convictions, and he’d happily do so if it meant that he could taste her.
He wanted to lick every inch of her body, to smell and taste, touch and see every bit of her.
It had been ages since he had been with a woman, and the self-imposed celibacy he had fostered upon himself over a year ago hadn’t helped.
His head fell back as he worked on himself, imagining all the wicked things he’d do to Jane if he ever had the luck of having her in bed. He pictured her in the bath with him, lowering herself onto his cock as the water came up over her thighs as he entered her.
Samuel’s muscles tightened. Releasing his seed into the bathwater, Samuel closed his eyes as his fractured breathing subsided.
As his heart rate slowed, a ripple of remorse echoed through him.
He couldn’t be a slave to his impulses like this.
Samuel needed to get a better handle on himself and the situation before it got out of hand and, well, he made a proper mess of things.
Groaning, he stood up from the bath, the water falling away from his sinewy body.
Taking a length of towel, he dried himself off as he climbed out of the bath, cursing himself for his lack of control.
He stomped across the floor before collapsing onto the bed without dressing in his nightclothes and promptly fell fast asleep.