A Summer Seduction by Candace Camp

here!”
    “Why not? There is plenty of room. I told Genevieve to have a chamber made up for you. And if you are worrying about the proprieties, there is no need. My grandmother’s presence makes it perfectly respectable. Not to mention my sister.”
    “No hint of impropriety would dare attach itself to Lady Genevieve,” Myles agreed with a grin.
    It was not the propriety that made her hesitate, Damaris thought, so much as the fact that she was sure his grandmother and sister both disliked her. However, she could hardly say that to Rawdon. The truth was, she would prefer not to go home; she knew that if she did, she would probably lie awake all night, listening for odd noises. With Rawdon nearby, she felt safe. And that was something she had even less desire to admit to him.
    “But my clothes—my maid—” she began, castigating herself for her weak attempt at refusal.
    “Are already here,” he finished for her. “The servant I sent to your house earlier was charged with telling your maid topack some of your things and bring them here for your stay.”
    “Edith is here?” Damaris smiled, warmed by the idea of his thoughtfulness. She gave Rawdon her hand and stepped down from the hackney. “That is very good of you.”
    Inside, Genevieve and Lady Rawdon waited for them, looking so much the same that one could almost have believed no time had passed. Lady Rawdon’s hands were busy with a piece of needlepoint, but Damaris noted that Genevieve’s embroidery hoop lay idly in her lap. She shoved it aside when they entered and rose lithely to her feet.
    “Are you all right?” Her eyes skated over Rawdon, then Myles, and she relaxed fractionally. “I assume from your lack of bruises and cuts that you did not get into a mill.”
    “Lady Genevieve, I am touched to hear your concern,” Myles told her, grinning.
    “I am always concerned for my brother’s well-being,” Genevieve retorted, shooting Myles a quelling look. “Especially when he is in the company of a scapegrace.” She turned to Rawdon. “Did you find the men you were seeking?”
    “I fear not,” Alec replied. “They had disappeared. Hopefully, something will turn up. In the meantime, Mrs. Howard will be staying with us.”
    Damaris could not see that this news excited Genevieve, who merely said, “Of course. Please, allow me to take you up to your room, Mrs. Howard. I am sure you must be exhausted.”
    “Thank you, yes.” Damaris took her leave of the others and followed Lady Genevieve out of the room.
    Rawdon’s sister said little as she walked up the stairs and along the paneled corridor to Damaris’s room, though Damaris could see from the corner of her eye that Genevieve was watching her with shrewd, assessing eyes. She could hardly blame the girl, of course. Genevieve must wonder who Damaris was and why her brother was taking such an interest in her. No doubt she found it forward of Damaris to run to Rawdon for help. In Genevieve’s place, Damaris suspected that she, too, would be wary of her. Still, it did not make Damaris any more comfortable in Genevieve’s aloof company.
    “Here is your chamber,” Genevieve said, stopping in front of one of the doors and opening it. “I hope you will find everything acceptable. Just ring for a servant if you need anything.”
    “I am sure it is perfect,” Damaris told her honestly. She doubted that much was ever out of place or lacking in a household run by the countess or her granddaughter. “Thank you. It is good of you to take in a stranger like this. I am sorry to impose so on you.”
    Genevieve gave her a smile that did not reach her eyes and said, “Pray do not consider it. Rawdon is a generous man.”
    On that ambiguous note, she nodded to Damaris and left. Damaris went into the spacious room, which was decorated with the same formal elegance as the rest of the house, with velvet draperies of a deep russet and a tester and bed hangings of the same material. Coals glowed in the small