An Unlikely Father by Lynn Collum Page B

than he’d been when he left. At least he was reconciled to the loss of his French cook at Hawk’s Lair, if not happy about the matter. There could be few house parties at the castle until the children were grown, and Mrs. Tremont’s fare of simple but good English cooking would suit him during his brief visits in the future.
    The earl was startled to see two strange carriages drawn up beside the paddock. His dark brows drew together as he looked at his friend. “What new catastrophe has arrived in my absence? I begin to think my life has suddenly become cursed by some evil demon.”
    Sir Ethan laughed. “Are you growing superstitious on me after all these years?” The baronet, recognizing the look of hired livery and the abundance of heavy luggage still strapped on the vehicles, suspected the identity of the visitors. “Perchance it is something simple. Did you forget about Miss Devereau and her companions’ arrival?”
    Oliver experienced a moment’s discomfort at the thought of an assortment of singularly coarse actresses invading the castle with his wards and two females of quality in residence. “It cannot be. I assure you, I sent Colette Devereau a letter informing her of the change in plans and included ample compensation to soothe any actress’s greedy little heart.”
    But a few moments’ conversation with the postboys dashed the earl’s confidence. Somehow there had been a mix-up, and Colette and her band of high flyers were now inside his home. With due haste, Hawksworth made his way to the castle.
    On entering the front door, he was greeted by Bedows. Oliver immediately asked, “Where are they?” There was no need for him to explain to his servant who “they” were.
    “In the Queen’s Saloon, sir.” The butler hesitated only a moment before adding, “Being served tea by Miss Collins.”
    “Good God! Was there ever a more troublesome female? Had she no sense of decorum?”
    The earl turned on his heel without waiting for or expecting a response from either his butler or his friend to his rhetorical question. He marched straight into the Queen’s Saloon without any warning to the room’s occupants.
    His gaze locked with Miss Collins’s the moment he stepped through the door. A defiant light twinkled in the amber depths of her eyes, as if to warn him of her mood.
    She calmly rose, dressed in the prim grey gown she’d arrived in. “Good morning, my lord.”
    Before he could utter a word of reproach to the lady for socializing with such low females, the ever-ambitious Colette, upon seeing his lordship, rose and dashed towards him, throwing her arms round his neck. “You have come at last, dear Hawk.”
    The cloying odor of the actress’s perfume made the earl’s stomach chum with revulsion. Or was it the heavy paint on her lips and cheeks he found so repellent? All he was certain of was that he found the woman completely unappealing as he pulled her arms away and set her from him.
    “Did you not receive my message not to come, Miss Devereau?” His tone was cool.
    Collette Devereau, being the daughter of a tanner, had very little education, but like most women in her profession, she did know men. Every line of his lordship’s face was telling her she and her friends were an unwelcome sight. Did it have something to do with the pretty little chit who’d welcomed them into the castle? She watched the earl’s blue gaze stray to where the young woman was seated, but there was more of an angry glint in their depths than lust. All she was certain of was that she didn’t want to alienate the earl. He might not be interested at the moment, but one never knew when their paths might cross again.
    “No, I did not, my lord.”
    The earl paid little heed to Miss Devereau. His gaze was again riveted on Miss Collins. Anger at her interference in his affairs drove him. He stepped around the actress even as he apologized.
    “Sir Ethan will explain the misunderstanding and compensate you and your