Charlotte Louise Dolan by Three Lords for Lady Anne Page B

notice from Lord Leatham.” So saying, she turned her back on him and began talking to the twins as if he were no longer in the room.
    “There is no need to wait. I have full authority from Leatham to hire and fire employees!” His voice had risen too high. That blasted woman was enough to make a saint lose patience. “You will leave at once—today—within the hour!” He stamped his foot.
    Without bothering to look at him, she said firmly, “When you show me a written power-of-attorney from Lord Leatham, I shall be happy to pack my things.”
    His hands were itching to grab that woman’s neck and squeeze. Never had he felt such an urge to silence a woman by throttling her! “I do not need written authorization. No one has ever questioned my right to hire and fire.”
    She merely stood up, smiled down at him in a patronizing way, and moved toward where he stood blocking the door. At the last possible moment, remembering how easily she had handled him the night before, he moved aside.
    Not that he was afraid of her, of course. Sober, he was sure he could wrestle her to the ground. If he wanted to, which he did not. She was too unnatural a woman for him to have the slightest interest in her, and so he would tell her. She was, after all, freakishly tall, which he had been willing to overlook before. But no longer.
     

Chapter Five
     
    “We’ve got to do something, Drew.” Anthony sat in bed hugging his knees, imagining what it would be like if Anne left. Even thinking about it made his stomach hurt.
    “We already did. We stole the letter Uncle Creighton wrote and burned it.” Andrew got out of bed and started dressing himself.
    “But after a while, when he doesn’t get an answer from Uncle Bronson, he’ll write another.”
    “By that time we’ll have thought of something else. Just because we’ve been behaving good as gold for Anne, doesn’t mean we can’t think any more. We’re still in-gen-i-ous.” Andrew picked up a pillow and threw it at his brother.
    Anthony caught it, then tossed it aside and got out of bed, too. “Yeah. It’ll be fun, too. I miss playing tricks on people.”
    “But it’s better with Anne here.”
    “Of course. I never want her to leave. And I won’t let Uncle Bronson make her. I’ll write him my own letter and explain what really happened ...” He stopped with his shirt half on and half off, because his brother began pounding him on the back.
    “See, see, I told you we’d think of something! We’ll write our own letter. But we have to be careful and keep it a secret, because Uncle Creighton would have a fit if he found out, and even Anne might forbid us to interfere if she knew what we were doing.”
    “Why would she do that?”
    “Because it’s funny about ladies. It’s all right for an upstairs maid like Sally to kiss the footmen and grooms and get her clothes all messed up, but if a lady is caught kissing a man, or even if the man is kissing her, or even if it looks as if they might have been kissing, then she has to marry him.” Tying his last shoe, he stood up and went to the door, where he waited for Anthony to put his own shoes on.
    “That’s nonsense.”
    “‘Struth. Collier Baineton told me, and he’s almost eighteen. He knows all about rules for ladies.”
    They started down the corridor together.
    “Is Anne a lady?”
    “Course she’s a lady. She’s Lady Gloriana, remember?”
    “I remember. I just wasn’t sure if the rules count for her since she’s our governess.”
    “I’m not sure. But we’d better keep our letter secret from everyone, just in case.”
    “We can post it ourselves in Tavistock. All we have to do is think of a reason for going into town.” The bad feeling was gone from his insides, and Anthony grinned at his brother.
    “Hold on, what’s this?” Andrew caught his arm.
    The door to Uncle Bronson’s room was open, and Anthony looked past his brother’s shoulder into the room. Seeing Sally inside, they