Locke. Standards were different for nobility, to be sure. She would be foolish not to take such things into consideration.
She tore the last bit of sausage off the knife tip with her teeth and turned the tip down to pierce the miniature bread loaf on her plate. The knife slid into the bread as if it were cream. Entirely unsatisfying.
A commotion erupted at the front door and Anna looked up from her breakfast in confusion.
What on earth? Was Leif returning the carriage personally, she wondered as she glanced at the clock? No, it was far too early.
Deciding to investigate, she set the knife down and rose from the table. She stepped into the front hall just as her butler Hastings rushed to open the door.
Two young men pushed into the house carrying a large rolled up rug between them. A groomsman hefting a three-tiered armload of traveling trunks, and another who balanced several more boxes and what appeared to be a sack of dirty laundry, followed them. Anna was dumbstruck as the entourage filled her entry hall and could only stare wide-eyed as the apparent moving crew dumped their burdens right on the floor, then turned and sauntered back outside.
Realizing they were going to leave all that stuff in her front hall without a word of explanation, Anna started after them in stunned astonishment. She then froze in her tracks as one more unwelcome guest sauntered through her front door.
It was Jude’s smile that struck her first. It was almost as brilliant as it used to be when he had been a winning and pleasant young man worthy of a quiet girl’s unlimited adoration. The difference was in the fine-lined crow’s feet at the corners of his blue eyes that somehow gave him an inviting air of sophistication and worldliness. There was an added dose of allure in the way his mouth was pulled into the smile as if he had resisted its formation and failed. But the smile, for all its brilliance, did not quite soften the hard distrust present in his eyes.
His easy-mannered stride brought him into the center of the hall. He glanced about her home as if studying the quality of its design and space. Then he turned toward Anna. A flicker of amusement crossed his features and Anna’s spine stiffened.
Amusement, she realized, because she was still staring at him with dumbfounded astonishment.
“Your home is surprisingly tasteful. I should be quite comfortable once I’m settled in.”
“What?” Anna found her voice again in a shriek of alarm. She looked from Jude’s gloating expression to the pile of trunks and boxes of belongings strewn about the floor.
He couldn’t possibly.
“Are you mad?”
Ignoring her question, Jude sauntered past her to enter the room she had just left.
Anna turned away from the mess in her hall, deciding for the moment to set aside the issue of how she was going to throw him and all of his belongings back out the front door in one deft sweep. Following him into the room, she stopped by the table and crossed her arms over her chest in preparation for a fight. She watched in silence as he served himself a cup of coffee.
What scheme had he cooked up now to drive her insane? Clearly that was his plan. He intended to prod her toward lunacy so he could have her safely committed to a quiet little institution or tucked away in an ancient nunnery somewhere.
Jude seemed perfectly content to ignore her as he measured out the proper amount of sugar and only a splash of cream for the dark brew. The man was very particular about how he took his coffee, she noted in irritation. After at least three minutes of watching him with fire burning in her eyes, she lost her patience.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Jude lifted the steaming cup to his lips and took a small sip, testing the flavor, before he turned to face Anna. His smile was gone, but his eyes, as they met hers with deliberate lack of haste, were lit with the icy glitter of vengeance.
“Excellent coffee,” he said, then lifted the cup for
She tore the last bit of sausage off the knife tip with her teeth and turned the tip down to pierce the miniature bread loaf on her plate. The knife slid into the bread as if it were cream. Entirely unsatisfying.
A commotion erupted at the front door and Anna looked up from her breakfast in confusion.
What on earth? Was Leif returning the carriage personally, she wondered as she glanced at the clock? No, it was far too early.
Deciding to investigate, she set the knife down and rose from the table. She stepped into the front hall just as her butler Hastings rushed to open the door.
Two young men pushed into the house carrying a large rolled up rug between them. A groomsman hefting a three-tiered armload of traveling trunks, and another who balanced several more boxes and what appeared to be a sack of dirty laundry, followed them. Anna was dumbstruck as the entourage filled her entry hall and could only stare wide-eyed as the apparent moving crew dumped their burdens right on the floor, then turned and sauntered back outside.
Realizing they were going to leave all that stuff in her front hall without a word of explanation, Anna started after them in stunned astonishment. She then froze in her tracks as one more unwelcome guest sauntered through her front door.
It was Jude’s smile that struck her first. It was almost as brilliant as it used to be when he had been a winning and pleasant young man worthy of a quiet girl’s unlimited adoration. The difference was in the fine-lined crow’s feet at the corners of his blue eyes that somehow gave him an inviting air of sophistication and worldliness. There was an added dose of allure in the way his mouth was pulled into the smile as if he had resisted its formation and failed. But the smile, for all its brilliance, did not quite soften the hard distrust present in his eyes.
His easy-mannered stride brought him into the center of the hall. He glanced about her home as if studying the quality of its design and space. Then he turned toward Anna. A flicker of amusement crossed his features and Anna’s spine stiffened.
Amusement, she realized, because she was still staring at him with dumbfounded astonishment.
“Your home is surprisingly tasteful. I should be quite comfortable once I’m settled in.”
“What?” Anna found her voice again in a shriek of alarm. She looked from Jude’s gloating expression to the pile of trunks and boxes of belongings strewn about the floor.
He couldn’t possibly.
“Are you mad?”
Ignoring her question, Jude sauntered past her to enter the room she had just left.
Anna turned away from the mess in her hall, deciding for the moment to set aside the issue of how she was going to throw him and all of his belongings back out the front door in one deft sweep. Following him into the room, she stopped by the table and crossed her arms over her chest in preparation for a fight. She watched in silence as he served himself a cup of coffee.
What scheme had he cooked up now to drive her insane? Clearly that was his plan. He intended to prod her toward lunacy so he could have her safely committed to a quiet little institution or tucked away in an ancient nunnery somewhere.
Jude seemed perfectly content to ignore her as he measured out the proper amount of sugar and only a splash of cream for the dark brew. The man was very particular about how he took his coffee, she noted in irritation. After at least three minutes of watching him with fire burning in her eyes, she lost her patience.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded.
Jude lifted the steaming cup to his lips and took a small sip, testing the flavor, before he turned to face Anna. His smile was gone, but his eyes, as they met hers with deliberate lack of haste, were lit with the icy glitter of vengeance.
“Excellent coffee,” he said, then lifted the cup for
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