Tea For Two by Cheri Chesley Page B

someone in his
employ. He’d been raised better than that. Still, watching her care
for the injured maid stirred something deep within his heart.
Something he would do well to resist.
    He heard the bed frame creak when she rose,
and felt her draw near to him. But when her hand touched his arm,
it was all he could do not to leap out of his skin. He turned and
looked down into the depths of her eyes. Brown hardly did them
justice. They were the color of honey on a warm day.
    “I am finished, my lord,” she said.
    “Very well.” He pulled away from her,
suddenly desperate to put distance between them. “Jayne, I trust
you will be more careful in the future.”
    “Wait,” Jayne said from the bed. “I am in
need of something else.”
    Brendan closed his eyes, willing for patience
he didn’t feel. Jayne had been hurt in his home, she was his
employee, and he bore some responsibility for her. She didn’t
deserve to suffer simply because he had an odd reaction to
Shannah.
    “What is it?” he asked, forcing kindness into
his tone.
    Jayne cast her eyes about a moment before
throwing her arm dramatically over her face. “Oh, my head, my lord.
It aches so fiercely. I fear I cannot stand it.”
    Brendan did sigh then. Why women felt playing
at being helpless endeared them to men he would never understand.
He had learned from his military service that he preferred people
to be capable—male or female.
    “I’m certain Shannah can tend to your needs,”
he said, biting back the impatience he felt. “I am of little help
in a sick room.”
    Shannah nodded. “I’ll get you a cool cloth
and pull the drapes.” She moved immediately to the windows.
    Brendan’s relief could surely be felt
throughout the room. “Thank you, Shannah. Jayne, I do hope you feel
better soon.” And without waiting for a word from either of them,
he disappeared into the hall.
    Brendan returned to his study to seek a
moment of privacy, only to find Mrs. Scrab waiting for him. “Is
everything all right, Millie? I trust dinner hasn’t been
delayed.”
    “Oh, no sir,” she said. “I only wanted to
remind you Jayne was supposed to serve at your mother’s party, and
now I will have to replace her.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t need my
approval for that. Do whatever you feel is best.”
    Millie seemed anxious as she approached him.
“Yes, of course, thank you. I plan to ask Shannah to serve. She’s
been trained same as the other maids, but she’s never served at the
table or at a party before. But I have no one else.”
    Something in her tone pricked his curiosity.
“I’m sure Shannah will do fine. Do you doubt her abilities?”
    “Oh, no,” Millie said. “Shannah’s my best
worker. It’s just that she usually doesn’t stay late into the
evening, and I worry about her.”
    Brendan had the distinct impression he’d
missed an important fact. “Millie, what is it you’re trying not to
tell me?”
    Still the woman hedged. “Well, there were
some things the girl told me in confidence. I’m not sure I should
divulge them, but it’s clear you don’t know and you probably
should.”
    He pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off
the coming headache. “If you feel there’s something amiss, you
should certainly tell me. She’s not stealing, is she?”
    “Nothing like that,” Millie said. “There’s no
one more honest or hardworking in all of Brundidge. But that’s just
the thing. Shannah arrives before the other maids, volunteers for
upstairs duties if there’s a girl sick, and has even helped out the
stable boys on more than one occasion.”
    Brendan leaned forward and steepled his
fingers. “Why would one girl work so much?” he wondered.
    “If you’ll bear with me, my lord, I’m getting
to that. You see, Shannah’s parents and sister all died in the same
epidemic that took your dear father. So it’s fallen to her to tend
the family cottage, and care for the young ones her parents left
behind.”
    Millie held