Beauty Tempts the Beast (Sins for All Seasons #6) - Lorraine Heath Page 0,32

I’ve accepted it. Tomorrow—or I suppose really later today—I’ll be moving into the residence where I’ll be teaching.”

“Teaching? You’re not a teacher.”

Neither was she a seamstress, a grocer’s clerk, or a very accomplished tavern maid.

“I believe I’m well equipped to handle the subject matter. Mr. Trewlove is assisting some ladies in bettering their lives, and part of that assistance involves learning refinement. He’s paying me a hundred pounds per annum, board, and lodgings. I could hardly refuse such a generous offer.”

His brow furrowed so deeply she feared he might hurt himself. “That is an exorbitant proposal. Why would he make it? What does he want of you?”

“I explained. To teach refinement, finesse, and etiquette.”

He shook his head. “No, he seeks to take advantage of you, to get you into his bed. I forbid this.”

She could not have drawn her head back more if he’d slapped her. “I beg your pardon?”

“You’re not to do it.”

“I have already agreed to it.”

“Send him a missive letting him know you have unagreed to it.”

“I bloody well will not.”

He looked as though she’d punched him. “I am your brother—”

“Yes, but not my father, not my husband, not my king. You do not reign over me. Besides, I want to do this. I’m excited by the prospect of it. I have the skills for it. I can make a difference.”

Even as she spoke the words, she realized they were all true, truer than she’d fathomed. Having been so focused on securing her future, she hadn’t truly taken the time to consider how she felt about what she’d be doing.

He appeared dumbfounded as he dropped into the chair at the table. “So you won’t be here any longer?”

It occurred to her that he wasn’t objecting so much to her position as he was to the fact that he would now be alone. He would awaken in the morning and return in the evening to an empty house. Joining him at the table, she lowered herself into the other chair and placed her hands over his. She needed to tend to his palms before they retired. After tonight, he’d have to tend to them himself. “I overheard you and Marcus talking last night. Griff, I don’t need a nanny.”

With a groan, he squeezed his eyes shut. “Althea, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

“I know. Look at me.”

He opened his eyes, as blue as hers, and she saw so much regret there.

“I don’t know precisely what Marcus is doing, but I heard enough to know it’s incredibly dangerous, and I know he needs you at his side, more than I do. With my new position, I’ll be facing no peril whatsoever. No drunken gentlemen about to misbehave. No walking alone late at night. I’ll be sleeping in a bed. I’ll have a fire. I’ll be safe. If you decide you are better needed elsewhere, you are free to go without battling any guilt.” She squeezed his hands. “If you do decide to join Marcus in his endeavors, please, please, please take care. I cannot bear the thought of losing either one of you.”

He gave her a crooked smile. “I think we both see you as that irritating little girl who wanted us to join her for tea parties with those tiny little cups that held no more than three drops of liquid.”

They’d never accepted her invitations, although she’d always assumed it was the small table and the dolls occupying the chairs to which they’d objected. “I’m far removed from being interested in tea parties these days.”

“Marcus probably won’t like it. On the other hand, I think you’re correct that this new position will create less worry for him . . . and me. It seems this Trewlove fellow has already taken it upon himself to shelter you, to ensure you are unharmed.”

“From what I observed when he came into the Mermaid and what others have told me, it appears he’s made it his life’s work to see that people are not treated unfairly.”

“No doubt comes from being born a by-blow. He can’t have had it easy growing up. Although, I daresay the Trewlove name has more respect these days than ours. Imagine that.”

It sounded as though imagining that left a sour taste in his mouth, and she wasn’t certain if it was because Trewlove had become synonymous with bastard or because Stanwick had become synonymous with traitor, and that the majority of the population would choose an association with a Trewlove over one with a Stanwick. Which