never going to turn her into a
beauty. You need to find something that’s her special
thing. Like taking snuff.”
“The countess won’t take snuff!”
“Not that, ninny, since Lady Mottram already does it.
And Mrs. Deveril drives that canary-yellow phaeton
and Lady Chivers takes that pet monkey everywhere.”
“So I need something that will make Lady Spenford
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206
stand out from the crowd,” Miriam said thoughtfully.
Far easier said than done.
“There’s lots of ladies that aren’t beauties, but they
still command the attention of a room full of people,”
Tom said. “Like yourself.”
Miriam’s head whipped around. “Beg your pardon?”
Tom looked as if he’d like to bite off his own tongue.
“Nothing,” he muttered. “You’re not even a lady.
You’re a lady’s maid.”
“I don’t command the attention of a room,” she said.
“I’ve never done so in my life.”
He pffed. “It’s been that way since you were fourteen
years old.” His jaw reddened.
So he did remember that kiss! Miriam held tight to
the knowledge, stored it in her heart to examine later.
“All the men, the servants, like you,” he said.
“They all like Becky,” she retorted. Miriam’s face
might be pleasant enough, but Becky, a junior
housemaid, had fair hair, rosebud lips and curves that a
beanpole like Miriam could only dream of.
“’Course they fancy Becky,” Tom said, scotching
what she now realized was a hope that he’d say he
found her much prettier than the other girl. “But you
were wondering if a woman can hold people’s attention
without being a raving beauty, and I’m telling you she
can.”
“Thank you,” she said through gritted teeth.
He eyed her in confusion…then burst out laughing.
“I’m not saying you’re plain like the countess, Miriam.”
“I don’t care if you are.”
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THE EARL’S MISTAKEN BRIDE
More seriously, he said, “You’re pretty enough. But
more important, there’s something about you, a kind of
energy. Every servant in this house would be thrilled for
you to bestow a smile on him, Miriam.”
She didn’t care about any other servant, though it
would be hard to look any of them in the eye after the
nonsense Tom was talking. “Even you?” she asked.
Their eyes connected, held.
He cleared his throat. “I’m saying, there are ways you
can help the countess make more of herself.”
His firmness told her she wouldn’t get more out of
him.
They sat in silence for a moment or two.
“Those cravats won’t starch themselves,” Tom said
after a while. But he didn’t move.
“That ruffle won’t mend itself, neither,” Miriam
added. And didn’t move.
Tom’s knee shifted slightly so that it almost, just a
hair-breadth short, touched hers. “Maybe there is
something we could do,” Miriam said.
He looked at her knee. “What do you mean?”
“To help the earl and countess.”
“Oh. That.” He sounded disappointed.
“Maybe if you say nice things to Lord Spenford about
Lady Spenford…help him see she’s a good countess.”
“My opinion won’t count for naught.”
“You and his lordship used to be friends,” Miriam
said. “If he’s feeling unsettled, he might be willing to
remember that. I’ve heard of some masters who are
right good friends with their valets.”
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“The Earl of Spenford isn’t that kind of gentleman,”
Tom said. “He likes me to know my place, and I like it,
too.”
Infuriating man! “Do you know the word
intransigence? ”
she
asked
Tom.
“It
means
stubbornness, I think.”
He rolled his eyes. “What do you want me to say, that
you’re clever as well as striking?”
“I want you to say you’ll give my idea a try,” she
said.
They were glaring at each other when the door
opened and the earl entered.
Funny how a moment ago Miriam had believed
sitting on a carved chest in the earl’s bedroom was no
great crime. Funny how she could boldly declare to
Tom that they were all equal in God’s eyes, and now
find her palms sweating as she jumped to her feet, an
apology tripping on her tongue. Tom was a little slower
getting to his feet, but equally embarrassed.
The earl definitely had mortal eyes, which did not
embrace equality among God’s creation. Those eyes
narrowed on them. “Harper, if you have nothing to do,
perhaps you could have my curricle brought around.
I’m going driving with Lord Severn—I’ll wear the dark
blue coat.”
“Yes, my lord.” Tom discreetly hid a cough that
revealed his lingering illness.
The earl had dark circles beneath his mortal eyes,
Miriam noticed. She seldom got this close to the master
of the house, but now she could see small lines at the
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THE EARL’S MISTAKEN BRIDE
corner of his mouth. Not worry about his mother, she
suspected, since the dowager was doing nicely, but his
marriage.
The earl was staring at the open door between the two
bedchambers as if he’d never seen it before. Miriam
gave Tom a significant look, and jerked her head in the
earl’s direction.
Tom cleared his throat. “Miss Bligh, with regard to
that matter we were discussing, I will be happy to
assist.”
“Thank you, Mr.