dust floated about Mr. Woodsworth’s face, making him appear like a dream. “You are no longer courting her?”
“No.”
Patience lifted her shoulders. Perhaps her time here had not been a complete waste. Mr. Woodsworth wouldn’t marry Miss Morgan. It was a relief. It was right, and she couldn’t help but feel like she was partially responsible. Her grin grew broader.
“I see that makes you happy.”
“Very.”
“I must admit I hoped it might.”
“Of course it makes me happy. That woman only wanted to use you. And she didn’t even commit to using you. She just strung you along like Cook’s collection of potato skins. She keeps them, thinking someday she might use them, but in the end, they just get thrown out after going bad. There are other people that might like those. Molly would happily take them home to her family, but Cook just waits and waits until they are no longer good for anyone. Good for you, Mr. Woodsworth, for not waiting on a woman who has no real use for you when I am certain there is another out there who would be grateful to have you.”
Mr. Woodsworth walked over to her chair, reached for both of her hands, and pulled her up to stand next to him. The sunlight reflected in his pale-blue eyes, casting a gleam across them like none she had seen before.
“Patience.” The way he said her name sounded different. Reverent, even, but he shouldn’t be calling her that anymore. Not now that he knew who she truly was. His thumb traced each of her poor, cracked fingers. She should step away. Lady Patience should not be alone in a man’s study. Especially not in this man’s study. It was one thing to be impressionable and thoughtless when she was a maid, but now that he knew she was Lady Patience, she no longer had that luxury. She needed to find a place somewhere between Mama and Nicholas. Today seemed like a day to act like Nicholas. She wouldn’t be swayed by fancy. But Mr. Woodsworth continued, “Is there any chance that woman could be you?”
Every nerve in her fingers felt as if they were on fire. She pulled her hands away from him. Mr. Woodsworth had fended off all of her advances, and yet now that he knew of her position in life he was suddenly pursuing her? Had he only given up Miss Morgan for the chance to marry someone several ranks above her? “You must know how inappropriate that would be.”
She had done this to him. She had taken him in while a maid and confused him. “The difference in our stations is unsurmountable. You must see that. Not to mention, I have lived in your home, acted as your servant. Can you imagine the scandal?”
“I’ve thought of that. Would you hear me out? I have thought of all of it. It isn’t a perfect solution, and it will require some waiting on our parts. But I am willing to wait if you are. I don’t want to rush you. I’m not asking you to marry me. But I am asking you to consider allowing me to court you and allowing me to court you in perhaps an unconventional manner. At any time, you may tell me you don’t want me, and I will allow you to continue on the path we pave for you. You will have a much better chance of marrying someone of your choosing and living a full life if you agree to my plan. So I hope you will listen to it.”
Living a full life? Marrying the man of her choosing? “Have you talked to Nicholas about this?” There was no way he would approve. “Has he been here?”
The lines between his eyebrows reappeared, and his smile was gone. “Who is Nicholas?”
“I mean Harrington, Duke Harrington.” Nobody called him Nicholas anymore, not even their mother.
“What does the Duke of Harrington have to do with this?”
Patience leaned forward and clasped the elbow of Mr. Woodsworth’s jacket. “Lord Bryant didn’t say anything about him?”
“No, he declared you dead and then left. Why, what does he have to do with His Grace?”
“Nothing, practically nothing.” Was Mr. Woodsworth acting as if he didn’t know who she was, or did he truly not know? “They are friends, I suppose.” She followed the lines of his face, so bold that, at first, she had thought him too rough to be considered handsome. He looked different to her now. The too-smooth faces of the likes