Tempting the Footman (House of Devon #5) - Lauren Smith Page 0,10

lovely young woman. He hadn’t been able to avoid overhearing the duchess and her guests’ conversation. The older woman, the Dowager Countess of Latham, was quite a firebrand. He liked spirit in a woman of any age, and humor even more. It was why he had choked on his own stifled laughter when she had been discussing her criteria in a man suitable for her granddaughter.

Adrian would have loved to be the man for Lady Venetia. She was exquisite. There were others who could be considered more beautiful, perhaps, but there was a kindness in Lady Venetia’s face and a genuineness about her that was appealing. She was shy, it seemed, yet openhearted. She was easy to read and yet not simpleminded as some ladies could be.

Not that he had any right to think of Lady Venetia in such a way. She was the daughter of an earl, a finely bred gentlewoman. No matter what he wanted, Lady Venetia could give nothing to him, not her heart, and not her body. She shone bright like a winter star. Brilliant, beautiful, and very much out of reach.

Adrian sank into a chair at the servants’ table near the kitchen in the basement of the house. He still held Lady Devon’s dainty white-and-blue china teacup. Lord William’s valet, Phillip Webster, was seated across from him, a polishing cloth in one hand and a boot in the other.

“Adrian, are you all right?” Phillip asked.

“What? Oh yes, I’m all right.”

Phillip grinned. “Having tea with Her Grace?” He nodded at the cup.

“No,” he chuckled. “But Mr. Reeves thought so. I’ll be paying for that, I’m sure.”

“He’ll make you polish the silver teapots again,” Phillip guessed.

“Probably.” Adrian laughed and then winced. The elaborate silver teapots were hard to polish because of the intricate metalwork that allowed the tarnish to set in deeply. Any servant who had been on Mr. Reeves’s bad side was often relegated to this task as punishment.

“Is your mother ready for the party this week?” Adrian asked the valet.

“Oh yes, I think so. She’s been gushing over her planned menus with Lady Devon and Mrs. Miller for the last two days. The upstairs crowd will be dining well, that’s for certain.”

Adrian sighed and got back on his feet. “Don’t they always?” It was time to return upstairs.

He had just entered the grand entryway when the Dowager Countess of Latham exited the drawing room.

“Ah, you again, young man. Come here.” She rapped her cane on the floor like a king, summoning him.

“Yes, your ladyship?” Adrian kept hands behind his back in a respectful stance.

“Do you know where my granddaughter is?”

“I’m afraid I do not, but I would be happy to find her for you.”

“Yes, please do that. I will be in my chambers.” Lady Latham nodded at him like a general, then proceeded up the stairs. She moved quickly for someone who appeared so frail.

Adrian spent the next quarter of an hour searching for Lady Venetia. It wasn’t until he found one of the grooms, who said he’d seen her in the gardens, that Adrian believed he knew where to find her.

“Lady Venetia?” He called out her name as he explored the towering maze of hedgerows and the flowering walkways. He checked the orchard next as heavy storm clouds rumbled overhead. The rain, it seemed, had passed, which left him wondering where the young lady was. He was positive she wasn’t inside the Abbey, because no one had seen her. So where—?

A distant cry caught his attention. It came from behind the gardens, deep into the meadow that sloped down to the valley below the Abbey. He thought that one of the sheep, possibly a young ewe, had become stranded in the rain. He wiped his face with his sleeve and stripped out of his coat in case he needed to carry the distressed animal to the nearest tenant farm. He crossed the meadow and reached the spot where the hills sloped down, and then he halted. A creature lay huddled halfway down the slope, but the distressed creature was not a lamb—it was a young lady.

“Hello there! I’m coming down!” He started to run, but the young lady shouted for him to stop.

“Please, be careful. It’s very slick!” she cried out.

Adrian checked himself and found as he proceeded more cautiously that she was indeed right. The rain had sluiced down the golden grass, forming a treacherous path. It took him a few minutes to reach her.

“My lady,” he gasped as he realized she was