quiet.
“There’s also the matter of few being willing to work for the household, given the current and questionable state of the finances,” Spencer went on.
“And yet you did?” Dare asked without inflection, feeling the first hint of real curiosity since the younger man had begun rambling on about his tenure with the Greyson family.
“I did.” Spencer, however, didn’t elucidate. “As did the other men and women and their children who’ve come on staff.”
Dare consulted the pair cased enamel watch at his waist. When he looked up, he found the other man’s direct gaze squarely on him, a slight and disapproving frown on his lips. Dare made himself release his timepiece. “Is there something you would like to say, Spencer?” he asked bluntly.
The butler laid his palms on his legs and leaned forward. “It is my hope that you will succeed in your new role here, my lord.”
That made two of them. “Thank—”
“For not entirely altruistic reasons,” Spencer confessed. “I’m not unfamiliar with the terms His and Her Grace have laid out for you.”
Dare rested his folded hands atop his stomach. “Ahh, servant gossip?”
“My own observations,” he said evenly.
He’d hand it to the other man; Spencer remained wholly unflappable. It was the first time Dare remembered the young butler being so self-possessed. The servant rose considerably in his estimation, and Dare looked at him for the first time as a potential ally in this place.
“I am not one to question your commitment to being here,” Spencer said.
“Then do not.”
“However, I’ve reason to question your commitment to being here.”
First Temperance, and now, of all people, his butler. And mayhap, had he truly been of the ranks of Polite Society, he would have sacked Spencer for all-out challenging him. “I take it you’re referring to my meeting with the duke and duchess?”
Spencer nodded. “There was that.”
Dare’s brows came together. “Tell me, is it customary for servants to call out their employers?”
“No.” Spencer paused. “In fact, not at all.”
“But you are, Spencer?”
“I . . . prefer to think of it as assisting you,” the other man demurred.
Dare snorted. “Call it whatever you want, your intentions are clear.”
Spencer shifted, the aged wood groaning under that slight movement. “I do not believe they are, my lord. We are not unalike.”
Dare repressed a laugh. “Now this I’d love to hear.”
“Many are reliant upon your completing the terms laid forth by the duke and duchess.”
There were a good many—the most desperate people in the Rookeries. Temperance.
“The servants’ livelihoods are dependent upon whether or not you succeed.” Spencer’s pronouncement came . . . unexpectedly. And just like that, Dare was silenced. “If the funds are not released, husband and wives will be separated and forced to look for employment in different households. As it is,” the other man went on, “securing such work is challenging enough. But for families to do so, together?” Spencer’s mouth flattened into a tense line, and he gave his head a shake. “It’s nigh an impossibility. And then there is the matter of ensuring the staff finds placements in households where they will be treated with respect and kindness and not abused by merciless employers.”
And Dare was humbled once more to realize how pompous he’d been, thinking the butler didn’t and couldn’t know anything about what compelled Dare . . . what drove him. “I . . . see.” Unlike when he’d given those two words before, this time, Dare did. Spencer spoke of details he’d not previously considered. Nay, not details—people. Yet again more people who needed him to succeed in this endeavor. Dare’s palms grew moist, and he discreetly wiped them along the sides of his trousers. So many to help and support . . . and yet further reasons why failure was not an option. “And you are concerned about those people who answer to you?” Dare asked quietly.
“I am,” Spencer said instantly. And just like that, a kindred connection, an unlikely one, was born between Dare and his butler. They who were united in common efforts.
“I . . . hear what you are saying, Spencer.” And this time, he did.
The young butler dusted his gloved palms together. “Good. Then this has been a very valuable talk.” With that, the servant stood, bowed, and took himself off.
Dare remained seated in the hall. He was likely the only nobleman to be called out by his servant, and yet there’d been honorable intentions to the man’s doing so. He had looked at Dare and questioned his motives and expressed concern for the people