Page 29 of Dearest Beast
Énervais, énervais, énervait, éneverions, énerviez, éneveraient.
Taking another deep breath, he backed out of the room, closing the door once again.
“Lopez.” He paced to the staircase. “Lopez,” he repeated, a touch louder.
“You rang, sir?” the man asked, right behind him, making Roger both jump and wonder how long the man had been standing and watching him survey the disarray in his office.
“We need to resolve…” He pressed his lips together for a moment, quelling his annoyance as best as he could. “This.” He waved a hand toward the door, behind which he was quite certain Lopez had already seen.
“Certainly, sir,” the man said with an implacable bow. “I’ll fetch a maid.”
“And?” Roger prompted, raising a single brow—a trick that all Berabs could accomplish and effectively deploy. Even on Lopez.
“And I’ll call Miss Pardo to retrieve them straight away,” he assured Roger.
As if that was all that was necessary in such a situation.
Obéirai, obéiras, obéira, obéirons, obéirez, obéiront.
He inhaled once more. “And?”
Lopez frowned. “And?”
Well, now, this was quite the banner day; he’d stumped his usually unflappable man. A rarity. Score one for him. Not that Roger was in the mood to enjoy his victory.
“And ask her why she did not notice one of her charges was down here in the middle of the night when her bedchamber is between the nursery and the staircase,” he reminded the man.
“Miss Pardo sleeps very soundly,” a new voice responded, causing both men to turn around and face Fannie, who was now standing in the hall, feet bare, night braids askew, squirming cat still in her arms. “She works very long hours, and I didn’t want to disturb her when Rose got loose. Please don’t be upset with her.” She gazed up at Roger with her large, light eyes—his late mother’s eyes—and his heart squeezed.
Taking a step forward, he knelt before her. “Be that as it may, it’s her job to attend to such matters, not yours.” He pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You need your sleep as well.”
“Yes, Papa,” his daughter agreed, her large eyes still serious.
“Good night, Fannie,” he told her, rising again, allowing her and the cat to pass and trot up the staircase, ideally, to sleep.
What they all should be doing. And yet… he turned back to Lopez, who was now leaning against the banister, an odd expression on his face.
Roger cleared his throat, and the man, rather reluctantly, rose to his feet.
“I’ll have a conversation with Miss Pardo,” Lopez told him.
“Good.” Roger folded his arms as the man glanced back at him. “Thank you,” he conceded. After all, it was proper form.
“You’re welcome, sir,” Lopez returned with quite a lack of sincerity.
It was a wonder he didn’t sack the man. But, unfortunately, Lopez knew too much.
And he wasn’t bad most of the time.
Clever and rather loyal.
One of the finest people he knew.
Certainly, better than him.
Though Lopez hadn’t had a day, week, month, or year like he’d just had.
Inhaling, Roger strolled down the hall to his bedroom.
