Page 13 of How the Earl Entices

He jerked his head back, his eyes narrowing. “I never said that.”

“You implied last night that you were being chased.” She gave him the biscuit, then reached into her skirt pocket to pull out a small sheath of papers.

He froze in mid-chew, his heart stopping.

“And I found these in a little water-tight vial sewn into the leg of your trousers.” She placed the documents on the side table. “They’re in French.”

He choked down the biscuit, no longer hungry.

“They’re nothing,” he lied as she raised the teacup to his lips again. “Just papers I needed for travel.”

Her gaze hardened on him, and she lowered the cup away. “I’m fluent in French.” She reached for a small sandwich on the plate and broke off a corner with her fingers. “Leftover roast beef from yesterday’s dinner. Very tender.” She showed him the bite of food in blatant bribery. “Want to try that again?”

Damnable woman. Despite himself, his eyes fixed on the beef, and his stomach growled. He was starving, and the small biscuit had only whetted his hunger. “You read them. What do you think they are?”

“A letter requesting payment and three lists of names. One list is all in the same handwriting, but the other two…” She eyed him warily. “Something tells me none of those pages are what they seem.”

“Because they’re not.”

“What are they, then?”

He looked at the bite of beef and arched a brow, opening his mouth and refusing to say more. Two could play this bribery game.

She placed the piece of food between his lips. He chewed it slowly, savoring the flavor. Never had beef tasted better in his entire life.

He swallowed. “You cooked that?”

“Yes. But with yesterday being the cook’s day off and the butler and housekeeper both ill, what choice did I have?”

Cheeky wench.“I meant that it’s very good.”

The quiet compliment struck its mark, and she gave him a second piece without preamble. “Thank you.” And another biscuit. “I had to learn to cook when I first came to Sea Haven. It wasn’t pretty.” A self-deprecating smile lit her face, one that warmed him through. When she wasn’t threatening him with an iron poker, she could be quite alluring. “I’m surprised we all didn’t die of food poisoning.”

“Your mother didn’t teach you?”

She stiffened at his question. Her reaction was barely perceptible, but he noticed. “My mother died when I was a baby.”

“I’m sorry.”

Not meeting his gaze as she tore off another bite of beef, she shrugged a shoulder. “I have no memories of her, but Papa assured me that she was always kind and loving, intelligent, and beautiful.”

“Like her daughter,” he murmured.

She laughed, the sound soft beneath the faint drone of falling rain. “Flattery won’t make me untie you any sooner.” Yet she smiled faintly as she gave him the bite of food, placing it between his lips. “What were you doing in France?”

He chewed slowly, taking the time to consider what he should tell her. She knew too much as it was, but resisting her gentle interrogation would only result in his starvation. “I was working.”

“At what?” She cut him off with a pointed glance. “Before you attempt to lie and tell me that you’re a fisherman, you should know that I won’t believe you. I live among sailors here, and you’re most definitely not a man who makes his living on the sea.”

“I’m not a sailor.” In reward, he accepted the biscuit she raised to his lips. “I work for King George in the Court of St James’s.”

Her fingers froze as they reached to brush a crumb from his chin. When a slight frown creased her brow, he suspected that he’d just surprised her for the first time since they’d begun talking. “The diplomatic corps?”

“Yes. In Paris.” When her thumb caressed gently over his lip, his gut tightened reflexively. He was used to having women’s hands on him, but certainly not like this. Her innocent caress was…nice.

“What kind of diplomat dons workmen’s clothes?” Her question was a disbelieving challenge, yet her voice held a knowing edge to it. As if she knew more about him than she was letting on.Impossible.She might have figured out on her own that he’d been in disguise when he boarded that ship to England, but she certainly didn’t know who he was. And better that she didn’t.

“The crown’s budget has fallen since the wars,” he drawled wryly. When that earned him a scolding glare from her, he answered truthfully, “I had to leave France unexpectedly.”