Page 76 of Two Vows and a Viscount

Gentle, strong arms lifted her against Fiennes’s chest. He sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry, darling. I’m only kissing your hair. That doesn’t break your no-kissing ban.”

Ella leaned her head against his warm chest and listened to the steady thump of his heart. She didn’t need this house, and her children wouldn’t need the Northern estate.

All she needed was here, in the attic.

A few peaceful minutes later, Jarvis knocked on the door, ushering in footmen carrying a proper bathtub, rather than Ella’s small tin tub.

Fiennes gave Josephina an acorn, then kissed Ella’s hand in farewell as the footmen were filling the tub with steaming lemon-scented water. “Until morning,” he said, his low voice a promise.

The viscountess’s own maid, Alice, entered carrying two snowy white towels and a bar of the viscountess’s best soap.

“I’m here to help you bathe,” Alice said, smiling as Jarvis and the footmen left.

“This is a change, isn’t it?” Ella asked, somewhat astounded.

“Lord Peregrine is that handsome,” the maid said with a naughty twinkle. “We’re all half in love with him, Miss. He came downstairs into the kitchen and handed out sovereigns to celebrate your wedding day tomorrow!”

With Alice’s help, Ella stripped off her dingy gown and climbed into the bathtub. The maid carefully washed her hair in sweet-smelling chamomile soap before rinsing it with fresh water.

Ella happily sunk down in the bath and watched drowsily as Alice bustled about the attic, straightening up the books and chattering about moving arrangements.

When the water cooled, Alice returned. She checked her step and gently tapped the bruise on Ella’s forearm. “I didn’t know he pinched you as well, Miss. I’m sorry.”

Ella sat up. “It was the first time. I had no idea he did such a thing to the maids!”

“Only when he’s in a temper,” Alice said. “There’s worse out there. Not much worse, but worse.”

Ella ground her teeth, her heart thudding with rage.

“It started when we moved to London,” Alice added. “We were all comfortable in the country, weren’t we? His lordship hardly ever came to visit. We looked out for each other when he was in residence.”

“Oh, Alice,” Ella said, feeling a wave of despairing guilt. “There’s so much that I didn’t understand about my own family.”

“You needn’t worry about Lord Peregrine,” Alice said. “Anyone can see that he has eyes only for you.”

Ella climbed out of the bath, her feelings veering between misery and joy, shame and exhilaration. Alice helped her put on her nightgown and then left her with one candle burning at her bedside.

A proper candle, not a tallow candle.

Starlight curled up beside her, purring while Ella tried to make sense of the day.

Finally, she came to the conclusion that her uncle’s ill will and evil actions were not her responsibility, as Mrs. Quimby had advised her before the ball.

It wasn’t an Unkind Thought to realize that about him.

In fact, Ella had an uneasy feeling that her wish to avoid UTs had not served her well. Unkind Thoughts were part of life and trying to ignore the dark things around her was closing one’s eyes to reality.

Her uncle’s cold, ruthless eyes were a fact. His actions were fact. It wasn’t unkindness to acknowledge that. Her feeling of revulsion when close to him? Factual—not an Unkind Thought that should be banished.

But on the flip side, Fiennes’s warm eyes and deep goodness were real, too. He was a gentleman of a different kind, his privilege considered and earned. His fortune shared, never gambled.

Starlight went back to her bed, and Ella curled up to sleep.

Only to wake with a pounding heart a few hours later.

Had she heard something? She sat up with a bolt of fright. Was that a footstep on the creaky wooden stairs leading to her room? She looked about wildly for a weapon, something she could use to fight off her uncle—

Surely not.