Page 28 of Brazen Rogue
"You are a foolish woman, which I did not think you were at our first meeting, but I see I am wrong. You will pay a heavy price for this folly that will not end as you wish. Do not say I did not warn you, Miss Hall. And do not come crying to me when you need help," she said, turning on her heel and leaving Reign alone.
Reign sighed, slumping down on the small child-size chair. She was being foolish and possibly would regret her actions, but nor could she stop this madness. Bellamy was an elixir that she could not wean herself from. And right at this moment, she did not want to, no matter what Mrs. Watkins or anyone thought.
ChapterSixteen
Bellamy paced the library the following morning after Reign did not come to his bedroom the night before. He sent a note requesting her presence after Alice's schooling was complete for the day, and then he would find out the reason why.
Not that he did not already have a good idea why it was that she did not come to him.
His housekeeper appeared to have been listening at the schoolroom door yesterday, and if that were the case, then she would have heard their conversation behind those few inches of wood.
Not that she would talk, she would lose her job if her lips started to tattle about the house, but it did not mean that she had not warned Reign away.
Which, much to his annoyance, seemed to have been the case and worked.
A light knock sounded on his door. "Enter," he barked, taking a calming breath when Reign entered the room, her eyes wide at his tone.
"Come in, Miss Hall," he said, his tone gentler. "Have a seat here." He gestured to the chair sitting across from his desk before he sat, trying to pick his words carefully and in a tone that was not as annoyed as he felt.
Not that he had any right to be annoyed. Reign did not owe him anything, not even loyalty, if she chose otherwise. He had told her that he would not marry her. Scandal his excuse and that was the truth. But he could throw all that others thought and would say about his marriage to her and do what he wanted.
Marry her.
He was a bastard even to enter any kind of liaison with Reign and offer her nothing. She deserved so much better than he was giving her.
She sat, clasping her hands in her lap. She appeared uncomfortable, and he hated placing her in this position.
"You did not come to me last evening. Is something troubling you?" he asked, knowing that there was and certain he knew the reason why.
She glanced down at her hands, wringing them, and it took all his patience not to demand to know what had happened the moment he left the schoolroom yesterday afternoon.
"I think Mrs. Watkins suspects us, and she has warned me away from you. Stated that if it were marriage I was after that I would not get it," she said, meeting his eyes but once during her explanation.
He ran a hand through his hair. He ought to confront his housekeeper and tell her to mind her own goddamn business, but his housekeeper was right in warning Reign away. And he was wrong to try to seduce her back to his side.
"You have been honest with me," she continued. "I understand why we can never marry." She paused, biting her lip and glancing out onto the garden from his library windows. "I adore Lady Alice and would not wish to hurt her either by the scandal that would break in London should they hear of our union. Of you marrying your daughter's governess after your wife was less than discreet abroad, but it is still a reminder that you are what I will never have. As much as we may come together in secret, you will never own me in public. I think Mrs. Watkins reminded me of that fact more than anything else."
While his housekeeper knew a great deal about his country estate here in Derbyshire, she did not know all the truth. She did not know that he cared for Reign beyond reason. She was everything to him and having her here at his estate, the truth of his feelings had only doubled.
Marry her ...
"I know I am being a bastard. I should not touch one hair on your innocent head, and yet, I cannot stay away. Just as I could not stay away when we were in London together."
She met his eyes, and the pain and disappointment he read in her blue gaze tore him in two. He did not want her to be upset, to be torn over what was right and wrong, what she ought to do versus what was expected of her.
"I know," she sighed. "I feel the same way about you. While Mrs. Watkins did warn me, the entire time I kept thinking that I did not care. Not really. I only stayed away last evening because Miss Rivers, the scullery maid on my floor, slept with her door open, and I had to pass her room to reach the stairs. I think Mrs. Watkins put her up to it and requested that she keep an eye on me all night."
Bellamy ground his teeth at the infuriating, meddlesome housekeeper he employed. She ought to know her place and ignore what he did with his staff.
The thought shamed him.
To think such a way was unfair and not something he would approve of. Mrs. Watkins was in her position for a reason, and the welfare of her staff was paramount.
"I ought to move you back onto the first floor," he said.
Reign jumped to her feet, coming about the desk to stand before him. "No, you must not. That will make me look even more the besotted fool than I already do to everyone belowstairs."
"Mrs. Watkins is not everyone," he said, reaching out to take her hand and link his fingers with hers.
