Page 22 of The Earl She Once Saved

“How long do you intend to stay?” she asked.

“A few days, if I am not turned out sooner,” he replied with boyish charm.

“You will find Edgeworth has survived worse.”

“So Rafe has implied.”

Rafe gave him a look.

Ezra continued pleasantly. “I mean only to see him settled, assure myself he has not offended the entire county, and then take myself somewhere quiet to decide what one does after spending years being told where to go and whom to shoot.”

Verity’s gaze moved briefly toward the cane. He saw that, too.

“I assure you,” he added, “I intend to discover a profession requiring as few stairs as possible.”

She smiled. Rafe noticed. She knew because his eyes moved to her face and remained there a fraction too long.

Verity turned toward the house. “Win will see you settled.”

As though summoned by her name, Win appeared in the doorway. Verity had long suspected the housekeeper could hear Edgeworth requiring her from three rooms away.

“This is our housekeeper, Mrs. Hale,” Verity introduced her. “Win, this is our guest, Mr. Ezra Bellamy.”

“Mrs. Hale,” Ezra bowed politely.

Win stopped and her eyes flashed for a moment. She curtseyed.

“Mr. Bellamy.”

“Ezra, when I have earned it,” he offered mischievously.

Her eyes narrowed. “You have not.”

He smiled. “I admire clarity.”

Win looked at Verity. “I’ll have the west room made ready.”

“The one overlooking the orchard,” Verity said. “The one with fewer stairs from the back passage.”

Ezra glanced at her. She ignored it. Then, they went inside. The first flight was managed without difficulty. The second was not. Ezra’s pace slowed halfway up. Only a little, but Verity saw the color leave his face.

Rafe saw it, too. He moved at once. Ezra’s expression sharpened.

“Don’t.”

That one word was enough to make Rafe stop. Win, however, did not.

She simply stepped up beside Ezra and gave him an order. “Give me your arm.”

He looked at her. “I beg your pardon?”

“Your arm,” she repeated patiently.

“I generally prefer to preserve the illusion of masculine capability upon first acquaintance.”

“Then preserve it quickly,” Win retorted. “You are blocking the stairs.”

Verity lowered her eyes. Ezra probably was not used to shunning traditional boundaries between the people upstairs and the people below stairs.