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‘Yes, of course Thank you, I will reassure her’ Tess stood up ‘Thank you for letting s, even if we leave asideyou know But I work hard and I’ll earn my keep, I promise’

‘You don’t have to work at all’ Alex put as uor into his tone as he could ‘You could stay in your rooain or we find you a post As you are well aware, if I’d delivered you where you asked, on time, none of this would have occurred’

‘I have ly proper curtsy and went out as though they had discussed nothingproblem

Alex sat down took a deep breath and pulled his pile of correspondence towards hiht up to tackle issues head-on and without hypocrisy, it seeuards, and without it she was vulnerable So was he The ho wanted to buy pictures was looking increasingly te since he had been with a woman; that was all it was, this need to hold Tess, to take the pins from her hair, the clothes from her body, to lie doith her and

She had shocked Alex, Tess realised Seeing the baby had upset him for so had annoyed hiry with Dorcas’s employer, which was understandable, for any decent person would have been, but there was so deeper in his reaction

And thatShe’d had no intention of flirting and she had no idea how to She certainly hadn’t thought of trying to provoke hiy that had flowed between their joined fingers still sparkled along her veins It had seemed to her important to try to understand where they stood, to tell him how she felt But that had been a mistake He had not wanted that kind of honesty from her And she couldn’t si in return She expected to work for her living, and she owed it to Hannah to keep her fro about the household while she was ill

When Tess got to her feet and went into the kitchen it was e handkerchiefs with the baby fast asleep in a makeshift crib by her side She looked up ‘Is heis his lordship very angry?’

‘Not at all, just startled He says we are to buy whatever Daisy needs and you are not to be afraid that he will be annoyed if he hears her crying’ Tess sat down on the other side of the fireplace ‘Lord Weybourn is si women about the house, that is all’

Chapter Ten

‘Are you sure you wouldn’t rather come back to Half Moon Street? I could e from mine, and now I have Dorcas with me we can nurse you easily’

‘That is thoughtful of you, Tess’ Hannah Seh ‘Oh, drat and blast this! We sound like a colony of seals I once saw on the coast’ From the room opposite came the echo of the sas around me And no one is very sick now, just laid loith this wretched chesty cough, so Mrs Green and her girls are h’

She curled her fingers around the cup of tea that Tess handed to her and sipped, her nose glowing pinkly though the stea else, I’d drive Lord Weybourn ’

‘He doesn’t seem to be disturbed by the baby’ Tess poured herself a cup and settled back in the fireside chair ‘And she cries a lot, bless her’

‘I find it hard to i in a baby’

‘You thought he would send her away? He wasn’t pleased, not at first, but that just was the surprise, I think’

‘Oh, I don’t ht But I’d have expected hi, not have the Tess over the top of the handkerchief ‘You’ve turned his house upside doith your strays by the sound of it I’ainst the pillows ‘Has he had any visitors?’

‘No, he goes out a lot and there have been endless invitations, but there’ve been no callers I don’t think he’s issuing invitations with me there’