Page 32 of Miss Ashbury and the Anatomy of Mending a Heart

He thought about it, and his mouth twisted, giving away his honest answer before he could speak it.

“That’s what I thought.”

She went to slam the door, and he jammed his foot in the way. “Please, wait. Just wait a minute. Ow!”

Vera Ashbury rhythmically slammed the door onto his foot. Had he once thought this lady shy? She was disproving every part of that notion now, color high on her cheeks, her eyes flashing with fury.

Still, he kept his foot in the way. “You can’t accept that horrible man’s offer.”

That was enough to get her to pause her relentless assault on his boot.

“You are not my father, or my brothers. You don’t have any say in what I do, or for whom I work.”

She pulled the door back, her face screwed up with the preliminary effort of her next slam, which looked like it was going to be a doozy.

“I’d like you to work for me.”

“What?” Her hands dropped from the door in her shock.

Stephen tried to keep the relief from his face—his foot was throbbing. “You need references; I can give you one. As long as you earn it, I mean.”

“Are you in need of a governess?” she snapped, rolling up on her tip-toes to jam her face closer to his. “Perhaps someone to teach you basic manners, fifteen years too late? It’s too large a task for me, I’m afraid. Seek out someone with a bullwhip—that ought to do it.”

Stephen couldn’t help it; he grinned at her impertinence. Her eyebrows flew higher on her face; she gripped the door and wound it back once more.

“Wait!” He held up his hands. “I’m serious. I’m offering you a legitimate position, away from that dreadful Mr. Audel. Work for me for three months, and I’ll give you a glowing reference. You’ll be able to have your pick of any posting after that.”

“What, pray tell, would the position entail? Say all you want about Mr. Audel, but there’s only one man who’s actually let himself into my bedroom uninvited.”

Stephen’s cheeks grew hot with his embarrassment. He prayed his beard covered most of it.

“Stop hitting me with your door for a moment, and I’ll tell you.”

* * *

“…And we had a picnic, and Seamus ate a plate of cheese when we weren’t looking, and they’re going to make him sleep in the stables tonight, for the smell.”

The baroness looked heavenward. “Really, Benjamin. We’re at the dinner table. If you want to eat with us, you must observe some propriety.”

Stephen personally thought that a rich statement, coming from a lady who currently wore trim trousers and a pair of mud-splattered Hessians that rolled up to her knees, but he was wise enough to keep the thought to himself.

“Sorry. What about you, Mother?” Benjamin asked, carefully cutting into his fish. The tip of his tongue poked out the corner of his mouth in concentration.

“I went for a walk,” she said. “Still looking for that fox.”

There was something in her voice that had Stephen narrowing his eyes slightly. Something about her breathing or her octave was a bit strange. He glanced at Vera—her head was cocked, ever so slightly, as if she’d heard it, too.

“I certainly wish I’d seen Seamus push you into the fountain, Miss Vera,” Benjamin added, eyes wide. “That is, I’m glad you’re not hurt.”

“I made quite a splash, I admit it.”

Stephen tried to ignore the fact that Vera hadn’t made eye contact with him once since taking her place. Even when she’d asked him to pass the salt, she’d addressed his earlobe. It hardly boded well for her accepting his offer.

He shifted in his seat and frowned. He wanted her to agree. Not only because the idea of becoming the countryside’s physician had been nagging at him since his mother mentioned it, but because he wanted something good to come from his terrible mistake with Vera. This, he reasoned, was a prudent plan, where both of them could walk away feeling better about things.

And Stephen desperately wanted to feel better about things.

He didn’t want to keep feeling like the kind of person who thought the worst of others, the type of person who broke into a young lady’s bedroom and read all her correspondence to prove…to prove what?