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Mrs. Hill didn’t meet her eyes. “I… I cannot do that, my lady. His grace gave me strict instructions—”

“Damn his instructions!” Leila’s voice cracked with desperation. “I have someone who depends on me—someone who might be in terrible danger while I’m trapped here. Please, I’m begging you as one woman to another—help me.”

The housekeeper seemed to contemplate that for a moment. “It is not my place to go against the duke’s direct orders, however… Does the duke know about this danger you’re talking about? Have you spoken to him about it?”

“Speak to him? Do you not see that I am his prisoner?”

“I am certain he thinks it necessary to keep you here. But if you tell him the truth, and if there truly is a person in danger right now, he will help you save them.”

“And who will save me from him?” Leila asked, though the housekeeper’s words echoed some of her own thoughts from earlier. Was there logic behind Mrs. Hill’s blind trust in her employer? Or was she too loyal to see the truth?

The housekeeper paused, her spine lengthening. “I promise you, you’re in no danger. He would never hurt an innocent woman.”

Except Leila was not so innocent. And that was the crux of the issue.

“Besides,” Mrs. Hill continued, a variety of expressions playing across her weathered face, “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I have never seen him look at anyone like this.”

“How is that?” Leila couldn’t help her curiosity. She’d thought he was transfixed by her at one point… she wasn’t certain he remained thus.

“As if the entire world revolves around you, including him. As if he is in awe of his own feelings for you.”

Leila wanted to believe those words, but she wasn’t a naive maiden. She had feelings for him, too. There was an extraordinary, inexplicable pull between them—something she’d never experienced in her twenty-six years of life. It made it impossible for her to think clearly around him and execute her mission, which she had accomplished dozens of times before. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t push those feelings aside to save himself. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. The only reason I am here is that I witnessed him kill a man in cold blood!”

Mrs. Hill seemed momentarily taken aback by that statement, but she quickly schooled her features. “I’m sure he had his reasons for that.”

“And you are fine with this? You have no qualms about me being held here against my will, as long as you believe your master has some feelings for me?”

“I’m fine with you being here because I know he will never hurt you. I know that he will protect you. I also see that you feel something toward him as well, I can see it in your eyes. I’ve spent a long life watching people from the shadows, and I’ve learned to read expressions well. And yes, perhaps I wish for His Grace to find happiness after long years of misery; I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

“You don’t see anything wrong with pushing romantic notions onto his captive?”

“You’re not a captive here. You’re a guest.”

“A guest who is kept here against her will is a captive.”

“I’m certain he will set you free quite soon.”

It was clear that arguing with this woman was fruitless. Leila tried a different tactic. “Mrs. Hill,” she said quietly, “how long have you worked here?”

“My entire life, madam. I was born in the servants’ quarters. My mother was the housekeeper before me. I witnessed His Grace being born.”

Leila almost smiled at the warmth in the woman’s face as she spoke. It was obvious she had motherly feelings toward the duke, and those feelings clouded her judgment. “And in all this time, has His Grace ever brought any woman to this room other than his wife?”

“That’s correct.” Mrs. Hill’s voice carried a note of something that might have been hope.

“And has he ever brought other prisoners into this home?”

“No. Never.”

“So this is the first time in his entire life that he is acting thusly.”

“Yes.”

Leila studied the older woman’s face. “And instead of thinking that he’s lost his entire mind, you’re sitting here telling me how wonderful he is?”

Mrs. Hill faltered, her hands wringing together. “He is wonderful. Whatever misunderstanding happened between you two can easily be straightened out with a conversation, I’m certain. You have nothing to fear. He will not hurt you.”

Leila wished that were true. She was still wrestling with the idea of forming an alliance with the duke as a means of surviving this ordeal. But she had doubts. Heavy, huge, looming doubts. “How can you be so sure?” she asked.