Daring Romance

Chapter 21

The next day, after Garrett left for her afternoon walk, Ethan ventured downstairs to the first floor by himself. He knew what she would have said about his excursion, and she would have been right, but it was necessary. He was a sitting duck at Eversby Priory, and by extension so were Garrett, West Ravenel, and every other member of the household. He damned well couldn't make an accurate assessment of the situation from his bedroom.

From his visits to the upstairs terrace, and a few brief meanderings around the second floor, Ethan had a good sense of his limitations. Overall, he was still weak and prone to tiring easily. He hadn't yet recovered his strength, balance, or mobility. For a man accustomed to functioning at the highest level of physical fitness, it was infuriating to have trouble walking down a flight of stairs. The bullet wound and the surrounding tissue still ached, and there were stabs and zings of pain when he moved his arm or shoulder in certain ways. Garrett had decided it was better not to immobilize the limb, to keep it from weakening and turning stiff.

Ethan gripped the balustrade to keep himself steady as he made his painstaking way down the grand staircase. When he was at the halfway point, a footman passing through the entrance hall below caught sight of him and stopped abruptly.

"Sir?" The footman, a young, big-shouldered fellow with the soft brown eyes of a puppy dog, stared up at him with unease. "Is there . . . do you . . . may I help?"

"No," Ethan replied pleasantly, "I'm stretching my legs a bit, that's all."

"Yes, sir. But the stairs . . ." The footman began to ascend the staircase hesitantly, as if fearing Ethan would topple right in front of him.

Ethan didn't know how much the servants had been told about who he was, or about the specifics of his condition, but clearly this footman knew he shouldn't be going anywhere on his own.

Which was irritating.

It also reminded him of how precarious his situation was. All it would take was a whispered confidence between one of these servants and someone in the nearby village, or a casual comment from a deliveryman or workman, to start rumors spreading.

"All servants talk,"Jenkyn had once told him. "They notice every deviation from the household's normal pattern, and they draw conclusions. They know what secrets the master and his wife are keeping from each other. They know where the valuables are, how money has been spent, and who's been fucking whom. Never believe a servant who claims not to know something. They know everything."

"If I may, Mr. Smith," the footman said, continuing up toward him, "I'll accompany you the rest of the way."

Mr. Smith? That was the alias they'd come up with?

"Holy hell," Ethan said under his breath. Out loud, he murmured. "No, there's no need." Perceiving there was no way the footman was going to leave him alone, he added dryly, "But suit yourself."

The footman came to his step and descended at the same pace, ready to spring into action should Ethan require assistance. As if he were a small child or old man.

"What's your name?" Ethan asked.

"Peter, sir."

"Peter, what's the belowstairs talk about my presence at the estate?"

The footman hesitated. "We were told that you're a friend of Mr. Ravenel's, and you were involved in a shooting accident. We're to keep it private, as we do all our guests' business."

"And that's all? No rumors or speculation?"

Another, longer hesitation. "There are rumors," Peter said quietly.