Before She Ruled (Before Series, Book 1)

Chapter Two

And this man, the Duke of Kingfield, seemed to be sharp enough to know this.

Finally, Addie said, "I would gladly accept any position Your Grace would give me."

He grinned. "Then the job is yours, Addie, but only on one condition."

Addie stared at him expectantly. "Yes, Your Grace?"

"You must use that ridiculously sharp tongue of yours when speaking to my beloved housekeeper, Mrs. Combs." He maintained a bemused expression.

"I would deduce that to be an unwise move, Your Grace, but I shall do it nonetheless if it should please you." Addie flashed her own slight smirk.

He laughed in full then before giving her a speculative glance. "Who are you really, Addie?"

Addie's palms tingled at the question, and she was momentarily lost in it. "I do not know," she muttered. Because she no longer knew who she was in this world beyond just being Addie the maid.

"Excuse me?"

Addie jerked, standing tall as she was brought back to face the man before her. "I am Addie Singleton, Your Grace. I do not know what you mean," she said.

Luckily, the Duke of Kingfield merely shrugged and stepped forward to offer his hand. As a duke, it was a remarkably unprecedented gesture to show a maid and, therefore, might be a good indication for her future. With some trepidation, Addie drew back her shoulders and took the offered support so she wouldn't have to put too much weight on her foot.

He helped her onto the cushioned seat inside the carriage, and Addie hoped with all her might that this might work out.

****

Theo regarded his new passenger with interest. He could tell even under the grime that covered her that she was undoubtedly a beauty. Her chocolate-colored hair gleamed as she turned her head to stare out the window. Her wide blue eyes sparkled as her full lips pursed together, likely in contemplation of her decision to join him.

Despite what he had said earlier, he did not have a position in mind for her. Staffing was not particularly something he attended to. He was, however, confident that the formerly mentioned Mrs. Combs would find some use for her.

Theo could not have left Addie adrift on the streets in St. Giles with an injured ankle. Despite her poise, she apparently had nowhere to go, and he hated to think what could have happened to her in this part of town if he had not come along when he did.

His new passenger sat incredibly stiff on the cushions, training her eyes on anything other than him. Curious, this young maid was. She couldn't have been many years past twenty, if any at all, but she had a presence about her—a sort of strange, restrained vibrancy. Not to mention, she had an education. It was clear from the way that she spoke and carried herself. How odd that she had been here, of all places.

Here, in St. Giles.

Theo had not been excited about his meeting in St. Giles with Andrew Hayfield, the Duke of Weston, tonight. Theo also had not understood why they needed to meet in such a location, but Andrew insisted it was imperative that they did.

The older man had additionally insisted that Theo wear something pedestrian. So of course, Theo went wearing a top coat he had borrowed from his gardener and an arrangement of his plainest clothes—well, with the exception of his boots. Theo did not believe in owning less-than-quality footwear, and his oversized feet would fit in no one else's. He had surveyed his getup prior to leaving Kingfield House that evening, thinking that he had unquestionably made a solid effort toward becoming...pedestrian.

God knew he owed Andrew at least that much.

When Theo's father passed away of a lung condition when Theo was thirteen years old, the Duke of Weston, his father's best friend, had stepped in to ensure that Theo grew up with all the appropriate guidance. And then he had been there when Theo's mother passed away several years after his father.

So when the man left him a message stating to meet him in St. Giles of all places, Theo went. Even though it was a stinking hell-hole.

Theo shuddered, ultimately resolving to push the meeting out of his mind and think instead of what to do with Addie Singleton. That, surely, was more of a pressing matter.

"Have you been a lady's maid long?" Theo found himself inquiring. What does one converse with a lady's maid about, anyway?

She appeared startled by the question, but answered dryly. "I have been a lady's maid for two years for Lord and Lady Bennett. Are you familiar?"

"Only in name. Where were you before that?" Theo inquired further.

"Previously I worked as a maid for Mr. and Mrs. Featherby. Though not titled, they are a respectable family that lives in Hertfordshire, where I was born." She spoke as though bored, repeating answers to questions that she had doubtless been asked many times before.

So Theo gave her a coy grin. "Shall we tell Mrs. Combs that you come highly recommended by the Featherbys and perhaps skip the bit about the Bennetts? You know, on account of the sacking?"

"I would be much obliged, Your Grace." Her reply was tight and without humor.

They rounded the corner onto his street in Mayfield, approaching the sizeable ducal home that had been passed down through the generations. Theo found himself glancing over toward Addie to see if she reacted at all to the sight of her new residence. He had an odd desire to impress her, even though he'd never given thought to use his property as a way to impress women before.

Regardless, Addie did not appear impressed, or unimpressed either, for that matter. She merely stared out of the window in the same stoic fashion as before.

Theo gave his head a little shake to try to clear his brain before stepping out of the carriage and extending his hand to Addie. The light grasp of her ungloved skin burned at the touch of his own. Theo tried to catch her eyes, but they remained downcast as she stepped from the carriage. She politely bid her thanks at the courtesy he offered. Giving up, he turned and led her into Kingfield House.

Theo was always surrounded by women who did everything they could to be near him. He was, after all, a duke—a wealthy duke, at that. Ladies of the ton flirted with him relentlessly, either in an effort to marry him, to marry their daughters to him, or in the case of some who were already married, simply to find their way to his bed. And yet, here he was, trying to catch the attention of a dirt-covered slip of a woman. And he was failing.

Theo didn't reckon this boded well for him.