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.”Come The Night – Roaring Twenties 03Page 247 of 530Mrs.Spotterswood began to relax.She left to fetch a wooden board complete withfreshly baked bread, laid it before him and cut several slices.When she spoke again,her accent was slightly different, tinged with a broad, country rhythm.“Thoo‟re dead kind, Mr.Keating,” she said.“And you‟re a very good cook,” Ross said, taking a big bite of bread.“We don‟t muchhold with keeping lots of help where I come from.Does Sir Averil treat you badly, Mrs.Spotterswood? You and the other humans here?”She froze.“We‟re only servants, Mr.Keating, and not worth your concern.”“Don‟t you believe it, ma‟am.”“I…” She fled, this time to bring a pot of jam and a plate of little cakes.She set themdown with a firmness that suggested that she‟d reached some important decision.“Thoo‟re a proper gentleman, Mr.Keating,” she said.“If all Americans ist like thoo, Ah‟ope ter see yoower country yan day.”“I hope that you shall,” a familiar voice said from the doorway.Gillian walked into the room, wearing a loose silk jacket and soft, wide trousers thatflowed against her body with her every movement.Ross got to his feet, every girl in theroom curtseyed and Mrs.Spotterswood bobbed her head.Gillian smiled at the cook,who grinned in return.Mrs.Delvaux might be the master‟s daughter, but it was clearthat she had gained the older woman‟s unquestioning trust.Come The Night – Roaring Twenties 03Page 248 of 530“I see you‟ve met Mr.Keating,” Gillian said in a neutral tone that neither approved nordisapproved of Ross‟s presence in the kitchen.“I trust your work has not beendisturbed?”“Not at all, Mrs.Delvaux,” the cook said, reverting to a more standard form of English.“Iwas only getting him a bit of breakfast.” She peered at Gillian.“You‟ve grown too thin, ifyou don‟t mind my saying so.I‟ll get you a plate.”Ignoring Ross, Gillian wandered about the kitchen as if she were as much accustomedto the rustic room as she was to the far more elegant quarters she and her kindenjoyed.She hesitated only when Mrs.Spotterswood indicated that she should sit at thetable with Ross.The awkwardness between them was painful.The cruel things they had said to eachother weren‟t likely to be forgotten soon.But an unspoken truce took hold as the cookbustled about, piling ever more food on the table.“No one shall starve in my kitchen,” she announced, placing her hands on her hips.“Eat, Mrs.Delvaux, or I‟ll think you‟ve lost your taste for my cooking.”Meekly, Gillian selected a piece of bread and laid a thin slice of roast beef on top of it.She watched Ross from the corner of her eye as she took a delicate bite.“Do you come here often?” Ross said without cracking a smile, trying to pretend hedidn‟t see the way Gillian‟s unbound breasts swayed gently under the silk of her tunic.She seemed too distracted to notice.“I have always liked the kitchen.”“And the people in it?”Come The Night – Roaring Twenties 03Page 249 of 530She took another bite—a very small one, like a Victorian girl who had been taught it wasunladylike to have a good appetite.“Mrs.Spotterswood has been at Snowfell since Iwas…Since I returned from London.”“You consider her a friend?”Ross could see Gillian debating her answer.She glanced over her shoulder, saw thatMrs.Spotterswood was busy chopping vegetables at the work table and lowered hervoice.“There are rules in a house such as Snowfell,” she said.“Servants have their own world,and it is not to be intruded upon.”“Or allowed to intrude on yours.”She put down her makeshift sandwich.“Sir Averil knows nothing of my visits here.”“So the obedient Mrs.Delvaux defies the master once again.”Gillian began to stand.Ross got up and circled the table to pull back her chair.Gillianaverted her eyes and strode for the kitchen door.Ross let her go, then sat again andlooked down at the food spread across his plate.Mrs.Spotterswood appeared at the table.He could tell from the slight change in herscent that she was upset.“Is there something else I can get you, Mr.Keating?” she asked brusquely.“Nothing, thanks.” He met her gaze.“Tell me…is Mrs.Delvaux always so friendly toyou?”Come The Night – Roaring Twenties 03Page 250 of 530Her obvious disapproval gave way to a more speculative look.“To all the servants,when the master‟s not around.” She leaned over the table, bracing herself on her sturdyarms.“She‟s had a bad time of it, if you don‟t mind my saying so.Raising the boy alone,without even a—” She broke off.“But I think you already know that, Mr.Keating.A blindman could see that you care about her.”Ross was momentarily flustered.If the cook could reach that conclusion after his briefand prickly exchange with Gillian, he was already making some serious mistakes.“I met her years ago,” he said cautiously.“During the Great War? Were you a soldier, Mr.Keating?”Swallowing his last bite of bread, Ross got up.“Whatever you may have guessed aboutme,” he said, “I‟d ask you to keep it to yourself.Mrs.Delvaux and Toby might get hurt ifthe others found out we already knew each other.”“Say no more, sir.No word of it will escape my lips.”Ross offered his hand.She took it.“Good luck to you, sir,” she said.“Charles,” he said.She stared at the spotless floor and then met his gaze.“Hazel.”He thanked her for both the food and her promise, carried the plates to the counterbeside the sink and left the kitchen.He retraced his steps through the maze of servants‟corridors and entered the main part of the house, feeling more perplexed than ever.Since his arrival at Snowfell, he‟d seen three distinct and very different Gillians: the onewho rigidly adhered to her father‟s expectations while denying her own, the one strongCome The Night – Roaring Twenties 03Page 251 of 530enough to stand her ground against a very personal enemy and the woman whocontradicted her father‟s philosophy by treating humans with kindness rather thanconsidering them inferior beings unworthy of notice.She wasn‟t fighting the war the way he‟d expected.Now he was in very real danger oflosing his shaky defenses all over again.As he walked through the hall toward the front door, he heard faint footfalls on the floorabove; the guests were beginning to stir.He continued through the entrance hall,passing Faulder on the way.“Are you going out, sir?” the butler asked.“Just for a while,” Ross said.“I‟ve already eaten.If anyone asks, I‟ll be back in an houror so.”“Yes, sir.” He looked Ross over.“Perhaps the gentleman would prefer to select otherapparel?”Ross glanced down at his crumpled suit, remembering he was a rich man now.He hadto act like one.“These boots have seen a lot worse than that tame countryside out there,” he said.“Ican always pass the suit on to one of the servants if it gets dirty.”“Very good, sir.” The butler retreated, his back as stiff as those of the werewolf guests.He doesn‟t think much of me, either, Ross thought
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