us.'
'Would you like to ride over to see Caine with me?'
'Oh, yes, I'd like that,' she answered. A determined gleam entered her eyes. 'It isn't proper to have guests but I believe I'll invite Lady Aisely and her dear mother down for a long weekend. You must tell Caine we expect him to… why are you shaking your head at me?'
'You might as well save yourself the effort, Gweneth. Give it up. Caine won't be marrying Lady Aisely.'
'It's a sound match, Henry,' she argued. 'Give me two good reasons why I cannot encourage this union?'
'Very well,' he answered. 'One, she doesn't have red hair.'
'Well, of course she doesn't have red hair. She has beautiful blond hair. You know that well enough.'
'And two,' he continued, ignoring her befuddled look. 'She doesn't have green eyes.'
'Henry, you aren't feeling altogether well yet, are you?'
Henry's laughter echoed throughout the dining room. 'Caine needs an enchantress. You'll have to
accept it, my dear.'
'Accept what?' she asked.
His slow wink left her more puzzled than ever. 'I believe, Gweneth, that your breakfast will have to
wait a while longer. You must go back to bed at once.'
'I must?' she asked. 'Why?'
The Duke leaned forward and whispered into his wife's ear. When he was finished with his explanation, his wife blushed.
'Oh, Henry,' she whispered. 'You really are feeling better.'
Chapter Eleven
Jade returned to Caine's home a short time later. After handing the reins to Matthew, she rushed up the back steps to her bedroom. When she rounded the corner, she found Sterns standing like a centurian outside her bedroom door.
He did a double take when he spotted her. Then he folded his arms across his chest. 'You're suppose
to be inside your bedroom, mi'lady.'
She decided to take the offensive. She'd make him do the explaining. 'And what are you suppose to be doing?'
'I'm guarding the door.'
'Why?'
'So you won't leave.'
'But I already left,' she countered with a soft smile. 'Sterns, I do believe your time is too valuable to
be guarding an empty room.'
'But mi'lady, I didn't know it was empty,' he protested.
She patted him on his arm. 'You may explain this to me later, sir. Now please move out of my way.
I really must change out of this riding garment and go help Caine.'
She scooted past the disgruntled-looking servant and shut the door on his protests. In little time at all, she'd changed into a dark green gown and hurried downstairs by way of the main staircase.
Sterns was now guarding the front door. The set of his jaw told her he was going to be difficult.
'You may not go outside,' he announced in a voice that would have chilled a polar bear.
She wasn't at all intimidated. She gave him a wide smile. 'I can and I will,' she answered.
'My lord is most insistent that you remain inside.'
'I'm just as insistent that I go outside.'
In answer to that challenge, Sterns leaned against the door and slowly shook his head.
Jade decided to turn his attention. 'Sterns? How many servants are there in residence here?'
He looked surprised by her question. 'We're only half staffed now,' he answered. 'There are five of
us in all.'
'Where are the others?'
'In London,' he answered. 'They're helping to clean the town house.'
'But I thought it was destroyed in the fire,' she said.
'It wasn't as bad as all that,' he said. 'The side's been boarded up and now there's only the smoke damage to be righted. While the workers repair the structure, the servants are cleaning the inside.'
'I'm wondering, Sterns, if the servants here can be trusted.'
He rose to his full height before answering. 'Mi'lady, all the servants are trustworthy. They are all
loyal to their employer.'
'You're certain?'
