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THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Alastair went fishing with Edward, Thomas and Henry. Thus, he was not present to see Millie after she had come down for breakfast. He was glad for the reprieve from her company but would have preferred a more strenuous activity than fishing for his mind would wonder back to the prior night when she lay curled into him in bed.

“I knew I would like the position of Angelique,” she had murmured into his shoulder as he held her in the crook of his arm. “May we do it again tomorrow night?”

He turned to stare at her. “Have I granted there will be a third night?”

With bright eyes, she returned his gaze. “Why not? Was it not pleasurable for you?”

As one of the male species, he would be a fool to decline the prospect, but he was wary of giving in to Millie too much. He sat up and reached for her garments to hand to her.

“You spent,” she pointed out as she accepted her robe and shift, “so it could not have been terrible for you.”

He got off the bed to remove the sheath and retrieve his own clothes. “Perhaps.”

“Please.”

The plea stalled him. Standing less than two feet from her, he was tempted to take her into his arms and kiss her. The sparkle in her eyes, the anticipation in her countenance, caused feelings to swell in his bosom. But he stayed himself.

Instead, he cupped her chin and brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. She was not the woman he had thought her to be upon first meeting her. He had found her polite and intelligent but also plain and uninteresting. Her initial timidity had waned surprisingly quickly, and thereafter she had adopted a nonchalance toward him that he found more acceptable than the receptions he more commonly received from others.

“If you behave yourself, you shall be rewarded,” he relented. “But there will be no questioning of my directives and no talk of stocking frames.”

Her whole countenance radiated with joy. “Thank you, Alastair.”

The simple words undid his resistance, and he lowered his head to sweep his lips over hers. His arm circled her waist, and he crushed her still naked body to his.  He could feel his hardness reviving as his senses took in the scent of her arousal, the sound of her breaths, and the pressure of her lips and body. He could take her again, wanted to take her again, but he would be a poor example if he could not retain the discipline he required from her. Letting her go, he stepped away before desire overcame him.

“That’s two you’ve let get away,” Thomas remarked.

Snapping out of his reverie, Alastair realized he had not attended to the tugging of his fishing pole. But a more troubling realization took hold: he was looking forward to his night with Millie. He wondered if he could provide her body even greater ecstasy.

The women were all having tea in the parlor when they returned. Henry went immediately to his grandmother to tell how he caught the largest fish of anyone, and Thomas was quick to point out that the fish would have gotten away if not for him. Mr. Abbott dozed in a chair beside the fireplace. Wilmington read the paper while Brewster penned a letter at the writing table. Kittredge sat beside Millie as she and Jason appeared to be discussing Gulliver’s Travels.

“I am glad to hear that Farnsworth is proposing a bill to discourage the destruction of textile machines,” said Wilmington. “This paper says that more of our military have been deployed to Lancashire following an attack on Burton’s Mill. The Luddites there have threatened the local magistrates with death if they attempt to interfere. Something must be done. Your meeting with Farnsworth is timely and commendable.”

Alastair scanned the room. His niece, Emily, occupied the settee nearest Millie. When Emily met his gaze, she blushed and quickly looked down at her embroidery. She had been casting glances at him since her arrival. He would not normally sit for tea, but he wanted to see how Millie would do in his company. He decided he would take his tea standing.

Millie had looked up when Wilmington spoke, and it seemed she had contemplated speaking, but when she saw Alastair, she remained mute.

“Are you well acquainted with Farnsworth?” Wilmington asked.

“I am not,” Alastair replied. “Millie, I will have a cup of tea, if you please.”

A few heads turned her way, for she was not sitting nearest to the tea table, but she rose and dutifully poured him a cup.

“But he asked you to meet with him on this important matter?”

“I have little interest in the subject, or in Farnsworth, and agreed to meet with him only because he once granted a favor to my father. I have very little to do with Parliament.”

Millie approached with his tea. “Alas, it is a duty you cannot eschew.”

“Why not?”

She seemed taken aback. “Because you sit in the House of Lords.”

“Not by choice.”

“It is both a responsibility and a privilege of the peerage.”

“I hardly deem it a privilege. You would not either if you had to sit through a session of Parliament.”

“I have read the speeches given by various members. It is a privilege no matter how tedious the task. Your decisions have repercussions on all the citizens—and even creatures—of the crown.”

“There are other men who delight in such responsibilities. I am not one of them.”

She furrowed her brow. “Have you no sense of noblesse oblige, my lord?”

He gave her a stern look. Did she not wish to earn her reward tonight?

“Millie!” Mrs. Abbott exclaimed, bewildered that her daughter dared to speak to him in such a manner. “Lord Alastair, your pardon. Millie, whatever are you on about?”

“Ha! Alastair? Noblesse oblige?” cried Louisa. “Clearly you know him little, Millie.”

“Louisa is right,” he said to Millie. “The care of the citizens is best left to others more capable than I.”

But Millie was not prepared to relent, and he found the depth with which she stared at him to be unsettling.

“You delight in being seen as heartless,” she said, “but I think we would be gravely mistaken to despair of you so easily.”

He returned her stare. “You pay too much heed to my aunt and her opinions of me. She is prejudiced in my favor.”

“And do you suggest that her hand in your upbringing was a failure?”

Someone in the room gasped. His jaw tightened but he managed to say, “Thank you for the tea, Millie. You may sit down.”

She blinked several times, unaccustomed to taking such direct commands.

“Millie, come!” her mother bade.

She did as told and went to sit beside her mother and Mrs. Cheswith, but she did not appear pacified.

“Millie is right to question you, Andre,” Katherine said after setting Henry off her lap. “It would seem you have no regard for my influence in your life.”

“If not for you, m’lady, I would be an even worse scoundrel.”

“Scoundrel or not,” said Wilmington, “it is right of you to meet with Farnsworth and support his proposal. An act of Parliament is required to repress machine-breaking and other violent acts against commerce.”

Alastair waited to see if Millie would speak, and she seemed to contemplate it.

“These rebels are as terrible as the colonists in America,” offered Caroline. “Who knows what other atrocities they, if unchecked, will commit?”

Millie could not resist. “Perhaps they would not resort to desperate measures if they could find the means to support themselves and their families.”

He could hardly believe his ears. Last night, she had sounded so eager to earn his approval. Had she forgotten that he had forbid further talk of this very subject? “By desperate measures, you mean the destruction of stocking frames?”

“Yes. If Parliament could see fit to repeal the Combination Acts or consider setting minimum wages, these workers would have more hope.”

He stared at her. There was both defiance and fear in her countenance. She had not forgotten. She had simply chosen to disregard him.

“It is not for Parliament to interfere with the economy’s natural order,” Wilmington responded.

“Workers are part of the economy as well, but our laws prevent them from seeking the most basic necessities. Costs have risen, but wages have not. These workers—and, yes, the Luddites among them—are being denied an ability to seek what every Englishman has a right to: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Seeing that everyone was staring at her, she withdrew and said nothing more.

“Where does it say every man has such a right?” Wilmington asked.

“My dear Millie, you have an eloquence to your speech,” Katherine voiced, “and it is clear you have much charity in your heart. It is easy for our society to overlook the toils and sufferings of the lower classes.”

“She has always had much compassion for the poor,” Mrs. Abbott said gratefully.

Louisa shared a smirk with Caroline. No doubt they thought that Millie held such an affinity for the less well-off because her family was among them.

Millie avoided his gaze the rest of the time. Kittredge, who had witnessed the scene in silent amusement, approached him to inquire how the fishing went. Louisa persuaded Emily to play her best sonata on the pianoforte. Afforded some of the finest instructors, Emily played extremely well.

“Do you play, Miss Abbott?” Louisa asked when Emily had finished both a sonata and a prelude.

“Not well,” Millie replied. “We would benefit from having Miss Wilmington play another piece.”

“As well as Emily plays, she is happy to share the instrument. Though her instructor says he has no student who can accomplish a piece as well, and in so short a time as Emily, she is no glutton for attention. I bid you play a little, Miss Abbott.”

“Do play, Miss Abbott,” Alastair seconded when it was clear that Millie had rather not.

Millie glanced at him. After her earlier defiance, he did not expect that she would disobey him again. She went to the pianoforte and chose to play one of Mozart’s simpler sonatinas. Her fingers had not the agility of Emily’s, but she performed more than adequately.

“I think I shall collect some of the Michaelmas daisies for our dinner table tonight,” said Anne.

“May I join you?” Millie quickly asked.

“Mr. Kittredge, you have not seen the gardens,” said Katherine. “Perhaps you would care to assist the ladies?”

Kittredge bowed. “Certainly, my lady.”

Caroline, Emily and Mrs. Abbott decided to join Anne and Millie. Edward decided to take his boys out for a walk with the hounds, to be joined by Wilmington and Brewster. Louisa said she would rest a while in her room. Mr. Abbott continued to slumber beside the hearth.

“You could be kinder to Millie,” Katherine told him as they took their leave after all the others.

“Gifting her a dowry of four thousand pounds is not kind enough?” he returned.

“She would rather not have such a gift.”

“Am I to blame if she chooses not to appreciate it?”

“Is that why you seem cross with her?”

He nearly replied that it was because Millie had contravened him when he had required her obedience as part of acquiescing to her desires. Katherine would understand then. But, lest Millie had already confessed their nightly activities, he would not reveal them.

“She may not have the finest manners,” Katherine continued as they walked down the corridor, “but she means no disrespect.”

“Madam, perhaps you had not heard all that she had said, but she dared upbraid me for my lack of noblesse oblige before mine own family.”

And against my orders, he added silently.

“And that perturbs you, Andre?”

He said nothing at first, for he cared very little what others might say or think of his actions, but Millie’s words had rankled him. Feeling his aunt’s keen study upon him, he asked, “And you feel I deserve just such a scolding?”

“I do.”

“I receive enough from my sisters and you. Louisa, in particular, is fortunate I do not throw her out of my house.”

“And do you pay us any heed?”

“No, and you would now add Millie to your party. As a result of our encounter at Château Follet, she now thinks herself entitled to speak to me as she does.”

“She was never terribly afraid of you, and I think she will continue so, despite your best efforts to intimidate her.”

Ready to end the conversation, he said, “I know you have a fondness for Millie, but I would take care what thoughts and actions you encourage in her.”

“You promised, for my birthday, to look after someone.”

“And I have done so, but once Millie is married, my responsibility ends.”

“No wonder you gave her such a grand dowry.”

“Precisely.”

He bowed and took his leave. He had to consider what he would do with Millie tonight.