When I'm with You (8 page)

“I'm sure she will, she's so fond of you. But you may want to keep tabs on Abigail.” Katie looked around in vain. Abigail was nowhere in the room. “Where is she, anyway?” she asked, pulling away to stand up. “I'll have a bit of a word with her.”

“Oh, please don't do anything foolish.” Martha grabbed her by the forearm. “Not on my account. I don't want to see you sacked because of me.”

“I won't. But I will remind her that
she
is the newcomer. I've dealt with people far worse than Abigail and it wouldn't take much to prove that to her.”

“I can just see you pinching her ear.” Martha's laugh was weak but genuine. “Do take care, Katie. I should hate to see you end up in hot water with Mrs. Bates as well.”

Katie paused to give Martha her most reassuring grin. “You needn't worry. I'll just make it clear to her that she should think twice before causing any more trouble.”

Martha shrugged. “Do you think it will serve any purpose? She seems to do what she wishes, if it is to her advantage.”

Katie moved to the kettle to put it over the fire. Martha looked as if she could use a nice cup of tea. “I don't know, to be honest. But it can't hurt, can it?”

Mrs. North came back into the kitchen, pausing to peer at the kettle. “Is something the matter, Martha? Are you crying?”

“I'll be fine, Mrs. North.” Martha nodded toward the shelf where the tins of tea were kept. “Would you mind if I had some tea?”

“I don't mind at all, as long as it won't get either of us in trouble.” Mrs. North turned away from them to holler, “Lucy! We need to finish washing these dishes!”

“Beg pardon, Mrs. North.” Lucy scurried into the room, giving Martha and Katie the quickest of glances before diving into the stacks of dirty dishes.

Katie sighed as she prepared the tea. “Martha, why don't you go to our room and I'll bring this to you. Just to be on the safe side.”

With another sniff, Martha nodded and rose from her chair. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

As Martha left the room, Mrs. North came over to Katie, leaning very close to whisper, “Is she in trouble?”

“A bit. But I think everything will be fine in the morning. Tell me, would you happen to know where Abigail's got to?” Katie managed to smile.

“Actually, yes. She made mention of his Lordship offering her the chance to take a book from his library. Said she'd been having trouble sleeping lately and perhaps a good book would help.”

“Wonderful. Thank you.”

When the tea was ready, she picked up the cup, bid Mrs. North a good evening, and left to bring it to Martha, who looked no less upset and whose eyes were redder and puffier still.

“Try not to worry,” Katie told her, pressing the cup into her hand. “I will deal with Abigail. You rest.”

“Thank you, Katie.” Martha patted her hand. “Just be careful.”

“I will.”

She left Martha with her tea and made her way below to the library. It should be empty now, with the ladies in the drawing room and the men having retired to the billiards room.

But when she entered the room, she came face to face with Galen and Conn Sebastiano, flopped rather casually on the sofa closest to the hearth. And they weren't alone. Both of their sisters were there as well, standing together before the shelves of leather-bound books. For a horrifying moment that seemed more like an eternity, Katie wished she could make herself invisible.

She would have liked to slip back out of the room; however, they all looked up when the door opened, which seemed to leave no recourse but to ask if any of them had seen Abigail. She felt utterly foolish, having to ask them if they'd seen a maid. As if they would take notice of a servant.

Before she could say anything, Conn grinned at her. “What brings you here? Looking for someone?”

“I am, as a matter of fact. I wonder, have you seen a servant, about my age, come through here?”

“We've seen a few,” he replied with a lazy smile. “You might have to narrow it down some. There are too bloody many of you.”

“My age. My height. Dark hair. Turned-up nose.”

“Oh, well,
that
narrows it down.”

This drew a grin from Galen, who gestured toward the rear of the library, where two doors led to separate parts of the house. “One went that way, but I didn't see which door. That's not what I was looking at.”

“Galen!” Serena turned away from the bookshelves to glare at her brother. “Mind yourself.”

“She's only a maid,” Galen muttered, scowling.

“Be that as it may, show some manners.
Mami
would box your ears if she heard you.”

“
Mami would box your ears
,” Galen mimicked her tone perfectly. “Who needs
Mami
when you're her little parrot?”

Katie was sure Serena was going to throw the heavy-looking book she held at her brother, but Elena broke in with a quiet, “I think she went down that passageway.” She pointed to the right-hand door, which led to the bachelors' wing upstairs. “She was following Rafe.”

“No, Lena, she was
chasing
him. And they went down
that
hall right there,” Serena corrected, pointing at the corridor directly opposite.

Katie swallowed a rising groan. Now
Abigail
had Rafe in her sights. She didn't want to remain there, in the library, where one of them still might recognize her. She just wanted to leave, to put as much space between them as possible.

“No, Elena's right. She went through the right door.” Conn sat up, the leather squeaking from his shifting weight, and winked at her.

Dear Lord…if that wasn't recognition in his eyes, she didn't know what it was. Any moment, and everyone in the room would know as well.

“Far be it from me to meddle in my brother's assignations.” Conn's grin turned almost wolfish. Lord help the women he turned that smile on, as it was sensual and heavy with promise. Charm ran through the Sebastiano veins. “But she's probably pinned him in some dark corner by now. Or at least tried to.”

Katie certainly wasn't going to venture into the bachelors' wing. Mrs. Bates would be apoplectic if she was caught. Besides, the thought of what she might find there bothered her even more than the possibility of discovery.

“Shall we find her for you? I do love a good scavenger hunt.” Elena nudged her sister. “Come, Rena. We're going on a hunt with— What is your name?”

“Katie.”

She didn't fear giving either sister her name, as she hadn't been introduced to them during her short stay on St. Phillippe. They had quickly been rushed out of her presence, which was a small relief now.

As long as Conn didn't expose her…

And with that in mind, the sooner she excused herself, the better.

Elena's eyes sparkled as she continued, “We're going on a hunt with Katie. But Conn, you and Galen must stay here. Katie wouldn't want anyone to think she was trying to sneak off with one of you.” Elena's grin turned mischievous. “Would you, Katie?”

“Oh, bloody hell, of course not,” Katie snapped, then realized her mistake when all four Sebastianos stared at her as if they'd just caught her killing a cat. “I beg your pardon, but this isn't any sort of scavenger hunt. I simply wanted to speak to Abigail. That's all. I just wondered if anyone had seen her.”

“I told you, I saw her following Rafe down that way.” Elena jabbed her finger toward the far end of the library. “You look angry. Is there going to be a fight?”

“No. It's just that…Mrs. Bates was looking for her.”

Elena frowned. “I'd rather you mess her up. She's an evil cow.”

“Elena!” The horrified gasp came from Serena, but the slight grin on her face suggested she wasn't nearly as scandalized as she sounded.

Elena didn't look at all chagrined. “Well, she is. Throwing herself all over every man she sees. She's already tried to slobber on Galen and Conn.” She waved a hand toward her brothers, who were paying rapt attention to them, as if waiting to be invited to join the fray. “If she catches up to Rafe, you can wager she'll be all over him, and that would make Sally have kittens.”

Katie sighed. Wonderful. Mrs. North and Mrs. Bates had apparently outdone themselves when they'd hired Abigail. How long would it be before she or Martha found the girl trying to worm her way into the Earl's bed? “Are you certain she went up to the bachelors' wing?”

Elena nodded. “I am if that's where that door leads.”

Conn shoved his brother's booted feet from the arm of the sofa. “We'll go. Come on, Gale, let's go pin us down a maid. Rafe will thank us for rescuing him.”

Galen rubbed one eye. “I suppose I
could
, if properly motivated.”

“Properly motiv— Come now, old man.” Conn flashed another devilish grin. “How can you resist the promise of a possible catfight?”

“Oh, well, if there's going to be a catfight—”

Katie had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from scowling at them. She weighed the consequences of getting into a fight with the guests. No. Not worth it. “I said nothing about there being a cat— Oh, never mind. I'll speak to her later, upstairs.”

“Oh, we're going. It isn't often we get the opportunity to catch our brother in a compromising position.”

“No, wait…”

Ignoring her protest, the Sebastiano brothers took off in search of their older brother and the sneaky housemaid.

Katie shook her head. “They will enjoy this, won't they?”

Serena let out a tired laugh. “Most likely. It's been a long day, and they've spent far too much time on board a ship. They should probably be at a tavern instead of a house party.”

“I don't understand why
Mami
had to spend those extra days on Puerto Rico,” Elena added with a shrug. “It only made this trip worse.”

“Is that why you came on separate ships?”

Serena nodded. “It's partly why.
Papi
had business matters to take care of, and
Mami
loves San Juan. She goes as often as she can, and this time she was searching for a gift for my brother and his wife. They recently had a baby. Well,
two
babies, actually, as she had twins.”

“Twins? How lovely.” Katie couldn't quite keep the wistfulness from her voice. She cleared her throat. “I really should go and look elsewhere for Abigail. There is always the chance she didn't go to the bachelors' wing.”

If she had any sense at all.

“Not likely.” Elena sniffed. “Women are always chasing Rafe. Although he doesn't usually run away so fast. That has to be a first, now that I think about it.”

“Elena!
Mami
would explode if she heard you.”

Elena stuck her tongue out at her sister. “I'm right and you know it, Rena. He's almost as bad as Aidrian was, before he met Vanessa, that is.”

Katie wanted to ask how Vanessa and Aidrian were doing, but she caught herself in time.

Serena nodded. “I suppose you're right.”

“Right about what?” Fiona Sebastiano asked as she swept into the room with the Hamilton women.

The night just kept getting more and more complicated. When would it end?

“Nothing,
Mami
,” Elena replied in a hurried voice. “We were merely gossiping.”

“About something delicious, I hope,” Lady Edna said with a smile, as she perched beside Elena. “I do love a juicy tidbit. It's been a while since there's been anything really good.”

“Katie, bring us the plates of biscuits if you would.” Lady Marchand gestured in the general direction of the desserts.

Katie hoped no more had gone missing. “Of course, m'lady.”

She fetched the two plates and offered one to Mrs. Sebastiano first. The lady declined, but her daughters each relieved the plate of a biscuit.

Their elegant voices, with their myriad accents, fell softly behind Katie as she returned the plates to their table and poured each lady a sherry. As she served those, she fervently hoped that neither Conn nor Galen returned with Abigail just yet.

As luck would have it, neither brother appeared at all. Instead, Inigo joined the ladies with a low, “May I? I'm afraid I've grown rather tired of business talk and I heard you ladies had dessert.”

“Of course, Captain Sebastiano,” Lady Marchand replied. “Lord Marchand does love to chew a subject to death, I'm afraid.”

“All that talk of shipping schedules and the like,” Lady Edna broke in, her voice somewhat muffled. By a biscuit, most likely. “I'm afraid it would make my head hurt to even consider such topics.”

Lady Sally laughed. “I could withstand it for a while, but eventually my mind would wander.”

“As it should,” Lady Marchand told her, nodding with approval. “You shouldn't tax yourself with such things.”

Katie rearranged the biscuits to offer to Captain Sebastiano, taking some from one plate to refill the missing ones on another. As she swung about to offer Inigo dessert, Rafe strode into the library, and she froze.

He didn't look as if he'd been rolling around with Abigail. His frock coat and breeches remained uncreased and his hair was smooth in its queue. The breathless feeling quelled momentarily. But her relief was short-lived. He might not have been dallying with Abigail, but he was still supposed to marry Lady Sally. That hadn't changed.

A sense of sorrow nibbled at her as she remembered that afternoon, the way his lips had swept so lightly along her nape. Even now, she wanted to shiver. She should be furious on Lady Sally's behalf, but couldn't seem to muster up the outrage.

She licked her lips nervously and walked over to offer the plate. “Biscuit, Captain Sebastiano?”

Inigo smiled and took one. “Thank you.”