Read Online Don't Tempt Me by Loretta Chase - Free Book Online

suppose, was the house to take fire, it might be useful to know another way out,” Jarvis said.
    â€œBut it isn’t what ladies do, I know,” Zoe said. “I’ve always been the contrary and obstinate daughter. When people say to me, ‘No, you can’t,’ I always think, ‘Yes, I will.’ In Egypt it was, ‘No, you’ll never get out of the harem.’ Then I got out, and I was arguing with myself, with the fear, the bad genie in the head: No, you’ll never get safely home. Yes, I will. No, they won’t let you in the house. You’ll never get in. Yes, I will. No, they won’t believe it’s you. Yes, I will. Then today, it was No, you can’t have the life you should have had.” She laughed. “And then Marchmont came and I thought, ‘Oh, yes I will.’ And he said, ‘Nothing could be simpler.’”
    â€œYes, miss, it sounds like the sort of thing His Grace would say, and I’m sure he knows better than anybody whether it is or it isn’t. Won’t you put on your nightdress? You’ll be warmer. Lady Lexham said we must remember you aren’t used to the climate.”
    Zoe stalked to the fire and glared at it. “When Iasked him if he was glad to have me back, he said he was. Do you know why he was glad?”
    â€œNo, miss, though I couldn’t guess why he wouldn’t be, like everyone else.”
    â€œHe said, ‘Did you think I wanted to find that your father had been taken in by an imposter? Did you think I wanted to see him made a fool of?’ What do you think of that?”
    â€œI’m not allowed to think, miss,” Jarvis said.
    â€œHe’s changed so much,” Zoe said. “I hardly knew him. He used to be sweet. He used to have a heart. I used to be able to talk to him and laugh with him. He said he remembered me, but he doesn’t, really. And the man I saw today…” She shook her head. “He’s conceited. I used to think he was the cleverest of all the boys, but now his head is empty. Maybe his brain has shrunk. He’s beautiful and desirable and powerful—but I know he will test my patience. I am so tired of being patient with men, Jarvis, so tired of holding my tongue when they’re stupid and obnoxious. So tired of catering to them.”
    â€œMiss, you don’t want to take a chill, I’m sure, and worry Lady Lexham.”
    Zoe looked round at the maid. She was holding up the nightdress, her brow furrowed.
    Until tonight, Zoe had shared her mother’s lady’s maid. But after Marchmont and the others left, Mama had decided that Zoe must have her own lady’s maid to look after her. The housekeeper had sent up three of the girls she deemed qualified. Zoe had chosen Jarvis—formerly Jane the upper housemaid—because, she said, all she saw in her eyes was truth.
    Jarvis wasn’t yet confident of her abilities as alady’s maid, and Lady Lexham had given enough instructions and warnings to fill the maid’s heart with terror.
    Clearly one could not hope to carry on an intelligent conversation with Jarvis while she fussed about the nightdress and her mistress’s taking cold. With a smile intended to be reassuring, Zoe signaled the maid to help her out of her shift and into the nightdress.
    When the ceremony was completed and Jarvis had relaxed a degree, Zoe startled her by stroking her arm.
    â€œWhere I’ve come from,” Zoe said gently, “we say what’s in our hearts and we touch, as you do not,” she said. “My husband, Karim, gave me a slave, Minhat. With her I could share what was in my heart, as I couldn’t do with the other wives or concubines or slaves. You’re not a slave, but you are my Minhat. If we can’t speak freely together, then there’s no one with whom I can do so. My sisters are all crazy. They all think I’m crazy. None of them can be my Minhat. Wherever I