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come when her mother was barely in her teens. She had lost her parents and most of her relatives to the guillotine and been forced to flee with only a few faithful family retainers to protect her.
    “Understandable.” Nathaniel’s expression sobered. “And your father, the solider? Good English working-class stock, I suppose. He must have been an exceptional man to capture her attention.”
    Lisa nodded, relieved. While Nathaniel had come close to the truth, he had fortunately interpreted the information she’d given him through the filter of the role she was playing.
    “And so here we have the lovely Lisa. A sweet little commoner with the grace and beauty of a budding debutante. What an enticing contradiction you present.”
    After drawing in a ragged breath, she licked her suddenly dry lips. With his gaze focused on her mouth, he leaned in so close they were almost touching. Almost kissing .
    “Bloody hell.”  
    Pushing himself to his feet, Nathaniel strode a few paces before halting.
    “I don’t know if you have any idea how much I want you.” He huffed a feeble laugh before turning to face her. “But my giving in to temptation would rather defeat the purpose of you having travelled all this way to find safety. Keeping my distance is the only option.”
    Lisa rose slowly from the chair.  
    “Would you like me to leave? I’ve not yet finished cleaning the library, but I can come back later.”
    “No, I’ll leave, but I don’t want you working alone in future, is that clear?”
    Her mouth fell open.  
    “That’s hardly necessary, my lord. I’m quite capable of staying away from you and have no need of supervision.”
    Nathaniel took a step towards her. “You will not work alone for your own protection. I will stay away from you .”  
    With that he turned and stalked from the library, leaving Lisa staring after him, thoroughly confused.

Chapter 8
    The Pastry Chef

    “Your chocolate pastries have been a great success.” Chef Peters approached where Lisa was sitting icing a batch of petit fours a few days later. As a result of her encounter with Nathaniel, she had been assigned to work permanently in the kitchen, a place where she would never be alone. Heartily sick of cleaning, she was not displeased by the outcome.
    After Nathaniel had left her in the library, Lisa had set aside her anger and gone in search of the French language section. Refusing to be distracted at discovering so many of her favourite authors amongst the wonderful collection, she had located a journal of French recipes. Without paper or writing utensils, she had been limited to memorising ingredients for just a couple of dishes. She was pleased the chocolate pastries—or pain au chocolat , as they were called in France—generated a positive response.  
    “I’m glad they’ve been appreciated.” Lisa smiled shyly. Not having to hide the fact she enjoyed creating culinary delights was one of the very few benefits she had discovered to masquerading as a servant.
    “They’ve been more than appreciated. The marquis himself has asked to meet the new pastry chef and pay his compliments in person,” the chef added, and her smile faded.  
    “I think it might be best if you went in my place,” she said.  
    “I’m not about to take credit for your work.” Chef Peters frowned. “And I don’t fancy sending word to the marquis that you refused his invitation. I don’t expect he’d be at all pleased.”
    Lisa removed her apron with a sigh. She didn’t expect he would be pleased either way. With no other choice, she made her way to Nathaniel’s study, a tray of recently baked pastries in her hand. He was seated at his desk, his head bent over a pile of papers on his desk, and his quill moving rapidly.  
    “I’ll be with you in just a moment,” he said after a footman announced her arrival, and Lisa took the opportunity to admire the view. She particularly liked the way his dark hair curled a little behind his ears and