Read Online Three Weeks With Lady X by Eloisa James - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t need her . He needed an estate manager, a housekeeper, a butler. Servants. A wife . And he should have married that wife years ago, so that Rose had a proper family.
    “We seem to have misunderstood each other,” India said, trying to stop her voice from rising. “I don’t build whole households. I assess the weak points in staff, dismiss some people and hire others. My people will refurbish walls and floors, but generally we do a room or two at most. I had no idea your house was completely abandoned, without any servants whatsoever.”
    The impatience she’d seen in his eyes flared. “Unfortunately, my butler in London proved an arsehole, and I let him go. I can’t dispatch him to help you.”
    India’s temper blazed up. “You should not swear in front of your daughter!” she snapped, the single, complicated word tumbling out before she could think better of it.
    In the silence that followed, a bird trilled. India’s muscles tensed, her body instinctively preparing to run for the carriage in response to the murderous look in Dautry’s eyes.
    “Daughter? He is not my father,” Rose said at the same moment that Dautry snarled, “Rose is my ward.”
    A stunned heartbeat passed before Adelaide chirped, “Oh Mr. Dautry, you do remember how you mistook Lady Xenobia for a hired companion? And now she has mistaken Miss Rose for something closer than a ward. Such mistakes do happen!”
    India’s heart was beating so fast that she felt dizzy. No matter how she fought it, her temper always seemed to get the better of her. “I apologize for my error.”
    “I think Mr. Dautry would make a very good father,” the little girl said unexpectedly. She tucked her hand into his again.
    India felt her face soften. “I am truly sorry, Miss Rose. I didn’t mean . . . well, I misunderstood.”
    “There is no need to apologize,” she said with dignity. “I like Mr. Dautry very much. In fact, I am going to teach him Greek, and how to dance, and he will be better off.”
    If India had held any advantage over Dautry before, she had just lost it. She had the sudden conviction that if she showed the slightest weakness, Dautry would squash her like an unwelcome fly at the breakfast table. “How fortunate,” she said, turning to him. “I shall look forward to seeing the results of this Pygmalion endeavor.”
    Pure fury burned in the depths of Dautry’s eyes. He bent and scooped up Rose. “I would be honored if you were my daughter,” he told her, turning away slightly so that the two of them had privacy. “But I know that Will was very happy to have been your papa, and I wish he were standing here with you right now.”
    India took a deep breath. She had been an idiot. Dautry was an arsehole, to use his own expression. But in the utter absence of any facts, she’d had no right to leap to that or any other conclusion, and even worse, to allow the words to tumble out in front of the child.
    What’s more, now she couldn’t simply walk to her carriage and drive away. She supposed that Rose must have entered Dautry’s life in the last few days—which meant that the child had only just lost her father. How could she not have registered her mourning garment? Presumably she had lost her mother too.
    Suddenly the missing pieces fell into place. This was why Thorn believed Lala would make the perfect wife. She would. Lala would be an excellent mother to an orphaned little girl. Lala was just the kind of woman who would take a child in need under her wing, give her a home, love her.
    Given that, how could India not do her own part?
    She would renovate the house and stay for the party, just long enough to make certain that the betrothal went smoothly. She would do it for Eleanor, and for Lala. And because Rose needed a mother. And—not least—because she was ashamed of herself.
    As Dautry continued to speak quietly to his ward, India moved closer to the house. Happily, the mortar was in decent repair. One window