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Chapter 6

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Mr. Montgomery?" Her voice had gotten colder with every word. He almost laughed out loud. She was indeed quite fun to play with. He batted his eyes at her in his most charming manner.

"Why I just meant perhaps you could assist me with something I need in return for that fine steed. In fact, I’d even be willing board him for you, keep him in fine shape and you can visit him every time you’re here."

Her lips were a thin line as she rose from her seat, one gloved finger poking the air to emphasize her words. "Mr. Montgomery, I realize that seeing me where you apparently think you saw me last night may have create the wrong impression in your mind. But let me assure you, I am not interested in being your or anyone else’s mistress."

He stood and moved around the table, capturing the wildly gesticulating hand. "Why, Buffy, I do believe you have a bit of a dirty mind. I was merely suggesting that you might assist me with my domestic troubles, take care of running things smoothly until I can find a new housekeeper."

He couldn’t suppress the chuckle as he watched her fury deflate as she sheepishly looked up at him. "You want me to just oversee your staff for a bit? That’s all?"

His eyebrow arched, "Well, you did say you were quite good at it. Course, if you have other things that you’re gifted at that you’d like to share, I’m not opposed."

She blushed again as she disentangled her hand from his and backed up a step. "I don’t think I have any other gifts to share."

He closed the space again until she felt the back of the chair halt her retreat. "Oh, I’d be very surprised if that were true. You look as though you’d be very gifted, Buffy." As soon as the words left his mouth, he could see he’d crossed the line again.

"Mr. Montgomery . . ."

"William, call me William."

"If you’re to be my employer, I hardly think I can call you by your Christian name."

"I’m not going to be your employer. We’ll have a business arrangement. You’ll provide me with a service I need, and I’ll provide you with one you need, Buffy."

There went that little tingle again. How did he make such innocent things sound so, well, not innocent. Service indeed.

"Very well, William, please return to your seat and let’s work out the details of this arrangement."

He grinned and sat back down and she felt her head clearing as the proximity lessened. What was she getting herself into? A half hour in this man’s presence and she was suddenly agreeing to all sorts of things, rather than just walking away with her horse.

She looked around the dining room. "Do you have any paper and something to write with? I think we should formalize this."

He nodded and exited the room, returning shortly with the requested items. She took off her gloves and in her careful and precise handwriting wrote their names and the date at the top, then paused.

"So you would like for me to oversee your household, in the sense that I would manage your servants, see that work is performed properly, meals are well-planned, do the necessary marketing and so forth. Relieve you of any domestic responsibilities."

He nodded.

She wrote for a moment then stopped.

"You understand of course that I won’t be doing this full-time? I have a home of my own to maintain. Additionally, this is a rather unusual arrangement and I’d rather it was not well-known that I was assisting you."

He mock gasped. "Why, are you ashamed to be associated with the notorious new Englishman?"

She frowned and tapped his hand with the pen. "Don’t be ridiculous. It might be misinterpreted as a irregular liaison and I would prefer that my good name not be besmirched. Therefore I would ask that you not mention this arrangement to others."

He acquiesced then stopped her as she prepared to write again. "Wait, there is one person who would need to know, my business partner Xander. He’s living here for the time until we get the new company off the ground."

"Can he be discreet?"

William nodded. "Absolutely."

"Very well, we’ll just say no one outside our respective households. Now, I’d like to have the discretion to engage and dismiss servants as necessary. I think you may have a few malcontents used to your style who may give me a bit of lip. I understand the type of servants you’re interested in having and I’ll respect your wishes regarding that."

"Very well."

She scribbled again, exhilarated that she’d found a place so quickly for Dawn. This would be perfect and she could check on her frequently. "Very well. Now in return, you’ll continue to board Mr. Gordo and take excellent care of him."

William laughed, "I’m sorry, Mr. who?"

Buffy blushed. She really needed to stop doing that around him. "Gordian, it’s just a little pet name I have for him. Now as I was saying, will you agree to that?"

"Of course, I’ll treat him as one of my own. He’s a fine horse, Buffy."

"I know. And thank you for taking care of him so well. He looked very happy out there."

William made a mental note to slip a little extra in the groom’s pay packet. He wanted to see that look of gratitude on her face on a regular basis. "Not a problem."

"And that brings us to the final thing." She paused for a long moment. "How did you know I was at Anya’s last night?"

He shrugged. "I was there. Saw you come up the alley while I was waiting in her parlor, heard her let you in."

She refused to meet his eyes. "Oh."

He reached across the table and took her hand. "Buffy, I don’t know your reasons for being there. And I don’t suppose they’re any of my business. But I won’t mention it, your secret is safe with me."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I was there to rescue a little girl," she blurted out.

William looked at her puzzled. "Pardon?"

"I met Anya a few months ago when one of her girls got in trouble. She needed help and I offered it and of course Anya was angry that I had stolen one of her employees. She’s a bit irrational sometimes about the way she runs things. I suppose you got her little talk last night?"

He nodded, bemused as she continued her explanation.

"Well, anyway, Anya just showed up on my doorstep and confronted me about Fred and . . ."

"Fred? I thought it was a girl."

"Winifred. Anya and I managed to reach an agreement and we’ve been friends of sorts since then. And every so often I help one of her girls out when they want something else, a new start. Anya has consented, she seems to think they won’t be good for business if they’re unhappy."

He stared at her. Of all the explanations for her presence there last night, this one was rather unexpected. She was a half-way house for former ladies of the night? And seemed to be on very familiar terms with one of the biggest madams in Charleston?

She could see his startled expression and she grabbed his hand. "William, you see it’s very important no one knows about this thing . . . that I know her. It would ruin me and the girls I’ve helped if people knew what they’d been."

He covered her hand with his other one and ran his thumb over her silky skin, vaguely aware that she’d probably change moods and throw something at him shortly for that liberty. "You’re quite an amazing lady, Mrs. Crawford. I must say that I’m rather happy that I cheated at that hand of cards last night, otherwise, I would have never had the pleasure of your acquaintance."

"So you did cheat?" Her tone held a small amount of amusement mingled with the indignation.

"Couldn’t really lose now could I, to that insufferable prat."

She dimpled, "I suppose not." She dropped her gaze. "Did you have a nice time . . . at Anya’s, last night?"

He gave a small laugh. "Well, learned who you were, which was nice. But no, I changed my mind and came on home last night, spent some quality time with Mr. Gordo out there."

She looked at him hard. Was he lying to her? He’d gone to Anya’s and not gotten what people went there for? But his gaze seemed innocent enough and he didn’t look as though he were lying.

"Oh," was all she managed to respond, but she tucked that little fact away for later consideration.

His thumb crossed the cold metal of her ring as it made another pass across her palm and he couldn’t resist asking, "Buffy, how long ago did you husband die?"

Her face shuttered as the mood shifted and the question hung in the air. She withdrew from him and resumed adding the details to their impromptu contract. "Angel? He died about two years ago."

"Was he ill?"

"He had a sudden accident, fell off a horse and broke his neck."

Her voice was closed off and he dropped the subject. Clearly she was still not able to talk about his death. He felt a flash of momentary jealousy for the man who’d had the love of this entrancing creature, such a love that she still wore mourning and his ring long after custom would have allowed her less somber apparel.

She made a final scribble and slid the paper across the table for him to sign, then added her own flourish.

"So, we have an arrangement?"

"I suppose we do."

She offered her hand for them to seal the deal with a shake as she’d seen her father do many times, but he surprised her when he took her hand and raised it to his lips. The tingle she’d felt before when he kissed her glove seemed a pale imitation to the feel of his lips on her bare hand. She wanted to jerk away, wanted to make some witty, offhand remark to put him in his place, but she found herself mesmerized again by his eyes as he lingered a brief moment too long.

As he gently returned her hand and she fumbled hastily to slip her fingers back into the glove, she managed to collect herself.

"William, if we’re to have this arrangement, you can’t keep doing things like that."

"Like what?"

"Like kissing my hand."

He frowned at her. "My sincerest apologies, I saw several gentleman bestowing such a small token on the young ladies at the dinner party last night, was I in error?"

She colored slightly. "No, I mean, yes, that is done in a social setting of course, sometimes. But not in private like this, with just us, it’s not proper."

"Is that really why you don’t want me to touch you, Buffy?"

She gathered her reticule and slid the folded document inside. "Of course. If we’re to have a business arrangement, it wouldn’t be proper to act otherwise."

He let the matter drop for the moment. After all, he’d gotten her to agree to this little deal, he’d see her more often, and who knew where things might lead? There was certainly an attraction between them, he knew he’d affected her. Maybe she could be persuaded to something more later, given time. If nothing else, the pursuit would be interesting. And he was more excited by her than he’d been . . . well, really than he’d ever been. He’d concede the battle for the moment, but the war was just starting.

"Very well, Buffy, I’ll walk you home."

"Oh, that’s not necessary, it’s just the next street over, I’ll be fine."

He shook his head firmly. "Nonetheless, I’m about to leave for the docks so I’ll accompany you. One moment while I get my coat. Why don’t you go have that talk with Cook?"

She watched as he bounded off and she stared at the piece of paper that peeked from the top of her bag. What had she gotten herself into?

+++

As they turned the block, she halted him at the gate to her small row house. "This is me."

An awkward pause grew as they both stared at each other, as if oddly reluctant to let their time together end.

"Well, it was interesting meeting you, Mr. William Montgomery."

"Likewise Mrs. Buffy Summers Crawford."

She turned and walked through the gate and let herself into the house as he continued to watch until the door closed firmly behind her.

He glanced at his pocket watch. Bugger, Xan was going to kill him for being so late.

++++

Buffy shut the door and tried unsuccessfully to sneak up the stairs to her room. She suspected she needed a few minutes to compose herself and get the flush off her cheeks before she encountered all her friends.

She made it to the second step.

"Buffy, what happened?"

She turned slowly to find Willow, Tara, Fred and Dawn staring at her expectantly.

"Did you get back Mr. Gordo?" the normally quiet Tara chimed in.

"Was that him outside Miss Buffy?" Fred inquired.

She sighed. "Why don’t we all go into the dining room and I’ll tell you everything."

She proceeded to give a highly edited version of the morning’s events and the agreement that had been struck, emphasizing the wonderful lodging for Mr. Gordo and how much closer he’d be than where she’d previously had to keep him. She turned to Dawn, who had grown a little less withdrawn, though still quiet as the conversation continued.

"So what do you think, Dawn? Would you like to work for Mr. Montgomery? We’ll train you as you go and you can continue to stay here, if you prefer, or you’d have your own room over there, if you’d rather."

Dawn nodded slowly. "I think that would be good. Will I have a uniform?"

"Yes, and plenty of food, and a half day per week in addition to your pay and lodging."

"Will, will she be able to find me?"

Buffy shook her head, knowing exactly who Dawn was afraid of by the tremble in her tone. "No Dawn. She’ll never find you at Mr. Montgomery’s house. You’ll be safe there."

She gave the slight girl a hug. "Alright, that’s enough then. I think we have some things to teach Dawn and if Parker is to be believed, Lilah will be calling this afternoon."

Her statement was met by a chorus of groans as they all started about their day.

+++

"Will, where the hell have you been? We have several reports due at noon today, if I might remind you."

William plopped down at his desk and threw his feet on the massive oak top. "I’m ready to work Xan, throw’m at me."

He grimaced as Xander tossed the stack of papers on his stomach. "Didn’t mean literally. I’ll be glad when Wes gets here, paperwork’s more his forte anyway."

Xander looked up from the paper he’d returned to. "Don’t I know it. But he should be here in a week or so, at least that’s what his latest letter said." He glanced at his partner, who continued to have a bemused expression as he sorted through the papers and began to work on a report. "What’s got you so cheery this morning?"

"You remember last night, the girl I saw in the alleyway? I met her this morning."

"This morning?"

"Yep. You’re never going to believe this."

He recounted the events to Xander, who let out a long whistle as he reached the end of the tale.

"So she’s not a prostitute?"

"Nope."

"But she does rescue them?"

"Uh-huh."

"Strange."

"I thought so."

"And she’s our new housekeeper?"

"Part-time, but yes."

"And you still have her horse?"

"Indeed I do."

"You are a silver-tongued devil."

William smiled.

"But may I remind you that you got yourself engaged yesterday?"

And just like that, William’s face fell. He’d completely forgotten that Harmony Wilkins even existed.





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