"His lordship can't keep her hidden in the attics forever-- or you either, though I can see why he might want to keep you to himselfI" Frederiea ignored that.

"Lord Sea brooke has good reason to keep Christabel's presence here a secret for the present. If you value your post, I would advise you to respect his wishes in the matter." ' Coombes sidled closer to her.

"Oh, I can keep my mouth shut, if it's worth my while to do so.

No doubt his lordship would be willing to expand the nanny's, ah, duties, to see his secret preserved. " He seized her roughly before she realized what he intended and pulled her against him.

"How date you?" snapped Frederica, unwilling to scream for fear of drawing other servants to the scene. In spite of the but let greater strength, she felt confident of her ability to handle him.

"I could have you dismissed for this!" "I think not, my pretty,"

he replied with a chuckle. He moved his face within inches of hers. "Good butlers are rather harder to find than light-skirt nannies!"

Remembering one of Miss Milliken's more unorthodox lessons, Frederica lifted one foot and brought her heel down hard on the man's instep. He released her with a startled howl of pain.

"You will not touch me again, Mr. Coombes! I do not threaten idly,"

she informed him furiously.

He appeared nearly as angry as she, his fie shy cheeks quivering with barely contained rage.

"We shall see who gets dismissed over this, my fine lady!" he snarled.

"When I'm done, you'll not find another post in all of London!" He turned and stomped down the hallway towards the main staircase, his back rigid in his fury. Frederica watched him go with relief. She doubted that he would actually go to Lord Sea brooke with their encounter as it would present him in a far worse light than it would her. And she doubted she would have to endure any more unwelcome advances from the man, either. Her only fear was that he might seek to spread malicious gossip about the earl out of spite.

Well, if her theory about Christabel's parents proved true, even that would be no threat, she realized. She would finish reading through the letters that afternoon and share her findings with Lord Sea brooke that evening. Her heart lighter at the thought, she mounted the stairs to the nursery.

CHAPTER NINE.

FREDERICA SLOWLY descended to the library at the appointed hour, ordering in her mind the things she wished to say to the earl. After reading through every one of the letters from Captain Browning, she felt that they supported her theory, but unfortunately offered no hard proof.

She hoped to convince Lord Sea brooke to go a step further in the investigation. If he would not, she was determined to do so on her own.

Proving Christabel's legitimacy was rapidly becoming an obsession with her, keeping her thoughts from other matters that might have engaged them.

She tapped lightly on the library door and opened it upon receiving an answer from within.

Her careful phrasings fled from her mind when she beheld Mr. Coombes standing by the Carol's desk, watching her mockingly as she advanced. Involuntarily, she met Lord Sea brooke's eye, to find a silent question there. He was looking unwontedly somber.

"Ah, Miss Cherrystone." The Carol's formal tone immediately put her on her guard.

"I'm glad you are here. Coombes has brought a serious accusation against you, and I have told him that I can take no action until I have heard your side of it."

Frederica glanced at the butler, then let her gaze slide away without acknowledging him. Not for nothing had Miss Milliken taught her how to administer the cut direct, though she had also impressed her charge with the very limited circ.u.mstances in which it might be appropriate.

Frederica felt certain that this was one of them. That Lord Sea brooke noticed was betrayed by a quick upward quirk of his lips, immediately controlled. Mr. Coombes stiffened perceptibly.

"Accusation, my lord?" Frederica was pleased that she managed to keep her voice perfectly call.

It was too much for the butler.

"I have proof, too, Miss High-and-Mighty," he burst out, refusing to be talked about as though he were not present.

"These things were found in your room!" He gestured towards a small pile of objects on the Carol's desk.

Still Frederica would not deign to look at him. Instead, she stepped forward to examine the items indicated.

"Coombes claims he discovered these things, which belong to two of the housemaids, in your chamber," explained the earl.

Gavin could not help but admire Miss Cherrystone's coolness, her refusal to be mr fled He had been considerably startled when his butler had approached him as he left the dining room, and even more so when he heard the man's accusations. It seemed inconceivable that they could be justified. For one thing, Coorobes had never struck him as particularly trustworthy, even though he had come highly recommended. But he could not fathom what the man's motive might be to bring such a charge falsely. "I have never seen any of these items before, my lord," said Miss Cherrystone, still without showing any of the nervousness one might reasonably expect in a servant, even an innocent one, faced with such a situation.

"Nor has Mr. Coorobes ever been in my room. I'll warrant he cannot even say with any certainty where it is."

Though she addressed herself only to the earl, Mr. Coombes began to bl.u.s.ter in response.

"It's on the top floor, of course. How could I not know, when you were running up and down the back stairs this very afternoon with that child, making enough noise to wake the dead."

"You encountered Christabel today, Coorobes?" Gavin's tone was conversational, but his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Tell me, had you seen her before?"

"No, m'lord. I'd heard talk, but if you wanted to keep her a secret, it was not for me to go prying,"

he said self-righteously.

"You'd do well to hire someone to watch her that can behave more discreetly."

The earl glanced at Miss Cherrystone, whose mouth had tightened at the words.

" " By discreet, I presume Mr. Coombes means someone who will accept his unwelcome advances in return for his promise of secrecy," she said acidly, for the first time admitting to having heard the butler, though she kept her eyes on Lord Sea brooke. " He threatened to have me dismissed when I refused, and this is apparently the method he has chosen. " She waved contemptuously at the objects on the desk.

"Ye little hussy!" cried Mr. Coombes, his cultivated accent slipping.

"No one will believe an under-housekeeper, or a b.a.s.t.a.r.d's nanny, or whatever ye are, over me! I never touched 'er, m'lord, I swear it!" He turned back to the earl, belatedly attempting to repair his tattered dignity.

"Thank you, Miss Cherrystone, that will be all for now," said Gavin evenly.

He wanted her out of the room before he gave in to the temptation to do violence to Coorobes. She left quietly and he turned on the butler the moment the door was closed.

"You will leave this house at once, Mr. Coombes," he said, his voice deadly.

The thought of this man pawing Miss Cherrystone filled him with an almost unreasoning fury.

"Leave an address with Mrs. Abbott, and your things will be delivered to you in the morning, along with your wages owing."

"What?" Coombes was plainly thunderstruck.

"You mean to take her word over mine?

Why, the little minx tried to seduce me in the back hallway! " A more observant man might have taken warning from the earl's blazing eyes, but Coorobes plunged on.