Guilty Series by Laura Lee Guhrke Page B

he did not take it, she pulled her hand back and let the paper float to the floor. “I am resigning my position. I will be leaving one month from now.”
    She started to turn away, but his voice stopped her. “Where are you going, in heaven’s name? If you have been persuaded away by some other excavation—”
    â€œI will be staying with Lady Hammond at Enderby. She is going to introduce me into society and help me find my mother’s family.”
    That was just as ridiculous now as it had been last night when his sister had suggested it. There were only seven months before the opening of the museum. Seven short months in which they had an enormous amount of work to do.
    Damn Viola’s sudden interest in romantic endeavors. She knew how important this excavation was to him, and also how crucial Miss Wade’s expertise was to getting it completed. He had no intention of letting this little scheme of theirs go any further.
    â€œI can appreciate your desire to find your connections, Miss Wade, but you can easily make inquiries about your relations from here. Viola will not carry out any plans involving your departure from here without my consent. I refuse to give it, and will tell her so.”
    A smile he could not help but describe as triumphant curved her lips. “Lady Hammond said that all I needed to do was speak with you and officially resign my post, giving you one month to find a replacement.” She gestured to the letter on the floor. “Now I have done so.”
    â€œFind a replacement? God, woman, people like you do not grow on trees! You know perfectly well that anyone with your skill at restoration is committed to a project years in advance. It took me three years to get your father. The museum opens in seven months, and you know the villa will take at least five years. Replacing you is impossible at this point. I have assured the Society of Antiquarians that this museum will be opened in time for the London season, so that we might generate as much interest as possible. I will not have the opening delayed a year because you’ve got it into your head all of a sudden to go off to London in search of a husband and the frivolous amusements of society. You cannot leave until this project is finished. I have obligations to fulfill, and I have given my word.”
    â€œYou, you, you!” she cried, an outburst that astonished him, not only because she dared to speak to him in such a way, but also because it was the first display of real emotion he had ever witnessed fromher. “You may be a duke, but you are not the sun around which the world revolves. In fact, you are quite the opposite, for you are the most selfish man I have ever known. Inconsiderate, too, for you order your servants and staff about without so much as a please or a thank you. You care nothing for the feelings of others, and you are arrogant enough to believe that your rank entitles you to behave that way. I—” She broke off and wrapped her arms around herself as if attempting to contain her emotions. As well she should, for this torrent of inexplicable criticism was both unjustified and unpardonable.
    He opened his mouth to dress her down for her impudence, as he would any other person in his employ, but she spoke before he had the chance to do so. “The plain truth, your grace, is that I do not like you, and I do not wish to work for you any longer. Speak to Lady Hammond if you wish, but I am leaving in one month regardless of whether or not you forbid her to help me.”
    Anthony watched her back as she walked out of the antika without another word, not knowing quite whether to go after her or go after Viola for putting idiotic notions into her head. In the end, he did neither.
    Instead, he bent down and retrieved Miss Wade’s letter of resignation from the floor. He opened it and scanned the two lines written in her precise and perfect script.
    As he refolded the letter, a