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coughing attack that had him bent over. Followed by a series of deep groans.
    Giles might have laughed at the absurdity of Simon’s theatrics if he wasn’t so distracted by trying to understand what his goal was.
    Miss Whitaker’s eyes widened and she rushed to Simon’s side. “Are you all right?”
    He coughed again then promptly moaned.
    Seth picked up a metal cup from the bureau and extended it toward Simon who was patting his chest vigorously and groaning.
    “Thank you,” Simon gasped. He took the cup from Seth with his free hand and brought it to his lips. He spilled more down his chin than he managed to get into his mouth. When he was finished making a mess of himself, he handed the cup back to Seth, still clutching his chest as if he were having heart palpitations.
    “ Better?” Miss Whitaker asked tonelessly.
    Simon shook his head. “No, ma’am. My chest—it hurts.”
    “I’m sure it does. You were slamming it with your palm for no apparent reason.”
    Simon’s green eyes widened in response.
    “Mr. Appleton, I think you forget that Seth is my son. I’ve borne witness to many of his schemes—” her gaze shifted to her son— “but, this was one of the worst yet.”
    Giles bit the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. Not that he found it funny that Seth was being scolded. He’d been in his position more times than he could count. But there was something rather humorous about seeing Simon receiving a much-needed set down. Although he still didn’t understand what the two had been trying to accomplish. He mentally shrugged. It didn’t matter.
    “Sorry, Mama,” the boy said quietly. “I was just—”
    “ Yes, I know,” she burst out quickly, then sighed. “Perhaps you can join me in the kitchen while Lord Norcourt helps Mr. Appleton get dressed.”
    “ But I wanted to help.”
    “ And you can help. Me.” Her voice offered no room for the lad to refuse and with a loud sigh he followed his mother from the room, leaving Giles and Simon alone for only the second time in their entire lives.
    “ Do you need help?” Giles slightly shook the folded clothes in his hands for emphasis.
    Simon groaned. “No. You can wait out in the hall. I’ll dress and be out in a moment.”
    With a shrug of acceptance, Giles tossed Simon’s clothes onto the bed and quit the room to wait in the parlor, but not without first peeking into the kitchen where a flush-faced Miss Whitaker was whispering something to her son.
    His pulse raced at the sight of her and he forced himself to keep walking.
    “My lord,” McDougal, his coachman, said when he entered the room.
    “ Yes?”
    “ Can I see ye ou’side?”
    Wordlessly, Giles followed.
     

 
     
    Chapter Five
     
     
    This was not when Lucy wanted to do this, but Seth and his schemes were leaving her little choice. She wasn’t so naïve she didn’t see through the charade he and Mr. Appleton had tried to fool her with. If she didn’t just address it now, those two might never leave and that wouldn’t do.
    She gestured for him to sit down in one of the two dining chairs they had. “Seth,” she started, curling her hands into her skirts. How did she say this in a way he’d understand? “I know you mean well, but I can’t marry.” There, that was simple enough.
    Seth pressed his lips together. “Yes, you can, and Mr. Appleton seems the perfect sort.”
    Lucy tried not to snort. “We barely know him,” she said evasively. That was true enough.
    “ No, you barely know him.”
    Lucy arched a brow.
    “I spent the afternoon with him. I know lots of things about him.”
    Lucy didn’t even want to know what her son had deemed important enough to ask Mr. Appleton. She released a deep breath. “Seth, I’m sure he’s a nice gentleman, but he has no interest in becoming my husband.”
    “How do you know?” Seth retorted. “You have hardly spoken to him.”
    “ No, I haven’t,” she agreed. “But I don’t need to speak to him to know that he