Elizabeth Hoyt Quote

He paused and eyed her as if she were an agate discovered in gravel. But what a very sharp tongue you have for a housekeeper.Bridget's heart sank- she knew better than to speak so frankly. It was never good for a servant to be noticed by a master- particularly master.Come. He beckoned her closer with his forefinger and she saw the flash of a jeweled gold ring on his left thumb.She swallowed and opened her right hand, silently dropping the miniature to the lush carpet. As she walked toward him she nudged the little painting under the enormous bed with the side of her foot.She stopped a pace away from him.His lips curved, sly and sensual. .She stepped nearer until her plain, practical black linsey-woolsey skirts were crushed against his purple velvet knees. Her heart beat hard and swift, but she was confident her expression didn't show her fear.Still smiling, he held out his hands, palms upward. His hands were long-fingered and elegant. The hands of a musician- or a swordsman.She stared down at them a moment, confused.He quirked an eyebrow and nodded.Bridget placed her hands on top of his. Palm to palm. She expected searing heat or deathly cold and was a little surprised to instead feel human warmth.She'd been hired little more than a fortnight before the duke had supposedly been banished. In that time he had never struck her as human- or humane.Ah, His Grace murmured, cocking his head with interest. What feminine hands you have, despite your station in life.His blue eyes flashed at her from under dark eyelashes, a secretive smile playing about his mouth.She met his gaze stonily.His lips quirked and he looked down again. Small, plump, with neat, round nails. He turned her hands over so that they now rested palms-up in his. I once knew a Greek girl who swore she could read a man's life story from the lines on his hands. He dropped her left hand to trace the lines on her right palm with a forefinger. His touch sent a frisson along her nerves and Bridget couldn't hold back a shudder.