Maid to Match Read Online Free

you.”
    “Well, I don’t want to meet her.”
    Heat surged up Tillie’s neck. Couldn’t he see they were within hearing distance?
    “Doesn’t matter,” Earl said. “She told me to bring you to her and that’s exactly what I intend to do. I’d appreciate it if you’d come willingly, though. I really don’t want to make a mess of my prissy finery.”
    Mack studied his brother a moment, then sighed and turned his attention to the director in his clutches. He was still out cold.
    Mack drew him closer. “You ever lay a hand on my sister again, and I’ll finish what I started here.”
    With the warning spoken to unconscious ears, he flung Mr. Sloop to the ground. Earl released Mack’s wrist and swept his hand in an after-you gesture.
    “This better not take long.”
    The children parted, too timid to approach the carriage. None of them seemed concerned for their director. Much as Tillie wanted to see to his welfare, she forced herself to stay put. Finally, an adolescent boy hurried inside. Hopefully he was fetching Mrs. Sloop for help.
    As the brothers advanced, Tillie couldn’t discern for certain if they were identical. They definitely had the same build, same height, and same eyes, but with Mack’s beard and filth disguising all else, she couldn’t be sure.
    She knew what Mrs. Vanderbilt was thinking, though. Two footmen who were not only tall and handsome, but identical, would be the stuff of legends amongst her set.
    “Ma’am, this is my brother, Mack Danver.”
    Mack looked her square in the eye. The challenge was unmistakable.
    Mrs. Vanderbilt tilted her head. “I think your defense of your sister is honorable, Mack Danver, though I’m not sure about the method.”
    He lifted one shoulder in a disdainful shrug. “I probably overreacted. She’s just a girl, after all. Little more than a domestic animal.”
    Tillie gasped.
    Mrs. Vanderbilt lifted a brow. “A mountain highlander, I presume? What brings you to the city?”
    Mack turned to leave.
    Earl grabbed his arm. “Our pa’s been gone awhile, but Ma just passed, so we had to break up the family. Our siblings, other than Ora Lou, were placed into homes and scattered all over the mountain. Since I live up at the Estate and Mack boards as a janitor for the Battery Park Hotel, we had to put Ora Lou here at Sloop’s orphanage.”
    Mrs. Vanderbilt leaned into the cushions of the landau. “How would you like to work at Biltmore House, Mr. Danver?”
    Tillie gaped at her mistress. She could understand wanting him on the property as a stable hand or in the dairy until he could be cleaned up and taught a few things. But in the house? Right away? Without a reference?
    Mack turned his head to the side and spit. “I don’t think I’d care to work there one iota.”
    “My husband pays his staff New York wages. Much more than what you’re making at Battery Park, I’m sure. With the income you’d make at Biltmore, you’d be able to set your sister up in her own place in no time.”
    “She’ll make do.”
    “In my experience, sir, orphanages rarely raise a child to adulthood. If the ward can’t be placed out, she’s often put onto the street.”
    His eyes grew cold. “She can just dress like a boy and carry a pistol, then. I’m not working for a bunch of brigetty folks who live at the back of beyond.”
    Mrs. Vanderbilt held his gaze for a long moment. “So you’re afraid?”
    Shaking off Earl’s hand, Mack took a step forward. “I’m not afraid.”
    “Aren’t you?”
    He didn’t answer. Nor did he need to. He looked ready to prove his point the same way he had with the unfortunate Mr. Sloop.
    Finally, Mrs. Vanderbilt gave a nod. “If you change your mind, come to the house and tell them I sent you.”

    Tillie stood in front of Mrs. Winter’s desk.
    “It isn’t enough to pass lightly over the surface,” the housekeeper was saying. Her blond hair had begun to silver and new wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes and mouth.