She had met, known, very handsome men.

But William Reid of Thornhallow was not what she would call handsome. He was almost closer to... Beautiful? Entrancing? When she remembered his eyes... What color had they been?

Gray? No...

They had seemed so at first, so cold, but no...

Hazel. With flecks of gold, gray and green.

Eyes that had seen too much but still retained light. Enchanting, rapturous light.

Mrs. Murray’s shouts echoing down the corridor sharply brought Rebecca back from her reverie. Cursing under her breath, she picked up her quill and returned to the ledger. It didn’t matter what she would qualify his manner to be, or what precisely she thought of his eyes. Truly, it mattered not one bit that he would never see her. She was glad of it, verily.

She wasn’t about to jeopardize her position, her life, by becoming foolishly intrigued by the master. The Earl of Thornhallow could be the most beautiful angel to descend from heaven and it would matter not one bit. She was his housekeeper. And she would do her duty. As she always had, infallibly.