She glanced at the digital display and bit her lip when she saw Bastien ID’d as the caller. After a hesitation, she set down the towels, picked up the phone, flipped it open, and put it to her ear as she headed for the door.
“Hello Mr. Argeneau. This is Inez. Just give me a minute and I’ll take Thomas his phone so you can talk to him.”
“No, that’s all right. I don’t need to talk to him,” Bastien interrupted quickly. “I really wanted to talk to you anyway.”
“Oh.” Inez leaned against the door rather than open it.
“Did Thomas explain and apologize for me?”
“Yes,” she assured him, straightening away from the door and beginning to pace the room, her footsteps echoing on the marble floor. “He apologized.”
“Hmm, but probably not properly,” Bastien muttered.
Inez frowned at the words as her gaze slid over the food trolley and then to the bathtub brimming with bubbles. Perhaps it hadn’t been her fault she’d made her assumptions. It seemed obvious Bastien underestimated his cousin.
“Actually, he did do it properly,” she said firmly, feeling a need to defend the younger Argeneau, and then added, “more than properly.”
“Oh?” Bastien queried. “How is that?”
Inez hesitated, and then admitted, “He drew me a bath, ordered tea and breakfast from room service, and suggested I make use of both to feel better. He’s being quite nice about all this, sir.”
“He ran you a bath?” Bastien asked with surprise.
“And room service,” she added defensively, suddenly uncomfortable and wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. “And then he went out to nap while I clean up,” Inez added quickly in case he was thinking anything was amiss. She bit her lip and then said, “I probably won’t take the bath, of course, but—”
“No, take the bath. That’s fine,” Bastien said quickly. “It will make me feel less guilty about rousting you from your bed. Besides, it isn’t like the two of you can do any looking for Mother right now. Thomas will need to sleep and then there’s the sun and so on. You may as well clean up first.”
“So you did want me to help look for your mother?” she asked with relief, glad to have the matter cleared up.
“Yes,” Bastien said and then there was a short silence, followed by a curse, followed by, “I forgot to mention that part, didn’t I?” A wry laugh came down the line. “I’m sorry, Inez. I’m a little distracted at the moment. So much has been happening, what with Lissianna having her baby, the trouble with Morgan, and then Mother going missing…”
Inez raised an eyebrow as she heard him blow out a long, calming breath. She had no idea who this Morgan was he spoke of, but knew Lissianna was his sister, and had met his mother while in New York. Marguerite Argeneau was a beautiful woman who didn’t look a day over twenty-five. It was very difficult to believe she was the mother of Bastien Argeneau who she would guess was in his mid to late twenties himself.
“I guess I owe you another apology. I know you have a lot to do, but I want you to put everything aside for now and help Thomas find my mother,” he explained grimly.
“Okay,” Inez said slowly, then cleared her throat and said, “Sir? Wouldn’t it be better to hire a private detective and—”
“She is a private detective,” Bastien interrupted impatiently, and then said, “Well, not really. She’s just started into the career, but Tiny, the man she’s with, is a proper private detective. A very good one, in fact, and he’s missing too.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Oh,” she murmured.
“Look, I know this isn’t part of your job, but we’re all quite worried about my mother. Thomas knows her habits, but has never spent much time in England. You know it better than he and you’re the most organized, details-oriented person I know. Between the two of you, I think you can track her down. It’s probably just a case of her getting wrapped up in the case and forgetting to call.”
Bastien didn’t sound as if he believed what he was saying, but Inez didn’t question him on it and merely said, “Okay. I’ll do what I can, sir.”
“Well…good. I really appreciate your assistance with this, Inez.”
“Yes sir, but…” Inez hesitated and then said, “you mentioned Thomas and the sun. Is he allergic like you are?”
She shifted, uncomfortable in the sudden silence that came from the other end of the phone, and then explained apologetically, “I only ask because if he is, I should probably arrange to use the car with the treated windows that you use when you are here and need to travel in sunlight.”