Franklin Herbert Milford, Earl of Milford and also one of the richest titled men in all of England, was exhausted. Both physically and emotionally. The left side of his head throbbed with pain and he felt the need to immerse himself into cool water in hopes of easing the headache.

For hours unending, he had to put up with Lady Valencia Ashwell's nagging and complaining all through the journey back to Milford. At a point, he thought he would die from her nagging if the carriage did not reach his estate on time. He needed to get away from her or else the damn woman would be the death of him.

Luckily for him, Sevéren, his close companion and dear friend was there to smooth things out anytime Valencia nagged him to the point of death. Her cousin, Anthony, who had accompanied them on this trip seemed nonchalant about her behaviour. He actually found it quite entertaining having her 'cry out' about every little thing, every now and then. Right now, he was beginning to regret his decision to court her. He wondered what he had seen in her to make him pick her, out of all the eligible women in London.

Franklin chuckled lightly as he pushed the door to his chamber open and shut it behind him, locking it. He began to unbutton his shirt, his mind drifting to how he had met Lady Valencia Ashwell. The woman was a light skirt and had given herself to him within an hour of meeting him at the ball. He would have certainly done away with her after that but he found out she was a heiress. Her kind of wealth was exactly what he was looking for. He now remembered why he had chosen the selfish self-centred woman. Her wealth.

Valencia, being an only child and heiress, owned three large estates in London, one in Castor and another in Eldridge. She had a huge some of money which she inherited from her parents a year ago after their boating accident which took their lives. This made Valencia the sole heiress of such a large property. Anyone who married her would automatically have the funds and property transferred to him, making her future husband the sole owner of such wealth and lands. Franklin had his eyes set on it, only because he wanted to prove a point to his uncle.

He hissed!. The thought of Lord Lancelot Hemmington irked him. Franklin had hated his father's brother in-law for years!. His disdain grew with each passing year.

Discarding his shirt on the floor, Franklin settled on the bed to take off his boots.

After his uncle, the duke of Castor had killed his father and caused his mother to take her own life, Franklin vowed to do whatever it took to bring Lancelot to his knees. He was going to buy the title of duke of Castor with the aid of the money he would acquire after marrying Valencia, then he would merge both towns into one and rule over it. He would become the most powerful titled man in England and he was going to do so by leaving his uncle penniless. His uncle was going to pay for his sins by his hands. He vowed.

The faint sound of something trashing about in water finally caught the Earl's attention, snapping him out of his angry thoughts. He stood quickly, rushing barefooted into the bath chamber to see what it was. His heart nearly stopped when he spotted a heap of brown hair in the bath tub with hands trashing about it. He moved closer and realized it was a girl. She was struggling to stay afloat the shallow water. Without hesitation, he bent over and scooped her out of the water, lifting her out of the water with one hand and pulling her against my chest, to keep her from falling. He wondered how someone could almost drown in such shallow water. He looked down at her, her brown her covered her face as she coughed profusely, spitting out water on to his bare chest. He pushed her hair back with his other hand and gazed upon her face.

Her eyes were red from having to stay in the water for so long. Her lips swollen from having to bite on it and her skin looked pale like she was near fainting. Observing this, he held on to her for fear of her falling even though she was standing on her feet.

Evangeline stared at the man who had saved her. He was tall. And young. He looked about her age but more matured and sophisticated. His pale blue eyes stared back at her with worry. His short black hair was disheevled and he smelt manly. He was quite a catch Evangeline thought to herself causing her cheeks to flush.

Franklin observed how her cheeks suddenly gained colour. She must feel embarrassed for nearly drowning in such shallow water he thought to himself as he looked upon her keenly. Apart from her flashed cheeks and green eyes, he noticed she looked quite plain and scared while she just stood there, staring at him.

He took a step back.

"What is the meaning of this?!". His voice was clipped, deep and rich.

Evangeline snapped out quickly from her daze. She gulped, looking away from the man as she bowed her head and stepped away from him.

"I am sorry your grace, I missed my footing". She suddenly felt dizzy, reaching out to hold on to his arm to keep her from falling.

Franklin cursed under his breath while reaching out to wrap his arms around her waist.

"Are you alright?". He inquired, his tone softer now.

Evangeline dared to look at him, meeting his gaze and suddenly feeling utterly exposed. His look reminded her of a certain duke and she looked away with a shudder.

"Yes your grace. I am alright". She stepped out of his arms. "Thank you".

Franklin nodded, moving away from her towards the shelves to pick a towel. He came back and wrapped it around her, causing Evangeline to gasp in shook. She quickly removed the towel from her body and stared at the Earl in shock as if he had done something unthinkable.

"What is the matter?". He frowned.

"I can not, your grace". She handed the towel to him. "I am a maid. I can not use the master's towel. Forgive me".

Franklin chuckled at her modesty. Any other maid would have been clinging to him by now, pretending to be cold just so she could arouse him.

"Your uniform is soaked in water. You have water dripping all over you from head to toe. Surely you do not intend to stain my expensive carpet with water do you?. It would take you years of slavery to buy it back". He joked but he realised the maid did not see it that way because her eyes widened in shock.

Sighing, Franklin wrapped the towel around her long brown hair, trying his best to drain the water from it. He then wrapped it around her shoulders once he was done and stepped back smiling broadly at her.

Evangeline looked as rigid as a statue. She could not believe Master Franklin has dried her hair with his towel. She wondered if he noticed how his elbows grazed the top of her breasts as he did this. Perhaps he did not, or maybe he did it on purpose. She stared at him, unable to look away when she finally noticed he was shirtless, revealing his muscled arms and well toned body. He had a surprisingly smooth hairy chest and Evangeline found herself tempted to touch it. She wondered how it was possible that the hair on his chest lay smoothly on his chest whiles his beard was rough. Her eyes lowered and her breath caught in her throat seeing how dangerously low his trousers hang, giving her the full glare of the sharp V below. She wondered how thick the hair around his groin was. The thought of the trousers going any lower appealed to her yet she caught herself before she could let out a treacherous moan.It's a shallow tub. How could you not pull yourself from it". He frowned.

"I am very sorry sir. It's just that I have a fear for water, and when I fell, I panicked".

"That is all right. Clean this place up and fetch me fresh water".

"Yes your grace". She bowed, taking the basin and hurrying out of his chamber.

When the maid left, Franklin poured himself a glass of whiskey and took it out onto the balcony. He felt in some way that everything had been disturbed. Like his destiny had been altered in a way. He found it ridiculous. She was a mere maid and there was no way he found her attractive in any way. She was just too plain.

Hissing at the thought, he gulped down the warm liquid. He had never seen her in the house hold before but then again he had been gone for quite sometime. Mrs Clarkson must have hired new hands. He took another sip of the whisky and looked out over the fountains and the small lake in a distance. Everything, as far as he could see, belonged to him. He however needed more if he was going to gain more power than his uncle in order to defeat him.

*****

"Oh my god Evangeline!, whatever happened to you?. You are soaked in water!". Ella exclaimed when Evangeline entered the laundry room. She and the other girl were busy folding the clean laundry.

"I fell into the tub". She explained, taking the towel off her shoulders as she began to undress.

"The master's bath tub?". Ella stifled a giggle.

"Yes". Evangeline huffed.

"Oh my god, did anyone see you?. Did he see you?!". Maybelline, the other laundry maid asked.

Evangeline was silent as she took off the last of her clothing and stood naked before Ella and Maybelline with her back turned towards the door. She picked up Master Franklin's towel and wrapped it around her naked body.

"Yes. It was the master himself". She exclaimed in a silent scream.

"Oh my god!". Ella burst into fists of later.

"This is not funny Ella. It was embarrassing". Evangeline glared at her.

"I know". She chuckled, looking at her friend apologetically.

"I am surely going to get fired for this". Evan groaned. "Dear lord. Mrs Clarkson is going to be furious".

"Is that the master's towel?". Maybelline gasped.

"Yes, he gave-".

"Take it off immediately". Maybelline cut her off. Who do you think you are to use the Master's towel. Have you not respect?".

"No. I..". Before she could finish her statement, Maybelline snatched the towel from her naked body, leaving her bare.

Ella rolled her eyes at Maybelline's dramatic behaviour and handed Evangeline a cloth to cover herself with.

"Thank you, but I need a new uniform, at least until this one is dry". She grunted.

"You will have to wait until Mrs Clarkson approves for you to go to the store room for it. Let's see how you explain to her about the master's towel". Maybelline hissed.

"Enough already. It is only a towel. It is not as if they-". Ella began to giggle again.

"I am glad you find humour in my plight. I however can not wait until Mrs Clarkson gives me permission for a new uniform. Master Franklin is water for a fresh set of water and I can not go like this".

Ella moved from where she stood and went to the far end of the room, rampaging through a pile of old clothes. She finally found a dress and handed it over to Evangeline.

"You can wear this for the meantime. Hurry before the master starts to scold you himself for delaying his bath". Ella said to her.

"Thank you". Evangeline smile, hastily getting dressed and leaving the laundry room to fetch water for Master Franklin.