Page 29 of The Secret Life of a Lady
Miss Cavendale smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. Ladies of the peerage rarely noticed Hannah, but Ivy’s keen gaze assessed Hannah astutely.
‘Petticoats and heeled slippers never play well together. Oh, but you aren’t wearing slippers. What… comfortable-looking boots.’ Ivy’s brilliant smile almost covered her surprise at Hannah’s unconventional footwear peeking beneath horsehair and cotton. She might have succumbed to a fancy dress, but Hannah would never suffer to wear the torture devices most women called dancing slippers. Certainly not for Lieutenant General Killian.
Miss Whittenburg nodded. ‘You are clever, Miss Simmons. Men traipse around in trousers and boots, oh-so-comfortable. Here we are, squeezed into corsets, suffocating in petticoats, expected to glide like swans in slippers that pinch our toes and rub our heels. I admire you.’ Miss Whittenburg exposed dimples when she grinned.
It was impossible not to like these women, so Hannah didn’t try.
‘Please, you must call us Ivy and Millie. And we shall call you… what shall we call you?’ Ivy asked.
‘Hannah.’ Heat crept from her chest to her cheeks. Ladies of the peerage never asked for the intimacy of her name. This was so different. Their interest was equal parts flattering and confounding. With so many secrets to keep hidden, friendship was a dangerous endeavour Hannah avoided. But friendship with these women might be worth the risk.
‘After surviving that dreadfully dull evening together at Lord Bradford’s, I believe we’ve earned the right to be friends, don’t you?’ Millie returned her gaze to the mirror and pinched her plump cheeks until they turned rosy. ‘Of course, when a man spends so much time on the care of his moustache, he has little resources remaining to create an interesting dinner party.’
‘Millie! You are terrible.’ Ivy’s large eyes widened further. ‘Lord Bradford isn’t as bad as all that.’
Millie shrugged before using a pot of beeswax on the table to gloss over her eyelids. ‘Or perhaps I’m just honest. Do you remember that horribly pompous military man… something or other Drake?’ She shuddered, then pressed her lips together hard before opening them with a popping sound. ‘With men like that around, I’m grateful to remain a wallflower.’ The red curl she had tucked away escaped again, bouncing next to her cheek. ‘Damnation. This hair! It hates me. Or perhaps it is possessed. Can hair be possessed? I must convince Father to let me hire a lady’s maid. Your curls are fabulous, Ivy. How is your new girl working out? Didn’t you steal her from Lady Bradford? I’m surprised she invited you to her dinner party at all.’ Millie winked at Ivy.
Ivy quirked her mouth in a frown. ‘I don’t know what you mean. I don’t have a new lady’s maid.’
‘Truly?’ Millie cocked her head. ‘Lady Bradford told me one of her maids was taking a new position in your household. What was her name… Light, White…’
Hannah’s heart thundered in her chest. ‘Bright? Sarah Bright?’
Dear God, no.
Could Sarah’s new job have been with the Cavendale family?
Damnable luck!
She was just beginning to like Ivy. Must she now treat her as a suspect?
Millie grinned, her chocolate eyes sparkling in the candlelight. ‘Yes! That was it. Bright. Clever of you to know.’
Hannah shrugged and concentrated on keeping her voice calm. ‘A lucky guess. I hope she is working out for you, Miss Ivy.’
Ivy shook her head. ‘But that’s just it. I don’t have a new maid. I’m not sure why Lady Bradford thinks we stole one from her household. I feel terrible. I should speak with her. There’s been a misunderstanding.’
The vice around Hannah’s chest eased. Perhaps it was just a mistake, which wasn’t good for the investigation but far better for her budding friendship with Ivy and Millie.
‘Maybe your father hired her as a house maid for Everly Manor,’ Millie suggested while adjusting a feather in her hair. ‘That is Ivy’s country estate. Well, her father’s estate,’ Millie informed Hannah.
Bollocks!The vice tightened again.
Ivy reached over to help Millie, expertly tucking the feather into her friend’s loose twist. ‘I shall inquire with Father.’ A shadow flashed across Ivy’s delicate features but was quickly gone. She smiled brightly at Millie. ‘Which reminds me, we’re returning to Berkshire in a week. You must come and stay with us at Everly.’ Ivy turned to Hannah. ‘You are welcome to join, Hannah. Father would consider it quite an accomplishment to host someone as well respected as the Duchess of Dorset.’
‘You mean powerful. I don’t know how she convinced her husband to will his money to her, but I want to learn her secrets.’ Millie raised a calculating eyebrow at Hannah. ‘Do you think she’d tell us? Fortune and independence all at the cost of a husband. It’s enough to make one consider marriage. Briefly.’
Hannah coughed. ‘I think Lord Winterbourne was just very devoted to her.’ The words tasted of a lie. He was devoted to her mother, not Philippa. Once that would have filled her with pride, but after ten years of living and working with Philippa, Hannah’s feelings about Lord Winterbourne were much murkier. He loved her mother, and he loved her. But at what cost to Philippa?
Millie blinked slowly. ‘Devotion. Yes. I’m sure that’s what it was.’
Ivy pinched her friend’s shoulder. ‘Really, Millie. You will scare poor Hannah off, then she won’t join us. Please do come, Hannah. I’m sure I could convince father to invite Lieutenant General Killian. I know he desires a closer acquaintance with your beau. And I think the Lieutenant General could be a good influence on my eldest brother, Alfred.’ Ivy’s crystal eyes sparkled in the candlelight with what might have been tears. ‘He never recovered from losing Patrick. Grief is such a terrible thing, don’t youthink?’ She blinked furiously before smiling a trifle too bright. It was the second time in as many minutes she masked her feelings with a smile. ‘Your Lieutenant General would be a welcome distraction for all of us.’
Hannah’s cheeks grew warm, and her pulse fluttered. ‘I think you’re mistaken. He is not mine.’
‘Tosh! Obviously, the man is smitten with you.’ Millie winked at Hannah. ‘It’s all the ladies can talk about.’
Hannah wasn’t sure her cheeks could grow any redder, but she was about to find out.
