Page 57 of Dancing with an Enigmatic Duke
Emmeline nodded emphatically. “There was a mouse. I was just leaving when I saw it and I leapt onto the bed. Jasmine came in and found me.”
Francesca looked at Jasmine. “And where is this mouse?” She looked around as if she very much expected to see the thing lying dead.
“Oh, I scared it away,” Jasmine replied swiftly, which earned her a nod from Emmeline.
Francesca’s lips flattened as she pressed them together. “I suppose we should have one of the young men come and have a look. Perhaps they can determine how it got in.”
“That is a good idea,” Emmeline agreed. “Now that I am free of the rodent’s clutches, I am going to go take that walk. Enjoy your tea, Francesca.”
Francesca dipped her head to Emmeline. Emmeline gave Jasmine a smile, which the maid returned. As she left, Emmeline hoped that her ruse had turned Francesca’s vengeance away from Jasmine.
***
Once Lady Callum was out of the door Francesca rounded on Jasmine. It was gratifying to see the maid flinch. She put on a sweet smile. “Forgive me for startling you. I was concerned when you did not return to my room.”
Jasmine did not seem to know how to handle Francesca’s sudden niceness. “It is quite all right. I’ll fetch your tea now.” The maid was out of the room before Francesca could utter even another syllable.
She smiled and took one last look around the bedroom. She called after Jasmine’s retreating back, “Be sure to get the lads up here to check over Lady Callum’s room. We must make sure it is suitable for her to sleep in.”
“Of course, Miss!” Jasmine took off down the hall at such a speed that Francesca thought the maid would fall to her death.
Shaking her head, Francesca pulled the door to Lady Callum’s room closed and went back to her own room. She settled down in the reading chair next to the window. The lamp on the table beside her caught the sunlight that filtered in between the tree branches outside.
Quicker than she thought possible, Jasmine returned with a tray. “Here you go, Miss.” Jasmine deposited the tray next to the lamp on Francesca’s table. “Is there anything else you need?”
“I was wondering if you might sit with me.” Francesca saw the surprise pass over Jasmine’s face. “That is if you wish. You are certainly not commanded to. I simply feel awful about how we have gotten on since I arrived here.”
Jasmine peered at Francesca through doubtful eyes. “You do, Miss?”
“Yes.” Francesca nodded and waved to the chair by her desk. “Please, will you not sit?”
Jasmine seemed reluctant to agree, but eventually nodded. She dragged the chair near to Francesca. When she had taken her seat, Francesca smiled.
“For the past seven years, I have scarcely been anywhere long enough to call it home. I go into ladies’ services and prepare them for the season. When they are happily wed, I go somewhere else.” Francesca sighed heavily and laid her hands in her lap. “I am tired of it all, Jasmine. I am sorry if I took any of that out on you.”
Jasmine frowned, but gave Francesca a tentative smile. “It does sound quite horrible. I can’t even imagine.”
“I know it asks a lot of you to forgive me callousness. I was simply angry that I had to help yet another woman wed when I myself was reined in from doing so.”
“But you are a lady’s companion now,” Jasmine said with a wary tone.
Francesca nodded eagerly. “Yes. I had to put my foot down and barter with the earl for that. I hoped that perhaps it would help me to win my own way in this world so that I can stop relying on others.”
“Being a lady’s companion does not seem such a bad lot.” Jasmine’s words were measured. “I really should be going so that I can help Cook.”
Francesca nodded. “I am sorry that I delayed you. I just merely wanted to tell you that I meant no harm by my actions.”
“Of course, Miss. No need to worry over it.”
Francesca watched Jasmine leave the room and sighed. She would not sway the young maid to her side so easily. That was a pity. Francesca was certain that Jasmine would be a useful source of information.
She leaned back in her chair and swirled some sugar into her teacup with her spoon as her mind drifted. Thus far there was nothing she could use to put herself closer to either the earl or the duke. The only men she had managed to strike any acquaintance with were merchants. And that was hardly the step up into society that she wanted.
Francesca deserved more than a mere merchant, and she still could not fathom how Lady Callum had garnered the adoration of both the duke and Lord Hawley. If the rumours were true, and Francesca had seen with her own eyes how intimate Lord Hawley and Lady Callum appeared to be, then there was a good chance that she might just end up with a duke indebted to her if she could figure out a way to save him some embarrassment.
She sipped her tea and thought over the situation. There had to be a way, and Francesca was never one to give up easily. She would find it.
Lady Grayson and the other acquaintances Francesca had made through her position as Lady Callum’s companion had proven chatty but mostly redundant. All the ladies seemed capable of doing were repeating or embellishing stories that Francesca had heard a dozen echoes of already. If Jasmine would not be an unwitting spy, then Francesca would simply have to follow Lady Callum more closely to see if she could unravel what sort of spell the woman had woven to get the duke to go along with this preposterous betrothal.
