Page 43 of The Masked Baron
Lord Kerrigan clearly disagreed with both of them. “It won’t solve your problems in town or lessen the rumors.”
“No,” Ellis agreed. “You’re right, even if it would bring me the greatest satisfaction. His father was our tailor and probably his father’s father. The Cadogen money paid for the very house he lives in. The man disgusts me.”
Andalin found the whole scene a bit comical. In her mind the tailor was looking out for his best interests—his very life!
Ellis dug his hands into his pockets and admitted, “I haven’t needed a tailor’s service for some time. Between Hannah, Mrs. Lewis, and Matilda, I’ve all the seamstresses I’ve needed.”
“Yes,” Lord Kerrigan added, “and it’s not as if you’ve attended many social gatherings in the past several years either.”
Ellis chuckled and then turned somber as he addressed Andalin. “I am sorry if this disappoints you, Andalin.”
Andalin blushed at such a personal address in public. However, she did have a fairly obvious solution. So obvious, in fact, that it made her giggle.
“Are you laughing?” Katrina asked, bewildered.
Ellis narrowed his eyes as he observed her. “I think she is!”
Andalin dropped her hand. “I’m sorry, but you cannot blame the man.”
Ellis rolled his eyes. “Of course you’d side with him. So you still think I’m some monster who should be feared by all mankind?”
Andalin could see the hurt in Ellis’s eyes, but she refused to play to his sympathies. Instead she rolled her eyes back in a very unladylike, exaggerated way. “Certainly not, but you can’t be surprised he refused to come. After all the stories circulated about you, he’s probably afraid if he makes a mistake, his children will be fatherless before the sun sets.”
Katrina frowned prettily. “And this amuses you? We are in need of a tailor’s services, and Thornton Way only employs one tailor!”
Andalin smiled at her new friend. “Sewing dresses might not seem like an ideal accomplishment for a young lady of the upper crust; nevertheless, it is a skill I own. Between myself and the other household seamstresses, we should manage very well.”
Lord Kerrigan sighed in relief. “Well, this seems to have solved itself. I was afraid I was going to have to hide your sword again.”
Ellis whipped his head to face his friend. “That was you?”
Chapter 15
Andalin’s fingers hurt after shorteningthe hem of one very full skirt. It was getting late, and she was eager to sneak down to the kitchen before the staff retired for the night. She slipped as noiselessly from her room as she could, priding herself for being nearly as quiet as Ellis was. When she reached the kitchen door, she heard voices just inside. She hesitated when she heard Hannah mention her name. She bit her lip and leaned against the door to listen.
“She has to look just right, or no one will marry her,” Hannah said.
“Nonsense,” Matilda countered. “She’ll have a sizable dowry to entice any man.”
“Yes, but she’ll have the reputation of Braitwood Hall along with it. No one in their right mind will want to be attached to the Dark Rider.”
“Hannah!” Matilda said in a shocking tone. “I won’t have ye call our boy that name! He’s done right by us for plenty of years. He doesn’t deserve that kind of talk.”
“Oh, I know. I didn’t mean anythin’ by it. Only that Andalin will have to look and act her very best. She’ll have to fool a lot of people into believin’ she’s a real lady.”
Hannah was right. How could the daughter of a merchant possibly turn into a lady? Everyone was counting on her, and suddenly the pressure overwhelmed Andalin. An urge to sneak back to Corbridge, or maybe a different place altogether, tempted her. But no. She’d promised herself she would try, and try she would.
Andalin braced herself and entered the kitchen.
“Oh, Andalin, come in, child,” Matilda invited cheerfully. “Come and eat a slice of pie. I know ye like my berry pie the best.”
Andalin glanced at Hannah, who sat at the table, knitting. Hannah nodded her head in her typical stoic manner.
After accepting the pie, Andalin sat in what was quickly becoming her stool. Ignoring what had just transpired, she focused on her reason for coming to the kitchen in the first place. “I know I’ve been busy with our guests the last few days, but I haven’t forgotten about wanting to help Lord Cadogen. Has anyone come up with a plan?”
Matilda glanced at Hannah before smiling uncertainly. “Well,” Matilda said, “we did have one idea we’ve been thinking on.”
“It was my idea,” Hannah corrected.
