Lady In Waiting (8 page)

Jenny leapt to her feet. "Thank you, my ladies. Thank you so much!" Not knowing what else to do, she dropped a curtsy to them both, which obviously did not have quite the desired effect for it set the two old ladies into fits of giggles.

Then, she dashed off to the servants' passage and went below stairs to see why Annie had come around.

Chapter Four

“That's right, ducks," Annie excitedly announced to Jenny. "I'll be needin' six gallipots of the tingle cream today, and Horace 'ere, he'll be needin' two."

Jenny was stunned. "Bu
t
... I haven't got any more."

The gleam in Annie's eyes faded. "But I was with you when you bought all the supplies yesterday. Told me you were going to set up the pots that eve."

Jenny's gaze fell to the floor. "I know, but last nigh
t
... well, I went to the Fire and Ice Ball instead and—"

Annie roared with laughter. "Did you now? And which gown did you wear? Your black sack dress, or the brown with the cotton apron? I must say, I hope it was the brown. Sets off the green in your blinkers."

Jenny stared straight into Annie's eyes. "I wore Miss Meredith's saffron silk."

The merriment dissolved from Annie's face at once. "You aren't havin' me on, are you, Jenny?"

"No. Oh, Annie, you can't believe it Last eve, my grandest dream came tru
e
—
I
became a lady. A
real
lady."

Annie slumped on the stool. "But how?"

55

Jenny drew up the other stool and told Annie the amazing string of events that led up to that very moment. "So you see, Annie, I only have until tomorrow to remake this gown. I haven't got time to set up any pots tonight either. I am sorry."

Horace, who stood with hat in his hands, shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "But, Jenny, my master sent me to Annie special for the
tingle cream.
I can't go back without it. I just can't."

Jenny laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "But I haven't got a single pot to spare."

Horace pulled a small leather bag from his waistband. "He gave me a few shiners to pay. See?" He emptied the bag into his palm.

"Yes, bu
t
—" Jenny stared at the stacks of gold coins in the footman's hand and a shiver of excitement skimmed her scalp. Why, with Horace's money she could buy all the ribbon and the slip of cream satin she needed to remake the gown.

Horace emptied the coins back in the bag, sighing all the while. "Well, if you haven't got any ..."

Suddenly she recalled the pot of peppermint facial cream sitting unopened on Lady Letitia's dressing table. The solution was simple. She could
borrow
that one, and replace it with another in a day or so. It's not like there weren't other pots and bottles on the table. Why, her employer would never notice.

A bright smile lit Jenny's face. "On second thought, Horace, I might have just
one
pot left. I'll be back in a tick." With that, she lifted her skirts to her knees, raced up the back stairs, and slipped into Lady Letitia's bedchamber.

Her heart beat loudly in her ears as she stealthily

56

padded toward the cherry dressing table. Heavens above, if she was caught sneaking around that would certainly be the end of her dream.

Her hand shook like a rain-spattered fern as she reached out for the pot and concealed it in the folds of her cambric work frock.

As she tiptoed back below stairs, guilt pu
m
meled her insides. But, she reasoned, she was doing it for the ladies anyway. If she was not dressed appropriately, the Feathertons' matchmaking game would fail, now wouldn't it?

When she reached the kitchen, she removed the pot from her gown and held it out to him. "Here you go, Horace."

The footman grinned broadly and reached for it, but she snatched her hand back for a moment. "Remember now,
no one
is to know where you bought the cream. Do you understand? It must remain our secret."

"I understand, Jenny. Annie already made me swear on me mum's hea
d
—
a
nd she's got a cold on her chest just now. So you can rest easy that I won't give you up."

"Very well then." Lifting the pot in her palm, she opened her hand and allowed Horace to take the cream.

"Ah, my thanks, miss. My master will be most pleased ... as will the mistress." Horace winked then.

Clearing her throat, Jenny lifted her brow and gave a glance to her empty palm, still poised midair before the footman.

"Oh, yeah.
'
Ere you go, Jenny."

Her fingers closed around the bag of coins and she smiled to herself. Now she could buy exactly what she needed for the gown. She opened the bag and peered giddily inside. But then she paused a moment in

57

thought
,
and withdrew a single crown. "Here you go, Horace. Take this, for your mum."

The footman's eyes widened as he accepted the money. "Thank you, miss. Thank you!"

Jenny shrugged. "You earned it. Brought me the business, after all."

Annie folded her arms over her ample chest. "So what about my pots, Jenny?
 
/
 
brought you some business t
o
o."

"I suppose I'll have to make some more. Tonight, after the ladies are abed," Jenny sighed.

Odsbodikins.
The production of the cream would take
hours.

Jenny sank onto a stool and rested her head in her hands. Lord above, this was going to be a long night.

******************

"Here you are! Get up, Jen. It's already seven, and here you are sleeping the morn away."

Jenny raised her head from the stillroom table and blinked up at her mother, who was staring angrily down at her. "Seven?" Jenny murmured as she stretched her arms above her head and yawned. "Already?"

Her mother thrust several folded notes before her.

Jenny stared blankly down at them. "What are these?"

"You know very well what these are. Snatched them off my lady's morning salver before she could open
t
hem!"

Jenny stared down at the addresses and noticed that not a one was intended for her, but rather for Lady Leti-

58

tia. "What are you thinking, Mother. I can't open Lady Letitia's letters."

"Well you had better, and do something about what's written inside. What if I hadn't been there to take them? What if she'd actually read them?"

With slow deliberation, Jenny opened the first letter, noting that the return direction did seem familiar somehow.

She looked at the heading. Why, it was from Smith and Company. Jenny read on and a sudden cold chill crept over her skin. She looked up with horror at her mother. "It can't be. Oh, no!"

"Again and again I've warned that your excesses will get you into trouble. And now it has. Your unpaid ac
c
ounts are being sent to your employer for payment. And not just one either. There are two others beneath that."

Jenny looked at the directions on the other letters. "Marbury's Millinery. Oh, dear. Wait a moment. What is this? Darnfield Ironworks?" She looked up, somewhat cockily at her mother. "This one clearly isn't for me. I've never been to the ironworks."

Mrs. Penny snatched the letter from her and tore it open. "One pair of pattens." The rigid words were still in the air when her mother shoved the bill back at her.
"
Yours.
"

Pattens?
Jenny thought back for a moment and suddenly remembered the days last month when it seemed to rain forever. Why, she ruined two pairs of slippers that week alone. Would have muddied even more than
t
hat too, had she not put the pattens on account
"Oh,
now I remember. My mistake."

Mrs. Penny folded her arms across her chest "So

59

what are you going to do about your debts? I can't stop the notices from reaching the ladies forever, you know."

Pulling a brittle, dried peppermint leaf from her tangled hair, Jenny gestured to the twenty pots sitting at the end of the table and smiled up at her mother. "Simple. I'll sell these and pay off my debt at Smith and Company."

"And why would anyone want your homemade facial cream? Hmm?"

Jenny raised her shoulders and let them fall. "I cannot say. But for some reason, the
ton
is beginning to take to them. The
y
've become quite popular. In fact, thus far, I've been able to sell every pot I've made."
And then some,
Jenny silently added with a little wince, remembering the pot she owed Lady Letitia
.

Mrs. Penny lifted a dubious brow. "Then for goodness' sake sell them today,
if
you can, and settle your debts." With that, she turned and stomped from the still-room.

"Yes, Mother," Jenny droned as she leaned back on the stool, one-handed
l
y gripping the table for balance, and tossed the notices into the smoldering fire.

A thumping at the door drew Jen
n
y's gaze upright again, to where Er
m
a, one of the horrid scullery maids,
s
tood. Her arms were folded across her chest and she
v.
as looking down her hatchet-shaped nose at Jenny.

"You've got visitors," she spat, mockingly adding a
cu
rtsy to her announcement.
"My lady."

Scowling at the maid, Jenny rose and brushed past
the
wretch.

When Jenny arrived at the kitchen door, she was sur
prised
to find not only Annie, but at least three other

60

abigails and two footmen, all from the finest houses in Bath.

Surely they weren't
all
here for the cream. But then she caught notice of the small bags in their hands. Her heart leapt.

"What's all this about?" Jenny schooled her features and looked to Annie for a reply.

Annie glanced down at her boot, and seemed particularly interested in a long scrape along its edge. "We've come for some crea
m
—
i
f you've got some more, that is."

Catching Annie's arm, Jenny pulled her forward. "What happened to our secret? You've got all of bleedin' Bath standing outside the door!" she whispered in her ear.

"
'Twasn't me. I swear. I only told Gretchen here," Annie admitted with a nod to the plump girl with red curls.

Horace edged forward. "I only told Old Tom."

An elderly man made his way forward. "Annie told me that the cost was a half guinea. But I told my master I heard the cream was a guinea. Thought I could pocket a
half
e
r
for myself."

Jenny exchanged a confused glance with Annie, who waggled her eyebrows at her, urging her to play along.

"I was hopin' to do the same," squeaked Gretchen.

Jenny stiffened. She never really set a price for her cream, but if they could easily get a guinea . . .
Hm
m.
Maybe she could ask fo
r
— "The pots are one guinea each," she blurted before she had time to think.

There was a collective groan, then the group folded in among itself and Jenny suddenly wondered if she'd asked for too much. In fact, she was about to drop the

61

price to three crowns, when Annie moved to the front of the throng again.

"A guinea it is." But then Annie paused.
"But
you sell the pots only through those in service. And we decide how much we'll sell them for to our masters. Does this work for you, Jenny?"

Jenny bit her lips and sucked them into her mouth to prevent a joyous cry from bubbling out. She nodded, and excused herself to gather up the pots she'd made, taking care to set one aside to replace the pot she'd nicked from Lady Letitia's dressing table. Quickly depositing them into her harvest basket, she hurried back to the door.

An excited giggle slipped from her mouth as Annie exchanged a palmful of guineas for the six pots of cream Jenny owed her. Then she turned to f
i
ll the other
s
ervants' orders. Only one minute later, her basket was nearly empt
y
—
o
nly four spare pots of cream remaine
d
—
b
ut her hands were ful
l
... of money.