The Housemaid's Scandalous Secret (7 page)

‘You mean,’ Ross said straight-faced, ‘that
isn’t
the way to handle the matter?’ His gaze shifted to Lisette’s in the mirror. ‘What say you, Miss Napier?’ He awaited her reply with more interest than Lisette realised.

Lisette saw the humour lurking in his eyes; she burst out laughing, and to Ross it seemed as if the room were filled with music. ‘Ladies—that is
all
ladies, be they well-born or otherwise,’ she clarified a moment later with a look that clearly implied his past experience had probably been with females of quite another sort, ‘have very definite ideas of the way they wish to be treated by the man who wins their heart.’

‘Please enlarge on that,’ Ross said as she stuck another pin through a curl on Araminta’s head. ‘Just how do ladies like to be treated?’

‘With respect, loyalty and devotion—and she wants to think that he has eyes for no one but her, that he’s blind to everything but her beauty.’

‘In which case, he’s in imminent danger of tripping over his own feet,’ Ross pointed out, grinning broadly.

Araminta shot him an admonishing look.
‘And,’
she said emphatically, ‘she likes to think he’s a romantic, which you obviously are not, dear brother.’

‘Not if I have to grope my way about like a blind idiot,’ he teased. ‘What else do ladies like, Miss Napier? I am all ears.’

Having said more than she had intended and spoken more sharply to Miss Araminta than was seemly in a maid, under her mistress’s penetrating gaze some of Lisette’s confidence slid away. Apart from Messalina she had never known how to converse with people her own age, and for the first time since leaving India, she felt gauche and ill at ease.

‘I will leave you to work that out for yourself, Colonel. I am sorry, Miss Araminta. I was impertinent. I should not have been so outspoken when you voiced your opinion on marriage.’

‘Why on earth not? I like people who speak their mind and you were quite right. I was very rude and there was no call for it.’

Standing up and smoothing her satin skirts, Araminta felt a new respect for her maid. Lisette knew her role but to be sure she was no dullard. Her impish smile and darting golden eyes betrayed the quick wit of an urchin. No doubt she had already knitted together the strands of Araminta’s own tragic story from below stairs gossip. Still, she was aware of Lisette’s capabilities and had already come to value her honesty and discretion. In just one week she had assumed far more than her intended measure of responsibilities and in doing so had made herself indispensable.

Chapter Three

S
eated beside the window to catch the light for her sewing, Lisette was surprised when, following a brief knock on the door, it suddenly opened and Colonel Montague strolled in. Her heart missed a beat. His grey coat of Bath superfine hugged his broad shoulders, its excellent cut emphasising his broad chest and much narrower hips. His dark hair glowed softly in the sunlight slanting through the windows. With rigid calm she placed her work on the table in front of her and, rising, she bobbed a small curtsey.

He stopped just in front of her, and stood gazing into her eyes with a thoughtful expression. He seemed to peer down into her very soul.

‘Miss Napier,’ he greeted her, his blue eyes aglow, a beguiling little smile on his lips, ‘how pleasant to see you and how well you look. Please, do sit down. I have no wish to interrupt your work. I’m here to see Araminta.’

Lisette did as he bade and sat back down, taking up her sewing. ‘Miss Araminta is taking a bath. She shouldn’t be too long—although sometimes she does like to wallow among the suds. Perhaps you would prefer to come back later.’

‘I’m on my way out and would like to see her before I go. I’ll wait,’ he said, unable to think of anything better than spending a few minutes with this exotic young woman. It was the first time since she had taken up her position that he had found the opportunity to speak to her alone.

Lisette was aware of his aroused interest. From beneath dark brows he observed her with close attention, and then seated himself in a chair facing her, and with quiet patience he waited, like a cat before a mouse hole. He was watching her steadily, and she sensed the unbidden, unspoken communication between them.

Ross was thinking low lovely she was. Her hair drawn back from her face and coiled in her nape was very neat and tidy, and her cheeks were smooth and slightly golden. She wore a grey woollen dress and a starched and frilled white apron tied at the back of her small waist in a large and perfect bow, hugging her slender contours and emphasising their softness, leaving him with an urgent longing to fill his arms with their warmth.

‘I have to confess that in the beginning I wasn’t convinced you’d turn up here,’ he said softly.

In disregard of the doubt she had felt during the time she had seen him at the Exchange, she said, ‘I had no choice. When the Arbuthnots left for Brighton, I had nowhere else to go. Besides, I am not all that enamoured of London and the thought of Derbyshire appealed to me.’ She could feel his gaze on her bent face. With a stirring of irritation and something else she could not put a name to, resolutely she lifted her head and met his eyes. ‘Have you had an edifying look at me yet, Colonel?’

Quite unexpectedly he smiled, a white, buccaneer smile, and his eyes danced with devilish humour. ‘You don’t have to look so irate to find yourself the object of my attention. As a matter of fact I was admiring you.’

Unaccustomed as she was to any kind of compliment, the warmth in his tone brought heat creeping into her cheeks. ‘You must excuse me if I seem a little embarrassed, Colonel. I’m not used to flattery.’

‘I was merely thinking how lovely you are, Miss Napier.’

She shot him an amused look. ‘And how many women have you said that to?’ she asked, a smile trembling on her lips.

‘Several. And it’s always the truth.’

‘I dare say you’ll be eager to see Castonbury Park again.’ Lisette looked down and did another stitch, eager to divert the conversation away from herself and relieved that she had something to occupy her hands.

His fascinating lips lifted fractionally. ‘Eager enough, Miss Napier. I am concerned with family matters just now and my uncle’s health is not what it was.’

Lisette wished his voice was not so very deep; it made her nerves vibrate.

A moment passed before he said, ‘I wanted to have a word with you, Miss Napier.’ She raised her head and waited for him to continue. ‘You don’t need me to remind you how unusual it is for a girl of your age to be working as a lady’s maid. I know my sister has great confidence in you—indeed you will find as time goes on that she will confide in you in a way that is perhaps not entirely fitting, but because we have given you so much, because we chose you over a more experienced lady’s maid, I know you will always be discreet. I know you will soon pick up your duties, but the habit of loyalty cannot be bought. Do you understand me?’

Lisette nodded. ‘Yes. Be assured, Colonel, that whatever Miss Araminta confides in me, will go no further.’

Holding her gaze he nodded and smiled. ‘Thank you. I know I can trust you. Have you no family, Miss Napier?’

She shook her head. ‘No. My parents died of the cholera in India. As far as I am aware there is no one else.’ As she said this she thought of the letter she had dispatched just yesterday to her father’s lawyer in Oxford informing him of her parents’ demise, and then her thoughts turned to Princess Messalina. Though not related, she was the closest she had to family.

‘You must miss your parents.’

‘Yes, I do. Very much.’

‘What was your father doing out in India?’

She smiled. ‘My father was something of an eccentric as well as being an academic. Not only was he a linguist he was also a botanist. He was working out there for the University of Oxford.’

‘And your mother? Did she like India?’

‘Yes, although she would have gone anywhere my father asked her to go. They were very close. They met in Italy—she was half Italian on her mother’s side.’

‘Then that explains your hair colouring. The only other women I’ve seen with hair as black as yours are Indian women. It must have been a difficult time for you when you lost your parents.’

She nodded. Remembering that time, she thanked God that was over and she was here. ‘Yes, it was. Ever since, I’ve felt like a pawn on a chessboard, with no choice but to move forward, one step at a time.’

When she resumed her work he began to speak of his life in India, recalling his travels and battles and life with his regiment. Soothed by the deep warmth of his voice, Lisette was fascinated by his recollections, and glad of them too, for it brought India closer.

‘My parents are dead too,’ he said. ‘My mother died when Araminta was born and my father was killed in France. He was the Duke of Rothermere’s younger brother. My aunt and uncle took pity on us and installed us at Castonbury. We’ve lived there nearly all our lives.’

‘Does the duke have a large family?’

‘Six offspring. There is Jamie—the eldest, but he’s currently listed as missing presumed dead. It’s been very hard for the whole family. Then there is Kate. I haven’t seen her in five years but I believe she devotes her life to worthy causes. You are sure to come into contact with her at Castonbury. She has her own ideas on equality between the sexes and is of the opinion that women should try and rise above their servitude.’

‘It’s easy for someone with means to be so forceful and outspoken in their opinions, but if she were to suddenly find herself without means, then she would come down to earth with a bump.’

He gave her a wry smile. ‘Maybe so, but being the kind of person she is, she’d have a damned good try anyway.’

‘I understand what you mean,’ Lisette said, lowering her head over her work. ‘But one could also look upon so privileged a life as a great comfort.’

‘I do not take my position for granted, I assure you. I fully understand and appreciate how fortune of birth has given me all the opportunities and physical comforts of life—and I think I can speak for my cousin Kate too.’

‘It is far more than that,’ Lisette replied, sudden passion in her voice. ‘You have a place in the world. You know what it is and where you belong. That is a very comforting thing.’

Her sudden intensity startled Ross. She was clearly a person of deep feeling, and there was a great deal of passion there. It all lay beneath the surface.

‘You can have no comprehension how it feels not to belong anywhere,’ she went on with an odd little catch in her voice. ‘To have no roots that tie you to a place and give you purpose. I envy you that.’

‘You no longer have a home of your own so it is understandable that you feel rootless. But you shall find your place one day. Everyone does, eventually.’

She smiled. ‘I do hope so, Colonel. Now, you were telling me about your cousins at Castonbury Park. Who else is there?’

‘Giles, Harry and Phaedra. She is horse mad. She would have come to London with Araminta for the Season, but she was still in mourning for her brother Edward. He was killed in the battle at Waterloo.’

‘I’m so sorry. And you? Do you have many siblings?’

‘There is just Araminta and me.’

‘Where did you live before you went to Castonbury Park?’

‘Here in London. My father, of course, grew up at Castonbury Park—the ducal seat. When he married my mother, who hated the country, they decided to make their home in London.’

‘Did you like living in London all of the time?’

Looking through the window at the busy square, Ross shook his head. ‘Not really. I like the country better. Fortunately my father had settled a sizable sum on both Araminta and me. My inheritance was quite substantial.’

‘You didn’t think to buy a house of your own?’

‘Not then. I had my mind set on a military career and I always knew Araminta would be taken care of and marry eventually. Perhaps one day, when I am no longer a soldier, I will give the matter some thought.’

‘When you take a wife, you mean—as most men do when they realise they need an heir.’

Ross’s disinterested shrug and brief smile dismissed all the usual reasons for marriage as trivial. ‘I have no intention of adhering to custom, now or in the future, by shackling myself to a wife for the sole purpose of begetting an heir. For a man such as I,’ he said with mild amusement that failed to disguise his genuine disregard for wedded bliss, ‘there does not seem to be a single compelling reason to commit to matrimony.’

Lisette studied him intently, her eyes alight with curiosity and caution, and the dawning of understanding. ‘In other words you are married to the army.’

He grinned. ‘You might say that. Since going to India I’ve been expanding my own assets there.’

Observing the glint in his eyes, she dared to enquire, ‘And what is your enterprise of choice?’

‘I invest in anything from tea to marble.’

Lisette stared at him. ‘But you are a soldier.’

One dark brow rose. ‘Among other things.’ Finding conversing with her extremely pleasant, he shifted in his chair, making himself more comfortable. ‘What would you like to do with the rest of your life, Miss Napier?’

‘What can a woman do with her life? Men can do whatever they want, but if women are not wives, if they are without means, then what are their hopes? Domestic service is the only thing open to them.’

‘You’re quite wrong there, Miss Napier. A clever woman can do almost anything she likes if she would go about it as a woman should. Women as well as men can be as free as they choose to be.’

‘In your world, perhaps, Colonel. Not in mine—as I have already pointed out.’

‘In an ideal world they could be.’

‘That is possible, but this is not an ideal world.’

‘Just now you likened yourself to a pawn on a chessboard. If you are familiar with the game you will know that eight paces brings the pawn to the other side and she becomes a queen.’

‘So if I just keep on going, I can be a queen,’ she said. ‘Even if there’s already a queen—or more, on the board.’

He nodded. ‘There can be as many queens as there are pawns—as long as the pawns are ambitious enough or lucky enough to go the full distance.’

She slanted him a curious look, understanding perfectly what he was saying—that if she was ambitious enough she could become anything she wanted to be in life. ‘Are you by any chance a radical, Colonel?’

He grinned, his mouth wide over his excellent teeth. ‘I would not go as far as to say that.’ He became thoughtful. ‘But I do have notions which do not always agree with those of my associates—especially here in England. Perhaps I have lived too long in India.’

‘Or not long enough,’ Lisette said on a wistful note. She was quite fascinated by this extraordinary conversation and by the strangeness of having it and her eyes glowed with their interest in his startling opinions. ‘When I was in India I used to help my father collect his plants and sort out his specimens and send them back to the university. I hoped to carry on helping him with his work—it all seemed so probable then.’

‘So, Miss Napier, will you continue being a lady’s maid?’

She laughed lightly. ‘Someone has to be. Someone has to look after the aristocrats and the gentry.’

‘Quite right,’ he replied with mock pomposity. ‘I never do a thing myself if I can get the servants to do it for me.’

‘But everyone should be capable of being self-sufficient. What would you do if you suddenly found yourself without anyone? Why,’ she said, noticing his boots, ‘look at your boots. Who cleans them?’

‘Blackstock—my valet. I suppose you’re going to tell me I should clean them myself.’

‘No. You’d probably make a mess of them.’

He laughed at her pointed remark. ‘As a matter of fact you’re wrong. When I was a very small boy my father would make me clean my own boots religiously—riding boots, walking boots, everyday boots. I had to rub them until I could see my face in them. But you didn’t answer my question. Do you intend being a lady’s maid forever?’

Lisette put her work down in her lap and contemplated his question. ‘Oh, I don’t know. I haven’t had much time to think about it since coming to England. But no, I don’t think so.’

‘Araminta speaks highly of you, says you’re a real asset. She’d be sorry to lose you.’

‘She won’t. Not yet anyway.’ She sighed. ‘I would like to go back to India one day. I shall always hope something will turn up, but in my case—well, I’m not so sure. Maybe I could go as a companion to a rich old lady and travel the world.’ She laughed. ‘But listen to me. I sound like a dreamer. I’m sure it will pass.’

Ross did not laugh. ‘What’s wrong with having dreams and longings? We’d be nowhere without them.’