Regency: Mischief & Marriage. Anne Herries

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      ‘Her ladyship is expecting you, Miss Bancroft.’

      ‘Thank you,’ she whispered, her throat dry as she followed the footman along the landing to a pair of imposing doors. They were painted white and scrolled with gold swags and bows, the handles of gleaming brass. A maid must have polished them that very morning.

      ‘Miss Bancroft, your ladyship.’

      The footman stood back to allow Eliza to enter, closing the door behind her. Eliza saw a woman seated in an elbow chair close to the window. She had obviously been reading, but she placed her book on the wine table close to hand, letting her enquiring gaze rest on Eliza. She had a gentle face and her smile of welcome lit her eyes.

      ‘Please come to me, Miss Bancroft,’ she said, standing up and offering her hand. ‘I have been looking forward to meeting you.’

      ‘Thank you. I, too, have anticipated this meeting with pleasure, my lady.’ Eliza moved forwards. She extended her hand and the lady held it for a moment and then sat down. ‘I am grateful for the chance to be of service to you, my lady.’

      ‘Until recently I have been living in the country,’ Lady Sarah said. ‘Now that I am in Bath I find I need a companion, a young lady who will exchange books at the library, fetch things I need and accompany me to the Pump Room and various functions. I have maids to care for my clothes and the house. I really need a friend to sit and talk with me, perhaps read to me now and then when I have a headache—nothing too strenuous, Eliza. I hope I may call you Eliza?’

      ‘Yes, of course, my lady.’

      ‘Ma’am or Sarah will do. I hope we shall become firm friends in time, Eliza. It will be a pleasure for me to have the company of a young lady.’ Lady Sarah smiled. ‘Please, bring a chair and sit near me, my dear. I shall ring for refreshments. I should like to hear more about you and your mama—if it is not too painful for you?’

      ‘No, ma’am, I am able to talk of Mama without crying now. I looked after her in the last few months of her illness. My papa died two and a half years ago. It was quite sudden and we had to leave the rectory where he was the incumbent. Mama never quite got over losing him so suddenly. She became delicate and was confined to bed for some months.’

      ‘How sad for her and for you. I am sorry for your loss, my dear. I hope you will not mind going into company so soon? I lead quite a busy social life here.’

      ‘Mama told me I was not to wear black for her,’ Eliza said and glanced down at her dove-grey gown. ‘I have some other plain gowns in colours, ma’am, but very little suitable for evenings. We did not entertain.’

      ‘Oh, I quite expected to provide some clothes for you,’ Lady Sarah said immediately. ‘I shall summon my dressmaker in the morning and we shall commission some outfits for you, Eliza. What you have on is perfectly suitable for wearing to the Pump Room, and I may have something you can adapt for evenings until your new clothes are ready.’

      ‘I am good with my needle. If you had some cast-offs, I could alter them for my use rather than purchasing all new…’

      ‘I will find one or two that may do for the moment, but you shall certainly have new gowns. Please do not feel embarrassed, Eliza. It is perfectly in order and quite usual.’

      ‘Oh… in that case I am grateful, my… ma’am,’ Eliza said. ‘I had not expected so much kindness.’

      ‘You may find me a hard taskmaster,’ Lady Sarah replied and laughed softly. ‘I am tiresomely forgetful, my dear, and may send you on errands a dozen times a day.’

      ‘I shall be only too pleased to fetch whatever it is you wish.’

      A maid entered at that moment, bringing a large silver tray set with an exquisite tea and coffee service of elegant silver with bone handles, and delicate porcelain tea bowls. There was also a plate of tiny biscuits and almond comfits.

      ‘Will you pour for us both please, Eliza? I take my tea with a drop of milk and one lump of sugar.’

      Eliza poured the tea into the delicate bowl, added a little milk and used the tongs to select a small lump of sugar, which she added to the bowl. She handed it to Lady Sarah, who thanked her, stirred it once, sipped and nodded her approval before setting it on the wine table at her side.

      ‘Would you like a comfit, ma’am?’

      ‘No thank you, but please try one, Eliza. Cook made them especially in case you arrived.’

      Eliza tasted one of the comfits, as she had been bidden, and expressed pleasure as she ate the delicious treat. She poured a cup of tea for herself and resumed her seat.

      ‘What other duties are required, ma’am? So far it seems that I am to be treated as a guest rather than an employee. I should like to be of use to you in whatever way I may.’

      ‘I really require only companionship,’ Lady Sarah assured her. ‘You will be as… a cousin or a younger sister to me, Eliza. I hope you will accept me as a friend, because that will be more comfortable for us both. There cannot be more than two-and-twenty years between us. My son is but seven and twenty and I married when I was sixteen. My son was born ten months later.’

      ‘You hardly look more than nine and thirty, ma’am.’

      Lady Sarah laughed and looked pleased, though she denied it. ‘I feel so much older some days. My life has been very quiet until recently. While my husband lived I resided at home in the country, often alone. To have the company of a young lady of your age is a delight for me.’

      Eliza hardly knew what to say. She had not considered that she would be so fortunate and found it difficult to realise that she was going to live in such favoured circumstances.

      ‘Now, if you have finished your tea, I shall ring for Millicent Browne. She is my housekeeper here and she will take you up to your room. Please take your time to refresh yourself after the journey and then come down to me. We have a dinner engagement this evening, but this afternoon is free for us to talk and get to know each other. Dinner this evening is just an informal affair with friends, but I shall send you a gown you may like to wear.’

      Eliza thanked her again. A woman came in answer to Lady Sarah’s summons. She was dressed in a plain black gown with a neat lace collar and a gold brooch fastened at the throat. Her bright eyes looked at Eliza curiously, but her manner was welcoming as she led her along the landing and up a short flight of stairs.

      ‘Her ladyship put you in one of the family rooms, miss. She wanted you close to her apartments so that you could pop in and out when she is resting, as she does some afternoons.’

      ‘Thank you, Mrs Browne,’ Eliza said. ‘I hope that I shall be of some use and not cause more work for you. I am quite happy to make my bed and keep my room tidy.’

      ‘Well, that is kind of you, miss. Not all guests are so thoughtful, I can tell you, but it will not be necessary. Her ladyship told us you were to be treated as family, and that’s how it will be.’

      ‘I must do something to earn my keep.’

      ‘Your nice manners and cheerful smile will cheer her ladyship and that is all that’s needed, miss.’

      Mrs Browne stopped outside a room and opened СКАЧАТЬ