Lucy smiled. ‘Have you not learned enough yet, then?’
‘Oh, no, not by a long chalk. Miss Crimplesham said it would be months before I had learned enough to even think of offering myself as lady’s maid. She’d started as my lady’s nurse—called her “my baby”, she did—and had spent years learning how to look after her, so even if Lady Adversane hadn’t been dashed to pieces that night it wouldn’t have done no good, for there wouldn’t be time for Miss Crimplesham to teach me everything before they went away.’ Lucy might have thought nothing of this artless speech, if Ruthie hadn’t dropped her hairbrush and stared aghast into the mirror. ‘Ooh, miss, I shouldn’t’ve said that. No one was meant to know. My lady said it was a secret.’
Lucy held her eyes in the mirror.
‘Are you saying,’ she spoke slowly, carefully, ‘that Lady Adversane was planning to...to run away?’
‘Yes—no!’ Ruthie’s face crumpled. ‘Miss Crimplesham said I wasn’t to tell no one. She was that angry when she found out my lady had let it slip. Said I should be turned off if I breathed a word of it, and I haven’t, miss. I haven’t said nothing until today, but I got so carried away, pinning up your hair and enjoying myself so much that it just came out.’ As Lucy swivelled around on the stool to face her, the girl fell to her knees, sobbing. ‘Pray, don’t tell the master, miss! He’ll be so angry that he’ll turn me off for sure. I’ll be sent off without a character and I’ll never get another position, not even as scullery maid!’
‘I promise I shall not tell anyone,’ Lucy assured her. She handed the maid one of her own handkerchiefs and bade her dry her eyes. It behoved her now to send the girl away, but instead she said quietly, ‘It was an arranged marriage, perhaps.’
‘Yes.’ The muffled affirmative was followed by Ruthie blowing her nose very loudly. ‘Only M-Miss Crimplesham said her mistress was very unhappy. And once my lady had determined to run away then she had no choice but to go with her, to look after her.’ Lucy’s thoughts raced, and as if reading them Ruthie continued. ‘My lady never loved the master—well, who could? He is so stern and cold, and when he’s angry...’ She shuddered. ‘He frightens me, and I’m not a beautiful, delicate little flower like my lady was.’
‘And what happened to Miss Crimplesham after the accident?’
‘She went back to my lady’s family. They have another daughter, you see, so she’s gone to be her maid now.’ Ruthie sighed. ‘And I became second housemaid again. And I suppose I shall have to go back to that now.’ She fixed Lucy with an imploring gaze. ‘Only pray don’t tell Mrs Green why you are displeased with me—’
‘I have no intention of turning you away,’ Lucy told her, patting her hands. ‘From what I have seen of you so far you have the makings of an excellent lady’s maid, only you will have to learn to curb that runaway tongue of yours.’
‘I swear to you, miss, I haven’t said a word to a soul before today—’
‘Very well then, we will forget everything that has been said, if you please. Now, you had best remain here until you look a little less distressed. Then go downstairs and have your own dinner. And remember, a good lady’s maid must learn to be discreet!’
‘Yes, miss, thank you.’ Ruthie bobbed another curtsey, then impulsively clutched at Lucy’s hand and kissed it. ‘I’ll never open my mouth again, I promise you.’
Lucy went off, leaving the girl happily tidying her room. She doubted that such a chatterbox could ever be totally relied upon not to gossip, but that did not worry Lucy overmuch. The girl’s services would suit her very well for the duration of her stay.
* * *
Lucy made her way downstairs and found the drawing room deserted. She supposed Ariadne and Lord Adversane must still be in their rooms, changing for dinner, and rather than sit and wait, she decided to explore a little. She soon found the dining room, situated on the far side of the entrance passage. The servants were there, setting the table for dinner, and when they saw her they all stopped to bow or curtsey, which made her retreat hurriedly. Another door opened on to a pretty chamber that she guessed might be the morning room, since its windows faced east. The next door she tried opened onto a room lined with bookcases. At first she thought it was the library, but then she realised it must be Lord Adversane’s study, and the man himself was present. He was standing before the window but turned as he heard the door open.
‘Oh.’ Lucy stopped in the doorway. ‘I did not mean to disturb you.’ She tried a little smile. ‘I was exploring...’
‘Come in, Miss Halbrook. You find me examining a new acquisition.’ He stepped aside to reveal a narrow table standing before the window, and on it a strange device consisting of a brass tube fixed to a mahogany base. ‘My new microscope.’
‘Is that what it is?’ She came farther into the room. ‘I have read about them, and heard of Hooke’s masterful book full of the drawings he made using a microscope to enlarge the tiniest creatures, but I have never seen one.’
‘Then come now and look.’ He beckoned to her to approach. ‘Fix your eye over the eyepiece, the mirror at the base will direct the light onto the slide. Now, tell me what you see.’
‘Something quite...monstrous.’ She took her eye away from the microscope and peered at the tiny object in the slide. ‘Is that what I am seeing—is it a beetle’s head?’
‘Yes. Magnified about a hundred times.’
‘But that is quite astounding.’ She studied it again for a few moments.
‘And there are others,’ said Lord Adversane. ‘Look here, this is a flea...’
Lucy was entranced as he positioned one slide after another for her to study.
‘But that is quite marvellous, my lord,’ she exclaimed. ‘I had no idea one could see so much. Why, one might look at anything, a hair from my head, for example!’
She straightened, laughing at the thought, and found Lord Adversane standing very close. Too close. Her mouth dried, she dared not raise her eyes higher than his shirt front. Once again she had the impression of standing before a solid wall, only the slight rise and fall of the snowy linen above his immaculate waistcoat told her this was a living, breathing man. A sudden hot blush spread through her body and all coherent thought disappeared.
* * *
Ralph swallowed. Hard. He was shaken to find how much he wanted to reach out and drag the young woman before him into his arms. She had shown such enthusiasm for the microscope, had asked intelligent questions and he had been enjoying sharing his knowledge with her, so that the sudden rush of lustful thoughts that now crowded into his head was quite inexplicable. And the hectic flush on her cheeks only heightened his desire to kiss her.
The air around them was charged with danger. She remained motionless before him in a way that suggested she, too, could feel it. He was powerless to move away and stood looking down at her, wondering what she found so fascinating about his neck cloth. The distant chiming of the long-case clock in the hall broke the spell. She glanced up, a look of fearful bewilderment in her green eyes.
Hell and confound it. This should not have happened!
Ralph