Regency Society. Ann Lethbridge

ready, miss, before I clear.’

      ‘How kind of you, Maisie, but I think I know where her sitting room is; she told me where to find her yesterday.’

      Maisie bobbed a curtsy and went into the breakfast room. Roxanne wandered through the hall to the back stairs and then went down to the area that was used exclusively by the servants. The housekeeper’s sitting room was on a small landing just above a short flight of stairs, which led to the servants’ hall and the kitchen. Pleased that she had remembered correctly, Roxanne knocked and was invited to enter.

      ‘Miss Roxanne,’ the housekeeper said and looked surprised. ‘I would have come to you if you’d sent for me.’

      ‘I wanted to see if I could find my way here,’ Roxanne said. ‘I should like to begin with the kitchen, if you please. I have no intention of interfering with the way you do things, Mrs Arlet, but I think I should know the layout and the way everyone works. It is a long trek for the servants to carry the food to the dining room. I find it hardly surprising that things get a little cool sometimes.’

      ‘Yes, miss, that is a fault. Cook has been asking if we couldn’t have a serving hatch somewhere. It would save Mr Marshall going up and down those stairs so much—and the food would keep hotter.’

      ‘Would you like me to speak to the earl for you?’

      ‘If you think he is up to it, miss. When he was down a year or so back, his lordship did mention having a modern range put in and a tap in the scullery to save us fetching water from the well, but nothing happened.’

      ‘I dare say he might have forgotten,’ Roxanne said. ‘Gentlemen have such a lot to think of, do they not? They tend to leave the house to us.’

      ‘Well, Miss Roxanne, it is a treat to have a sensible young woman in the house. We’ve servants enough, it’s true, but life could be a bit easier for us all and there’s no mistake. A house like this needs constant attention to keep it right.’

      ‘I am certain it does,’ Roxanne said. ‘We shall begin with a tour of the house this morning, then, when I know my way about, we shall discuss menus. Cook is providing a huge choice of food in the morning. That is as it should be when we have guests, but we hardly need so much for the family.’

      ‘The master eats like a bird, miss. I think Cook likes to show what she can do when his lordship is down.’

      ‘Yes, of course. Well, we are to have guests very soon now and she will have plenty of chance to show off her skills.’

      Roxanne noticed a glimmer of respect in the housekeeper’s face. She suspected that too much waste had gone on for years with no one to keep a check on things and Cook probably sent leftovers to the village or the servants took it home with them. Since there was no need for strict economy, Roxanne would not interfere—providing the neglect was not actually abuse of the earl’s laxity. She felt it did no harm to let the servants see she intended to keep an eye on such things.

      Where had she learned about these things? Roxanne frowned. She did not know why, but her instincts were guiding her.

      ‘Did you say something, miss?’ the housekeeper asked, looking at her curiously.

      ‘No, nothing at all,’ Roxanne said and smiled. The memory had been so clear for a moment but she did not wish to think of it now. ‘Shall we go down to the kitchen?’

      ‘So, Miss Roxanne, you have been inspecting the kitchens,’ the earl said when she bent to kiss his cheek. ‘Discovered they are cheating me, have you?’

      ‘I think too much waste has been going on,’ Roxanne said. ‘I am not sure you have been cheated, sir. Waste food is usually passed on to the poor or beggars, is it not?’

      ‘I can’t be bothered with that business,’ he said. ‘It will be your place to see we are not being abused now—and to sort out any problems. Do not bring them to me. There is an allowance for repairs and maintenance below stairs. Ask Clarendon if you must, but, otherwise, deal with it.’

      ‘In that case, I shall authorise a serving hatch, a new sink in the kitchen and taps, also a larger, more modern cooking range—but I shall not trouble you other than to ask who has charge of the allowance for repairs.’

      ‘Tonkins, of course. Clarendon is with him this morning.’

      ‘Your agent, I imagine. Very well, sir, this is the last you shall hear of it.’

      ‘Good.’ He glared at her. ‘What do you make of the rest of it—think it an old wreck of a place? Clarendon does. He’ll tear it down and build new when I’m gone, I dare say.’

      ‘Oh, I do not think it, sir. I have no idea what it costs to run a house like this, but I imagine it is a great deal. Perhaps if you were to pull down the tower and the wing you never use, you might build a more modern section there—and keep the rest of this lovely house as it is.’

      ‘Humph. Think you’re the first to come up with the idea? Clarendon’s mother wanted me to do it years ago. She always hated the tower—said it was haunted.’

      ‘Is it?’

      ‘Don’t believe in that rubbish, do you? The roof has gone in parts and rooks nest there. The sounds people hear are wind and birds or rats in the eaves.’

      ‘Yes, I expect you are right,’ Roxanne said. ‘At night it is easy to imagine all kinds of things.’

      ‘You are a woman of sense,’ the earl said, his gaze narrowing. ‘Is it all an act, Miss Roxanne? The ruby Clarendon showed me—it doesn’t fit with the rest. What are you keeping from me, miss—and does Clarendon know it all?’

      ‘The ruby is my inheritance. I wasn’t sure it was valuable, but Luke says it is and I believe him.’

      ‘He told me he has to return to London tomorrow. He will be gone for a few days and then he intends to stay until after the ball. What do you think of that, miss?’

      ‘I expect he has some business in town. There is little he can do here, really. I am sure he will have sorted any estate business this morning.’

      ‘Don’t mind him running out on you, then? What if he decides not to bother about coming back until the day before the ball?’

      ‘I should miss him, but I believe he will keep his word.’

      ‘You have a deal more faith than I, Miss Roxanne. He usually stays two days at the most and then I don’t see him for months.’

      ‘Things are different now, sir.’

      ‘Are they?’ The earl’s eyes seemed to pierce her with their intensity. ‘I thought this was just a masquerade to keep me sweet—are you telling me that you are really going to marry him?’

      Roxanne looked at him in silence for a long moment, then smiled. ‘We have to wait for three months—but if you give your blessing and Luke still wants to marry me, yes, I shall.’

      ‘I haven’t made up my mind about you yet, miss. There’s something you’re both hiding—but I’ll get it out of you or him. Wait and see if I don’t.’

      Roxanne hesitated, then, ‘Tell me, sir—what is it that you want most in the world?’

      ‘To see my great-grandson and know there will be someone to carry on here when I’ve gone. Clarendon will never settle here—but you might. Is that the idea? You’ll give me what I want and he gets to live in town as he pleases? You won’t like that much, girl, and you’re a fool if you settle for it.’

      ‘Please, do not think so ill of him, sir,’ Roxanne pleaded. ‘I know things have not always been right between you—but will you not give Luke a chance to make this work? He is genuine in his desire to mend fences.’

      The earl’s gaze narrowed, his mouth pursed. ‘Hmmm, we shall see.’

      ‘I hope Grandfather did not bully you too