Never Kiss a Laird (16 page)

He was smiling as he entered the
stables, walking between the loose boxes, most of them inhabited by his string
of hunters.
 
He inhaled the familiar smell
of hay, and the oil used to keep the tackle in good order.
 
Rufus, sensing his master’s approach, shoved
his nose over the door of his box, and whinnied.
 
Hugh patted the satin-smooth nose, and smiled.
 
“Sorry, boy.
 
I’m not dressed to ride.”
 
He found the groom and gave orders for horses
to be saddled for Rupert and Clarissa, and as he turned to leave, almost ran
into that pair.

“I’ve had Squirrel saddled for you,
Miss Riding,” Hugh greeted her.
 
“She’s a
lovely mare that used to belong to my mother. I think you’ll find her a very
well-mannered girl.”

“Thank you, your lordship,”
Clarissa smiled.
 
The sunlight streaming
in picked out the gold in her hair, and with her enchanting face, and the
tight-fitting riding habit that showed off her alluring shape to advantage,
Hugh remembered exactly why he had been so
enamoured
of her.
 
There was no denying that the
girl was an unparalleled beauty.
 
He
glanced over at Rupert, who was staring at Miss Riding with an infatuated
expression on his face.
 

“I hope you two will enjoy your
ride today,” he commented.
 
“A proper
ride is not an indulgence you get in London,
is it Miss Riding?”

“Well, there is the park,” Clarissa
reminded him, regarding him from well-opened green eyes.

“True, but one cannot indulge in a
good gallop there,” Hugh reminded her.
 
“At least not without raising a few eyebrows.”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that,” she
dimpled captivatingly.
 
“You are very
right, my lord.”

“Do you ever cause the censorious
to raise an eyebrow, Miss Riding?”
 
Hugh
teased.

“Oh, no,” Clarissa assured
him.
 

Hugh smiled at her, and realized
that she was probably right.
 
Clarissa
Riding was a very correctly brought-up young lady.
 
He looked at Rupert, who still was regarding
the beautiful blonde with a foolish smile on his face.

Hugh clapped him on the shoulder,
shaking him out of his reverie.
 
“You
shall ride Pepper, Rupert,” he informed him.
 
“He’ll be a bit fresh, so mind him.”

“
Er
,
thanks, Hugh,” Rupert stuttered.
 
“Miss
Riding?”
 
He took her arm, and led her
over to the mounting block.
 
Hugh left
the stable for his library, and some
very
neglected
estate business.
 
As his boots crunched
on the gravel drive that took him back up to the Castle, the image of an impish
red-haired girl had already replaced that of the golden beauty.

Rupert led the way from the stable,
watching closely to make sure that Miss Riding could handle the lovely white
mare she had been mounted upon.
  
The
mare was fresh, but gentle, and Clarissa had been very well taught, and was
able to handle the horse easily.
 
Rupert
relaxed, and prepared to enjoy the company of a beautiful girl and a sunny
spring day.
 
The two horses fell into an
easy side-by-side walk, and Rupert wracked his mind for a conversational
gambit.

“Have you been to Scotland before, Miss Riding,” he
asked.

“I have not.
 
I don’t really like the country,” she
confided.
 
“I prefer the city.
 
There is so much more to do there.
 
Balls, the theater, and there are always
friend to visit.”

“I feel the say way,” Rupert
marveled, conveniently forgetting that when in London
he missed Denham Park daily.
 
“And are you returning to London soon, Miss Riding?
 
The Season will still be in full swing for
another few months.
 
I, myself, will be
leaving for the city in a few days.
 
I do
hope you will be there too, Miss
Riding
.”

Clarissa bestowed a glowing smile
on him.
 
“I hope so, too.”
  
With the admiring smile on his handsome
face, Rupert really did appeal to Clarissa.
 
She had always preferred fair men, and although she did not want to
contradict her mother, she did not find the Earl to be the most handsome man
she had ever met.
 
His hair was dark, and
he was always saying things that she didn’t perfectly understand.
 
Rupert, with his handsome profile, and his
curling blonde locks really was very appealing, and Clarissa smiled at him
modestly.

“Really?
 
Then I may call on you, when we are both back
in London?”
 
he
demanded eagerly.

“Certainly, that would be lovely,”
Clarissa assured him.
 
“Only, I ought not
to say anything, but it’s possible, that is,” her voice trailed off
uncomfortably.

Rupert looked grim.
 
“I see.
 
You may be getting engaged, is that it? Dash it, Miss Riding!
 
You do not give me a fair chance!
 
I have only just met you.”

Clarissa’s lovely face looked
troubled.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I should not have spoken.
 
Nothing has been said, you know.
 
Let us just enjoy our ride.”

They urged their horses into a
canter, and very shortly they were approaching the edge of the moors.
 
The heather seemed to have burst into bloom
around them in the early spring warmth, and the heady scent floated on the
wind.
 

“Here’s our chance for a gallop,”
Rupert called to Clarissa.
 
“Shall we?”

Miss Riding threw a saucy look over
her shoulder.
 
“I’ll beat you to that
tree!”

“We’ll see about that!”
 
Rupert grinned, kicking his horse into a
gallop.
 
Clarissa squealed and raced
after him, her habit flying,
a
lovely flush on her
face.

From her vantage spot on a rise by
the caves, Sally observed these proceedings with a censorious expression on her
face.
 
She had waited almost an hour beyond
their appointed rendezvous time with no sign of her brother, and now he had
arrived in the company of this astonishingly lovely, young girl.
 
The identity of the girl was a mystery, as
was the reason that her brother would think to bring her to their assignation.
 
The most likely reason, Sally thought
disgustedly, was that Rupert had completely forgotten about their appointed
meeting.
 
She watched the two riders as
they reached the far tree, and pulled their horses up.
 
They appeared to be laughing, without a care
in the world to Sally’s critical eye.
 
She shook her head, the look on her face darkening further.
 
Who was that beautiful girl, she wondered?
 
Was she a guest at the Castle, or maybe a
neighbor of the Earl’s?

 
The thought bothered Sally more than it should.
 
She had no claim on the Earl, and if he chose
to have beautiful blonde girls on his estate, that was his business.
 
For all Sally cared, he could have hundreds
of them.
 
She watched as Rupert and his
companion turned their horses and began trotting back to their starting point,
and Sally realized that the girl had an acceptable seat, even if she was
pulling at the mare’s mouth in a very odd way.
  
Sally turned her horse away, resolutely banishing these thoughts.
 
The question of how to get in touch with the
carrier’s lad was the prime issue at hand, and it must take precedence over
anything else.
 
Rupert would appear to
have completely forgotten his appointed meeting with his sister. She should
have known better than to employ her thoughtless brother in such an important
endeavor.
 
She would just have to figure
out a way to get the information she needed herself, she resolved, and urged Beauty
into a trot, heading back towards
Whitethorne
cottage.
 

When Sally arrived back at the
homely cottage, she handed Beauty over to Miles, and entered the cottage
through the kitchen door.
 
Bridget looked
up eagerly.

“Well, Miss?” she asked.
 
“Was your brother able to find out where my
Robbie is?

Sally hated to be the bearer of bad
tidings, but felt that it was best to be truthful.
 
“I’m so sorry Bridget,” she said, dropping a
hand onto the girl’s shoulder.
 
“I wasn’t
able to talk to him.
 
But that doesn’t
mean that he was unsuccessful.
 
We might
just have to wait for him to get in touch with us.”

Bridget sat up straighter in her
chair, and smiled bravely.
 
“Not to
worry, Miss.
 
I know I’ll find my
Robbie.”

“Yes, but how?’
 
Sally muttered.
 
“If only I could figure out a better way to
get access to the Castle.
 
Rupert was
never a good conspirator.”
 
She sat down
next to Bridget, and accepted a cup of tea from her.
 
“Bridget, do you know who a very beautiful
girl with blonde hair might be?”

“No, Miss.”
 
Bridget shook her head.
 
“Did you see such a girl?”

“Yes,” Sally replied with something
close to a huff.
 
“Rupert was riding with
her.
 
I wondered if she could be a
neighbor of the Earl’s or something.”

“I don’t think so, Miss,” Bridget
considered.
 
“Was she gentry?”

“Looked like it.
 
She had on a very nice riding habit and was
riding a lovely white mare.”

“That’ll be Squirrel, which was the
Earl’s mama’s favorite horse.
 
Most likely
that girl is visiting the Laird, miss,” Bridget decided.
 
“That would explain him being here in the
middle of the Season.
 
Usually we don’t
see the Laird at the Castle from January until May or June.
 
Mrs. Cameron was that surprised when he
arrived with no warning at all.
 
She was
most put out because she goes down to a skeleton staff in winter.”

“Never mind,” Sally said with
determination.
 
“Still, it’s a nuisance,
since she seems to have distracted Rupert from his purpose.
 
I must think of another way to get into the
Castle, but how?”

“It’s a shame you’re not a maid,
Miss.
 
If there are visitors at the
Castle, and Mrs. Cameron is down a maid, having let me go, she must be looking
to take on another girl.”

Sally looked at Bridget with an
expression of dawning wonder.
 
“That’s
it!” she exclaimed.
 
“You are a genius,
Bridget.
 
Stand up,” she ordered, pulling
Bridget to her feet.
 
“You are several
inches shorter than me, but otherwise we’re much of a size.”
 
Sally dropped to her knees, and turned up the
hem of Bridget’s black dress.
 
“Plenty of material here to let down.”

“What are you thinking, Miss?”
 
Bridget asked with a suspicious look on her
face.

“I am going to put on your maid’s
dress, and present myself at the Castle as a would-be house maid.
 
I’ll ask to see the housekeeper, and I am
sure that I will have plenty of time to talk to some of the maids, or the cook.
You said the cook was friendly to you, right?
 
And I will give them instructions for Robbie to come to
Whitethorne
cottage without fail on his next trip to Castle
Kane.”

“You’re never going to be a maid up
at the Castle?”
 
Bridget was
horrified.
 
“You have to get up at five
o’clock in the morning, and work all day, and you only get a half day on
Wednesdays.
 
Besides, you don’t sound
like a maid.
 
You sound like the Quality,
Miss.”

Sally laughed.
 
“I’m not going to actually
be
a
maid,
I’m
just going to ask for the position.
 
I
have no references or experience.
 
Mrs.
Cameron will not possibly hire me, but it will get me into the Castle, and put
me in the servant’s quarter. From there I cannot fail to find out when Robbie
will be coming back, or at the very least, the carrier’s address in London. Come, Bridget,
it’s worth a try.”

“You are too good to me, Miss,”
Bridget smiled through sudden tears.
 
“That you would do that for me!”

“I recommend that you save your
thanks until we find out if I am successful,” Sally hugged her.
 
“Now, out of that dress, and let’s see if
Millie can drop the hem a few inches.

Chapter Thirteen

 
Miles tooled the little gig up the avenue that
led to the Castle.
 
Sally sat beside him,
clad in Bridget’s black stuff dress.
 
Millie had let down the hem, but under vociferous protest.
 
She had argued vehemently that if anyone
should go up to the Castle as a maid it should be herself.
  
But Millie had eventually bowed to Bridget’s
argument that Mrs. Cameron was unlikely to hire a housemaid who had grey hair.
  
Millie had sniffed, but acknowledged that
her age was probably a barrier to success, and Sally had twisted her own
red-gold hair into a tight knot at the back of her head and donned Bridget’s
black dress and a pair of black boots.
  
She fancied she looked every inch the correct upper house maid, and as
Miles pulled up at the back of the Castle, she hopped down.

“Please wait for me here, Miles,”
she smiled up at him.
 
“I hope I won’t
make you wait too long.”

“I wish you would re-think this,
Miss Sally,” Miles urged in a pessimistic tone.

“What could possibly go
wrong?”
 
Sally demanded, bracingly.
 

“I’m not sure,” Miles
admitted.
 
“But I have a very bad feeling
that we’re about to find out.”

“Nonsense,” Sally exclaimed.
 
She ran lightly over to the back
entrance.
 
The door stood open, and she
peered in to a bustling kitchen.
 
A large
woman wearing a striped apron was stirring a steaming pot over the most
enormous oven that Sally had ever seen.
 
A young maid was chopping up vegetables at a big wooden table, and an
older gentleman, who looked to Sally as if he must be the butler, was polishing
a number of silver serving dishes.
 

“Excuse me,” Sally said, entering
into the steamy warmth of the kitchen.

“What do you want,” the cook at the
oven called over.
 
She did not sound very
welcoming, but Sally ventured a little farther into the room anyway.
 
The young maid had stopped chopping her
vegetables and was staring at Sally, and the butler had stood up and was
slipping his coat back on.
 
 

“Well?” he intoned.
 

Sally’s mouth suddenly felt dry and
for the first time she entertained a doubt about the wisdom of this plan.
 
The cook was looking at her suspiciously, and
the butler seemed very intimidating, as all the best butlers were wont to
do.
 
But she remembered that Bridget was
counting on her to locate the carrier’s lad, and she stiffened her spine.

 
“I am looking for work,” she said, hoping that
she was giving the impression of a capable maid in need of a position.
 
“I heard in the village that you might
be needing
a maid, and so I came to enquire.”
 
She hoped that she sounded like the maids at Denham Park
and smiled hopefully at the trio before her.

The cook’s expression softened, and
the butler shrugged his coat back off, sat down, and resumed his polishing.

“You’ll
be
wanting
to talk to Mrs. Cameron, then,” the cook returned to her
pot.
 
“Have a seat.
  
Mary, get her a cup of tea.”

The girl who had been chopping
vegetables dropped her knife and went to pick up the teapot.
 
“Yes, Mrs. White.”

Sally let out a small sigh.
 
First barrier surmounted.
 
She took a seat at the long wooden table, and
accepted a cup of lukewarm tea from Mary.
 
“Thank you.
When do you think it would it be
convenient for me to talk to Mrs. Cameron?”

“Eh, but she’s that busy,” Mary
said.
 
“There’s company from London, and none of us
expecting it.
 
A
handsome young lord and then an older couple from London, and their daughter.
 
She’s a most beautiful girl,” she confided
with wide eyes.

“Now that will do with the gossip,”
Mrs. White reprimanded sharply.
  
“You
get back to those vegetables, Mary.
 
We’ve
only two hours more before dinner, and we will not be putting an ill-cooked
meal in front of any guests of the Laird’s.”

“A most beautiful girl,” Sally muttered
to herself in a mocking tone.

“Mary, why don’t you run and see if
Mrs. Cameron is free,” Mrs. White recommended.
 
She set a lid onto the pot she had been stirring, and came to sit beside
Sally, bringing a cup of tea with her.
 
“I could use a bit of sit down, anyway.”

Mindful of her mission, Sally
cleared her throat.
 
“That is an
impressive stove, Mrs. White.
 
I don’t
think I’ve ever seen such a big stove before.”
  

“Thank you for noticing, my
dear.
 
We just had it installed last
spring.
 
Came all the
way from London.”

Sally smiled.
 
Bridget had told her how proud the cook was
of her new stove, which Robbie had brought from London on his very first visit in the
carrier’s cart.
 
“It must have been
difficult to install,” she marveled.

“Eh, but that is not the half of it.
 
We had the carrier and his lad, and our two footmen
and poor Mr. Carr all together carrying it in.”

“Do you use a local carrier?”
 
Sally asked
,
feeling
very pleased with herself.

An older woman dressed all in black
with a huge ring that bore at least thirty keys on a chain at her waist entered
the kitchen, interrupting Sally’s progress.

“I’m pleased that you have time to
take a break, Mrs. White,” the newcomer said wryly.
 
“I myself have been on my feet since
luncheon.”

“Let me give you a
cuppa
, then, Mrs. Cameron,” Mrs. White replied
good-naturedly, and hauled herself to her feet to pour out another cup from the
teapot.
 

“Thank you
kindly, Mrs. White.” Mrs. Cameron dropped heavily onto the vacated chair.
 
“And you must be the girl Mary told me
about,” she said, turning her attention to Sally.

“Yes,
ma’am,” Sally murmured, trying to assume the mien of a suitable house maid.

“Well, I
can’t deny that we are sorely missing the last girl.
 
It couldn’t be a worse time to be without a
maid, with the Laird bringing all manner of visitors to the Castle, and without
so much as a day’s warning.”
 
She took a
gulp of tea, which seemed to revive her.
 
“I don’t recognize you?
 
What is
your name, miss?”

Sally was
prepared this time.
 
“Aileen,
ma’am.”
 
She had hoped to have
more time to talk with the cook or one of the maids before Mrs. Cameron sent
her on her way.
 
Maybe she would be
offered another cup of tea before she left, she hoped, and have the time she
needed to enlist their help in contacting Robbie.

“Where have
you been working before this?”
 
the
housekeeper continued, pouring some of her tea into her
saucer, and slurping it down.

“I was with
a family in London,
ma’am.
 
But when their last daughter got
married and moved away, they no longer required as many maids,” Sally repeated
the story that she and Bridget had concocted.

“Are you a
good honest girl?
 
Have you ever been
turned away from a position?”

“No, ma’am,”
Sally replied, slightly startled.
 
“I
mean yes, I am a good honest girl.”

Mrs. Cameron
looked at her closely.
 
“You seem a
likely girl.
 
I’m usually a good
judge.
 
And me being in
such a state.
 
We had to turn one
of our girls away without notice.”

“What
happened?”
Sally asked, suddenly very intent.

Mrs. Cameron
noted her concern, and was quick to reassure her.
 
“Don’t you worry, Aileen, the Laird is a very
fair employer.
 
This was a very extreme
situation.
 
I shouldn’t say, but one of
our maids disgraced
herself
with a young man.
 
I had no choice but to turn her off without a
character, as I informed his lordship.”

“I am sure
his lordship would not keep a girl like that in the house,” Sally stated
stonily.

Mrs. Cameron
pursed her lips.
 
“The Laird is too kind,
by half.
 
I don’t worry him with the
details of the staff, and just as well. He’s always trusted me to run the
Castle, and so I do.”

Sally felt a
slight lessening of the burden on her shoulders.
 
Perhaps Hugh had not been responsible for the
dire straits in which Bridget had found herself, she thought hopefully.
 
She was recalled to her surroundings by Mrs.
Cameron, who continued with her questions.

 
“And so Aileen, are you able to get right to
work?”

“I beg your
pardon?”
 
Sally asked, thoroughly
confused.
 
Could the housekeeper be
seriously considering hiring her?
 

“I have four
guests that will all be needing breakfast trays tomorrow morning, all the
linens from four guest rooms, and you are in need of work.
 
You can start tonight, and provide me with
your references as soon as may be.
 
Mary
will show you to your room, and supply you with an apron and cap.
  
You’ll have to help in the kitchen tonight, mind,
and tomorrow I’ll talk to you about your daily duties. You’ll get your half-day
on Wednesdays.”

“Uh, thank
you, ma’am,” Sally responded, slightly stunned.

“You just
be
a good girl, and do as your told, and we will get along
just fine,” the housekeeper informed her, as she got to her feet.
 
“Mrs. White,” she addressed the cook.
 
“Here is the extra help you were
requesting.
 
Aileen, I’ll meet with you
tomorrow morning first thing.
 
No rest
for the weary, I’m afraid.
 
I must go see
to the bedchambers.”
 

Sally felt
an almost overwhelming urge to giggle.
 
She tried to school her features into a suitable expression, but could
not stop her lips from quirking into a smile.
 

Seeing this,
the cook patted her kindly on the shoulder.
 
“You’re that happy to get the job, aren’t you, Aileen?
 
And we’ll be that happy to have you, I’m
sure.”

“Thank you,
Mrs. White,” Sally said with an irrepressible chuckle.
 
“I was given a ride up to the Castle, and
they have been waiting for me. I’ll just send them on their way, and then I’ll be
right back.”
 
She made it just outside
the door before dissolving into helpless laughter at the ridiculousness of the
situation.
 
When she was able to speak
again she looked up at Miles, who was observing her as if she had gone mad.

“You are
looking at the newest addition to the Laird’s staff, Miles,” Sally grinned.

“They’ve
never hired you to be a maid, Miss Sally?”
 
Miles looked appalled.

“I’m to
start right away, since the Laird has surprised the staff with four
visitors.
 
I’m afraid we are responsible
for one of them, so it behooves me to help out, don’t you think?”

“Now Miss
Sally, you cannot be serious!”

“How else
are we going to find Robbie for poor Bridget, Miles?” Sally reasoned.
 
“What harm can I come to in one night?
 
And it sounds like Mrs. Cameron is really in
need of some help.”
  
She started
chuckling again.
 
“Though
how I’m going to keep a straight face, I couldn’t tell you.”
 

“Miss Sally,
do give over,” Miles begged.
 
“Climb up
into this gig and let me take you home right now.”

“Take a
message to Millie and Bridget for me please, Miles.
 
I must get back. The cook needs me to help
with the dinner.”

“Lord, Miss
Sally,” Miles cracked his first smile.
 
“I’d like to see the Earl and his fancy guests sitting down to a meal
that you prepared.”

A peal of
laughter escaped Sally.
 
“Maybe we can
get you a job as a footman,” she giggled.
 
“Then you can serve the meal that I have graciously prepared!
 
On your way now!
 
And mind you come back for me tomorrow
mid-morning.”

Miles looked
more dour
than ever, but he snapped the reigns, turned
the gig, and headed back away from the Castle, shaking his head the whole way.

Re-entering
the warm kitchen, Sally took the cap and apron that Mary had retrieved for her and,
tying one around her slim waist and pinning the other on her head, approached
the cook for orders.

“Now then,
Aileen,” Mrs. White rubbed her hands together.
 
“We’ve a deal to do, and not enough time to do it.
 
For the first course I’ve a brace of
partridges roasting, and some
collops
of carp that I will
cook in mushrooms and chervil with cream.
 
There are ducklings and some sweetbreads for a remove.
 
Then for the second course I have a haunch of
venison, and a raised pie and some quails.
 
There are green beans and cauliflower, but the asparagus is not far
enough forward this early in the season.”
 
The harassed woman passed a hand over her brow.
 
“Mary, you get back to chopping those
vegetables for me, and Aileen, you can whip this cream, and then get to work on
these egg whites.”
 
She led Sally over to
a counter, handed her a balloon whisk, and set her to whipping cream in a
copper bowl.
 
“I have a charlotte
russe
, and a rhubarb fool for a sweet, along with tarts,
macaroons and jellies.
 
The Earl does not
usually want a sweet after his meals, so I have had to scramble a bit, but I
swear his guests will never suspect it,” she said proudly.