“It was our pleasure, Miss Temple. Never you worry. None of us will give you away.”
Ailis sat on the bed once more while Jane helped her with her stockings and boots that had been polished and… Had the worn heels been replaced? They looked as good as new. More reasons to be grateful to the duke and his staff.
But she could not dwell on this, for Jane had sensed her panic and now needed to be calmed as well.
“What a coil! What a coil,” the girl repeated as she began to sob.
“Hush, Jane. His Grace’s guests are about to enter the house.” Ailis heard their voices carrying up the stairs from the entry hall.
The warning only served to scare Jane worse. “Oh, Miss Temple! What shall we do if they walk in here?”
“No one would dare,” Ailis assured the weeping maid. “Nor do I think any of them will be escorted up here just yet, since they arrived early and Mrs. Fitch does not have the guestrooms readied.” The noises they heard close by in the hallway had to be mostly household staff rushing about while preparing the bedrooms. “His Grace is a capable host and will have ordered refreshments served in the drawing room. He’ll stall them down there while he figures out a way to get me out.”
Jane nodded. “He’s very clever.”
“Smartest man I know,” Ailis replied, and she spoke the truth. He was also battle trained and probably excelled in military tactics that he had put to use in surviving the war. Was this not an accurate description of him? A clear-eyed man. Full concentration on his objective. Icy calm. Ready to strike fast.
Indeed, planning her escape would not be all that hard for him.
Dear heaven.
What if there was no escape until nightfall?
“Jane, we must be quiet as mice. We may be here for hours yet.” Ailis hardly dared breathe for fear a guest might overhear their whispers and be so bold as to peek into the duke’s bedchamber. It was unlikely, but who could think logically at a time like this?
Edward had described thesetondiamonds and their families as brazen, conniving schemers and, in general, ruthless in their quest for marriage. Ailis could not imagine they would be so foolish to attempt such a breach of etiquette as peering into the duke’s bedchamber, but what if they did?
His mother might. Ailis got the sense this woman was quite formidable, and no one, not even her daunting son, could tell her what to do. If she suspected something was amiss, no place would be out of bounds for her search.
The breakfast plates clattered, drawing Ailis’s attention with a start. “Jane, what are you doing? Stop clearing the plates.”
“But they cannot stay here, Miss Temple. The room will start to smell.”
Oh dear.
This was Jane being overset and not thinking clearly.
First of all, the duke and his brother had scarfed down their breakfast and left hardly a crumb on their plates. Ailis had mostly finished her meal, leaving a little bit of the ham uneaten.
But so what? The ham was hardly likely to rot quickly.
Jane was now fussing with their cups and creating more noise as they clattered.
Ailis sighed, knowing she was safest with the maid gone before she spilled the entire cart and brought everyone running up here. “Jane, I think you ought to get these plates back to the kitchen.”
“And leave you here on your own, Miss Temple?”
Ailis nodded. “They need to be cleared away, as you wisely pointed out. As fast as possible, before the maids or valets brought by his guests start running up and down the servants’ stairs. We cannot risk one of them being sharp enough to spotthreeplace settings on your cart. This will immediately raise questions about a mysterious third person at the table.”
Jane nodded. “I’ll take care of it, Miss Temple,” she said with a sniffle. “I’ll do it right now.”
As Ailis turned away, she caught her reflection in the mirror and realized something had to be done with her hair. She could not leave it with the one fat braid down her back. “Oh, my clips. Jane, can you—”
But the overset maid had already disappeared through the hidden doorway.
Ailis heard the rattle of cups and plates along the servants’ stairs as Jane made too much noise in her haste to be discreet. She dared not call the girl back. Doing up her hair properly was not all that important and could wait until Jane or one of the other maids returned.
And was she not better off left here on her own? She knew how to be silent while removing all trace of her presence in the room. The first thing she did was sweep her clips into her reticule, which proved much harder than expected because she only had the one hand available while the other was bound at the wrist and resting in the sling.
