Chapter Seven
“Apple-blossom, you must not put quite so much food into your mouth at one time. Ladies nibble, then dab at their lips with a napkin should they need to.”
Milly was taking tea with the Wimplestow ladies, one week after her arrival at Wimplestow House. While she had not expected to enjoy her time here, the truth was, she had. These people may have the manners of barnyard animals, yet they had big, generous hearts, and a love for each other that was humbling. They were also trying hard to take direction from her in manners… most especially table manners.
“But I’m hungry, Milly, and if I do not eat quickly, then someone else may take everything.”
Apple-blossom was not a quick study, it was fair to say. Milly had simplified things and focused on a few basic principles of being a lady to begin with, and while she was making progress, the going was slow.
“There is plenty of food, and young ladies do not carry on that way. It is all about perception, Apple-blossom. People must see you behaving in a way that befits your status as a lady, or they will not accept you, and I know you do not wish that.”
Lady Wimplestow nodded, but remained silent. They had battled wills a time or two, but Milly had managed to win most rounds. Today, for example, they were going into Stonleigh, as the dressmaker there was superior to the one in Spindle, to have Apple-blossom fitted for more dresses. The ones she had were quite unsuitable, even though some of them were new.
“Try not to slouch, Apple-blossom. Straight back, chin raised.”
The girl tried, Milly could not fault her for that, but the problem was she would rather be outside romping over the fields with her brother and father, mucking out pigs and grooming horses, than learning dance steps and polite conversation.
“And now, ladies, we shall ready ourselves for our outing to Stonleigh,” Milly said when all the food was eaten. A Wimplestow, she had come to realize, did not leave a table unless the plates were cleaned.
Another cool day greeted them as they left the house. Lady Wimplestow was accompanying Milly and Apple-blossom, as she too wished for a new dress for the ball.
Watching the scenery pass by, Milly thought that she could be comfortable here until she was no longer needed. Yes, the family tended to be loud and rambunctious, but they were good people, unlike many of the noble families she had met and known. Living with the Wimplestows would likely mean she would not run into anyone from her old life either, except of course the earl, but even then it was unlikely she would see him but in passing, or from a distance.
They had taught her a great deal in the week she had lived with them, chief among which was that appearances may be everything in society, yet they were not in the family environment. They were kind and caring to each other, and as she’d lived with a father who was neither, the Wimplestow family was a revelation.
“Do you ride, Milly?”
“I can ride a horse, Lady Wimplestow, but governesses do not often do so.”
“However, we would be happy if you rode with Apple-blossom to ensure she carries herself as a lady should.”
“Mama,” Apple-blossom groaned loudly. “How will I best Angus if I must ride like a lady?”
“Sidesaddle,” Milly added, as Apple-blossom usually wore breeches and rode astride around her father’s lands, and nothing Milly had yet said would deter her from this.
The girl groaned again.
“Do you have a riding habit, Milly?”
Once she’d had many, but Milly shook her head.
“We shall have one of ours altered for you.”
“That is very kind of you, Lady Wimplestow, but it would not be right—”
“We are not a family that does everything right, Milly, so you will humor me in this, and ensure my daughter does not appear out of place among her peers should she choose to ride in London.”
The determined look in Lady Wimplestow’s eyes told Milly she knew just how hard the change was going to be on her daughter, and that she would need all the help she could get.
“Of course, I shall be delighted to help.”
Milly had kept up her disguise of placing the small rolls in her cheeks and wearing her glasses and padding. At least if she did chance upon anyone from her past, it was unlikely they would recognize her. It was often the case that nobility barely acknowledged those beneath them anyway.
“There is Greyton!” Apple-blossom clapped her hands in excitement. “Oh, to be lady of such a house.”
Milly ignored the jolt of jealousy at the girl’s words. Neither of them had any chance of being lady of that particular manor. Once, but no longer. She had thought about Joseph even though she had tried to push him back into that place in her head that held the painful memories. The ones that had the power to hurt her.
“It is well and good to aim high, my girl, but that will not happen if you do not follow Milly’s advice, and even then it is highly unlikely.”
