“Yes, my lady.”
Leonie looked around at her possessions spread all over the room. “Very well, I shall be my own lady’s maid—”
“You have a husband who can help you,” Minnie quickly interjected.
“I have a what?” Leonie asked, the maid’s response taking a moment to sink in. When it did, she felt herself blush. “So I do.” She busied herself helping Minnie with her packing.
“Don’t worry about those perfume bottles,” Leonie said as Minnie gathered the heavy glass bottles. “In fact, here, you take them.” She knew the maid tried the scents from time to time. She probably wore them more than Leonie did.
“You should keep one,” Minnie protested.
“I wouldn’t know which,” Leonie offered, and waved the maid on.
The milled soap was a different matter. Leonie wanted to take the three bars she owned. She wished she had more but certainly she could buy it wherever they were going—
Wherever they were going?Wherewerethey going?
She was startled to realize she didn’t know the location. And what was the name of her husband’s estate? She’d forgotten it again. Bonne Chance?
Leonie shook her head. That was not it. What decent Englishman had a French title for his home? A pretentious one—and Roman was anything but pretentious.Bonhomie.That was the name. She would have to learn the story behind it.
With Minnie’s help, everything Leonie felt she must take was folded into one trunk. A valise was packed for her needs on the road. “I will send for the rest,” she told the maid.
“Yes, my lady. I will have it prepared. Thank you for asking me to go.”
“I will be sorry to lose you,” Leonie answered, and then realized another concern. “Here, let me write a letter of reference. I don’t know if there is a lady’s maid role for you in the house.” And she wouldn’t count on her mother to think of those details. She would bring it up with Mrs. Denbright, the housekeeper. “And money...? I should see that you have some.”
“Lord Rochdale took care of me,” Minnie answered.
“He did? When did he do that?”
“Perhaps an hour ago.” When Leonie was with Willa and Cassandra. “He was very generous.”
“Of course, he would be,” Leonie answered, caught between resenting his high-handed manner and relief that he had seen to Minnie. She masked her uncertainty by writing an excellent letter of reference for the maid.
There was a knock at the door. “Yes,” Leonie called.
“Lord Rochdale wishes to know if you are ready to leave?” a footman said through the paneled wood.
Leonie looked at Minnie. “Is this all?”
“That you said you wished to take, my lady.”
“Very well.” Leonie opened the door. “Besides the trunk, there is a valise on the dressing room bench that is my personal luggage. Please carry that down for me.”
“Yes, my lady,” the footman said. “I shall have two of the other lads carry your trunk down.”
“Yes, please.” Leonie put a green silk pelisse over her dress, gathered her shawl, her hat, and her gloves from Minnie, and took one last look around the room. She’d lived in the room, this house, for almost five years and yet it did not feel a part of her.
As she walked down the hall, she passed the study. A glance inside told her the brandy decanter was right where it always was.
She could use a nip, and that bothered her because now was not the time for such thinking. Besides, after what she’d done at her wedding, she should swear off spirits completely.
Therefore, she walked by the room. Her days of nipping were behind her. She even felt a touch noble in making her decision.
Downstairs, not only was Roman waiting for her in the front hall, but Yarrow as well. A footman was carrying a trunk out for him.
“Are you leaving my father’s employ?” she asked with some dismay.
