Perhaps not curious at all.
In fact, it made perfect sense.
Jewel approached her at a measured pace, contriving a meeting point out of hearing range from her aunt and uncle’s bedchamber.When the girl moved aside to allow her to pass, her gaze lowered deferentially, Jewel turned and tapped her on the shoulder.“Pardon me,” she said quietly.“Are you the duchess’s maid?“
The maid gasped and whirled, both hands to her heart, making Jewel wonder why she should be so skittish.Then she blinked a few times and relaxed, apparently finding a woman close to her age less frightening than expected.Her gaze flicked to the room she’d just left, then back to Jewel.
“Yes,” she said in a whisper.“I’m Margaret.”
Hoping to set her at ease, Jewel smiled.“May I speak with you in my chamber?”
The maid hesitantly nodded, then followed her down the corridor and into her room.
Jewel shut the door and waved her over to a chair, taking the chair across the small table for herself.“Will you tell me what’s going on?”
Perched at the very edge of the chair with her hands folded in her lap, Margaret gazed at her innocently.“I don’t understand.Nothing is going on.Nothing unusual, I mean.Why do you ask, my lady?”
“Because I have eyes in my head, and a working set of ears as well.Plus a quick mind, or so I’m told.I’ve been observing you”—Jewel watched the maid’s eyes widen—“and I believe you and my father are playing a masterful prank.”She paused for a breath.“And I want in on it.”
The girl’s eyes widened further before a reluctant little laugh burst out of her.“You do?”
“Of course I do.There’s nothing quite so fun as a good prank.”Not to mention it would be something to occupy her mind besides Henry.She hadn’t felt like herself since he’d proposed—a piece of mischief might be just the thing to revive her old spirit.“Are you keeping my aunt and uncle, um…apart?”
Margaret blushed.“Yes.Yes, we are.I mean, your father is keeping them apart, with my help.”She looked away.“I know it’s terrible of me to play a prank on my mistress, especially her grace, who’s so very kind, but—”
“My father bribed you, didn’t he?”
That startled another laugh out of Margaret.“How did you know?”
“I know my father,” Jewel said with a rueful shake of her head.“Of course he bribed you.He always finds a way to get what he wants.”Well, not with her mother lately, not yet, but he would, Jewel was sure of it.“How much has he promised you?”
“Twenty pounds.I’m not proud of it.”Margaret’s eyes glazed with a thin sheen of unshed tears, horrifying Jewel.She hadn’t meant to upset Aunt Kendra’s maid—she’d just wanted to hear about the prank.“I said no to five and no to ten,” Margaret elaborated in a tiny voice, “but then he offered twenty, and…do you think I’m an awful person?”
“Not at all,” Jewel said gently.“Twenty pounds is nothing to my father.And I have a feeling you must want that money for a very good reason.”
“Not good enough,” the maid said with a little sniffle.“My reason is selfish.I should never have agreed.”
Margaret seemed so sweet and earnest, Jewel couldn’t help but like her.And feel for her.“Tell me.”Jewel pulled a handkerchief out of her sleeve and handed it to her.“Tell me your reason.I’d wager it’s not selfish at all.”
“Itisselfish.”Margaret dabbed at her eyes and nose.“I want to get married, and I don’t want to wait three years.”
“Are you in love?”Jewel asked, feeling a little stab of jealousy when Margaret nodded.
Jewel was probably a year or two older than Margaret, yet she wasn’t sure she’d ever been in love.Once she’dthoughtshe was in love, but she’d been all of ten then, and she’d been wrong.Eleven years had allowed her to put things in perspective.
She’d known Henry but a few weeks, yet she was already certain he was the best of all the young men who had courted her.Perhaps that meant she was falling in love with him.Or maybe she was already in love.How was one supposed to know when one was in love, anyway?She didn’t know how to tell.
“Yes, I’m very much in love,” Margaret said as though the nod hadn’t been confirmation enough.Or maybe she just wanted to say it out loud.
“Then why should you have to wait three years?”Jewel asked, pushing the envy away.“Whom are you in love with?Start with that.”
Margaret tucked an errant strand of russet hair back under her cap.“His name is Richard Turner.He’s a footman at Foxbow Manor, an estate that borders Amberley.”
Amberley belonged to Uncle Trick, which meant Margaret lived there, near her beau.“A footman sounds like a reasonable match for you,” Jewel said.“Surely you’re not too young.”Margaret appeared to be eighteen at least.“And I assume he’s not too young to wed, either.I’ve no doubt my uncle would be willing to employ him so the two of you can live together—my uncle is as kind as my aunt.”
“I know,” Margaret said.“It’s thanks to your uncle that I was raised in a lovely home and fed and educated.I know his grace would employ Richard if we asked.Well, maybe he wouldn’t…”
“Why would you say that?”
