“Not for you who were born to it!” She bit her lip to keep herself from saying something she’d regret. “I shall try.”
He smiled. “I’ll be there with you. Don’t worry.” He reached across and patted her hand. “You do look quite lovely this morning.”
She propped her chin in her hand and studied him. His thick dusky lashes shadowed his cheek as he read his paper, and she liked how his dark hair curled back from his forehead. “What do you plan to do today?”
“I’m off to the races. I have a horse running.”
“How exciting. What is its name?”
“Mercury.”
“Does he have wings on his heels?”
A spark brightened the blue depths of his eyes. “I do hope so.” He folded his newspaper, pushed back his chair, and rose. “If you’ll excuse me, Kate, I have some work to do before I leave.”
“Shall I see you at dinner?”
“No. Forgive me. I have a dinner engagement with an old friend. I have been absent from London for some time and must catch up with acquaintances. But as soon as your evening gowns arrive, our nights will become very full.”
Another night spent alone. Kate swallowed a retort, knowing whatever she said would sound querulous and unreasonable. He had given her so much and been very honest about what their relationship would be.
After breakfast, from an upstairs window, she watched Robert leave in a carriage. She roamed St. Malin House, her silk house slippers echoing along the corridors. Pausing to chat with Barker, she promised to purchase the elm bark as soon as she could.
She trailed along the portrait gallery, studying each member of the family. She found a portrait of her godfather which made him appear sterner than ever. A trait to be found in many relations, it seemed.
The marble statues in the niches on the staircase drew her eye on her way to the salon. Then she whiled away the hour studying the exquisite Limoges and Sèvres porcelain displayed in walnut cabinets.
Further restless hours were spent wandering in and out of the house to walk in the manicured gardens or watching the birds washing in the fountain from the wide stone terrace. A footman insisted on opening the door for her each time even though she told him she could manage quite well herself. After she implored him to leave it to her, a pained expression appeared on Hove’s face. The poor footman, a stranger to her, of which there were several, grew red in the cheeks, so she returned to her bedchamber and read until luncheon.
A house full of servants was foreign to her. At home in Oxfordshire, their cook, Mrs. Morrison and the two maids, Sarah, and Anne, and Nanny of course, were like family, they’d been with them for so long. It had been very hard to see them off to new positions, along with Jim, who did for them in the garden.
While it was nice to have her every need met, almost before she thought of it, it was difficult to relax and be herself.
Two days later, three more of her gowns arrived including her ballgown, which produced a flurry of initial excitement, but after trying each of them on, Kate grew restless. She sat down to read while Brigitte folded Kate’s new nightgowns fashioned in white lawn.
“I once worked for a lady who was the mistress of a duke,” Brigitte said.
“Did you?” Kate idly turned the pages of a fashion magazine, pausing to admire a woman’s outfit much like a gentleman’s regimental coat decorated with epaulets and worn with a waistcoat, skirt, and cocked hat. She loved it, but doubted she was tall enough to carry it off.
“Oui. And the nightgowns she wore,Mon dieu!”
Kate looked up. “Oh? What were they like?”
“Lace as sheer as gossamer in crimson and black.”
Kate’s interest was piqued. “Did the Duke visit her at home?”
Brigitte laughed. “Tout à fait. He brought her diamond bracelets, champagne, and red roses.”
Kate thrust the magazine away. “Did she flirt with him?”
“Oui!” Brigitte put down the nightgown and began to sway her hips provocatively, moving around the room. “She danced for him in her nightgown while he sat and watched and drank champagne. Spellbound he was. She touched herself as she danced.” Brigitte waved her hand over various parts of her body. “Then poof! He would dismiss me.” She nodded sagely. “She knew how to please a man, that one.”
“My goodness.” Could she ever be that seductive? Kate’s pulse raced at the thought. She could not imagine her mother behaving like that for the life of her. Why her father would have died of the apoplexy. But what would Robert do if she acted that way? Robert was nothing like her father.
In the afternoon, Kate took the landau to Regent Street with the maid accompanying her. She had no one to shop for but herself and Robert. She picked out a silk robe for him and almost bought it, then decided it was too intimate. Since all his clothes were specially made, what could she find that he would treasure? She finally settled on a small enameled snuff box with a horse painted on it. Perhaps it looked like Mercury. She bought Lady Susan a Norwich shawl, Brigitte a pair of embroidered fingerless gloves which delighted her, and some spring green ribbons for a new hat. She found the elm bark powder, and as soon as they returned home, gave it to Barker who quite lost his voice in effusive thanks.
Even when Robert was home, he was busy working in the library. The days passed as their first official engagement grew closer. Kate was in a fever of excitement and nerves whenever she thought of it. It would be better to keep busy. What did people do in London? She might visit the famous sights, but a lady did not go about unescorted, and it would prove uninspiring without someone with whom to share it. Robert had said that after she’d been introduced to the Royal family, they would soon begin to receive callers, but this prospect only served to unnerve her further.
