Danielle pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. This was a strange group of servants indeed. Not that she’d been around a great many servants, but she expected the staff of a proper English lord to be refined and appropriate. Mary and Mrs. Huckleberry seemed anything but. However, the girl might prove valuable. “Tell me, what do you know about Mr. Cavendish, the viscount’s brother?”
The girl’s eyes widened. “Gor. He’s a handsome one, ain’t he? Why, I about fell off me seat when I saw him the first time and realized there were two of them.”
Danielle nearly snorted at that. “I had nearly the same reaction myself. Tell me, Mary, has he ever… made any untoward advances on you?” She assumed the man had tried to charm every female servant in the house down to the scullery maid.
Mary shook her head. “Sadly, no. And it’s a shame, fer if that man were ta make an untoward advance upon me I can’t say I’d refuse.”
Danielle had barely stopped laughing when Mrs. Huckleberry came bustling in. Danielle winced. Had the housekeeper heard that last part?
Mrs. Huckleberry was middle-aged and plump, with kind brown eyes and a round face. She tsked at Mary as soon as she saw her. Danielle jumped up from her seat, guilty for having been caught gossiping.
“Madame,” Danielle said, nodding respectfully to the housekeeper. This woman was as likely to send her packing as Lady Daphne was when she discovered Danielle wasn’t a proper lady’s maid. She didn’t need to add gossiping about Mr. Cavendish to her list of offenses.
“Oh, no need to stand,” Mrs. Huckleberry replied. “I’m only in here searching for the extra sugar for Cook.”
Mary hopped up, opened a cabinet, and pulled out a fat sack of sugar that she quickly handed to the housekeeper.
“Thank you, Mary.” Mrs. Huckleberry turned toward the door, but paused when she saw Danielle’s face. “My dear. Why do ye look like ye’ve seen a ghostie?”
“I just. I thought perhaps you might be angry with—”
Mrs. Huckleberry’s dark eyes sparkled. “Aye. I heard. And I can’t blame ye for mentioning how handsome his lordship and his brother are. Fine-looking men, they are, and I’m not too old yet ta notice.” The housekeeper fluttered her eyelashes.
Danielle widened her eyes. “You’re not angry with me?”
“Why would I be?”
“I thought, perhaps, because I’m French.”
“You’re not responsible for the wars, are ye, dear?”
“Certainly not.”
“Lord Cavendish may not be the most admiring of the French, but you’ll find he’s good ta all of us.”
“What happened to Lord Cavendish? With the French, I mean?” Danielle asked.
Mrs. Huckleberry hugged the sack of sugar to her middle. “He was beaten by them, he was. Something awful. Nearly died. Lost Lady Daphne’s brother on that trip.”
Danielle bit her lip. “I’m sorry to hear that…”
Mrs. Huckleberry shook her head. “It weren’t Lord Cavendish what lost Lady Daphne’s brother the earl, may he rest in peace. The truth is, Lord Cavendish did all he could to save the earl. It were a tragedy and nothing less.”
Tears filled Mary’s eyes. She pulled up her apron to dab at them.
“I’m certainly glad Lord Cavendish made it back safely,” Danielle said, trying to turn the mood back to joviality.
“Yes,” Mrs. Huckleberry replied. “It were a miracle that he made it back in one piece.”
“And his brother?” Danielle prodded. “He’s been visiting ever since?”
“Oh no,” Mary blurted. “Just for the last several months.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Huckleberry said. “He and Lord Cavendish lived as bachelors here until the wedding. Then Lady Daphne joined them. Oh, but he’s a fine-looking man. They both are, aren’t they? But only one of them remains a bachelor.” Mrs. Huckleberry wiggled her shoulders up and down.
Danielle pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. Mary couldn’t suppress her smile, though, and soon they were both grinning.
“Now then, mademoiselle.” Mrs. Huckleberry shifted the sugar to balance on her right hip. “Can I get ye anything, ye dear? A glass o’ wine? A bit o’ port ta fortify ye? It must be hard on ye, coming ta a new house and not knowing one o’ the lot.”
