Pippa would tear it apart in moments.
That thought brought to mind an even bigger worry. Pippa would panic if she got home from the tavern this evening and Sadie still hadn’t returned. She bit her lip. “I know you probably intended to send someone to Lamsdel in the morning to talk to Mr. Ferman, but would it be possible for them to go tonight? My roommate, Pippa Leander, is going to worry if I don’t make it home soon.”
“Of course, my dear. I would never want to leave your friend worrying. I can send a footman down tonight to talk to her and collect your other frock. He can spend the night at the inn and talk to Mr. Ferman in the morning when he also purchases a few more items for Miss Candile.” The dowager glanced at the lilac soap Sadie had given her.
So, the soap wasn’t for Lady Marstede at all, but rather one of her guests.
“Now,” the dowager said with a snap to her voice. “There is just the matter of finding you a maid. Are you well-known in Valway? Most of our staff come from that village.”
Valway was less than a half hour’s walk away from Marstede, but on the opposite side of the manor from Lamsdel.
“No.” Lamsdel had all the amenities Valway boasted and a few more besides. There was no reason for Sadie to visit. “I have helped your maid when she was searching for goods in the shop before, though.”
“Maisie will protect our secrets. But we still need an excuse to explain away why you need a maid. I had thought for a moment we could enlist one of the villagers, but then the entirestaff would know within hours that you hadn’t brought your own maid, which will only make them speculate on the reasons. Best to start with a story.”If only we had someone to play the part who’d keep the secret.
“What if Pippa pretended to be my maid?” Sadie said without thinking. She pressed her lips together, then decided it was a reasonable enough suggestion even for someone who hadn’t heard the dowager’s thoughts. “She doesn’t visit Valway either, and she wouldn’t betray our ruse.”
Moreover, Pippa wouldn’t be at risk of losing her job. Her parents owned the tavern, and they’d happily let her work at the local lord’s estate for a month if she wanted to. Her younger siblings were old enough to make up for her absence. For all she kept pushing Sadie to accept a post at the tavern, the place didn’t actually require more help. Sadie would feel bad that her friend would be stuck working as a maid while she pretended to be a lady, but Pippa would be madder if Sadie didn’t secure her this opportunity.
“If you think she’ll agree, that will work perfectly.”
“Pippa will definitely agree.”
Five
???
Sadie woke withthe sun, though its rays were blocked by thick drapes over the window. Climbing out of the massive—and ridiculously soft—bed, she slipped on the silk dressing gown Maisie had given her the night before along with the lace-edged nightgown she was wearing. Sadie padded over to the window and pulled open the aubergine drapes, letting the dawn light wash over the bedroom.
She studied the space, confirming that it was exactly as luxurious as she had thought the night before. The plush rug under her feet was softer than her mattress back home. She wandered over to the fireplace. Silver-gray river stones brought a touch of the wild into the otherwise sophisticated space, the unevenly sized stones slightly too real to be perfect like everything else.
There was no wood laid in the hearth. Instead, a large, flat stone engraved with a glyph for heat sat in the center of the space. Sadie didn’t even want to contemplate how expensive it would be to replace the heat-glyphs in every fireplace in the manor regularly. A small one in the kitchen for the kettle was reasonable, but even for a baron, using glyph-stones instead of firewood seemed extreme.
Though the night had brought with it a slight chill, activating the stone wasn’t necessary. Still, Sadie bent toward it, curious to see how strong the glyph was.
The bedroom door swung open, and Sadie spun and straightened with a shriek, clutching at her dressing gown.
“I’m sorry, miss,” Maisie said with wide eyes. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I didn’t realize you were already up.”
She pushed the door open the rest of the way and came in. She had a dress draped over her arm. Since Lady Marstede had already entrusted her maid with their secret, Sadie admitted the truth. “I have to wake with the sun if I don’t want to be late to work, and I’m not used to servants coming and going.”
“Once your friend arrives, your rooms will be her domain, and no other servant will enter without her permission. Since she won’t get here until later, however, her ladyship thought you might appreciate a little help this morning.”
“Thank you. I was just wondering what I was supposed to do now that I’m awake.”
“We’ll get you dressed, then you can either take a tray up here or go to the breakfast room.”
Getting dressed as not-quite-a-lady was an experience. Sadie felt like a doll, moved this way and that as Maisie draped garments over her, tightened her corset, and tied all her tapes. Then she tackled Sadie’s hair, transforming her usual twist of hair pinned at her nape into something that didn’t feel too fussy, yet wasn’t so simple either.
Sadie stared at her reflection in the mirror over the vanity and thought she at least looked the part of a lady with twin braids snaking over her head like a crown before joining the others that twisted into an elegant knot at her nape. Then again, perhaps it wasn’t the hair that turned her from Sadie Winsel into Miss Sadie Pentry. The dress Lady Marstede had loaned her was like nothing she had worn before.
The pale pink cotton was so thin as to be sheer in between the prints of blue flowers, making the loan of pristine petticoats to wear under it both appreciated and embarrassing. She feared any wrong move she made might shred the fabric, but she also loved it.
“Would you like a tray here, or shall I show you to the breakfast room, miss?”
Sadie turned away from the mirror. “Will the baron be in the breakfast room?”
“Yes, miss.”
