Page 45 of Triumph at Pemberley

Of course. Lady Amelia was truth-casting, as if Georgiana could tell her anything but the truth in the first place. “Because he would do it for me. How can I do anything less, when he has saved me so many times?” She took a deep breath. “There is no point in wasting your energy on truth-casting a changeling. I am still fae, no matter how mortal my body may be.”

Lady Amelia frowned. “You cannot lie? What happens when you try?”

“It makes me uncomfortable, even the simplest polite prevarication.”

The older woman squinted at the letter again. “I see Darcy does not tell you to come, only that he has been told they will not be released otherwise. Could it be a hidden message, do you suppose, that he wants you to stay here?”

For once certain, Georgiana shook her head. “No. He could not have brought himself to ask me to go.” Unwelcome tears stung at the corners of her eyes. William would not have written at all if he had not been forced. What must he be suffering now? “In the long run, it will not matter. The High King clearly will not stop until he manages to speak to me. I might as well go now.” Oh, how she wished her voice had not wavered!

Lady Amelia eyed her keenly. “It is a hard birthright you have been given. Sycamore will be here soon, if you would be so kind as to open a window for him.”

Glad to have a task she could actually accomplish, Georgiana hurried to obey.

Ah, there she was at last, the housekeeper. Granny hoped this would work.

Mrs. Reynolds curtsied. “You wished to see me, Lady Amelia?”

“It has been my experience that housekeepers tend to know more about the family they serve than many realize. Are you aware of Miss Darcy’s connection to the fae world?”

The housekeeper’s shoulders tightened, a gesture that told Granny all she needed to know. “It is not my habit to comment on my employer’s family.”

“A fine deflection,” she said briskly. “I would guess you already are aware that you cannot lie to me. In fact, lying is the subject on which I wish to speak to you.”

Mrs. Reynolds pursed her lips. “If a member of the staff has been telling untruths, I would certainly wish to know about it.” A fine disapproving voice. The servants must be in terror of it.

“No, this is a different matter. Miss Darcy is of the opinion that she physically cannot tell lies because of her birth. I suspect she may be afraid to try. You have known her since infancy. Do you recall if she ever was untruthful as a child? Even about a small thing, like pretending someone else had broken her doll?”

“Miss Georgiana was a well-behaved child. I cannot recall any instances of lying,” Mrs. Reynolds said primly.

“I do not ask this lightly. Mrs. Reynolds, her life may depend upon her ability to tell a lie. And that in turn depends on convincing her she has managed to do so in the past. You are someone she would believe on the subject.”

Her eyes widened. “Ah. I know just who to ask about this. May I return to you with an answer later?”

Granny nodded, satisfied.

Georgiana felt oddly comfortable in the housekeeper’s homey room. She had always been fond of Mrs. Reynolds. Despite the strange reason for this meeting, she was glad to be there.

“I must say, this is the oddest task I have ever been given!” the old housekeeper said in such a warm tone that Georgiana could not take offense. “Especially after all those years of telling you that you must never lie or you would be punished.”

Georgiana’s cheeks grew hot. “I am sorry I gave you so much trouble.”

“Oh, you were never trouble, dear! Not compared to your brothers, especially Mr. Jack.” Mrs. Reynolds’ face took on an expression of happy reminiscence. “And I am sure that fine baby upstairs will cause more than her share of mischief, too.”

It made Georgiana smile, too. She loved little Jenny more than she ever thought possible. It had been a comfort to her to go upstairs and sit with her beloved old nursemaid Nelly of an evening. Nelly, who never cared about whether she was a changeling or whether she would have to make a come-out in London, and who still called Georgiana her sweetest little babe. No one in the nursery called her ‘great lady’ or said she was their only protection from hopelessness. It was a simpler life.

And no one there expected her to lie when it was beyond her abilities. “Yes, I agree.”

Mrs. Reynolds looked past her. “Ah, Nelly! Thank you for joining us. Come sit down and have some tea with us.”

“I don’t mind if I do.” Nelly gingerly lowered her bulk into the chair. “I’m not as young as I used to be. A baby and a dragonet both! It is harder work than my sweetest little babe here, who was never an ounce of trouble.”

Mrs. Reynolds poured out a cup of tea and handed it to the old nursemaid. “Oh, yes, we used to worry because she was so well behaved. Always afraid of misbehaving, were you not, Miss Georgiana?”

That had not changed. “I tried to be good, but I did not always manage.”

Nelly snorted. “Always so hard on yourself! The only time I ever remember you being punished was when you said you threw Mr. Jack’s Latin book out the window. Because you wanted to see if it could fly, you said!” She laughed heartily. “When we all knew perfectly well it was Mr. Jack’s doing entirely because he hated his Latin so much. His tutor was about to give him a beating for it, and there you were, not even five years old, pulling on your hair the way you always did, and lisping that you had done it. The tutor made you sit in the corner all afternoon without dinner, but you would not give in.” She shook her head, smiling.

“I remember him scolding me,” Georgiana said slowly. “But you were not angry, so I did not care.”