colonies. Cynara would have seen right through Parker Randolph. No one else, even her parents, had. Yet somehow, even on their briefest acquaintance, Fancy believed that Cynara would have immediately known Parker Randolph for what he was.
Her thoughts slipped back to her wedding day. Her gown was so beautiful, and Mama had given her a strand of pearls for her very own. Parker had looked so distinguished as he awaited her at the altar of the plantation church. Like all of Fortune and Kieran’s children, Fancy had been raised with knowledge of both her parents’ faiths. She preferred the Anglican religion of her mother as did her sister, Maeve. Her elder brothers practiced the Roman Catholicism of their father. Her younger brothers claimed their explorations kept them from church, but Fancy knew that they were simply not church-going men. One day again they would be, she was certain, but not now.
The ceremony had been beautiful. The feasting afterward had been lavish. And then she had been escorted to the bridal chamber by her mother, Maeve, and her sisters-in-law to be prepared for her husband’s arrival. When she had been undressed, put into her silk-and-lace nightshirt, and her matching cap with its silk ribbons, Aine had come in, and said a blessing over her. Then they had left her to await her husband. The tears began to slide down Fancy’s pale face. I must put this from me, she thought silently to herself. What has happened has happened. Nothing can change it. Parker did not love me. He is dead. And I must begin a new life here in England. Lord, her eyes felt so heavy. Her thoughts became jumbled. Fancy Devers finally slept.
Chapter 2
She had had a lovely bath and a hot supper. Bess had tucked her back into her bed, and Fancy had slept the night through. She was awakened by a wet tongue licking at her face and the sound of giggling. Her turquoise eyes flew open to see a small black, tan and white spaniel on her bed, and her two cousins Diana and Cynara standing nearby. “Good morning,” she said with a smile, and stroked the wiggling dog. “And who is this?”
“It’s Beau,” Cynara said. “He’s Bella’s mate and has just become the papa of three puppies. Grandmama says we may each have one. Do you like dogs? Diana prefers cats, but she’s going to take one of Bella’s pups anyhow. I get to choose first.”
“Perhaps it would be more polite if we allowed Fancy to have the first choice since she has just arrived,” Diana suggested.
“But I want a male, and there is only one of them,” Cynara protested. She looked at Fancy. “Do you want the male?”
“You may have it,” Fancy told her. “I prefer females. They are sweeter in nature and less apt to roam.”
“Then you and Siren can argue over the other two,” Cynara said, well satisfied. “Are you rested now? Come, and get up so we may show you all about Queen’s Malvern. It used to be a royal property, you know, but the old queen needed gold, and our great-great-grandmother bought it from her. It’s a wonderful house, but a wing was damaged during the wars that happened before we were born. My papa restored that wing. He built a beautiful dining room with a marble fireplace, crystal chandeliers, and the most beautiful paintings ! Grandmama prefers the old hall, but I love the dining room. You will, too. Come on, Fancy! Get up!” She removed the dog from the bed and tugged at the coverlet.
Fancy laughed. She had always been the baby of the family, but she was a good year or more older than both these cousins. Still, it was lovely to feel young and carefree once more. Her parents had been right, she suddenly realized. This exile to England was just what she needed. “Call Bess,” she said. She looked at the pair. Their gowns were very simple, and not at all as elegant as the ones they had worn yesterday when they greeted her. “Can we go riding later?” she asked them.
“Yes!” they chorused.
“Shall I dress like you?” she inquired. “Do you ride like that? Surely not,” Fancy wondered aloud.
“Just throw on something to go exploring,” Cynara said.
“We will change later when we ride,” Diana added.
“You don’t need Bess,” Cynara said. “Certainly you know how to dress yourself, Cousin.”
Fancy nodded. “But I don’t know where my clothing is,” she explained to them. “I’ll need Bess at least to help me find my clothes.”
“Of course!” Diana laughed. She pointed to an embroidered bell-rope by the bed. “Just pull it. She’ll come.”
Fancy complied with the instruction, yanking on the pull. “What a clever invention,” she said. “I must write to Mama about it.”
“But how do you call your servants in the Colonies?” Cynara asked, curious.
“Our servants are always there when we require them,” Fancy told her. “They seem to know when they are needed, and if they do not, well, we just yell,” she finished with a mischievous grin.
Both her cousins burst out laughing, and Cynara said, “Ohh, I can see we are all going to get on very nicely, Fancy Devers.”
Bess arrived. She curtsied. “Yes, mistress? You’ll want to get dressed, I think.” She smiled, and then continued, “Now you two shoo. You can wait in the dayroom for her, and don’t eat her breakfast. She’s going nowhere until she is fed.”
Cynara and Diana departed, and then Bess showed Fancy the small room off her bedchamber that held all of her clothing, both garments that hung and those in cedar-lined chests.
“From the look of those two, you’ll want something easy,” Bess noted. She pulled out a natural-colored linen skirt and a white shirt, exclaiming as she did so, “Why this be a man’s shirt, mistress!”
“I find it more modest to wear it over my chemise with a skirt,” Fancy explained. “The style is that of a man, but you will see the shirt is made to fit me. And the laces are of silk ribbon.”
Bess held the shirt up. “And it is smaller than a man’s. You’ll start a whole new fashion, mistress,” she chuckled.
Fancy washed her face and hands in the basin of warm water that Bess had provided. Then she dressed in her linen skirt and white shirt. She fastened a black leather belt about her narrow waist and slipped her bare feet into a pair of soft black-leather slippers. Her long dark hair she braided into a single thick plait, affixing the end with a bright scarlet ribbon. Then she joined her cousins in her dayroom where Cynara was eyeing her breakfast with an almost predatory look.
“Have you eaten?” Fancy asked her.
Cynara nodded. “But I’m always hungry,” she added. “There wasn’t a great deal of food about when I was small. ’Twas before the king was restored. I can never seem to get filled up.”
“Share my food with me then,” Fancy offered. “I couldn’t possibly eat all that Bess has brought me. Diana?” She looked at the youngest of her cousins.
“Perhaps a bit of apple and some cheese,” Diana murmured.
The three girls made quick work of the tray that Bess had brought. It contained a newly baked cottage loaf, a large wedge of sharp cheddar cheese, a shallow dish with several hard-boiled eggs, and a bowl of apples. There was also a pot of hot fragrant tea. Fancy had grown up drinking this beverage and was not surprised to see it on her tray. When they had finished, Cynara led them on a tour of Queen’s Malvern, for it was her father’s house. Although it would
