an easy camaraderie among themselves.
Mrs. Hunnicut lived in a well-appointed suite of rooms on the attic floor where Olivia and all the maids had their quarters.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” he began with little ceremony. He glanced at Mrs. Hunnicut and added, “Ma’am. Reports, please.” On his right sat Aaron Foster, codes and ciphers instructor. Sebastian nodded for him to start.
“Not much out of the ordinary to report, except for Carter. He seems to rub the others raw with his superior pose, but as a group, they’ve acquitted themselves well during this first week. Fairchild shows promise, sir.” He chuckled.
Sebastian looked startled. “What?”
“Fairchild doesn’t like your class, Spymaster. She told me she thinks intelligence gathering is nothing more than gossip.”
It was clear the spymaster didn’t appreciate the jest for, when everyone else laughed, he did not. “It is no secret that I was dead set against a woman in our program. How does she fare in martial arts, Sensei?”
Sensei Yukio Nori, the Japanese martial arts expert, whose grasp of the English language was limited, sucked air through one side of his mouth. “Faihchil’ velly good in tai chi. Bettah than othahs.”
“Fairchild eez my star fencing pupil. Ze others? Pooh! Zey cannot compare, but zey do try to learn,” said Fourier.
Sebastian grinned at him. “I understand Fairchild also speaks fluent French. Might that influence your glowing report, Andre?”
“Oui!” Given to Gallic exaggeration, Fourier kissed his fingertips and threw them into the air, which caused his colleagues to chortle. He was well-liked, not only for his fencing skills, but also for the excellent cuisine he arranged day in and day out.
Stable master Tom Deff said, “I’ve no complaint with Fairchild, either, sir. She’s become accustomed to riding astride like the others, rather than sidesaddle, the way she was taught. She’s fearless. Takes hedges and fences like a gazelle.”
“Take care she isn’t also reckless. I don’t want her to break her foolish neck, Tom. That advice goes for the rest of you as well.” He shook his head. “I cannot impress upon all of you more forcefully than this. She must not come to harm under any circumstance. We shall all have to answer for it if she does. Do I make myself clear?”
Tom Deff grinned. “I’ll take care she doesn’t fall off her horse, sir.”
“She’s a right one, she is. For a woman, that is. She determined to master push-ups on her first day and refused to give up, though she appeared ready to sink from the effort,” Hugh Denville added.
Sebastian frowned.
“Fairchild may need a great deal more practice in the art of self-defense, I fear,” said Evelyn Hawes. “I shudder to think what will happen to her when she begins boxing lessons next week.”
Sebastian barked a laugh. “Shall we invite Gentleman Jackson to train her, do you think, Evelyn?”
“If Jackson were daft enough to agree, he’d be no gentleman, would he? Who would dare strike a lady? I’d like to recommend we allow her to forgo boxing and work an extra session with Sensei Nori since she does so well with him.”
Sebastian’s eyes gleamed. “Afraid to climb into the ring with her?”
“No, sir. Not afraid. Terrified, more like.”
This brought an amiable laugh from the table.
“You wrong her, my friends. She won’t cry off. She isn’t missish in the least,” objected Mrs. Hunnicut dryly.
“Give us your report, Martha,” said Sebastian. “How does she in domesticity?”
With a twinkle in her eye, she said, “This morning she scrubbed the kitchen floor from the stairwell to the kitchen door leading outside. That’s the full length of Wilson Academy. She was so intent on performing her duty, she missed her lunch.”
Sebastian struggled to quell the urge to laugh. “Fairchild scrubbed the floor? Astonishing. And she registered no complaint?”
“No. Well, only one small one that doesn’t signify.” The housekeeper blushed.
“And what was that, if I may ask?”
“It distressed her that she broke her last three nails.”
Saturdays were set aside for the trainees to perform personal tasks. They were expected to wash their own clothing, clean their chamber, change their linens and perform all necessary personal grooming activities.
The men set up their bathtub in the study hall on the first floor and took turns bathing. Riggs had thought to tack an amusing note on the door that read, KEEP OUT! THIS MEANS YOU, FAIRCHILD!
But he needn’t have bothered with the sign, for Olivia was luxuriating in her own hot bath in front of the warming fireplace in Mrs. Hunnicut’s sitting room. Pure heaven. How had she taken such a luxury so for granted all these years, she wondered.
Mrs. Hunnicut peered into the room. “The lads are waiting for me to trim their hair and pare their nails. I’ll do the same for you when I return.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Hunnicut. My nails are sorely in need of paring now that they’ve all been shortened by the week’s er…activities. As to my hair, will you do it up for me?”
“I’m not handy that way, but I’ll send Jenny to do it for you, dear. She’s much better at it than I am. I’ll attend to your nails when I return. Our Saturday luncheons are the only time instructors and trainees have an opportunity to become better acquainted. We find the relaxation of the rules invigorating and you will too, I imagine.”
“I look forward to it, then.”
Olivia rested her head on the edge of the tub and let her thoughts wander.
What an extraordinary week this has been! It’s as if I’ve never known any life other than this one. An odd sensation. Do I miss my family? Yes and no. I find being here much to my liking, except for the dour spymaster who clearly wishes me as far away as Scotland. Or Hades, perhaps. Yet when he made love to me at the Hobbleton Ball in London, it was as if he were a different man. I liked his touch then. I’d like it now if he weren’t such a grumpy bear.
When the bathwater cooled, she rose and dressed for teatime. Mrs. Hunnicut had suggested she wear her own clothing for the occasion, the gown she’d worn when she arrived at Wilson Academy. When Jenny appeared and fixed her hair for her, she couldn’t have been more pleased. The young scullery maid had talent far beyond scrubbing floors. While she waited for Mrs. Hunnicut to repair her ragged nails, Olivia occupied herself with the many ladies magazines the housekeeper was so fond of reading. It was a most relaxing morning.
A luncheon buffet was served in the drawing room on the ground floor. The terrace doors had been thrown open, for it was a warm summer day.
“Riggs! How well you look,” said Olivia. “And you, Perkins. You too, Carter. Why, we all look almost human. I feel as though we’re at a party in London.” She stopped to look around her. “But where are the twins?”
