would be considered a fine-looking man by anyone who encountered him, Jane knew. And the thought of being alone with him in a carriage for much of the next week sent a shiver through her. Anxiety? Anticipation? Delight? She could not be sure. Nigh on a week travelling, then two weeks in Yorkshire, followed by the journey back...
The housemaids were agog with interest and envy at Jane’s good fortune.
‘Why could it not be me?’ Sarah had wondered aloud. ‘I should love to spend five days locked in a carriage with the delightful Mr Kendal!’
There had been something earthy and raw in her laugh that had left Jane feeling both uncomfortable and yet strangely in harmony with the sentiment.
Miss Marianne arrived in the hall to greet her guest. The footmen picked up Jane’s trunk and carried it out to the carriage, where Mr Kendal’s postilion strapped it on. Jane took a breath, then donned her cloak and bonnet.
Her action caught Mr Kendal’s eye. He looked from Lady Kingswood to Jane, and for an instant his gaze blazed into hers.
‘Are we to take a maid with us to accompany Miss Bailey after all?’ he asked Lady Kingswood.
Miss Marianne did not respond directly. Instead she looked at Jane.
The moment had arrived. She must speak.
She stepped forward, looking him in the eye. ‘I am Jane Bailey.’
‘I am Jane Bailey.’
For a moment, Robert could not take it in. Already distracted by the sight of the beautiful maid putting on a cloak, he had felt his spirits raised at the prospect of her accompanying them. To discover that she was, in fact, Jane Bailey herself, seemed impossible.
‘Pardon me?’ he managed.
Lady Kingswood intervened. ‘Now, Jane, I trust you will enjoy your time in Yorkshire and return to me safe and sound. I shall be lost without my personal maid for an entire month.’ She turned to Robert. ‘I do hope, Mr Kendal, you realise just how much of a sacrifice we are making. Jane will be greatly missed here at Ledbury House.’
She is personal maid to the Countess!
Robert, conscious of the interested gaze of his hired postilion, two footmen, and a disapproving older servant, decided his best option was to take the situation as he found it.
‘Indeed. In that case I shall be sure to return her to you as soon as I may.’ He addressed the maid directly. ‘I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Bailey.’
He bowed politely, feeling deeply uncomfortable. He never liked public attention at the best of times. The pressure of saying the right thing in such a delicate situation was even more fraught.
‘And I you,’ she replied.
Her voice was soft and pleasant, and sent an unexpected jolt through him.
The older servant embraced her, as did Lady Kingswood, and a few moments later he handed her up into the carriage. She wore no gloves, and the warmth of her hand in his discomposed him somewhat.
Lord! This is a complication I had not counted on.
He sat opposite her, in the small backwards-facing seat. His post-chaise was larger than many, and fairly comfortable, yet after his long journey down he had come to hate it. Now five more days on the road lay ahead. Five days backwards-facing. Five days in the company of—he stole a glance at her—truly one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.
She kept on waving at the Ledbury House ladies until they were out of view, so he took the chance to study her. Her dark hair was just visible under the simple straw bonnet which framed quite the prettiest face he had seen in a long, long time. Her eyes were blue, and trimmed with long dark lashes. A straight little nose, tempting pink lips and a rosy complexion completed the vision.
He tried to assemble his disordered thoughts. The mysterious Jane Bailey was a young woman—a lady’s maid working as a servant in Ledbury House. Surely too young to be his uncle’s by-blow. Who, then, was she?
They had turned out of the Ledbury House drive now, and he was disconcerted to see that Miss Bailey was a little emotional. Wordlessly, he offered her a clean lawn handkerchief.
‘Oh! Thank you, but I have...’ She rummaged in her reticule, pulled out her own rather dainty handkerchief, then blew her nose with a no-nonsense air that impressed him a little.
‘Forgive me, but you have not been away from home before?’
The fact that she was a servant made it easier for him to converse with her. Particularly when the servant was as beautiful and as intriguing as this one!
Social gatherings generally bored him. He still remembered the ordeal of having to perform like an actor on a stage any time he was brought into his aunt and uncle’s presence. He had suffered it many times as a child, and echoes of it still sometimes came to him in empty gatherings.
She shook her head. ‘Never! Well, that is to say I have never before left my mother behind.’
It only took him a moment to work it out. ‘The other lady you embraced just now?’
She nodded. ‘My mama is housekeeper at Ledbury House.’
The pride in her tone was unmistakable.
‘Indeed? I should tell you I was impressed by Ledbury House. A well-run household, I think.’
He was rewarded with a slight smile for this.
‘My mother is an excellent housekeeper, and we are fortunate to serve at Ledbury House.’
‘Have you always lived there?’
‘No.’ Her brow creased slightly. ‘I grew up in Cambridgeshire, in service to Miss Marianne’s—Lady Kingswood’s—own family. After Miss Marianne’s marriage my mother and I—er—we followed her here.’
Abruptly, she closed her mouth, as if reluctant to say more.
There is some story there. Too soon to press for more information now, though.
‘And have you ever been to Yorkshire, Miss Bailey?’
‘Never.’
Her face closed. She clearly did not wish to discuss her connections with the north, whatever they were.
Too many questions too soon, Robert. You have five full days to discover whatever she might tell you.
‘Today we shall travel as far as Market Harborough. I have written to the King’s Head to reserve rooms for us there. I trust that is satisfactory?’
She nodded, and then sat back to look out of the window. He took the opportunity to watch her surreptitiously and to review what he knew about her. A servant...the
