Read Online Lady Falls (Black Rose Trilogy) by Renee Bernard - Free Book Online
Authors: Renee Bernard
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to consider sitting down. “I think I’ll go downstairs to ask Mrs. Keller personally if she doesn’t mind me asking the staff for a bit of help with the game.”
“I can take her a message if you’d rather.”
“No. I don’t mind and I want to make sure that my silly diversion doesn’t create any fuss if everyone is already overworked.”
“As you wish, miss.” Kitty said and then began to pull out a day dress. “Here, let’s get you changed for the afternoon and—“
Raven balked at the delay. “Must I?”
Kitty’s entire demeanor changed as she slowly turned back to study her mistress with new eyes. “Out with it.”
“What?”
“Not in all the years I’ve known you have you ever hesitated to happily change your frock and glowed at the prospect, Raven Wells. Not once!”
“There is always a first instance, Kitty. Not that I am accepting your claim. I’m sure I’m not such a shallow thing!” Raven crossed her arms, then immediately regretted it since it only made her look like a petulant child.
“Out with it.”
Raven weighed it all out before she spoke. She’d made a promise to say nothing but the threat to Lady Morley’s health felt far heavier. “I need to ascertain if Mrs. Lindstrom is the ally of her mistress or more loyal to Lord Morley. I need to discern where her sympathies lie.”
Kitty’s face tightened in confusion. “Is there a rift between the pair? If so, then I can tell you plain, no servant will betray such a thing or make the mistake of choosing any side that might put them out of a position. Such is the way of it, Miss Wells.”
“It is more than a rift.”
It took a few seconds but Kitty’s expression softened. “How badly is she hurt?”
“Badly enough that I don’t think we’ll see her at dinner for at least another day or two.” Raven dropped her arms, all pretense at bravado gone. “Will you help me?”
Kitty nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line of disapproval. “I’ll do what I can. But you can’t be burning the man alive with hateful looks at dinner!”
“Easier said than done,” Raven confessed.
“You say one word or make one sniff at Lord Morley and he’ll blame his wife for throwing herself on your mercy. He’ll punish her all the worse and leave this house with his wife bundled screaming under his arm; and then what will you have to say for yourself? You’ll have done more harm than good and disgraced the earl!” Kitty said firmly and then retrieved the saffron colored day dress from the bed. “Change your dress for the afternoon and trust me to see to it at the servant’s dinner tonight. I’ll give you a full report when I come up to help you to bed.”
“Very well.”
The ritual of changing was a welcome distraction. The layers to be shed, the new layers added, it was a choreographed dance between mistress and maid. The bright yellow set off Raven’s coloring and even with the anxiety of the day’s discovery, her mood lifted a little. She watched Kitty in the mirror and lifted her long hair to keep it out of the way of the maid’s nimble fingers. “Do the servants talk, Kitty? Downstairs. I mean, how open is their gossip and manner?”
“You know they do! It is understood that there will be gossip to be shared or hoarded almost like currency.”
“Like currency,” she echoed in fascination.
Kitty went on, encouraged. “Think of it like a secret mirror beneath your feet. The same layers of class and hierarchy but on a lesser scale, guarded with the same zeal and fraught with some of the same political dangers.”
“As above…” Raven whispered.
Kitty nodded. “So it is below.”
She eyed Kitty from a fresh vantage point. For here, standing in grey muslin and a white apron, was her counterpart and her reflection to the “world below”. She had new respect for her maid.
It’s power, too, isn’t it? I never paid any mind before but
“I can take her a message if you’d rather.”
“No. I don’t mind and I want to make sure that my silly diversion doesn’t create any fuss if everyone is already overworked.”
“As you wish, miss.” Kitty said and then began to pull out a day dress. “Here, let’s get you changed for the afternoon and—“
Raven balked at the delay. “Must I?”
Kitty’s entire demeanor changed as she slowly turned back to study her mistress with new eyes. “Out with it.”
“What?”
“Not in all the years I’ve known you have you ever hesitated to happily change your frock and glowed at the prospect, Raven Wells. Not once!”
“There is always a first instance, Kitty. Not that I am accepting your claim. I’m sure I’m not such a shallow thing!” Raven crossed her arms, then immediately regretted it since it only made her look like a petulant child.
“Out with it.”
Raven weighed it all out before she spoke. She’d made a promise to say nothing but the threat to Lady Morley’s health felt far heavier. “I need to ascertain if Mrs. Lindstrom is the ally of her mistress or more loyal to Lord Morley. I need to discern where her sympathies lie.”
Kitty’s face tightened in confusion. “Is there a rift between the pair? If so, then I can tell you plain, no servant will betray such a thing or make the mistake of choosing any side that might put them out of a position. Such is the way of it, Miss Wells.”
“It is more than a rift.”
It took a few seconds but Kitty’s expression softened. “How badly is she hurt?”
“Badly enough that I don’t think we’ll see her at dinner for at least another day or two.” Raven dropped her arms, all pretense at bravado gone. “Will you help me?”
Kitty nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line of disapproval. “I’ll do what I can. But you can’t be burning the man alive with hateful looks at dinner!”
“Easier said than done,” Raven confessed.
“You say one word or make one sniff at Lord Morley and he’ll blame his wife for throwing herself on your mercy. He’ll punish her all the worse and leave this house with his wife bundled screaming under his arm; and then what will you have to say for yourself? You’ll have done more harm than good and disgraced the earl!” Kitty said firmly and then retrieved the saffron colored day dress from the bed. “Change your dress for the afternoon and trust me to see to it at the servant’s dinner tonight. I’ll give you a full report when I come up to help you to bed.”
“Very well.”
The ritual of changing was a welcome distraction. The layers to be shed, the new layers added, it was a choreographed dance between mistress and maid. The bright yellow set off Raven’s coloring and even with the anxiety of the day’s discovery, her mood lifted a little. She watched Kitty in the mirror and lifted her long hair to keep it out of the way of the maid’s nimble fingers. “Do the servants talk, Kitty? Downstairs. I mean, how open is their gossip and manner?”
“You know they do! It is understood that there will be gossip to be shared or hoarded almost like currency.”
“Like currency,” she echoed in fascination.
Kitty went on, encouraged. “Think of it like a secret mirror beneath your feet. The same layers of class and hierarchy but on a lesser scale, guarded with the same zeal and fraught with some of the same political dangers.”
“As above…” Raven whispered.
Kitty nodded. “So it is below.”
She eyed Kitty from a fresh vantage point. For here, standing in grey muslin and a white apron, was her counterpart and her reflection to the “world below”. She had new respect for her maid.
It’s power, too, isn’t it? I never paid any mind before but
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