Wedded in Scandal

Chapter 15

Helaine suppressed a yawn and nearly fell down the back staircase as she did so. Lord, why had she stayed up so late talking with Robert? Why hadn’t she remembered that she was not a lady of leisure anymore? She could not sleep until noon. In fact, if she wanted breakfast, she needed to be in the servants’ hall in time to be fed. And that was over an hour ago.

But that was the whole problem when she was with Robert. She forgot who she was, even who she’d been. She was simply Helaine sitting and talking with Robert and it was wonderful. This morning, however, was horrible. She was so bleary-eyed she doubted she could draw a straight line, much less sketch gowns for Lady Gwen’s approval.

Perhaps a bun would help. Cook kept a few handy for those who had tasks during the morning meal. She stepped into the kitchen and reached for the stack, only to be stopped cold.

“Mrs. Mortimer!” cried the tall, hook-nosed woman. She was the cook and was brilliant at the task. But she also had a way of glaring at a person just like a hawk eyeing a scurrying mouse.

“Er, yes?”

“Dribbs has asked to see you. Right away.”

Helaine nodded as she tried again to reach for a bun. “Of course, of course. I’ll see him directly after—”

Cook slapped her hand away. “You’ll see him now.”

“Er, yes. Right away.” Helaine slunk away. She’d known that the household kept a strict schedule. No laze-abouts tolerated. Anyone who slept past morning meal would go hungry. She’d known it, and so she wasn’t very surprised at her rebuff. She would just have to befriend one of the maids so that she could be woken in time tomorrow. And there would be no more late-night discussions with his lordship.

She pushed through the door that separated the main house from the servants’ domain. Dribbs was there at his usual position, half an eye on the house, half an eye on who and what came through that door. He smiled immediately upon seeing her and crossed to her side.

“Mrs. Mortimer. I trust you are well this morning?”

She smiled and managed a wry twist to her lips. “As well as I deserve, Mr. Dribbs. Cook mentioned that you wished to speak with me?”

“Yes, ma’am. If you would step in here, please?” He crossed to what was usually called the butler’s closet, but in this home, it was very much larger than the typical closet. He had a small room that included a desk plus a small settee and table, which was currently set with a breakfast of tea, jam, and hot buns. She couldn’t see the steam rising from the hot bread, but she could absolutely smell the delightful scent and her stomach rumbled in hunger.

She glanced nervously at Dribbs, who arched a brow at her. “Is something amiss?” he asked, his voice excruciatingly dry.

She glanced at him. Something in his tone or attitude was different. As if there were an undercurrent of humor in everything he said, but that couldn’t possibly be true. Whereas Dribbs was known to be rather familiar with the earl’s family—downright cheeky, if truth be told—he was known belowstairs as a man with a stern hand. He would not be overly familiar with a dressmaker, even if she had spent the night talking with the earl. If anything he would be more stern, just so he could enforce his authority over her.

Keeping that in mind, she forced her eyes away from the breakfast and folded her hands together to keep from reaching for it. “Nothing’s wrong, Mr. Dribbs. How can I help you this morning?”

“I understand you have been keeping irregular hours, Mrs. Mortimer,” he said in a cold tone. “Are you perhaps a bit hungry?”

Helaine glanced up in surprise as she realized what was happening. She feared she was about to receive a very stern dressing-down from a butler. That would be a first in her life, but again, no more than she deserved. Still, she tried to head it off.

“I know I missed morning meal, Mr. Dribbs, and my hunger is appropriate punishment for that. But I have not in any way shorted my duties toward the family.”

“I should think not!” he snapped. Then he gestured to the settee. “Pray sit down.”

She did as he bade, though she moved slowly. He had indicated that she sit directly in front of the food. Was he torturing her? Setting out food when he knew she couldn’t eat it?

She watched as he sat down in the chair across from her, his expression almost bland. Except for a tiny flash of…something. Was he laughing at her?

“Mr. Dribbs?”

“I received a note from his lordship this morning. It was there waiting for me when I arose. It concerned you, Mrs. Mortimer.” He paused, looking down his nose at her in the most imperious manner.

“Er, what did it say?” she asked. Or she tried to ask. Sadly, her mouth was salivating enough that it came out more like “shay.”

“He requested that you share breakfast with the family.”

It took a moment for her to understand his words, and even then she still didn’t know how to respond. “I’m sorry,” she finally managed. “That’s, er, most unusual.”

“This can be an unusual household. But his lordship was most specific. Said he wished to speak with you over his morning breakfast.”

She brightened, immeasurably relieved. Robert didn’t wish her to share breakfast with him. He wanted to talk to her at breakfast. As a master speaks to his servants. “I’ll report to him right away.” She made to straighten off the settee, but was stopped by Dribbs’s soft cough. She froze in a half crouch.

“Was there more?”

“With Master Robert? Always. Perhaps I should just show you his request.” So saying, he reached over to his desk and pulled out a crisp sheet of linen. Helaine sat back down on the settee, then gingerly took the paper. She read it twice, her heart pounding harder and harder with each word.

Dribbs: I would like Mrs. Mortimer to dine with the family beginning immediately.

She looked up at the butler, her mind blanked of anything but dismay. “He couldn’t,” she whispered.

Dribbs nodded, his expression grave. “Yes, ma’am, he did.”

“But I’m just a dressmaker. I’m not—”

“I will remind you that in this household, we follow his lordship’s requests to the letter.”

Helaine stared at Dribbs, at a complete loss. First of all, she absolutely knew that he did not follow his lordship’s requests to the exact letter. Second of all, servants did not dine with the masters, even in unusual households. And third…third was Dribbs himself. He was acting so completely strange. She could not get a handle on his mood. One moment she thought he was laughing at her; the next moment he seemed beyond stern.

“Mr. Dribbs, I don’t know what to say.”

“Say nothing then,” he quipped. “As you are to dine with the family, I have brought you here to make sure you do not disgrace my table.”

She did not quibble with his claim that it was his table. She knew that servants often felt more pride of ownership than the masters themselves did.

“I will do my best not to shame you,” she managed.

“Well, you must have some instruction. If you are to dine with the family, you must make sure to do so as a lady who deserves to be there, always cognizant that you are eating with the children of an earl.”

She didn’t know how to answer that. After all, she was the daughter of an earl herself. She knew how to act like a lady. If anything, she had to remember to add a coarseness to her manners so as not to expose herself.

“I, um, I shall try to remember,” she said.

“Good. Now pray pick up that bun.”

She looked at the man, her mind stuttering. He wanted her to pick up the roll? And not eat it? He waited, his eyebrow lifted, as she slowly reached out and gently lifted up the bun.

“Do not grab it as if you were handling meat. Touch it gently, delicately between two fingers.”

Two fingers? But it was a rather large bun. Still, she did as he bade.

“And raise the smaller fingers like so.” He fluted his fingers, holding them up before her eyes so that she could mimic him.

She glanced at him and managed a slow nod as she grasped the bun between thumb and forefinger then extended the smaller of her digits. It was incredibly awkward, and her fingers were growing stiff, but she managed it.

“Excellent. Now take a bite. Mind, not a meat pie type of bite, but delicate little nips—like a lady—along the edge. And don’t forget to keep your other fingers extended.”

She frowned. Did he truly think ladies ate like this? Tiny nips and bizarre hand positions? She’d never done anything so ridiculous in her entire life. But she was starving and he was asking that she eat—or nip—at some food, so she tried to do it. She opened her mouth to bite. It really was a large bun.

“Not so wide! You’re not a cow. Lips closed. Lips closed, I say!”

Lips closed? How did one eat with one’s lips closed? She narrowed her mouth.

“Smaller! Smaller! You are a lady, and ladies don’t really eat.”

She couldn’t stop herself from glaring at him. Damn it, she was hungry! She was trying to do what he wanted and still get some food, but it was impossible. She thought she had it. Indeed, she managed to get the bun all the way to her lips without dropping it. But then before she could take the smallest bite, he abruptly reached forward and pulled the bun from her hand. It was easy for him, of course, because she was only holding on to it with two fingers.

“Excellent!” he said. “Now on to the tea.”

Her stomach grumbled in response, and it was all she could do not to snatch the thing back in her fist and shove it into her mouth. Meanwhile, he was gesturing to the tea as he poured her a steaming cup.

She inhaled the stiff brew with gratitude. A bracing drink of that would indeed help her enormously. Without thinking, she reached for the cup.

“Tut-tut-tut! You are a lady, remember? Ladies do not pick up their teacups.”

“What?” Of course ladies picked up their teacups.

“They lift them with the power of their beauty and their poise. A cup does not rest in their hands so much as float there.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It’s true!” he cried.

“Of course it’s not!” she snapped.

She had meant to be circumspect. She had meant to keep her eyes lowered and stick to her place as a servant in this household. But to be instructed like this by the butler was beyond humiliating. Especially since everything he said was utter claptrap! And whereas Mrs. Mortimer knew to nod and keep her mouth shut, Lady Helaine was not so easily subdued. And it was the lady she once was who snatched the teacup from the table and all but threw it at Dribbs.

“Ladies do not float their food into their mouths!” she said as she stood, teacup in hand. “With their lips shut! They are human just like you and I. Have you never met Lady Cassandra? The only lovely thing about her is her name. And she eats like her barbarian father. With her fist, like this!”

So saying, she grabbed hold of the bun and held it aloft like a palmed apple, which she then shoved straight at her open lips. She bit down on a huge mouthful and was promptly rewarded with the taste of Cook’s wonderful baking. Her eyes slid to half closed and she was so enthralled with the taste that she nearly missed Dribbs’s next words.

“Well, then! Can I presume that you are uninterested in learning the proper grip for a spoon?”

She almost answered what she would like to do to him with her spoon. And the knife, too, but at that moment, something sparked in her brain. Perhaps it was finally getting some food, perhaps it was the way Dribbs’s eyes were crinkled at the edges. Crinkled as if he were smiling. Or perhaps holding back laughter. Her hand with the bun slipped away from her mouth.

“Good God, you are teasing me,” she whispered.

“Of course I am, Lady Helaine. Forgive me, but I couldn’t resist.”

Lady Helaine? Her knees went out and she collapsed back onto the settee. He knew who she was. Meanwhile, Dribbs pulled the teacup from her hand and set it back on the table to refill it, as she had spilled most of it during her tirade.

“You cannot know,” she whispered. “Robert would not have told you!”

Dribbs pressed the hot teacup into her trembling hands before she completely lost herself to panic. “His lordship did not say a word, but your breeding shines through. And if I might explain: your father and the current earl were sometimes companions. They both love the brandy, you see.”

She closed her eyes, all too afraid of what was coming.

“This was back when the earl resided here, you understand. Before Lord Redhill asked him to remove to his club.”

Yes, she knew Robert had thrown his father out of the house. How many times had she wished she could do the same to her own father? And yet a moment later, she would desperately long to see him again.

“One evening, your father was part of an impromptu party thrown by the earl. It went on quite late.”

“I’m sure it went on until you poured my father into a carriage and sent him home.”

“Well, yes. But did you know that your father could be quite maudlin in his cups?”

She nodded. “Yes. He would declare love for the most ridiculous things.”

“Not so, my lady. He would declare his love for you. He had a miniature he kept in his pocket. Of you. He would draw it out and call you the best of all possible daughters. Patient, kind, and smart as a whip.”

Helaine stared at the butler, her heart in her throat. “I never…he never…” She closed her eyes. Ridiculous to feel touched by words from a drunken fool. “He had so little care of us. It’s…um…nice to know that he did love us.”

“Drunkards are a sad lot, my lady. They love, my lady. Just like the rest of us. They love a great deal. But they just can’t bring themselves to act as they ought. But never doubt the feeling.”

“Thank you, Dribbs,” she whispered. “Thank you for that.”

“It is nothing but the honest truth. Now eat up, my lady. I know you’re hungry, and Lady Gwen’s new relations are running everyone ragged.”

Helaine nodded, using the time to sort through the swirling emotions inside her. The feelings toward her father were complicated enough, but she had no idea how to handle Dribbs now. Bloody hell, he knew who she was.

“Please, Dribbs, I am especially thick this morning. I’m not sure how to proceed.”

“Well, exactly as a lady ought.”

She bit down into the bun with animal-like ferocity. She thought that was the better choice than to rip the man’s head off. Act as a lady ought. My God, what did that mean? “Dribbs—”

“You have suffered a great wrong, Lady Helaine, and that’s a crying shame. So you’re Mrs. Mortimer now, a right fine dressmaker, hiding in the shadows, skulking around the house, praying that no one notices you.”

She straightened. “I do not skulk!”

“You hunch your shoulders and try to hide your face when you’re not talking dresses and the like.”

Did she? “That’s not skulking.”

“It is, because it’s just when you’re here. Wendy remarked on it to me just the other day. Said you don’t do that at your shop. Just here.”

He’d been talking to Wendy. “Dribbs, I am not ashamed of who I’ve become.”

“’Course not. But seems to me, you’re ashamed of Lady Helaine. But, begging your pardon, you’re the daughter of an earl. Shameful father or not, you shouldn’t be hiding yourself. Ain’t no one here will think less of you. I’ll see to it.”

“I beg of you, Dribbs. Please do not speak of this to anyone.”

“Of course not!” He reared back, obviously insulted, but a moment later, he was leaning forward to impress his point on her. “But that’s just what I’m trying to tell you, my lady. There’s no need to skulk.”

“I don’t skulk!”

“Well, whatever you’re doing, the maids are beginning to remark on it. Calling you odd, and that’s just not right. Blood will out, Lady Helaine. You may be Mrs. Mortimer, but people can see you’re better. Trying to hide it just raises more questions.”

“But they can’t know—”

“No one will know. If you hold your head up and stop hiding your face, then they just think that you’re somebody who used to be more. Someone facing a bit of hard times. There’s no shame in that. It’s only when you skul—er, hide your face—that they begin to question. Why would she hide? Who did she used to be?”

Helaine nodded slowly. She had been especially nervous here. It wasn’t just that Robert was here. It was being back among the elite. What if someone recognized her? What if someone used to be a servant to someone she’d known in school? She knew the odds weren’t high, but she couldn’t help worrying. And indeed, her fears were justified, because Dribbs did know her identity.

“It would be disastrous if word got out.”

“And it won’t, if you stop acting like you’ve got something to be ashamed of.”

Helaine swallowed. “But should I eat meals with the family, then? Isn’t that more odd?”

Dribbs snorted. “You spent most of the night closeted with his lordship. Won’t be the first mistress to be sat at the breakfast table.”

“We were just talking!” Helaine cried.

Dribbs only shrugged. “Doesn’t matter what you were doing. Just matters that you act the part. Mistress, dressmaker, daughter of an earl. None of them would be skulking about my halls.”

“I am not his mistress!”

“As you wish,” he said.

There was nothing more to be said at that point. Besides, Robert was no doubt waiting for her at the breakfast table. She still wasn’t sure it was a good idea to go. After all, it only increased the idea that she was his mistress. But that was better than the truth of her identity, so she supposed she had to do what was required. Besides, it was only a couple days more. It would be nice to sit at a table again, to be served food, and to talk over dinner. Like a little taste of what might have been.

Still uneasy with the idea, she left Dribbs to go to the breakfast area. She didn’t burst into the room as if she was born to it, but was mindful that she didn’t skulk either. She stepped boldly forward and pushed open the door.

Two people sat at table—Robert and Gwen—and both looked up and smiled at her. Robert’s expression, of course, was a good deal warmer than Gwen’s, but it was nice to see that both welcomed her.

“There you are, Mrs. Mortimer. I was beginning to wonder if you had succumbed to some ailment.”

“Uh, no, my lord,” she managed, as she belatedly remembered to curtsy. “Mr. Dribbs has just now informed me of your request.”

Robert raised his eyebrows at her tone, which had been a tad bit snippy. He likely took it to mean she was angry with him, which she was, she supposed. After all, because of him she’d stayed up most of the night talking with him and now everyone thought her his mistress. She completely dismissed her own culpability. Guilt was one emotion she didn’t have room for just then. Not with all the feelings that Dribbs had just stirred up.

In short, she was confused and disoriented, and now she had to sit at table with the man who had directly or indirectly caused all of it!

Bloody hell, she was tired. And still hungry. She decided she could understand things better with tea. But before she could move, Robert tilted his head and spoke in his usual imperious tone.

“Mrs. Mortimer? Is something amiss?”

A very great deal, but she couldn’t say that. “Amiss? No, my lord. I don’t believe so. Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re standing there glowering, and I find it most irritating to my digestion.”

“I am not glowering!” she responded before she could stop herself.

“I believe you were.”

“I most certainly—”

“Actually, you were,” interrupted Gwen. “Come, come, Helen. Please sit down. Have you eaten?” She gestured to the waiting footman. “Jeremy, please get Mrs. Mortimer a full plate.” Then she looked back at Helaine. “We have a proposal to make to you, and I believe you shall want a full stomach before we embark upon it.”

“On the proposal? Or the action?” She only asked because it was clear brother and sister were cut from the same cloth. Whatever this proposal was, asking for her assistance was merely a formality. She would participate in whatever it was because she was a servant and that was what servants did. Of course, that didn’t stop her from enjoying the excitement in Gwen’s face.

“Oh, don’t let my brother put you in an ill humor, especially when he is working so hard to please me right now.”

Helaine turned a dramatically exaggerated look at Robert. “Pleasing? Your brother?” Oh, dear. Helaine realized too late that such was not the response of a servant. Fortunately, Gwen did not notice, as she went into a peal of laughter. Then she clapped her hands in merriment.

“That is why I like you so, Helen. You have just the right understanding of my brother. You don’t mind me calling you Helen, do you?”

“Of course not.” She had given the girl leave to use it earlier in the week. She just hadn’t realized how intimate and friendly it would feel, especially with Robert sitting directly beside them. It felt as if she were one of the family or a friend visiting from school.

“Well, in any event, to my shock Robert is indeed being most pleasant today. I was telling him that he had to remove himself to Father’s club, and he was telling me that he would do no such thing—”

“I must agree,” Helaine put in. “I wouldn’t dream of ousting him from his home.”

“Pshaw! I made a promise to you, and I meant to keep it. But then he made the most delicious proposal!”

The proposal had to wait a moment as Jeremy served Helaine a full plate. A stronger woman would refuse it. It really wasn’t done to eat with the family if one was simply a dressmaker. But she really was hungry. In the end, she gave in and dipped her fork into the most heavenly eggs. Then she shamed herself by moaning aloud in delight.

Robert burst out laughing. “And here I was afraid you would refuse to eat.”

“You have the most divine cook, my lord. I’m afraid my principles are no match when faced with such temptation.” Then she sobered and met his gaze. “But this is rather awkward, you know. And not well done of you.”

He swallowed, his skin paling slightly as he understood her message. “I am an aristocrat,” he said stiffly. “I am allowed my peccadillos.” Then, when she didn’t answer, he softened his pose. “I simply wanted the pleasure of your company, Mrs. Mortimer. I know it is unusual, but it is not unheard-of. I can name any number of eccentrics who have all manner of people to dine.”

“Are you styling yourself as an eccentric, then?” she asked.

He dipped his head, then covered the movement by grabbing his tea. “I believe I am.”

Beside them, Gwen released an unladylike snort. “Of course he is!” she crowed. “He has decided to accompany us on a trip to Bond Street! All of us. Me, all my future in-laws, Edward if he will come, though he said something about a missive about sheep or hens or…I don’t know. Anyway, and you. You must come because we can’t buy our bangles and ribbons and the like without your eagle eye helping us.”

Helaine stared, her food forgotten for the moment. “We are to go to Bond Street today?”

“And shop as much as our hearts desire—Robert’s treat! In fact, he has become so eccentric as to say that he would seek your advice before he visits his tailor! Imagine that! I never thought I would see the day that Robert wanted to join me in a shopping expedition. And moreover, that he wanted anyone’s advice but his own!”

“Unfair!” Robert cried. “I often seek other people’s opinion. Just not yours, brat.”

Gwen waved his comment aside and turned back to Helaine. “Is that not the most marvelous idea ever? And Robert says that not a groat shall come out of my account. My in-laws will have to foot their own bill, of course. Edward will insist upon it. But for me, I shall buy the most expensive things I can find!”

“Oh, no!” cut in Robert. “Mrs. Mortimer, promise me that you shall instill some sense into my sister. You are to teach her how to economize. How to find excellent things on a small budget.”

“Oh, no!” Gwen returned. “You cannot add stipulations now. You said you would pay for whatever I bought!”

“And I will, but—”

“So are you game, Mrs. Mortimer? Will you help me spend my brother’s money on the most exquisite items we can find?”

Helaine laughed as she reached for her tea. Indeed, how could she not when both brother and sister were acting so delightful? “Of course. I shall endeavor to find you the most beautiful items at a price that shall not damage the earldom. After all,” she added with a wink to Gwen, “he needs enough funds to buy you the most exquisite wedding present.”

Robert’s groan was comical indeed. Gwen laughed and began itemizing expensive gifts her brother could purchase. Helaine found herself quickly caught up in the siblings’ banter. Soon she was trading quips as easily as them and was eagerly looking forward to the shopping.

It wasn’t until much later that she realized how easily she had been manipulated. She had kept herself apart for the last week in this household. She had maintained her place as neither completely a servant but certainly not one of the masters. And then Robert had come back to London. Less than twelve hours later, she had stayed up most of the night with him, the staff assumed she was his lover, and now she was embarking upon a shopping expedition just as if she were one of the family. She couldn’t be any further from a servant if she’d stepped into the house as Lady Helaine.

So that made her wonder. In another twenty-four hours, just how much more of her life would change?