“Oh, please call me Jessie. I’m not a Miss. You’re right, my hair won’t do what anyone tells it to. I’m going to be Charles’s nanny of sorts.”
“Yes, my Sampson told me you were going to teach Charles all about racehorses and thoroughbreds and the Byerley King—”
“Well, it’s actually the Byerley Turk. He’s a horse, you know, not a man.”
“That’s a pity. Men provide so much more sport than horses, but I suppose opinions do vary on that score. I daresay you’ll do just fine no matter what kind of a Turk it is. Now, let me see what I can do with this very nice head of hair. You’ll be having dinner with the Duchess and his lordship this evening. You scrubbed your hair really well, didn’t you, in your bath?”
“Oh yes, it was dreadfully dirty,” Jessie said as she sat down and stared at the nearly dry wild tangle of red curls in the mirror.
“Don’t you worry now, Jessie. The Duchess told me you needed me, and I can well see that you do. She wants me to bring you up to the mark. It’s a good thing I’m so talented—Did I tell you I was an actress before I saved Mr. Badger’s life in Plymouth? Oh, you haven’t met Mr. Badger or Mr. Spears yet. You will.”
“James has told me ever so much about everyone. He said you were incredibly beautiful.”
What James had actually said was that Maggie froze his tongue in his mouth ever since she’d patted him on his butt when he’d been twenty years old.
“Yes, well, James is a nice man. He grew up well. We’re all very proud of him. Those deep green eyes of his appeal to the senses. Have you ever noticed those long eyelashes of his? And that nearly blond hair that’s sort of curly? He’s a handsome man, our James, and he grew to be so big, nearly as big as the earl, his cousin. Now, you just relax and close your eyes. I shall proceed to work my magic.”
“James does have beautiful green eyes,” Jessie said. Her eyes were closed, so she didn’t see Maggie’s smile at those wistful words. To Jessie’s surprise, Maggie didn’t immediately begin brushing out her hair. No, she rubbed a very sweet-smelling cream onto her face. “Isn’t that nice? The Duchess told me you’d been on board a ship for a good six weeks. That ocean air isn’t good on a lady’s face. This will make you soft again. We’ll use it every day. You will use it on the rest of yourself as well, after every bath. You have nice skin for a Colonist, Jessie. Now, let’s see what we’ll do with your hair.”
Jessie felt like a fool. She didn’t want to leave her bedchamber, which was more lovely than even her mother’s at home. Maggie had told her it was called the Autumn Room because of all the lovel
y golden shades in the draperies and the counterpane. This was the room they gave to Charles’s nanny?
She didn’t want to walk down that long, wide corridor with its niches holding naked Greek statues or the endless stretch of walls filled with paintings of Wyndham ancestors.
She didn’t want to trip on the hem of this incredible gown that the Duchess had sent for her to wear and land on her nose beneath one of those paintings.
When there was a knock on her bedchamber door, she was nearing a state of panic that had her shaking and cursing herself for shaking.
She opened the door to see a tall older gentleman who was dressed more elegantly than any gentleman she’d ever seen in her life. He had thick black hair threaded with interesting silver and dark eyes that surveyed her calmly.
The personage smiled down at her. “I’m here to escort you downstairs, Miss Warfield. The Duchess thought perhaps you’d be more comfortable on my arm rather than marching past all those Wyndham portraits that give her bile, she’s always saying.”
“Thank you, sir.” She gingerly placed her hand through his arm. “My name’s Jessie.”
“You Colonists are so informal, but it’s charming. Chin up. That’s better. I fancy Mr. James is very worried about you.”
“Oh no, he doesn’t care, he—”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry. You couldn’t possibly care that James doesn’t even know I’m alive. I suppose it is possible he’s a bit worried since he was a part of my downfall.”
“Interesting things, downfalls. Was yours an interesting downfall or just a simple, everyday sort?”
She burst into laughter. She laughed and laughed, trembling with it, and the Grand Personage beside her merely smiled benignly until finally she subsided.
“Do you know I don’t think I’ve laughed for nearly two months now? Goodness, that felt quite good.”
“I daresay you’ll laugh even more when you ride tomorrow.”
“Ride? As I did at home? Oh no, sir, surely the earl and countess couldn’t be that lax with their servants, and that’s what I am. In America I’d be an employee, but here, surely, I’m just a servant of no account at all.”
“You’re dining with the earl and countess.”
“That’s different. They just want to know all about James. They miss him.”
“Yes, he’s an interesting man. He’s been through a lot, but he’s survived, and gotten all the stronger for it.”