page74 (1/1)

‘No,’ she told herself again ‘You will not take advantage of his honour’ She was being watched The uneasy feeling stole over her as she sat there and she sat upright, got her face under control How shameful to be found huddled miserably in a corner by the servants, or worse, her hosts

When she looked around her the long chamber seeuarded, careful expressions It was foolish to i with disapproval at her

Chin up, back straight, Tess walked over to confront one particularly haughty dailded label on the frah’ Wilhelh she was a junior housemaid who had upended a chamber pot on the best Wilton carpet

Her bloodlines would be traceable back to some uncouth and sweaty Norman baron who had come over at the Conqueror’s heels, Tess had no doubt The countess would have been the cul, careful alliances, politicalThere could have been no blots on her escutcheon or the earl would not have wed her She was not illegitimate, let alone the product of a scandalous union

Tess wondered rather drearily if she was ever going to find a place where she actually fitted, belonged Everyone else knew their place, it seemed She only wished Alex would let her find hers and stop filling her full of hopeless dreams

She pulled a face at Wilhelmina It was juvenile, but it relieved her evenherself down and have a tantrum about the sheer unfairness of life She had experienced what she had wished for—to lie in the arms of the man she loved and to share physical passion with him Now she had to live with the consequences

‘What I need,’ she informed Wilhelmina, ‘is a baby to cuddle and a kitten to play with I ager you never said that in your life And I knohere I can find both of those things’

Baby Daisy was in the nursery with Dorcas and Annie She had just been fed and changed and was at her adorable best, all gu fists Ten h to pay some attention to her companions Dorcas looked plumper, healthier, happier than Tess had ever seen her and little Annie was acquiring quite alar confidence with her new role of nursery maid

Tess cradled Daisy and watched the other to, but Dorcas was encouraging her to read the newspaper and to keep basic nursery accounts What was going to happen to them when the new year cao back to her role as Alex’s sculleryon her, could never hope for respectable employment

‘Dorcas, may I tell Lady Moreland about your circuive you both a reference, and I will ask Lord Weybourn if you may both stay at the Half Moon Street house until you find employment’

They both shot her startled glances ‘But, Miss Ellery, won’t you be staying here? So can’t we stay, too?’ Annie said and was proed in the ribs by Dorcas ‘What?’ she deantly ‘Miss Ellery and his lordship are all April and May, anyone can see there’s a wedding co’

‘I cannot marry Lord Weybourn’ Annie opened her itimate’

‘But you love hirizzle and she scooped her out of Tess’s arms ‘And he loves you’

‘He doesn’t andto do with it,’ Tess stood up, the good effects of cuddling Daisy vanishing All she could think of noas the children she could never have with Alex ‘Lord Weybourn has his duty and he is perfectly well aware of it’ He would be, and be relieved, once he had got over his estion that he loved her, why, that was simply Annie’s romantic nonsense

‘I a down to the kitchens and then to find Noel I will see you at dinner, Dorcas’ She was running away, she knew that

The kitchens were all a bustle with preparations for the Christmas Eve dinner, but Cook assured her that the sweetifts for the family were safe and sound in the coolest larder One skill that Tess possessed to the satisfaction of the nuns wasthe traditional candies that they sold in the town She had created strong peppermint drops for Lord Moreland and Matthew and delicate rose pastilles for Lady Moreland and Maria, and Cook had found some pretty paper boxes for her to pack them in