Vow of Deception (The Ministry of Curiosities #9)(11)

He stopped stirring and basting. "Something be wrong with the menu?"

"No." I winked and lowered my voice. "I haven't seen you for two days and wanted to catch up on news."

"Right you are. You there!" I thought he was shouting at me, but it was a maid who'd caught his attention. "What is it you want, Annie? Get it and go. It's too crowded in here for anyone who ain't kitchen staff."

"I'm looking for the cutlery," the girl said. I liked her pluck. She wasn't frightened of Cook in the least.

"The cutlery in here be for staff only. You be wanting the silver for the dining room. Ask Mrs. Cotchin."

Annie bobbed a curtsy and hurried off.

"She's new and still learning," Cook said to me with a shake of his head.

"Her hair was done nicely," I said.

He returned to his stirring and basting. "So?"

"I wonder if she did it herself. If so perhaps she'll make a good ladies’ maid. Don't tell Bella yet."

"Lady V finally had enough, eh?" He chuckled. "I knew Seth's choice would come back to bite him on the—" He glanced at the girl stirring a mixture in a bowl at the table. "Speaking of Lady V, you can learn a lot from her, Charlie. She's got taste. I don't mean in clothes and the like, but this." He poked out his tongue. "She knows what sauce goes with what, and the like. Comes with being so well traveled."

"You ought to tell her that."

"She's too grand to speak to me, except when you be away and she gets hungry."

I patted his shoulder and assured him she wasn't like that. But, in truth, she was quite the snob. She rarely stepped foot in the service area, and it required a great inducement for her to put even a toe into the kitchen. Considering her second husband had been a footman in her household, it was strange that she kept her distance from the staff. Perhaps that was why—she didn't trust herself not to cross that line again.

I left Cook to his work and found Alice. We walked around the walled garden with its rambling vines and on through the apple orchard, my favorite part of the estate. Dusk hadn't yet rolled in and the day was still warm enough that we didn't need wraps. The air smelled clear and fresh here, compared to the cloying denseness of the city where I grew up, although not nearly as fresh as the air at Hertfordshire.

Alice and I spoke quietly, mostly about her dilemma but about the wedding too. After a time, I noticed she was distracted and followed her gaze. Ahead, the gardener studied one of the trees lining the drive.

"Is something the matter with our gardener?" I asked her.

"Not at all." She nudged me with her elbow. "He's quite handsome, isn't he?"

She was admiring a "quite handsome” gardener when she had a very handsome lord at her disposal? Was she blind, foolish or both?

"Not as handsome as Seth," I pointed out.

She sighed and tore away from me. "Don't spoil it, Charlie."

"Spoil what?"

"Our walk, our friendship…everything."

"I didn't think I was spoiling anything, merely pointing out that Seth is more handsome than the gardener."

She strode ahead. "Perhaps that's the problem."

I hurried to catch up. "Alice, what's the matter?"

She sighed again. "I don't really know. All I know is, I'm tired of everyone thinking Seth and I would make a handsome couple. Everyone except Lady V, that is. I just want to be his friend at the moment. Indeed, I can't even think about anything else, with any man, until I know how to fix my predicament." She stopped and waited for me to catch up. "Do you understand, Charlie?"

I took her arm in mine. "Completely. I won't mention Seth's good looks to you again."

The dinner gong rang out from the house. "Already?" Alice said. "But we haven't changed."

"I wasn't planning to change again. I already have once today."

"Lady Vickers won't like it. She says if a lady doesn't wear at least three different outfits a day she's being idle."

I laughed. "Come on. Let's shock her with our idleness."



* * *



Lincoln didn't change for dinner either as he arrived back at the house after the gong. He'd snuck out without telling me he was leaving.

"You've been to see Gawler, haven't you?" I asked as we sat at the table.

"Yes," he said. "And you can stop scowling at me like that. I didn't avoid you on purpose. You weren't around when I left."

My scowl deepened. He picked up his knife and fork and tossed me a smile, which only proved to me that he had purposely avoided me so that I wouldn't insist on going with him.

"What did Gawler say?" Seth asked.

"Do we have to discuss this at the dinner table?" Lady Vickers chided. "It's vulgar."

"It can wait," Lincoln said when Seth opened his mouth to disagree with his mother.

We congregated in the sitting room after dinner, joined by Cook. Lady Vickers pursed her lips when he entered and he turned to leave again, but I called him back. Honestly, she was such a stickler for rules despite knowing how things were at Lichfield. She'd long ago given in to having Gus associate with us; she could bend the rules for Cook too.