next to the window. She’d love a cup of tea now, she thought longingly, but could not face running the gauntlet downstairs even though there was a cupboard full of the stuff. Perhaps she could keep a packet upstairs for her own use, she thought. It really ought to be stored in tins to keep it fresh.
Of her mother’s bone china tea service, she had kept two settings and the milk jug only. It had not been such a wrench as she’d feared, for in truth, it had been far from complete, gaining a few chips and cracks over the last thirty years. She placed these pieces of pretty yellow floral carefully on the shelf next to the silver teapot and surveyed the results with a critical eye, moving one cup and saucer closer to the edge and nudging a silver spoon closer to the others for the purposes of symmetry. She hoped Hannah had found somewhere to display the rest of the set to advantage, for she had gifted the remaining pieces to their old maid who had professed herself most pleased with the oddments.
It was only then that she recalled the folded, weighted paper that Hannah had pressed into her palm at their hurried farewell. Mina frowned, remembering she had stuffed it in the concealed pocket in her skirts at the time. Returning to her trunk, she lifted out her dresses in turn, searching for the one she wanted. It wasn’t so easy now they had all been dyed a uniform black and she smothered a sigh for the loss of her best green silk which now looked sadly streaky. Still, it couldn’t be helped and quite honestly the green silk had been on the tired side for a while now, however many times she had replaced the trim and then cuffs. Besides, she would be in mourning for twelve months at least, so what difference did it make?
Sifting past her stiffened horsehair petticoats, she delved into the discrete pocket and found the folded paper. Sitting back on her heels, Mina unwrapped it and found it to contain one of the two shiny gold half sovereign coins Lord Faris had given Hannah for her tip. Tears sprang to Mina’s eyes at Hannah’s unexpected generosity. The dour servant had shared half of all her wealth in the world with her. Wiping the back of her hand across her eyes, she read the smudgy message their old maid had painstakingly printed on the cheap yellowing paper.
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
Mina blinked, then reminded herself that Hannah had never met William Nye. If anything, it was likely to be a warning against her half-brother Jeremy, who Hannah must have taken against despite his munificence. Scrambling to her feet, she crossed to the dresser once again, and put her half sovereign into the top drawer along with the hand-written warning.
Returning to her dreary black dresses, she carried them over to the wardrobe, but on opening the second door, was surprised to find some of the hangers already occupied. Drawing them out, she found several gleaming white shirts with elaborately pleated fronts, a necktie of flaming red silk and a waistcoat of striped scarlet and black the like which quite took her breath away with its garishness.
Her father had always said black and white were the only two permissible colors for a gentleman’s evening attire and everyone knew that neckties should be as small and soberly colored as possible. The final hanger displayed a walking suit of a loud and vulgar plaid, which she was sure no gentleman would ever deign to wear. Touching the fabric and feeling the silk lining there could be no doubt the clothes were expensive though they were wholly lacking in any kind of taste.
Remembering Will Nye’s spartan dress of plain black wool waistcoat and breeches and collarless shirt, she could not imagine who these garments could belong to. With a shrug, she shoved them to the one side of the wardrobe and hung up her own lackluster gowns and stiffened petticoats at the other end. There could be no greater contrast, she thought between the two sets of clothes at opposite ends of the rail. If one side belonged to a fine cock pheasant, then the other side was that of the corresponding female bird with its dull feathers of mottled brown and black.
With a shiver, Mina returned to her trunk and slung a