The Last Eligible Bachelor - Ashtyn Newbold Page 0,7
of the ladies in attendance are considered quite beautiful and accomplished in London. They were unsuccessful in their first seasons, however, and so their parents agreed to allow Mrs. Ollerton to attempt a match for them with Mr. Hill. He is quite eager to be married, I have heard. All the events of this house party will be entirely proper, and in an area far removed from Town, there will be no need for reputations to suffer if he appears to be courting multiple women at once.” Sophia laughed. “I am glad to have no part of that.” She took one of her golden curls between her fingers, gazing contentedly at the passing countryside.
I exchanged another glance with Jessie, not bothering to hide my dismay. My pulse had not been normal for days, it seemed, always racing with anticipation or dread. I could hardly believe that soon I would be wearing elegant gowns, dancing and conversing and living like a lady all over again. I squeezed my eyes closed to calm the surge of nervousness that clenched my stomach. How could I do this?
Do not be too elegant, Sophia had warned me on multiple occasions. Men are drawn to elegance, and you mustn’t give Mr. Hill anything that might draw his eye to you for even a moment.
That would not be difficult. Even before becoming a maid, I had never been very elegant. I swallowed hard as I recalled my great failure of a Season. I would have to simply replicate that as I tried to evade Mr. Hill’s attention.
The journey to Hampden Park was expected to take three days. After leaving Sophia there, Jessie and I would stop at the inn between Hampden Park and Bibury, where Jessie would help me change into one of Sophia’s gowns and arrange my hair. The rest of the journey would take less than a day, and then I would be welcomed in and introduced to Mrs. Ollerton as Miss Sophia Sedgwick.
“One last pin,” Jessie said in a quiet voice. The pin scraped my scalp, and I found that I had grown much more sensitive to the pricks than I had once been. I grimaced as the metal scraped across my head and settled into place among all the others. She held up a small looking glass to my face. The style was one I often used on Sophia, and I had explained it to Jessie as best I could. She had very limited experience with the duties of a lady’s maid, but she had arranged my hair with surprising accuracy.
“You do look like a lady.” Jessie blinked fast when she circled to face me. “Perhaps Mistress Sophia was correct about your ability to succeed.”
I rubbed my hands over my skirts before pulling on Sophia’s old kid gloves. I flexed my fingers. “When my success rests on being unnoticed, I share her confidence. The area of my concern is in whether or not I will be able to behave properly for the entire trip.” I bit my lip.
“I’ll be sure to correct you if I see anything amiss.” Jessie smiled, letting out a long puff of air. “But I be nervous.”
“You are nervous?” I scoffed. “Perhaps you should be the one in this soft muslin gown and kid gloves. I feel like an imposter.”
Jessie laughed. “That’s because you are one.”
Right. An imposter. What would happen if that was discovered? Never mind the fact that I could tarnish Sophia’s name, but I would lose my position at Sedgwick Manor for certain, as would Mama. I could not ruin this. With luck, Mr. Hill would make his choice within the first week of my visit, and then the rest of my time in Bibury could be spent in peace.
When we stepped outside the inn, the air was cold. I wrapped my arms around myself, squinting up at the sky. I had thought winter had been left in the past, but small flecks of white floated in the air above, particles of snow. Thankfully, Sophia had sent me with a thick wool spencer. Jessie, however, shivered as we embarked on the final stretch of the journey. I offered her both blankets in the carriage, keeping warm enough with my fingers enrobed in leather and the thick, wool jacket. Despite the chill in the air, flowers had begun bursting among the grasses outside the window, growing more and more numerous as we rode closer to Bibury.
Sophia hadn’t been able to tell me very much concerning the house