Passion - By Lauren Kate Page 0,41
his stone tongue. I'm not telling.
Bill! Luce pleaded.
Not yet, anyway. First let's see how you do tonight.
Near dusk, Luce caught her first break in Helston. Right before supper, Miss McGovern announced to the entire kitchen that the front-of-house staff needed a few extra helping hands for the party. Luce and Henrietta, the two youngest scullery maids and the two most desperate to see the party up close, were the first to thrust up their hands to volunteer.
Fine, fine. Miss McGovern jotted down the names of both girls, her eyes lingering on Henrietta's oily mop of hair. On the condition that you bathe. Both of you. You stink of onions.
Yes, miss, both girls chimed, though as soon as their boss had left the room, Henrietta turned to Luce. Take a bath before this party? And risk getting me fingers all pruny? The miss is mad!
Luce laughed but was secretly ecstatic as she filled the round tin tub behind the cellar. She could only carry enough boiling water to get the bath lukewarm, but still she luxuriated in the suds--and the idea that this night, finally, she would get to see Lucinda. Would she get to see Daniel, too? She donned a clean servant's dress of Henrietta's for the party. At eight o'clock that evening, the first guests began arriving through the wicket gate at the north entrance of the estate.
Watching from the window in the front hallway as the caravans of lamplit carriages pulled into the circular drive, Luce shivered. The foyer was warm with activity. Around her the other servants buzzed, but Luce stood still. She could feel it: a trembling in her chest that told her Daniel was nearby. The house looked beautiful. Luce had been given one very brief tour by Miss McGovern the morning she started, but now, under the glow of so many chandeliers, she almost didn't recognize the place. It was as if she'd stepped into a Merchant-Ivory film. Tall pots of violet lilies lined the entryway, and the velvet-upholstered furniture had been pushed back against the floral wallpapered walls to make room for the guests.
They came through the front door in twos and threes, guests as old as white-haired Mrs. Constance and as young as Luce herself. Bright-eyed, and wrapped in white summer cloaks, the women curtseyed to the men in smart suits and waistcoats. Black-coated waiters whisked through the large open foyer, offering twinkling crystal goblets of champagne.
Luce found Henrietta near the doors to the main ballroom, which looked like a flower bed in bloom: Extravagant, brightly colored gowns of every color, in organza, tulle, and silk, with grosgrain sashes, filled the room. The younger ladies carried bright nosegays of flowers, making the whole house smell like summer.
Henrietta's task was to collect the ladies' shawls and reticules as they entered. Luce had been told to distribute dance cards--small, expensive-looking booklets, with the Constances' jeweled family crest sewn into the front cover and the orchestra's set list written inside.
Where are all the men? Luce whispered to Henrietta.
Henrietta snorted. That's my girl! In the smoking room, of course. She jerked her head left, where a hallway led into the shadows. Where they'll be smart to stay until the meal is served, if you ask me. Who wants to hear all that jabbering on about some war all the way in Crimea? Not these ladies. Not I. Not you, Myrtle. Then Henrietta's thin eyebrows lifted and she pointed toward the French windows. Oof, I spoke too soon. Seems one of 'em has escaped.
Luce turned. A single man was standing in the room full of women. His back was to them, showing nothing but a slick mane of jet-black hair and a long tailed jacket. He was talking to a blond woman in a soft rose-colored ball gown. Her diamond chandelier earrings sparkled when she turned her head--and locked eyes with Luce.
Gabbe.
The beautiful angel blinked a few times, as if trying to decide whether Luce was an apparition. Then she tilted her head ever so slightly at the man she was standing with, as if trying to send him a signal. Before he'd even turned all the way around, Luce recognized the clean, sharp profile.
Cam.
Luce gasped, dropping all the dance card booklets. She bent down and clumsily started scooping them up off the floor. Then she thrust them into Henrietta's hands and ducked out of the room.
Myrtle! Henrietta said.
I'll be right back, Luce whispered, sprinting up the long, curved stairway before Henrietta could even reply.
Miss McGovern would