A Stroke of Malice (Lady Darby Mystery #8) - Anna Lee Huber Page 0,6
with a leather belt fastened in Empire style, just below my bosom to better accommodate my expectant state.
I turned to the left and then the right, examining my reflection before I began to rise. However, Bree had one more item to add to my ensemble: an intricately worked gold cross with several large rubies adorning its length.
I gasped at the sight of it as she draped it around my neck. “Where on earth did you manage to find this?”
“The duchess’s maid. When I told her aboot ye bein’ cast as the nun, and you bein’ wi’ child, to boot, she was more than happy to lend me the cross. ’Twas too juicy a morsel o’ gossip for the servants’ hall to pass up.”
Yes, I supposed that would elicit amusement even among the staff.
I pushed to my feet and turned to the side, pulling the draping of my habit tight over my rounded belly. I was not overly full yet, but I couldn’t hide that I was in the family way. My lips quirked. “I suppose I would rather make people laugh than turn their noses up in scorn.” I glanced at the hem of the garment, and tugged the fabric downward. “I only wish this habit was a bit longer in the front.” My ankles were visible, and if I wasn’t careful, I would be displaying half my shins as well.
Gage chose that moment to make his presence known, sauntering across the room with a practiced leer. He’d acquired the attire of a late eighteenth-century gentleman, including a white wig with a queue at the back fastened with a black ribbon and a set of side curls. How long he’d been standing in the doorway that connected my bedchamber to the sitting room we shared, I didn’t know, but he’d obviously heard my last statement.
“Oh, no, my dear. I find it quite convenient. For it makes it all the easier to ogle your delightful ankles.”
“I see you’ve gotten into character rather quickly,” I remarked drolly.
“Hmmm? Oh yes.” But his gaze was still on my legs, which he was trying to get a better look at by lifting my skirts with the end of his walking stick.
“Stop that,” I chided, smacking my skirts back into place as I twirled away.
He grinned remorselessly, and Bree giggled, reminding me of her presence.
“You may go,” I told her. I might be more familiar with my maid than most gentlewomen. After all, she’d assisted me and Gage in any number of past inquiries. But that didn’t mean I wished for her audience to my husband’s flirtation.
Her whisky brown eyes sparkled as she dipped a curtsy. “Aye, m’lady.”
“Before you go, Miss McEvoy,” Gage interjected, “will you do me the favor of keeping an eye on Anderley?” he asked, referring to his valet. A man who, from all I could tell, could handle himself perfectly well in just about any situation.
Bree’s eyes tightened at the corners, telling me she wasn’t fooled either. “As ye asked him to keep an eye on me?”
He shrugged. “It is Twelfth Night. I expect there will be any amount of drinking, and the usual tricks and pranks, even among the staff.” His gaze turned serious. “I just don’t want to see you get caught up in anything beyond the normal tomfoolery.”
Bree’s guarded stance softened under his regard and she nodded. “Aye. I’ll stay close.”
“Good.”
“What are the servants doing who won’t be serving at the party this evening?” I asked in curiosity.
“I’ve been told ’tis their tradition to handle the burnin’ o’ the Christmas greens, and then there’ll be a small party in the servants’ hall, along wi’ a fiddler or two.”
Bree and Anderley had enjoyed the servants’ bonfire which accompanied my aunt and uncle’s Hogmanay Ball just five nights earlier, so I knew they were not unfamiliar with the hazards of such a conflagration. I trusted they would take care.
In fact, Bree seemed quite keen to attend. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks slightly flushed beneath her artfully arranged strawberry blonde curls, which gleamed in the candlelight. She looked quite pretty in the new dress fashioned of jonquil silk that I’d gifted her for Handsel Monday—the first Monday of the New Year, when by Scots tradition we gave our staff their presents, as well as a day of leisure.
“Well, have a lovely time.” I exchanged a glance with Gage. “I don’t suspect either of us will need you or Anderley until the morning.”