Free Jane Ashford by Man of Honour Page B

laundresses and what she had told the woman or not told her. Mary was not a first-rate lady’s maid, but she was a hilarious storyteller. Thus Laura managed to fall asleep immediately, and she did not wake until Mary pulled back the bed curtains the next morning and let the sun fall in across her face.

Six
    The next day was the one set for Clarissa’s drive to Richmond Park with Lord Timothy Farnsworth. When Laura went downstairs, she found Clarissa before her in the breakfast room, looking very dashing in primrose-sprigged muslin, and in high spirits. She was full of the previous night’s events and prattled on about Vauxhall, the dinner and dancing, Eliot’s kindness in taking them, and his friend’s manifold charms. After a while she became aware that Laura was hardly attending.
    “What is the matter?” she asked her older sister. “Did you not sleep well?”
    “Oh no, I slept very well.”
    “I too, though it is a tribute to my robust constitution. My bed was a shambles.”
    “What do you mean?” asked Laura.
    Clarissa giggled. “Nancy nearly incinerated my sheets. They are all brown and crumbling with scorch marks.”
    “How?”
    “With the warming pan.” Clarissa giggled again. “She was trying so hard to make me comfortable, but she heated it too hot and left it between the sheets far too long. For a moment I thought she had set the house afire. I swear there was smoke.”
    Laura shook her head. “I shall have to speak to her. These silly maids will bring down the house on our heads one day.”
    “Oh do not scold her, please. I would not have told you if I thought you would take her to task. It was an accident, and Nancy is terrified of what Mr. Dunham will say when he hears of it.”
    “But Clarissa, we cannot have the maids burning up the sheets.”
    Her sister laughed outright. “She will not do so again, I promise you. I have never seen anyone so upset. She has learned her lesson.” Her laughter nearly overcame her. “I pointed and said, ‘Nancy that looks like smoke,’ and she whirled about and screamed, ‘Lawks, it’s the warming pan. I clean forgot.’ And she went running over and dragged it out. You cannot imagine how funny it was.”
    A smile escaped Laura. “I am beginning to.”
    “And then she began to apologize. I expected never to hear the end of it. She so wanted to get me some fresh sheets, but she was afraid to go to the linen room lest Mr. Dunham notice and question her. It was the most diverting episode; nothing like it ever happened at home.”
    Laura’s smile became rueful. “No, because Eversly is a well-run household. Until now, I never appreciated Aunt Celia as she deserved.” She looked at her sister, now engrossed in her breakfast. “What time do you go?”
    Clarissa nearly choked. “Ten,” she replied when she caught her breath. “I must hurry.”
    “Yes, I know how you must be looking forward to this outing,” agreed her sister equably.
    “Oh I am,” laughed Clarissa. “It is my first with a gentleman, after all.”
    “Indeed. I hope you enjoy yourself.”
    Clarissa drank the last of her tea and rose. “It doesn’t matter if I don’t, for I shall have had the satisfaction of knowing that I was at least seen driving to Richmond. That must lead to something.”
    “You are incorrigible,” laughed Laura.
    Her sister dropped a quick kiss on her cheek as she left the room. “Of course I am,” she said over her shoulder, and she began to take the stairs two at a time.
    Laura laughed again, shook her head, and poured out another cup of tea.
    Clarissa accordingly went out at ten. Laura sat down to write a long-overdue letter to their aunts, then went down to speak to the cook about dinner. There were no callers, to her relief, and the rest of the morning passed quietly. She did some sewing and looked through two of the cartons of books in the library, finding a novel she had been longing to read. She even put a few volumes on the shelves, though not