Free Lord Melvedere's Ghost by Rebecca King Page B

growled at the delicious aroma of the toast, butter, jams,
meat, cheese and chocolate. Without hesitation, she slid down the
bed toward the tray and began to eat hungrily.
    Curiosity drove her to wander aimlessly toward the window to
take a look outside. Although the sun was pouring into the room,
ominous looking clouds rattled along the horizon threatening a
deluge yet to come.
    The
gardens beneath the window were simply beautiful. Box hedges were
decorously laid out in a criss-cross fashion. Unless she was much
mistaken, it was a herb garden because most of the plants didn’t
contain flowers but plants that were vaguely recognisable. As far
as the eye could see, there were rolling lawns, flower laden
borders and copious amounts of shrubbery and trees. It was
delightful. She briefly contemplated lifting the window to take a
sniff of the herbs beneath the window, but decided against it. The
lure of the sumptuous breakfast feast was just far too tempting to
resist and she returned to sit on the bed and help herself to the
meat and cheese.
    She was
busy munching and watching the dark rain clouds edge toward her
when the door rattled and Doreen appeared in the room, followed by
several people each carrying two jugs. A huge man nodded meekly at
Cecily before placing a huge tin bath carefully in front of the
hearth. Cecily’s cheeks blushed and she murmured a quiet ‘thank
you’, feeling gauche and awkward for sitting back and allowing them
to do all of the work. Something inside her baulked at being lazy
and not offering to help, but she wasn’t sure what they expected of
her.
    With
quiet efficiency the bath was filled with what appeared to be an
endless stream of hot water until Doreen stood back with a broad
smile of satisfaction and a towel.
    “ Do you require me to wash your hair, ma’am?”
    “ Oh, no thank you, I will be fine by myself,” Cecily replied,
glancing longingly at the breakfast tray. She was still ravenous
and wasn’t sure if she would ever stop eating. Although the bath
looked heavenly, she hated to leave the breakfast tray in case
Doreen took it away.
    “ Finish your breakfast first, ma’am. Is there anything else you
would like? The cook and housekeeper, Mrs Nantwich, has just taken
a fresh batch of honey cake out of the oven,” Doreen declared
proudly.
    Cecily’s
mouth began to water and she wondered if she had ever tried honey
cake.
    “ I’ll bring some up while your finish your tray ma’am,” Doreen
replied, taking Cecily’s longing look as an affirmative for the
cake.
    As soon
as the maid had gone, Cecily resumed her meal and ate in
contemplative silence for several minutes. She wasn’t sure what she
was going to do because although she could have a bath, there was
nothing for her to change into. She glanced down at the soiled
breeches she still wore and wondered what the serving staff thought
of her. She must look a fright. Although they had all nodded and
smiled at her in welcome, they had made no attempt to converse with
her and merely emptied their jugs and departed. Could she ask
Doreen for help?
    She was
lost in the quandary of what to do about clothing that she jumped
in alarm when Doreen appeared silently, another tray in her hands
containing several slices of honey cake and another pot of
chocolate. Cecily stared with wide eyes at the huge mound of food
and glanced cautiously at Doreen.
    “ Mrs Nantwich would like your opinion on it,” Doreen offered
with a grin.
    Cecily
smiled, feeling more spoiled than she had ever felt in her entire
life. She spared a brief thought for Portia, and hoped her sister
was faring as well.
    “ Thank you so much, Doreen, it is very kind of you to look
after me so well,” Cecily muttered, brushing off her fingers and
glancing regretfully at the sheets. “Can you tell me where the
sheets are? I need to change these.” She began to tug at the grubby
linen, ignoring the maid’s startled gasp.
    “ Please, ma’am, you mustn’t do that. That is