Free Amanda Scott - [Dangerous 04] by Dangerous Lady

men can do so. You need only tell them what you require.”
    Jenifry said quickly, “I’ll fetch your dressing case, Miss Letty.”
    “No, you won’t,” Miss Dibble said sharply. “You’ll come back reeking of heaven-knows-what. Fortunately, there is very little there,” she said to the duchess’s footman. “One dressing case with her ladyship’s initials on it, and sundry articles of clothing. The latter items you can arrange to have properly cleaned and returned to her ladyship. Do not, under any circumstances, allow your people to take them into her new room without a thorough cleaning.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” the footman said, signing to the menials to enter the room. Then he added quietly, “We will do our best to find whoever did this, my lady. I feel bound to tell you, however, that so far no one admits seeing anyone up here.”
    “I know you will do what you can,” Letty said.
    Less than ten minutes later, she sat comfortably at a proper dressing table in a room considerably larger than the first.
    Jenifry, looking around, said flatly, “They must have given you the smallest chamber in the palace, that first one. I’ll wager you’ve been having a dreadful time of it downstairs, too, Miss Letty.”
    “Not dreadful, exactly, but I cannot pretend they welcomed me. Except for one, if they spoke to me at all, they did so in a way that would have cast a more sensitive woman into quite a deep depression.”
    “Poor Letitia,” Miss Dibble said sympathetically.
    Letty grinned at her. “I expected you to say that it serves me right for all the worry I have given you.”
    “I would never say such a thing,” Miss Dibble replied. “It is not my place to speak so to you. More than that, however, I do not condone rudeness in others, ever, as you should know, Letitia; and this goes well beyond rudeness.”
    “It does indeed, ma’am; however, Papa warned me to expect small welcome, so their behavior downstairs did not shock me. Slops cast all over my bedchamber is another, more serious matter, certainly. Still, I do not think it will serve our purpose to make an issue of it. As Jen suggested, we will simply take care never to leave my room unlocked or unattended again.”
    “In this instance, your lack of sensibility quite unnerves me, Letitia.”
    “I should think you would be grateful for it, ma’am. Only think how trying it would be if I were to cast myself on your bosom, weeping and wailing and demanding to be taken home at once.”
    “I do not think we could simply leave, you know,” Miss Dibble said judiciously. “One simply does not walk away from a royal appointment.”
    “Certainly not,” Letty said, smiling fondly at her. “Moreover, all is not bleak, Elvira. I did meet someone who occasionally talked like a sensible man. You will never guess who he was, either.”
    “Not being blessed with second sight, I am sure I cannot,” Miss Dibble said. “While you tell us, do let Jenifry arrange your hair more suitably for the evening.”
    “It was Raventhorpe, but there is nothing more to tell,” Letty said, getting to her feet again. “In any event, before I say another word, I am going to take off this dress and loosen this devilish corset.”
    “Letitia!”
    “Well, I’m sorry if you don’t like the word ‘devilish’, but no other word aptly describes this thing, Elvira. Jenifry pulled my laces far too tight. Moreover, I have been standing or walking the whole time I’ve been away, and these shoes pinch my toes. I want to put my feet up on a stool and relax, if only for a few minutes. What I’d really like is a hot bath with lots of lovely French bath salts, but I daresay I should not take so much time.”
    “I need only ring for a tub and hot water, Miss Letty,” Jenifry said. “That nice footman who brought us here said to let the servants know about anything you require, and after what was done to your room, I expect they’ll want to make amends. Of course, later we’ll make