Free A Christmas Kiss by Elizabeth; Mansfield Page B

gasped, “Philip,” and fled like a schoolgirl down the stairs.
    Philip looked after her until she disappeared. Then he went down to his study and pulled the door shut behind him. As he crossed to his desk, he caught a glimpse of his face in the mirror over the mantlepiece. A smile—a rather foolish one, he thought—still lingered on his face. He stared at his reflection as the memory of his misgivings of the night before flooded into his mind. He had promised himself to avoid her, to keep his feelings fatherly and cool! “Oh, that was well done, Philip,” he said aloud, in a tone of sardonic self-disgust, “very well done indeed!”
    Evalyn forced herself to walk down the hallway toward her room slowly and with, she hoped, one last shred of dignity. She had behaved like the silliest chit of a schoolgirl, and how she was to face Lord Gyllford again she didn’t in the least know. Yet something inside her was bubbling with suppressed joy, and a smile hovered at the corners of her mouth. If she were sure no one would see, she would have liked to waltz down the length of the hall. She could almost hear the music— Philip-tah-tum, tah-tum, Philip-tah-tum . Heavens, what was wrong with her? She’d never waltzed in her life!
    But fortunately, before she made a complete fool of herself, she noticed two figures at the far end of the corridor near her room. One was Miss Trevelyan, wearing a diaphanous robe over her nightclothes, her hair still dishevelled by sleep. The other—goodness, it was Nancy!
    Evalyn hurried down the passageway, to be greeted by Miss Trevelyan. “Ah, there you are, Miss Pennington. You must really speak to your abigail, you know. She’s kept me out here in the hallway arguing for at least five minutes. She has no idea how a maid should go on!”
    â€œI’m sorry if she’s done something out of the way. What seems to be the problem?”
    Nancy sniffed in a decidedly truculent way and spoke up quickly. “She asked me to do ’er ’air, and I won’t,” she said, sticking out her chin stubbornly. “Lord Gyllford said I was to work for you ex-clu-sive, didn’t ’e?”
    Evalyn suppressed a smile. “Yes, indeed he did, Nancy, and you were quite right to wait to ask my permission,” she said tactfully, trying to smooth things over.
    â€œWell, I ain’t asking yer permission, Miss Evalyn. She’s got ’er own maid to do for ’er.”
    â€œDid you ever hear the like?” said the scandalized Miss Trevelyan. “How can you put up with such insubordination? I only asked her because my Annette is nowhere to be found. How dare this impertinent minx refuse me? If I were you, Miss Pennington, I’d pack her off this instant!”
    â€œI think you must leave the handling of Nancy to me, Miss Trevelyan. Nancy, dear, you have been rude, and I think you must tell Miss Trevelyan how sorry you are for speaking so.”
    Two large tears welled up in Nancy’s eyes. “I d-didn’t mean to be rude, t-truly. But ’er m-maid, Annette, would explode l-like a firecracker at me if I was to go n-near ’er m-mistress’s ’air! And me bein’ the n-newest on staff, it’d be for sure a slap at ’er pride! And the m-master did say I was to work for you ex-clu-sive, didn’t ’e? ’Tain’t right to go disobeying him on me very f-first day! So what’m I t-to do?” And she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
    â€œThere, there, Nancy,” said Evalyn soothingly, putting an arm around the girl’s shoulder and putting a handkerchief into her hand. “Wipe your eyes and go down to the hall to see if you can find Miss Trevelyan’s maid—what’s her name? Annette? Yes, tell Annette she’s wanted right away.”
    Nancy wiped her eyes. “Are ye goin’ to pack me off, Miss Evalyn?” she asked, her underlip