Match For Melissa (11 page)

Robert could not help but feel bewildered as he conversed politely with Regina. She was a lovely young lady, he had none but the highest regard for her, but he could catch no glimmer of the mystic sprite that he had held in his arms on the previous evening.

Though he could not be faulted for failing to take part in the conversation around him, Robert’s polite comments engaged only a portion of his mind. The remainder attempted to solve the puzzle that his Diana had presented to him. Perhaps her reticence was due in large measure to the fact that her mother and sister were in attendance. Under such constraints, she might feel obligated to behave in a manner of total propriety and give no hint to the lively personality he had witnessed only a few short hours ago. If this were the case, he would be well served to seek a few moments alone with her, but this could not be achieved on a first call unless he were to bodily remove her from the Drawing Room and spirit her off in his curricle.

When no answer to his conundrum immediately presented itself, Robert turned his full attention to Lady Harrington. His mother was exceedingly fond of the old adage, “To know the mother is to know the daughter.” After several moments of keenly observing Lady Harrington, Robert found himself sincerely hoping that his mother was in error and the old saying had no merit.

Lady Harrington motioned to the maid who hovered at the
far side of the room. “We wish for more lemon seed cakes immediately.”

“Yes, my lady.”

After the serving girl had bobbed her head and quickly disappeared, Regina turned to the duke. “Please have the last lemon seed cake, Duke. There are more in the kitchen.”

“Thank you.” Robert took the last lemon seed cake and after he had taken a bite, he smiled at Regina. “These are excellent! Indeed, I believe I have never tasted any that are their superior!”

“How kind in you to say so.” Lady Harrington smiled, accepting his compliment graciously, but before she could continue with the conversation, Regina spoke up.

“Lissa made them this morning. They are even better on the second day, but they seldom last that long.”

Robert laughed. “If our pastry cook made lemon seed cakes like these, they should not even have the time to cool. Did you say that
Lissa
made them?”

When Regina nodded, Robert turned to Lady Harrington. “Then I was not mistaken in believing that I recognized your maid. Lady Beckworth told me that she arranged the flowers in her ballroom?”

“Yes. It seems that Lissa has a way with flowers, a skill she has not seen fit to exhibit for our enjoyment on this morning.” Lady Harrington dismissed the arrangement of flowers that graced the mantelpiece with a haughty sniff.

Robert turned his attention to the vase of flowers. Though they were not arranged in an elaborate manner, they seemed quite pleasing to him.

“I arranged those flowers, Mama.” There was the barest hint of laughter in Regina’s voice. “And I freely admit they do not come close to Lissa’s standards. I thought to free her for tasks of greater importance like—”

“Making lemon seed cakes!”

The duke, Lord Chadwick, and Dorothea joined Regina in speaking the remainder of her sentence. There was a moment of shared laughter, and even Lady Harrington was forced to
smile. But Robert observed that she still appeared discomfited by the praise that was being lavished on her servant.

“Well said!” Lord Chadwick seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly. “If Lissa were a member of my staff, I should assign her one task only, to make thousands upon thousands of lemon seed cakes!”

Dorothea shook her head. “I think you would quickly change your opinion, Lord Chadwick, if you knew of Lissa’s other skills. She can stitch a seam as well as any mantua-maker, she can always supply the proper turn of phrase when one is struggling with a difficult correspondence, and she is perfection as our dresser.”

“Lissa is exceedingly talented.” Regina’s voice was warm. “We are indeed fortunate that she was able to come to London with us. Do you not agree, Mama?”

Lady Harrington appeared quite unsettled by her daughter’s question, but she nodded pleasantly. “Yes indeed, Regina. Good servants are difficult to find.”

“As are good friends.” A smile hovered about Regina’s lips. “And our dear Lissa is a friend as well as a servant. Indeed, I often find myself regarding her as a sister.”

Robert observed the speaking glance that flashed between mother and daughter. Then Regina dropped her eyes quickly and the color rose in her face. Both Regina and Dorothea appeared to be quite protective of their maid, and Robert wondered whether Lady Harrington had treated her ill in the past. It was another mystery that intrigued him and one that he should not fail to solve.

“What think you of Wellington’s latest maneuver, Lord Chadwick?” Lady Harrington turned the conversation neatly. “I fear that as a woman who is unacquainted with military matters, I have not the slightest understanding of his strategies.”

As Lord Chadwick commenced to explain the intricacies of Wellington’s military tactics to Lady Harrington, Robert bit back a smile. He had followed Wellington’s campaigns closely
and had come to believe that the highly-touted general lacked even the simplest strategy.

Robert’s attention was diverted as Lissa re-entered the room. He watched as she set a full plate of cakes on the table and faded back to the edge of the room to await further instructions. Robert had often observed his own servants and there was nothing unusual about Lissa’s manner. But he did notice that she was listening to the conversation with interest and, at one point, she seemed about to object to one of Lord Chadwick’s remarks before she remembered her place and remained silent.

Lissa was correct. Lord Chadwick’s statement was in error. Robert had recognized that at the onset, but he had not expected a servant to be so discerning. It seemed that in addition to her other accomplishments, Lissa possessed a keen mind. Vowing to put his supposition to the test at a later time, Robert again immersed himself in the conversation.

Melissa could hear perfectly from where she stood, and she listened with interest to the conversation. It seemed that Lord Chadwick had a long-standing acquaintance with some distant members of the duke’s family and he inquired politely after them. When the duke told him that his family had departed for Oakwood Castle that morning and the very relatives that Lord Chadwick had so kindly inquired after were planning to visit them there, Jane was prompted to ask of the castle and how far it was situated from London. This led to a discussion of travel and the rigors thereof, and Jane recounted her journey to Bath where she had enjoyed the entertainments of both the upper and the lower rooms.

Lord Chadwick remembered an incident that had occurred when he was in Bath and they all shared a laugh at his recollection. He had attended the theater one evening and an altercation had broken out in the front row of the audience. The leading lady, a woman of no small stature, had picked up a spindle-legged chair from the stage and coshed both combatants
on their heads. When the ushers had carried the insensible brawlers away, she had gone on with her performance without missing a line, much to the delight of the spectators.

There was a brief discussion of the exhibition of watercolors that had recently opened, the safety precautions one must take against pickpockets when attending the Pantheon Bazaar, and the magnificence of the fireworks at Vauxhall Gardens. After the proper interval of pleasant conversation had been observed, the viscount arose to take his leave.

“Have you plans to attend Lady Ashford’s assembly this evening?” Lord Chadwick quite properly addressed Jane, though Melissa knew that his attentions were clearly directed towards Dorothea.

Jane nodded. “Yes, indeed we do, Lord Chadwick. I hear that Lady Ashford has a voice to rival the angels, and her skill at the pianoforte is said to be unparalleled. We should not miss it for the world.”

Melissa raised her eyebrows. One of Lady Beckworth’s maids had told her that Lady Ashford had a voice like a crow, but as she was such a respected member of the
haute ton,
no one dared offend her by speaking the truth or refusing to attend one of her assemblies. Her staff was rumored to draw lots to ascertain which unlucky servants would be required to be in attendance when their mistress was performing and several had sought new positions after their first experience in the music room. Lady Beckworth’s maid had also confided that the sole reason Lady Ashford hosted these assemblies was to secure a captive audience.

“I shall send my coach for you if you so desire.” Lord Chadwick offered quickly.

“That is most obliging in you.” Jane nodded her assent. “We should be pleased to accept your kind offer.”

Melissa hurried to fetch Lord Chadwick’s coat and when she had seen him to the door, she returned to the Drawing Room to find that the duke was also taking his leave. She crossed her fingers behind her back, a gesture she had learned from a superstitious
maid they had once employed, and wished fervently that this was not the last they would see of him.

There was a moment of silence in which the duke seemed to be contemplating his words and then he turned to Jane. “If it meets with your approval, Lady Harrington, I would seek permission to escort your daughter on a ride through the park tomorrow afternoon.”

“I am certain that Regina would enjoy such a lovely excursion, Duke.”

Melissa almost burst into laughter at the gratified expression on her stepmother’s face. Indeed, she resembled the cat that had emptied the cream pot as she bid the duke farewell and ordered Melissa to fetch his coat.

When Melissa returned to the hall with the duke’s coat, he turned to her with a most disarming smile. “Tell me the truth, Lissa. Do you think she favors me?”

“Most certainly, your grace.” Melissa nodded quickly. “Miss Regina is most appreciative of your kind attention.”

The duke laughed. “Not her, Lissa. I was speaking of Lady Harrington.”

“Indeed she does, your grace!” Melissa’s eyes crinkled with laughter and she found she had to struggle to maintain her composure. Jane would favor anyone who was a suitable match for one of her daughters.

“Tell me what you are thinking, Lissa. I can see that you are fairly bursting with laughter.”

“It does not signify, your grace.” Melissa did her best to compose herself in the demeanor befitting a loyal servant.

“Were you thinking that I could be blind, deaf, and dumb and Lady Harrington would still favor me so long as I possessed a title and the blunt to go with it?”

“No, your grace.” Melissa glanced up at him and it was almost her undoing. The expression he wore was that of a mischievous boy. “The thought of blindness never once occurred to me.”

The duke threw back his head and laughed for a long moment.
When he had recovered sufficiently, he sighed and wiped his eyes. “I hope we will be friends, Lissa. There are times when I tire of propriety and I long for irreverence.”

“I understand, your grace.” Melissa bobbed her head. “Irreverence is difficult to come by when you are a duke. Most people equate it with a lack of respect.”

“And you would not equate it thusly?”

“Indeed I would not, your grace. Lord Harrington used to say that irreverence stems from a sense of the ridiculous, carried to its extreme. He also claimed that it was a sad day indeed, when one could not laugh at the folly of the human condition.”

“A wise man, Lord Harrington.” The duke nodded, carefully considering her words. “You knew him well?”

“Yes, your grace.” Melissa blinked back the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes. “He was like a…a father to me.”

“Then you were lucky, indeed. I never had the pleasure of meeting Harrington, but I have heard nothing but praise of him.”

They shared a moment of silence in which Melissa was strangely content. Then the duke smiled again. “I must tell you again, Lissa. The lemon seed cakes you made were delicious.”

“Thank you, your grace. Elise, our cook, taught me to make them on the first day I became tall enough to reach the table. If they were not served to the guests we entertained at Harrington Manor, it was regarded as a slight.”

“Then you were trained to be a cook?”

There was an expression of surprise on the duke’s face and Melissa shook her head. “No, your grace. Elise said that everyone who lived at the manor should learn to do a few simple things in the kitchen. She set up classes and taught us all.”

“Were the master and mistress included in this instruction?”

Melissa nodded, her eyes twinkling. “Why even my…that is…Lord Harrington occasionally set foot in the kitchen!”

“Perhaps we should have had an Elise when I was a boy.”

The duke looked thoughtful. “The kitchens at Oakwood Castle are a greater mystery to me than the pyramids.”

“There is a single important difference between the kitchens and the pyramids, your grace.” Melissa’s eyes sparkled with laughter. “If a dead Egyptian king should be discovered in the kitchens, the cook should be certain to be dismissed without references.”

The duke laughed in delight for a moment and then he took his leave. When Melissa closed the door behind him, she leaned against it weakly. He was just as she had remembered, but the memory of their dance was now bittersweet. The duke was no longer hers to dream of. He belonged to another. Melissa loved Regina and wished her happy, but her heart ached for the perfect match that she had lost forever.

Melissa was out early the next morning with another long list of errands. By midmorning, she had already accomplished the greater share of them and she glanced down at the remainder of her list with a sigh. Dorothea’s new gown was ready to be collected. She would do that errand next, as she was only a few streets from the modiste’s small establishment. Then she would step next door to the milliner’s shop and fetch the bonnet that Regina was to wear on her ride through the park with the duke. Once she had accomplished those two errands, only one task remained.

The last errand on the list was most specific. On Melissa’s journey home, Jane had instructed her to stop to procure a bottle of fine brandy. She was to use the remainder of the purse that she had been given for this purchase. The brandy must be of a high quality since it would be offered to the duke when he next arrived to pay a formal call.