Rules for a Lady (A Lady's Lessons, Book 1) (2 page)

Gillian pressed her ear to the back wall, trying to hear more. The deafening silence from within told her that her mother's visitors were shocked speechless. Imagine anyone having the audacity to mention bodily functions before the holy reverend!

"Very well," continued her mother. Then she paused as a coughing fit consumed her. Gillian waited, afraid that this might be the time her mother failed to catch her breath. Was this the fit that would... The coughs ended; then Mary Ames spoke again, her voice strong in the still air. "Ye can watch me if ye like. We ain't got no curtain, and I'm too old to be going outside." Gillian heard the telltale sound of the chamber pot being dragged across the floor.

"Good God, Mary, have you no shame?" That was Mrs. Smithee, her voice shaking with horror, her prune face likely squeezed into a knot of disdain.

"Wot I got is a touchy bladder an' a need t' piss."

There was another long moment of silence as the holy man apparently stood there, calling her mother's bluff. It would be a waste of time. After over fifty years on this earth, Mary Ames had no modesty left. She would do her business right in front of the good cleric and not think twice about it.

Gillian was not surprised when, moments later, she heard the sound of hurried feet as the Reverend Hallowsby and his two harridans rushed out of the Ames cottage. Wishing to see their backs despite the risks, Gillian eased around the cottage wall. Her hand was still pressed tightly against her mouth to keep her giggles from escaping. Typically, her mother had no such restraint. Mary Ames was cackling like a proud hen as she used her cane to thump on the front door.

"Go back t' yer parish, Reverend," her mother called. "On this moor, we like t' sin in peace!"

Gillian watched from the shadows as the reverend snapped the reins of his fine carriage and rode away in a huff. Though he did not deign to look back at the cottage, his two holy shrews did, managing to glare with both hate and pious disgust at the same time.

Gillian instinctively drew backward, hiding deeper in the shadows, too used to shrinking away from hostile stares to even wonder if they could see her.

Then they were gone.

Soon afterward, she heard her mother slam the door, thumping around inside the cottage as she released her anger. But Gillian did not enter. She stood where she was for twenty more minutes, shivering from the cold before finally daring to sneak inside.

"There ye be," her mother said with a cackle from her seat by the fire. "Ye missed that twit Hallowsby."

"I saw him," Gillian answered smoothly, pulling off her cloak and hanging it carefully on a peg. Then she stepped to the fire, touching the older woman as she passed, feeling warmth and vitality still in her mother's frail body. "I'm sorry you—"

"Don't apologize for 'im, girl," her mother interrupted, her accent smoothing out now that the minister was gone. "You 'ave yer own answering to do without adding 'is sins to yours."

Gillian straightened, turning to the fire, where she quickly set water on to heat. "Would you like some tea?" she asked.

Without waiting for an answer, Gillian pulled her mother's misshapen tin mug down from the warped plank that served as a shelf. Choosing carefully, she pulled a single leaf out of her pocket, crushing it before dropping it into the tin.

"This snow will kill off the new growth," she commented as casually as she could manage. "But the melt will be welcome once it warms." There was no answer. Truthfully she had not expected one, but she had hoped. So in the end she turned, facing her mother's steady regard with as much strength as she could manage. "Mama?"

"It gives me chills, it does, seeing your name on her gravestone."

Gillian busied herself with pouring hot water into the cup and carefully offering it to her mother. "You should not be walking by the graveyard anyway. It is too far."

"I'll decide what is too far and not too far, my girl!"

Gillian nodded as she stood beside her mother, still offering the tea. In the end, it took another coughing fit before her mother grabbed the brew and began sipping. Moments later she put it down, her breathing noticeably easier.

"I leave early tomorrow morning, Mama. I need to explain some things before I go."

Her mother snorted, glaring across her tea at Gillian. "You'll put me in my grave with your foolishness, girl. There is nothing wrong with being a maid. I am proud to be a maid. My mama before me, too, and her mama before her. We 'ave served the Wyndhams for generations."

"And now we will
be
the Wyndhams," Gillian quipped as she turned away.

"Mind your tongue, girl. That's sacrilege, it is." Her words were sharp, but Gillian was relieved to see a flash of humor sparkle in her mother's eyes. "Besides, you are nothing like that namby-pamby Amanda Wyndham. See through you in a second, they will."

"No one has seen Amanda for nearly two years. I have run her estate, corresponded with the solicitor, and done all she would."

"You cannot go! It is evil thinking."

Gillian did not respond, knowing the words were nothing more than bravado. Her mother feared their coming separation, and in truth, Gillian shared some of her worries. But they had to do something quickly.

It had been a rough winter, and the harshness of it was etched in her mother's sallow features and the hacking cough that still shook her frail body. If the early thaw had not warmed the air, the woman might not have survived at all. Amanda had certainly succumbed, despite Gillian's nursing.

Now with Amanda dead, all Gillian's worries were for her mother. She and Mary had to find better circumstances before another Yorkshire winter. That meant Gillian had to marry well. But the only way to many well was to become legitimate.

"I leave before dawn tomorrow, Mama. Mrs. Hobbs will bring you food and wood every Tuesday. She even promised apples late this summer."

"I despise her pasty-face ways."

Gillian sighed. Her mother had fought this plan from the start. She would rather die in honorable poverty than take matters into her own hands to achieve a better life. But Gillian was different. She would happily damn her soul to hell if it meant giving her mother a warmer home and some decent food.

She reached forward, clasping her mother's bony hands between her own. "You could come with me. As a lady's maid."

Her mother stomped her foot on the floor. "I told you. This is foolishness."

"But Mama, all her life Amanda wanted to be healthy and strong like me."

"And all you ever wanted was to be 'er."

Gillian grinned. "Now we shall both get our wish."

"You are a by-blow, Gillian. The old baron liked my smile and nine months later you were born. You will never be 'appy unless you accept that without wishin' to be something you ain't."

"Mama, I am ruler of the Wyndham estate. I have been for years. There is nothing his legitimate daughter could do that I cannot. There is nothing she could be that I cannot become."

"You are Gillian Ames and nothing will change that."

"Starting tomorrow, I am Amanda Faith Wyndham. And when I return from London, I will be a rich, married lady." Gillian leaned forward and dropped a kiss on her mother's wan cheek. "Then I will take you away from this hovel and set you up in style."

Gillian stood, meaning to tidy the cottage, but her mother grabbed her wrist, holding her still with amazing strength. "Take the cap."

Gillian's eyes went to her hated maid's cap, tossed in the corner the day Amanda had died. She'd sworn that night she would never put it on again. Gently disentangling herself from her mother's fingers, Gillian shook her head. "I have no need of it."

"There is no going forward, Gillian Ames, till you start in the right place. And you start there. With a mobcap."

"Not anymore."

She spoke the words, and she meant them. But in the morning, as she crept out of the tiny cottage, the maid's cap was buried deep in her valise.

Chapter 1

Rule #2:

A lady does not sit on top of coaches.

London was cold and wet and dirty. But for Gillian Ames, it held all the wonder of the royal palace. Every filthy street, every pathetic urchin fascinated her. All those people crammed together. It made her head spin, both literally and figuratively. As the mail coach worked its ponderous way through the smelly streets, Gillian found herself swiveling and twisting to see more sights, more buildings and shops, more and more people.

Why, there were so many people, a person could get entirely lost with no one knowing one's name or business! It was marvelous!

She could not wait for the coach to stop.

Thank heavens economy had forced her to sit on the coach's upper perch. The view here was incredible, and she literally hopped up and down trying to see more.

They finally pulled into the courtyard of the Bull and Mouth coaching inn, and Gillian could not help but gasp. So many coaches and people. It seemed as if all of London had gathered on this drizzly day just to greet her. She knew, of course, it was not true, but it seemed such a delightful reception she did not care.

She waited for the inside passengers to disembark, and for once she thanked the delay. It gave her a moment to regain her bearings, as much as one could in this shifting mass of humanity.

The yard held four other mud-splattered, heavy-seated mail coaches, each in a different stage of unloading. The coachmen and regulators called cheerfully to one another while a line of postboys waited for the next conveyance to pull in. She spotted a pie man with a berry-stained apron; at least two cripples, one clearly a veteran; a hawker selling little toys; and a number of children and dogs dashing this way or that. She even saw a peep-show man with bells sewn onto his colorful jacket as he tried to lure people to his box of surprises.

"Look lively, miss!"

Gillian started out of her reverie to see the guard urging her to descend. With a small "Oh!" of surprise, Gillian dropped quickly to the ground next to her slight, battered valise.

"Thank you, sir," she called up to the heavy coachman, grinning at his delighted wink. She knew his behavior was probably scandalous, not to mention her own, but it felt so marvelous to finally be in London, she did not want to bother about propriety.

She turned slowly around, trying to take in all the sights from ground level, but she never got the chance. She was quickly surrounded by vendors. The pie man pushed his meat pasties beneath her nose while the toy vendor offered her a miniature toy sheep.

" 'Ave a pie, miss? Just wot one needs after a long ride."

"Uh, no thank—"

"Young lambs to sell! 'Ow 'bout a toy for a little 'un, miss?"

"No, really—"

"Come see me surprises, miss. Pretty entertainment for a pretty miss." The peep-show man motioned her over, showing off his gaily colored boxes.

Gillian hesitated, sorely tempted. She ought to head straight for Grosvenor Square and the earl's residence, but it had been a long journey. Surely she deserved a treat.

But as she stepped forward, something—or, more property, someone—bumped against her leg. She looked down, surprised by the dirty face of an impish little boy. She reached out to touch the child's thin face, but with a quick grin, he twisted away and disappeared. She would have gone after him, but the show man pressed closer.

"Come see me box, miss. Mysteries to delight your lovely eyes."

"Uh, perhaps in a moment—"

"I believe, miss, this is yours." A deep voice cut through the clamor, effectively silencing everyone around her, even the jingling peep-show man. It was amazing, Gillian thought as she slowly turned around, that a single voice could hold such authority. It seemed to get inside her and force her to listen.

Who could have spoken?

At first all she could see were the polished buttons of a dark blue greatcoat. Looking up, Gillian took in broad shoulders, a firm chin, and dark hair topped by a tall beaver hat. She bit back a gasp of surprise. If ever a voice matched a man, this was the time. It was not so much his height and size, which were remarkable. No, it was more the dark, stern lines of his angular face. Although he appeared perfectly congenial, Gillian saw no softness in his blue eyes, no laughter in the precise curve of his lips. She saw only an exciting hunger in his expression, a brooding intensity as he raked her figure with a long, appreciative stare.