Page 148 of Storm of Bells
Five minutes and twenty-seven seconds later,my aunt came marching up the path, a gaggle of ladies not farbehind her.
‘Where is the duchess?’ she demanded, hervulture-like eyes gleaming with the devious dreams of a socialclimber. Well, as a dutiful niece I should help my dear aunt,right?
‘Last time I saw her, on the roof.’ Smiling,I grabbed a rickety ladder leaning against the wall and handed itto her. ‘Busy thatching.’
‘Thatching?’
‘Putting straw on a roof so the rain doesn’tdrop in,’ I explained, always willing to be helpful.
‘I know what thatching is!’
‘Excellent! I’m so happy to hear you’ll be ofhelp.’
Pushing the ladder into her scrawny hands, Imanoeuvred her towards the wall. She was up two rungs before sheknew what was happening.
‘Aduchess thatching?’
‘Of course! The best-respected women of highsociety are all invested in charitable work. Just look at yourself,Aunt.’
She opened her mouth—then closed itagain.
‘Happy thatching.’ I clapped her on theback.
***
It was truly amazing how fast a horde ofsocial-climbing middle-aged Victorian ladies could learn to thatcha roof. Or rather, it was amazing how fast they could make theirsons and daughters do it, while they mostly walked around,gossiping and criticizing the work. When, under the instruction ofthe farmers, the first roof was done, the ladies moved on to theinterior of the cottage, cleaning, dusting, painting, polishing anddoing everything else they could think of to make the placeshine.
‘So…’ Watching the action with a twinkle inher eyes, Adaira leaned over. ‘What are you going to do when theyfind out there is no Duchess of Fingleton or Marchioness ofManglewood?’
I shrugged. ‘By that time, most of the workwill already be done.’
‘Yes, but they’ll be furious! Once thewedding is over and done with, most likely, none of these womenwill ever want anything to do with you ever again. They won’tinvite you to their balls, or talk to you, or…’ Her voice drainedaway, and, slowly, a grin spread across her face. ‘You truly are anevil genius.’
‘Thanks so much for the compliment.’ Ismirked. ‘And if, God forbid, I will have an attack of insanity oneday and feel the uncontrollable urge to visit one of theirballs…Well, by that time I will be the Marchioness Ambrose. Do youthink they’d be likely to refuse me?’
Adaira’s silence was answer enough. What anice family trait.
Apparently, society ladies weren’t the onlypeople unlikely to refuse me these days. Not long after we hadfinished with the first cottage, the artisans from the main villagearrived. Carpenters, masons, painters, thatchers, they all came andwent to work immediately. Soon, the servants from the manorfollowed, led by Benson. With Adaira, Amy, Patsy and me at thehelm, we spread out across the countryside, going from cottage tocottage. The poor tenants didn’t quite know what hit them. Some ofthem acted as if they were afraid we wereactuallygoing tohit them. Apparently, they were far more accustomed to landownersrearranging their facial features rather than renovating theirhouses.
‘No, no,’ I assured the terrified eye peekingthrough the crack in the door. ‘We don’t want to reclaim yourhouse. We want torepairit.’
‘I swear, my husband will pay the rent soon!It’s not his fault he’s behind. The children have been ill, andwe…and we…’
‘Sick children?’
I was unceremoniously elbowed out of the wayfrom behind. Blinking, I straightened myself, expecting to seePatsy, Adaira or Amy or another dangerous elbow-wielder—only to seemy little sister Ella rushing into the cottage. In a moment, shewas standing at the side of a bed that contained lots of oldblankets and three little red noses peeking out from between thefolds. She fell to her knees beside the bed.
‘Oh, you poor little darlings! Has the doctorbeen to see you yet?’
The mother bit her lip, somehow looking timidand ashamed, although she hadn’t been the one to barge into astranger’s house without an invitation.
‘We…we’re simple folk, My Lady, and the onlydoctor lives two towns over. We couldn’t even afford to travelthere, let alone to pay his fee.’
‘Oh, you poor, poor dears!’ Ella was in fullmother-hen mode by now. ‘Don’t worry about things like that!’ Shewaved towards me. ‘Her fiancé will pay for it.’
‘He will?’ Karim demanded, his eyebrowsshooting up like two firework-propelled black bushes.
Ella turned to glare at him. ‘He’dbetter!’
