Page 62 of Storm of Bells
‘On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t put itat all. Just give me the ribbon.’
‘Certainly, Miss.’
Something suddenly occurred to me.
‘By the way, what’s your name?’
‘Err…Lavinia, Miss. But most people just callme Vinnie. Why?’
‘Well, Vinnie…’ Regarding myself in themirror, I tried to tie the ribbon into my hair. After three tries,I managed to snatch an appropriately big lump of hair and wrestlethe bloody thing around it. Whether or not the end result lookedpretty, however, was very much a matter of opinion. ‘I’m going tobecome a lady soon.’
‘Err…aren’t you one now?’
I considered for a moment how best to explainthe prospect of marrying Mr Rikkard Ambrose, the wealthiest andprobably most powerful man in the British Empire.
‘An extra lady-ish lady,’ I finally said.
‘Oh.’
‘The problem is…’ I gave another tug on thestubborn ribbon—and nearly yanked out half my scalp in the process.‘Ouch! The problem is, I’m not really good at this being-a-ladything.’
‘You don’t say, Miss. I would never haveguessed.’
I threw a quick glance at the girl, and thecorners of her mouth were quirked up. Hm. This one had spunk. Good.She would need it.
‘So, would you like to come to work for me asmy lady’s maid?’
‘What?’ The girl nearly swallowed the needlestuck in the corner of her mouth. All colour drained from herface.
‘You heard me. I can’t dress like this everyday all by myself.’ I gestured to the masterpiece in the mirror.‘Besides…’ I crossed my fingers behind my back. ‘I have aprotective soon-to-be husband who just loves spending money on me.I’m sure he won’t mind at all taking on a bit more staff to pleaseme.’
‘Y-you mean it?’ Vinnie’s eyes were wide asshe stared up at me standing on my stool. The needle was stillsticking out of the corner of her mouth. ‘You really mean it,Miss?’
‘Yes, of course. But if you’d prefer to stayhere—’
‘WhencanistartandwhereshouldIpresentmyself?I’mreadyanytimeyouwantme!’
‘Here.’ Pulling a card out of my pocket, Ihanded it to her. ‘Come here any time during your lunch break thenext few days.’
‘Empire House?’ Her eyes nearly poppedout of her head. ‘But…but isn’t that where that incredibly rich,stingy bugger lives?’
‘If you mean my future bridegroom, then yes,indeed.’
‘Your…’ Vinnie grabbed the figure next to heraround the neck to steady herself. Fortunately, it was a manikin.‘Oh, I’m so, so sorry, Miss! I should never have said…I…Oh my God,what did I say?’
‘Nothing but the truth,’ I assured her with acheerful pat on the shoulder. ‘Although you did leave out “stony”and “ice-cold”.’
‘Oh. Um. You…you aren’t angry?’
I cocked my head.
‘Do I look angry?’
‘N-no. That’s what’s worrying me. Most ladieswould have tried to take me ‘ead off for what I said, or at leasttried to get me fired.’
‘Well, I’m not so different.’ I gave her abig smile. ‘I just prefer an h to an f.’
It took her a few moments to get it. When shedid, she stared at me as if I was mad. ‘You mean…I’m stillhired?’
