Page 35 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
Chapter Twelve
Lord Hartwood was the first thing Jenny thought of when she woke, and a smile stretched across her face. She uncurled the hands that still clasped the handkerchief, having been held to her heart all night, and she chuckled at herself.
You are behaving like a young girl!
But she couldn’t help it. She knew—she remembered—how harshly her brother had reacted to Lord Hartwood. She knew, too, about how he did not follow the mores of polite society, how he was ousted for his behavior as a lout and scoundrel. But despite all that, thinking of him made her swoon, her grin making her cheeks hurt.
“Good morning,” Fanny said brightly as she came into the room and pulled back the drapes.
The sun was bright already, the light making Jenny squint as she got to her feet.
“Morning, Fanny,” she said. “Does Alison not need assistance?”
“No, Miss. Lady Alison is all sorted for the day.”
“Oh,” Jenny said, feeling a little disappointed. She would have welcomed more time on her own, and she was still not used to being helped into her clothes.
“Raise your arms then, Miss,” Fanny said, indicating to Jenny so she could remove her nightgown.
“It’s all right,” Jenny said. “I can do that bit on my own. I only need your assistance with the laces.”
“Forgive me if I speak out of turn, Miss, but I’m here to help. Iwantto help. There’s nothing wrong with accepting that.”
“Oh, I know that,” Jenny said, sighing as she sat on the edge of the bed. “I was a maid once too, remember? It’s just… I’m not used to being so cosseted.”
“You’re so lucky though, Miss. Your story is like a dream come true. What I wouldn’t give to find myself in your situation.”
Jenny scoffed, looking up at Fanny sadly.
“It’s not quite the fairy tale it seems, believe me. I feel more trapped now than I ever did as a maid.”
She rose from her seat and pulled her nightgown over her head. Then, taking the stays from Fanny, she slipped them into position and turned for the lady’s maid to tighten the laces. She watched her reflection as they shaped around her body, pulling her in.
“But look at this big house,” Fanny said, her eyes widening as she gazed at Jenny in the looking glass. “And with any luck, you’ll find yourself a handsome gentleman to be your husband. So much better than the men on offer for us lot.”
“If only you got to experience what I did last night,” Jenny said with a sigh, knowing Fanny would not understand her meaning.
“I would love to,” Fanny said wistfully as she turned for the gown she had laid over the bed. “To dance all night with some wealthy prince—”
“While onlookers watch and judge,” Jenny said, an eyebrow raised.
“Come now, Miss, it can’t be as bad as all that.”
She slipped the gown over Jenny’s head and finished dressing her, before she moved on to her hair.
“No,” Jenny said, smiling sadly. “I don’t suppose it is.”
Not with Lord Hartwood, anyhow.Hemade the turmoil and stress worth it. It was he who had wormed his way into her heart and settled there. Without him, she was not sure she would have been able to bear it—the looks and the whispers, the realization that she was, and always would be, an outsider.
“There we go, Miss,” Fanny said with a broad smile. “All done.”
“Thank you, Fanny,” Jenny said, nodding sincerely at her. “I’m sure, one day, I will come to be used to such things.”
Jenny ambled her way down to the breakfast room on the ground floor, her mind lost in thoughts of the night before. It had been a night of ups and downs—mostly downs, admittedly, but when her delight was high, it made her dismal experiences pale into a background of noise.
“Good morning, Jenny,” Alison said as Jenny let herself into the room, still uneasy about not knocking, even after all these months. Alison smiled tentatively, as though unsure of how Jenny would react.
“Morning,” Jenny said, smiling back at her.
