Page 14 of Under the Seductive Ladys Charm
To her surprise, Charlotte found Amanda already up when she went to her room to see if she needed any help. Katrina was already putting Amanda’s hair up. “Oh, there you are,” Amanda said in an offhand manner, looking up at Charlotte in the vanity mirror.
Charlotte tried to give Katrina a smile, but the maid seemed to still be holding a lingering grudge against her. “Good morning,” Charlotte said with all the cheer that she could muster.
Amanda rewarded Charlotte with a smile. “I am rather in a hurry to depart. I do not even know if I shall be able to eat anything.”
“Well, you really should,” Charlotte reminded her.
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Yes, Mother.”
Charlotte gave them a wave and left the room. Outside, she breathed a deep sigh of relief. With Katrina helping Amanda, that would free Charlotte to get her own things in order. She went downstairs to the kitchen as her bags were ready to go. There was something to be said for not being able to sleep.
She walked along the corridor. Despite the news that Katrina had been instated as Amanda’s lady’s maid, the household staff was still standoffish to her.
In the kitchen, Henrietta welcomed Charlotte with a warm, “Hello there!” She waved her hand for Charlotte to sit down. “Now, I thought you would be having breakfast in the dining hall.”
“Miss Easterly is still upstairs.” Charlotte gave a shrug. “I would just as well have breakfast here anyway.”
Henrietta leaned over and whispered, “I don’t blame you.” She held a muffin out to Charlotte.
Charlotte gave the cook a grin and took the muffin she was offered. She nibbled on the cake as Henrietta worked. Occasionally the cook would talk, but mostly the woman hummed. The old church hymns that Henrietta was fond of made Charlotte feel more homesick than she had felt in a long while.
The muffin she bit into was warm and appeared to have more fruit than flour. She found it amazing that it held together as she bit into a berry that filled her mouth with warm, tart juice. “Careful or you will mess up that pretty smock,” Henrietta chided as she handed Charlotte a towel.
Charlotte cleaned off her chin where some of the juice had run. “Thank you.”
She sat there as long as she could, well after she had finished her breakfast. It was not until she heard Amanda come down for breakfast that Charlotte made her way back upstairs. If Amanda was eating, then they would certainly be leaving soon.
Charlotte met some of the lads coming down with her bags. “Oh, good, you found them,” she said with relief. “I was going to get them myself.”
“We got it, Miss,” one of the young men said before they were past her.
Charlotte went to her room and checked that everything was gone that should be, and everything was put up that ought to be. She, at last, had to admit that she had nothing left to check. She made her way to the entrance hall, where Katrina was talking with the men who were loading up the bags.
“Do be careful, Lars,” Katrina called. “That has Her Ladyship’s personal items.”
The boy she was talking to grumbled something that Charlotte could not make out. If Katrina took exception to it, she did not let on. Charlotte chose to stay out of the way. There were four carriages lined up outside and Charlotte shook her head at the sight.
“At least someone is on time,” Lord Easterly said with an amused grumble as he came down the steps behind Charlotte.
She turned to look at him and had to shield her eyes from the morning sun that was cresting the top of the house. “How long will the trip be?”
“We should be there late tomorrow. We’ll stop at an inn on the way, and then continue in the morning.” Lord Easterly did not seem at all disturbed by travelling so far. Charlotte felt her confidence buoyed by his matter-of-fact attitude. “You have never been very far away have you not?”
Charlotte cast her eyes down. She dared to only glance back up at the man as she spoke. “No, I really have not.” She shrugged lightly. “I suppose I must seem very backward and silly with you having travelled so much.”
“A lot of my travelling was not pleasurable, so I do not hold anything against those who do not favour a fanciful ride about,” Lord Easterly said with a smile.
Charlotte looked at the horses fidgeting in their harnesses as if they were very much eager to leave. “I would prefer to ride a horse.”
“Ah, I forgot that you were so fond of them. You did quite well in your lessons if I remember correctly.” Lord Easterly gave her a look of approval.
There were birds singing somewhere overhead, but Charlotte could not locate them. She busied her eyes by trying to find them to keep her mind off the nervousness in her tummy. “It was a very long time ago. I have not ridden much in the last few years.”
“That is a shame,” Lord Easterly said. “It is too bad that we will not be here at the estate. The horses do not get enough exercise.”
Charlotte noted the way the sun had painted Lord Easterly’s face. It was not fashionable for a lady’s face to be tinted so by the sun. Ladies held to keeping hats on and their skin covered. “You like being outside, do you not?”
“I do,” Lord Easterly agreed. “Nothing is more constraining than what most call outdoor or riding clothing.”
