Page 28 of Under the Seductive Ladys Charm
Amanda found Katrina upstairs and gave the girl a smile. “I had the most charming visitor. You will never guess who it was.”
Katrina eyed her with guarded curiosity. Amanda grew tired of waiting for the girl to guess. “It was that mysterious Lord Stanhope who danced with Charlotte at the ball last night. He came here hoping to find her and instead found me.” Amanda sighed as Katrina looked at her. “I told you all about this. Do you listen to me?”
“Of course, Miss,” Katrina assured her. “I have simply never had someone such as yourself confide things in me before.”
Amanda put her arm around the maid’s shoulders. “I trust you. We are friends, are we not?”
“Certainly we are.” Katrina seemed to stop fighting against it and laughed.
Amanda said, “See you just have to relax. I assure you that I can be a lovely person to work for.”
“But what of Charlotte? Will he not search for her more?” Katrina now that she had given herself permission to gossip seemed rather interested.
Amanda grinned at her. She released her shoulders and waltzed over to her bed. “I think he has seen the light. I am a far better catch than an imaginary heiress.”
“I still cannot believe that she even went to that ball. I would never do such a thing. It is so above our station.” Katrina shook her head and crossed her arms.
Amanda sat down on the bed. “That is why I like you, Katrina. You know your place and you are content in it. Charlotte is so uneasy with herself.”
“Yet you were friends with her as a child?” Katrina asked the question boldly enough but added, “I mean no harm by asking.”
Amanda lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “Children are children. As adults, we understand that the world is different than how children see it. Everyone has their place.”
“You like this Lord Stanhope?” Katrina asked with a grin. “He must be quite handsome.”
Amanda nodded and sighed in contentment. “He is quite charming and dashing. He has better fashion sense than my brother, but that does not take much.” She smiled. “He makes all my other suitors look plain and droll.”
“I cannot say that I have ever had a man put me in such a mind as this one has you.” Katrina leaned against the bedpost. “I do wonder sometimes what it would be like to have a love, a really deep and passionate one.”
Amanda bit her lip. “I wonder that too. Maybe that is what this is. I feel like I’m flying, but also like I am falling.”
“My mother loved my father very much, but I do not know that she ever felt like that,” Katrina said with a giggle.
Amanda frowned. “I do not know if my mother truly loved my father. They did get along so that was something. Mother liked to travel, and Father did not. That is mostly what I remember from my childhood.”
Katrina’s eyes grew soft. “It is quite odd what we remember from being children.”
“I hope my children can remember their mother being breathtakingly in love with their father.” Amanda wrapped her arms around herself. “Perhaps that father will be Lord Stanhope. He has these stormy eyes that I think I could swim in, but I might drown in their depths.”
“It does sound as if you are quite smitten, Miss,” Katrina agreed.
Amanda, as much as she was loathe to throw her eggs all in one basket, had to admit that there was something quite special about Lord Stanhope. “I think I might be. I do believe that my brother would call me foolish. After all, I have met the man one time.”
“But he did call on you at your home. That is practically an invitation to courtship.” Katrina went to the wardrobe and took out a dress. “Do you think this dress will be suitable for tomorrow?”
Amanda looked at the dress and nodded. “I think it shall do nicely. I do hope that tomorrow brings more news of my new paramour.”
Katrina lay the dress aside. “I shall fetch you some tea. Do you wish anything else?”
“Biscuits if the cook has any,” Amanda said as she fell over onto the bed dramatically.
*
Graham handed the correspondence to one of the stable boys, who would deliver it swiftly. The letter was to a Mrs. Lennox who was here in London with her family for the season. The woman was looking, or at least had been looking for, a governess.
The only downside was that Mrs. Lennox normally resided in Bath, which was a good deal farther away from Dallington. Graham was unsure if Miss Browne would want to be that far away from her family’s burial plots. Arrangements could always be made, but the first step would be to see if the woman was still in the market for a governess.
He had taken the liberty of recommending Miss Browne in the off chance that Mrs. Lennox was still in need of help. If by some chance Miss Browne did not want the position, then it was not etched in stone. With his correspondence sent, Graham turned to find Miss Browne.
