Page 32 of Leap of Faith
“I don’t care for milk myself, reminds me of my old nurse. Look at him go!” he said as if he were responsible for providing the creature with milk and his ability to drink it.
Several of the sisters were watching adoringly.
Dominic turned away from the spectacle his friend was making of himself, only to see that Joy was watching the maids milk the cows with fascination.
She was right next to one of the girls, asking questions and was now bending down to watch closely. It was almost like watching an accident in slow motion. The milkmaid stood up and helped Joy sit on her stool, then proceeded to show her how to squeeze and draw milk from the giant black and white cow.
“Why is my ward milking a cow?” He began to move forward, but felt a staying hand on his arm.
“At this point, it would be best to let her finish. If you scare the cow, it might hurt her.”
“Again, I ask, why would she do such a thing?”
“I would think you know Joy well enough by now that she is infinitely curious about everything.”
“I see. It is educational.”
She smiled at him as though pleased with his understanding. “Why, yes. But I do not think there is any harm in it. In the country, she was not restricted perhaps as much as girls are in the city.”
Dominic had no doubt of that assertion whatsoever. It did not seem as if she’d had any restrictions at all. “There may not be any harm to her, but think of me!”
“I believe your reputation will withstand such an assault.”
“Not at this rate! What next? You will have me sewing samplers!”
“Shall we retire to Bath after all, my lord?” she taunted, a devilish twinkle in her eyes.
“Baggage!”
CHAPTER8
Faith had never planned a party or a ball, but she knew it must be a great deal of work. When they had returned from the outing in the park, it seemed the servants had multiplied into an army and were turning the house inside out in the process of cleaning, polishing, and rearranging.
Lady Westwood was still undecided on a theme. She called to Faith on her way in the door while her sisters and the gentlemen somehow managed to escape.
Her ladyship had already set the servants upon preparing the ballroom and had her chef and Lord Westwood’s conferring over menus. “We must decide on the theme now. If we do the heavens, I fear people will try to name each of you as goddesses, which could have devastating implications. You cannot all be Aphrodite!”
“Very true,” Faith agreed, not knowing why it mattered or what else to say.
“But it is certainly easy to decorate for. Since we have so little time, I do not think we could recreate Paris or anywhere to rival Vienna. The ballroom already has statues in its alcoves, and it is simple enough to have cherubs playing harps in clouds.”
It didn’t sound simple to Faith at all. “What if we were angels instead of goddesses? If we need to be anything at all.”
“Why, of course you do! You are the main attractions!”
She watched Lady Westwood’s face as she considered. “It might be the very thing,” she said, looking very pleased with herself. “It is not every day that five almost identical beauties come along at once. But do we dress you all in white so that you are indistinguishable? Or do we give you each your own pale colour like a rainbow?”
“Rainbows are biblical,” Faith replied noncommittally.
Lady Westwood was not attending. She was already off in her own world, dreaming of heaven and how to replicate it in her ballroom. “Pastels, I think. With your colouring, it does nothing to diminish your beauty. But I do not care for wings protruding from your back. It would be vulgar!”
Faith tried not to laugh.
“We can have actors dressed in white with wings hanging from the ceiling, perhaps. And harps. Several harps! We must have the ceiling transformed into the sky, but do you think fabric or paint would be better?”
“It will take a great deal of fabric, but it would cover everything and not be permanent,” Faith reasoned.
“Indeed.” She looked at the two secretaries who were sitting, taking furious notes. “Jones, send someone as soon as possible to the silk warehouses! It will take an act of God to find enough fabric in time!”
