Under the Seductive Lady's Charm: A Historical Regency Romance Book

by Henrietta Harding

  Charlotte stared at him for a moment. He was so kind. Why was he so kind to her? “Yes,” Charlotte breathed the word. She quickly added, “Your Lordship.”

  “Do not carry on with the titles,” Lord Easterly said with a wave of his hand. “I have known you since you were a child. Does not seem right to be so formal.”

  Charlotte ducked her head. “Forgive me but I need to fetch your sister her tea.”

  “Of course,” Lord Easterly said. Charlotte looked up just long enough to see the man incline his head to her. Then he was past her with his long strides.

  His dark blond hair with its slight waves reminded her very much of the unruly young man he had once been. The grey in his beard served to bring her back to the here and now. He was a formidable man now.

  Charlotte made her way toward the kitchen, again counting off the steps until she saw Henrietta’s ample form at the stove. “Ah, there you are. I suspected that you would be along to fetch the Ladyships’ tea.”

  “She requested that you put extra honey on her pastry, if it is not too much trouble.” Charlotte slipped her hands nervously into her apron.

  Henrietta chuckled. “Now I know my Miss Easterly does not care one bit for my trouble, so thank you for thinking of me, Charlotte.” The woman gave her a wink as she drizzled a bit more honey over the pastries that were laid out on a silver tray. “There. It is all ready for you to take upstairs.”

  “Thank you,” Charlotte said with a sigh as she picked up the tray. Henrietta alone seemed to not view Charlotte as some usurper. She gave the woman a smile as she turned with the tray to leave.

  As she walked, she thought about Katrina and Gretchen. She thought about the other maids too. She had not known Katrina was to be Amanda’s lady’s maid, nor would Charlotte have accepted the position if she knew she would be ousting someone else.

  Yet, she could not seem to get the staff to understand that it had been Amanda’s choice and had little to do with Charlotte. The walk up was blissfully quiet as she did not pass any other staff. She found Amanda waiting impatiently for her.

  “Here you go,” Charlotte said as she sat down the heavy tray. She stood nearby waiting for Amanda to either ask her to sit or to send her away. That much she had learnt she was supposed to do.

  Charlotte longed for a little tea herself, but of course Amanda only sometimes offered. “Sit down, Charlotte. You make me tired just standing there.”

  With permission, Charlotte sat down with a sigh of relief. “I have been thinking, Amanda.”

  Amanda’s eyes came up to look at Charlotte, but she did not speak. Instead, Amanda helped herself to a pastry and watched Charlotte as if waiting for a play to begin.

  Charlotte continued as if Amanda had asked her to. “Perhaps my taking on the position of your lady’s maid was not in anyone’s best interest. I do not mind working for a living, but it is clear that Katrina would be more qualified.”

  “Is this about her tormenting you again? I really can do very little about that,” Amanda said with disdain.

  Charlotte thought there was actually a good amount that Amanda could do about it. But she merely said, “Perhaps the best thing would be to right the situation. I could perhaps step down into a lesser role.”

  “You would rather do what? You want to be a chambermaid or scullery maid?” Amanda looked completely scandalised and stopped stirring her tea. “Why would you rather do that than be my companion?”

  Charlotte sighed. “Well, I am not really your companion, am I? I am your maid, and as you pointed out, I am not qualified for such a position.”

  “So, you want me to give Katrina the position?” Amanda giggled. “You feel bad for her.” Amanda gave Charlotte a grin. “My brother has talked to me about the same thing, not you being a scullery maid, but about my hiring Katrina to do the maid parts of the job.”

  Charlotte felt hopeful that since Lord Easterly had brought it up perhaps it would lend more weight to her argument if even her brother could see that Katrina was better for the job. “Perhaps your brother is right. I know you might not like to hear that, but what happens when you are at season and do not have someone to aid you as you should?”

  The idea of going to season and not being prepared seemed to give Amanda pause as little had up until that point. “Very well, I shall consider it. Honestly, Lotte, you should have just agreed to my arrangement of a companion the first time around.”

  Charlotte nodded slowly. “Perhaps, but I do want to earn my keep.”

  Amanda lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “You should learn how to sew a button regardless.”

  “I promise that I will try,” Charlotte said as she relaxed. She truly hoped Amanda would actually consider her words and not just dismiss them out of hand.

  It would make Charlotte’s life considerably easier if she did not have to look over her shoulder all the time due to the staff having a vendetta against her. She wanted to keep the peace, and more importantly, attain her own peace of mind again.

  Amanda ate and only as an afterthought seemed to realise that Charlotte might want something. “Oh, do you want some tea?”

  “I would,” Charlotte said with relief as she took one of the cups.

  They sat in silence and ate. Charlotte was not sure if it was a companionable silence or not, but she definitely did not mind the quiet. Her mind suddenly remembered Mrs. Sullivan. “Oh no,” Charlotte groaned. “I forgot that Mrs. Sullivan asked me to see her when I delivered your tea.”

  Amanda snorted. “You might want to hurry along, then. She can be frightful when she is in a huff.”

  Charlotte set the tea down as quickly as she dared and was out of the room before Amanda could tease her anymore. She practically ran down the stairs. Charlotte headed to the conservatory where Mrs. Sullivan took her tea.

  She found the woman sipping tea and staring out of the window. “Sorry for the delay, Mrs. Sullivan. Miss Easterly was talking to me.”

  “Nothing to be done about that,” Mrs. Sullivan said with a sigh. “I know that you will be travelling with Miss Easterly to London shortly and I wanted to remind you that although you have not been with our staff long, please do mind your manners.”

  Charlotte felt insulted. She had always minded her manners, but she refrained from saying so. “I would never bring offense onto the Easterly name, Mrs. Sullivan. There is a chance I may not go to London, however. I recommended to Miss Easterly that she hire Katrina to be her lady’s maid. I never intended for her to hire me in someone else’s place.”

  “Not all of us get to choose our stations in life,” Mrs. Sullivan said. “I suppose you understand that to some extent, from what I have heard of your past.”

  Charlotte looked down at her feet. Mrs. Sullivan cleared her throat. “The other reason I brought you here was to tell you to help the maids on the second floor. I want the floor nice and tidy before the household leaves for the season.”

  Charlotte’s stomach felt like lead. The maids upstairs were particularly vicious, but she knew better than to naysay. She gave the housekeeper a curtsey and went to do as she was asked.

  *

  Graham sat in the dining hall quite alone. A maid came through with a pile of plates to set out on the table. “Have you by any chance seen my sister or Miss Browne? I should think that someone around here would be prompt to the evening meal.”

  The maid seemed rather surprised to be spoken to and stared at him for a moment before she answered, “I have not seen Miss Easterly, but Miss Browne was helping the maids upstairs to do some tidying.”

  “Whose idea was that?” Graham expected to hear that it was one of his sister’s schemes.

  The maid’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Mrs. Sullivan told her to, Your Lordship.”

  Apparently, no one was listening to him anymore. Graham took pity on the girl and waved that she could go back to her duties before the cook skinned her alive. He pondered what the best way to handle the situation would be, if at all. They would
be leaving soon, and it might not be worth raising the ire of his housekeeper over.

  Graham took a coin out of his pocket. It was old and discoloured. He had found it right before a battle and had given into superstition that the coin must hold some good luck. So far it had seemed to work very well.

  He walked the coin along his fingers, flipping it between them. It was an old habit. Far older than the coin. He was still lost in thought when Amanda entered.

  She took one look at the coin and asked, “What have I done now?”

  “Nothing that I know of. Are you in need of repenting?” Graham kept walking the coin along his fingers as he spoke to her.

  Amanda stuck her tongue out at him. “Are you sure you are not the one that needs such as that? What are you thinking about so deeply?”

  “I was thinking about how no one around here seems to heed what I say.” Graham shrugged and moved his hands off the table as the maid reached him and put his plate in front of him. “Thank you.”

  Amanda looked around as Miss Browne came in. “You look awful.”

  “I feel the same,” Miss Browne informed her.

  Graham deposited the coin in his pocket. “All the same I am glad that you have joined us. Perhaps it will stop my sister and me from fighting so much.”

  “I can honestly say that I feel no need to argue with you, Brother.” Amanda waited as the maid placed her plate in front of her. “I am in too good a mood for even your grumpiness to ruin it.”

  Graham intoned, “Yes, because London is so much fun.”

  “Not all of us have to work while we are there, Graham,” Amanda reminded him. “You do get to look for yourself a lovely bride as well. I just wish that you did not have to get Great Aunt Beatrice to be my chaperone.”

  Graham lifted his glass of wine. “Who would you like me to get? There are scarcely any other relations around willing to do so.”

  “Well, why not Charlotte?” Amanda waved at Miss Browne whose large brown eyes grew round with the unexpected turn of events.

  Graham waved off Amanda’s nonsense. “She is your lady’s maid and, as such, is not really the best chaperone for society events. Trust me when I say that I have picked the best chaperone for you.”

  “The best chaperone to make sure I never get suitors. She will beat them away from me. They will run in terror.” Amanda gestured with her hands as if she were clobbering her meat. “Terror, Graham.”

  He gave her a smile. “My word on this is final.” He took a sip of her wine. “I simply do not have time to find another suitable chaperone and there is nothing wrong with her.”

  The look of dissatisfaction on Amanda’s face made Graham’s evening all the better. He was never really harsh to her, and their parents had definitely never told Amanda no, but there were some things that even Graham could not do on a whim.

  His eyes went over to Miss Browne. The young lady was nibbling at her meal. “Are you not hungry?”

  Miss Browne’s eyes came up and she gazed at him through her long lashes as if she were too shy to look at him directly. “I think I am just tired.”

  “I imagine you are if Mrs. Sullivan has had you working. The woman simply does not know when to stop, it seems.” Graham nodded. “You should eat though.”

  Miss Browne gave him a small smile. “I know I should, but I think I am simply more tired than hungry.”

  “Then you should sleep,” Amanda said.

  Graham rolled his eyes at his sister. She would say the opposite of whatever he said, so Graham left it up to Miss Browne and said, “It is your choice.”

  Miss Browne sighed. “As much as this is a lovely meal, I think I shall go up to bed.”

  Graham accepted her decision with a nod of his head. When Miss Browne stood up to leave, Graham stood up respectfully. He only sat down when she was out of the room. Amanda snorted. “You really are just like Father.”

  “How am I like him today?” Graham had got used to Amanda listing his flaws.

  Amanda’s lips curved up into a smile. “It is no fun if you do not get angry, but truthfully you tend to try to be everyone’s father. It is quite odd.”

  Graham had tried to explain to Amanda once why he had come back from the war with a protectiveness for those around him. He had only tried once, though. Amanda simply seemed incapable of understanding that he had seen enough death over the last few years to last him a lifetime.

  *

  The ceiling over Charlotte’s bed held a fascination that only appealed to those who were so desperate for sleep, and yet sleep would never come. She was terrified and at the same time excited to be leaving for London today. Charlotte got out of her bed with the eagerness of a child on Christmas morning.

  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.