“Take heart, ma’am,” Mrs Reynolds said, with a surprisingly impish smile. “Your losing streak is most impressive.”
“I... What?” Caroline said, utterly at sea.
“We take occasional bets on which of us can guess our guest’s preferences,” Georgiana explained.
Caroline raised an eyebrow. “And you lose often?”
Mrs Reynolds snorted.
“Not that often!” Georgiana protested. “It’s simply that...” She glared at the housekeeper. “She’s very good at being correct.”
“That is why your brother employs me, ma’am.” The housekeeper sashayed out of the room, still grinning.
Caroline stared in astonishment. She had never heard Georgiana and Mrs Reynolds speak so freely with each other. Beingfriends with Miss Merryhill was one thing, but being friends with one’s own staff was quite another. Mrs Bingley would have had choice words upon the subject, and none of them good. Reaching for the kippers, Caroline speared two and laid them on her plate. “What did you choose?”
“Pardon?”
“What did you choose?” she repeated. “Since Mrs Reynolds selected toast for her side of the bet, I am curious to know what you thought I might order.”
“Porridge,” Georgiana said, staring ruefully down at her own bowl. “It’s not as sunny as it was yesterday and you often choose porridge when the sky is grey. And you had toast yesterday, so I thought... Alas, Mrs Reynolds knows you better than I.”
Caroline stared at her. “I had no idea you paid so much attention to my breakfast habits.”
Georgiana shrugged. “When one is bored, one must make one’s own entertainment.”
Caroline had always enjoyed being looked at and admired. An appreciative glance or comment about her face or figure ordinarily made her feel wonderful, even powerful. To be perceived, on the other hand, set a warm glow alight in her chest that was very, very different. She doubted whether any of her family could have guessed her breakfast preferences, even if five thousand pounds had been at stake. “Does your brother know that you gamble with the staff?”
“Of course he does,” Georgiana said, as Mrs Reynolds returned bearing a rack of well-fired toast. “He does it too, though he’s even worse at it than I am.”
“Your losses paid for many a pretty present for my children,Miss Darcy,” Mrs Reynolds said, and her smile was now the soft, kindly one she reserved for the Darcys alone.
“That does not make me feel any better,” Georgiana muttered, though she grinned back at Mrs Reynolds with a look of equal fondness.
Caroline watched the interplay with bafflement. She’d known the Darcys were fond of all their staff, and of Mrs Reynolds in particular, but she’d had no idea that the relationship ran quite so deep. They must have gone to some lengths to keep this camaraderie hidden from their guests. So why were they now displaying it openly in front of Caroline?
What has changed?she wondered, but a satisfactory conclusion eluded her.
