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The mansion was enormous.
As she’d learned the night before, the east wing of the second floor only housed two people at the moment. Eloise and Hades. The west wing, as it turned out, was a library. A huge library that occupied the entire floor of the wing. Eloise was dying to see it, but she knew that if she went in, she wouldn’t be able to leave. She’d want to spend all day there, perhaps even the length of her entire stay at this mansion, which she hoped would be short.
But she had a wager to win. So she reluctantly stepped away from the tall oak doors and continued with the tour.
The first floor comprised of all the bed chambers, and almost all of them were occupied. The east wing belonged to men, while the west one belonged to women. The ground floor consisted of one huge main hall, a few servants’ rooms, a larder, a pantry, and a kitchen.
Loud noises could be heard from the kitchen, and Eloise was curious to find out what was going on in there.
“I still don’t understand why you want to see the kitchen?” Sal scratched his head.
Eloise shrugged. “I want to see who makes my food.”
They walked inside, and Eloise was surprised to see how spacious and busy the place was. If the entire mansion was dark and menacing, this kitchen was like an entirely different place and busy as a factory. Women buzzed around spreading flour, cutting vegetables, and washing dishes. Regular, working women and not the painted doxies from the night before.
Not that there was anything wrong with the painted doxies. She’d grown rather attached to Verity in such a short time, but she was happy to see women of similar status to her own.
She walked farther into the room, but nobody was paying her any heed.
“Excuse me.” She tapped on the shoulder of one matronly-looking woman.
The latter turned and handed her a basket with eggs. “Be a dear. Don’t just stand here; go take those into the dairy room.”
“I just—”
“No time to talk!” The woman promptly walked away, and Eloise raised a brow.
She turned to the guards, her lips twitching in merriment.
Sal furrowed his brows. “I’ll—”
“No.” Eloise stopped him with a gesture of her hand. “I do not mind. Just show me to the dairy room, please.”
Garric turned to Sal and gave him a meaningful stare. The latter nodded and walked away.
Eloise blinked. Should she have followed him?
“It’s this way.” Garric gestured toward the small door.
“Oh, thank you.” Eloise smiled. She didn’t quite feel comfortable with Garric without the reassuring presence of Sal, but she proceeded in the indicated direction.
She opened the door and encountered the steps to the basement. Eloise looked at Garric in confusion, but the latter nodded.
Right, if that’s where the dairy room was, she supposed she’d do as told.
Eloise descended into the small, dark chamber, which looked like a cellar. A thin little girl, who looked a few years younger than Eloise, was sitting in the farthest corner, whipping something inside a large bowl.
“Um… excuse me. I brought some eggs,” Eloise called out.
The girl looked up, startled. “Just put them over there.” She pointed at the opposite corner, and Eloise did as she was asked.
“Are you new here?” the girl asked, confusion still marring her forehead.
“I… yes. I am not a maid. I am a… guest here.”
The girl raised a brow. “A guest? We do not have guests here. Either workers or servants. Which one are you?”
Eloise walked toward the girl and sat next to her. “I am neither. My name is Eloise.”
