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Tom turned to discover two female rumps in the air as the girls rummaged through a trunk, skirts pooled on the dusty floor around them. They presented a striking contrast, Betty’s figure plump and well rounded, Kitty’s on the scrawny side. Tom took in an appreciative eyeful, then looked away.
“His lordship’s taking a deal of trouble for your young lady,” Betty said. “You think he’s sweet on her?”
“Might be,” replied Kitty, her voice somewhat muffled by the depths of the trunk. “How would I know?”
“You see them together when he visits.”
“He didn’t bring her flowers or nothing,” said Kitty. “Is this a hat?”
“I still think he’ll wed a grand lady from London,” said Betty. “Daughter of a duke or some such thing. With bride clothes from the very best places. And a dresser who knows all the tricks.”
“But not too grand to teach you,” replied Kitty.
“I’ll make sure she takes to me.”
The two girls straightened, each holding a large hatbox.
“Lord Macklin’s a dab hand at matchmaking,” said Tom.
“The old lord?” said Betty. “I wouldn’t think he’d take an interest.”
“You’d be surprised.”
The girls turned to look at him. “How’d you come to work for him?” Betty asked. “And what d’you do anyhow? Nobody belowstairs can figure.”
“I make him laugh, mostly. I think he’s lonely since his wife died.”
“Don’t he have any family?” asked Kitty.
“He does, but he says his children are right busy. He’s taken me on like one of them court jesters, I reckon.”
“A what?” Betty frowned up at him.
“I saw one in a pantomime in Bristol,” Tom went on. “They dance around with bells and make jokes.”
“You do that?” Betty gaped at him.
Tom looked contemptuous. “’Course not. But I’m not like anybody he’s ever known, see. He’s curious.”
“You like being treated that way?”
“I don’t mind. He’s kind about it. And I get to see and do a mort of things I never would have otherwise. I’ll move on after a bit.”
“Where?” asked Kitty.
Tom shrugged. “Wherever I like. America maybe.”
“It’s full of wild Indians! And panthers.”
“What a load of nonsense.”
“There are!”
“Not in New York or Boston, which is where I’d land.” Tom looked speculative. “Maybe I’d go and look for the wild Indians.” He eyed the hatboxes. “You know there’s no papers in them boxes, right?”
“We have to look everyplace,” Betty replied. She and Kitty exchanged a glance and giggled.
They set the boxes down and opened them. Unsurprisingly, they contained hats, which the two girls promptly donned. Betty grinned from under the wide brim of a confection adorned with ribbons, feathers, and artificial flowers. A similar hat, with the addition of a stuffed bird perched on top, fell down over Kitty’s nose, covering her forehead and eyes. “Whoever owned this ’un must have had a head like a pumpkin,” she declared.
