AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jacqueline was hard-pressed not to laugh. She followed meekly behind as Mrs. Haversham and the boy led her to the manor house. They used the front door in deference to the boy, she supposed, but they soon turned down a darkened corridor which eventually led to a door at the back of the manor.
“The kitchen is this way,” the nanny said, and they walked down a gravel path towards a separate building whose chimney was billowing smoke. It was about the size of a small cottage and was bustling with life. Jacqueline wondered how many people the kitchen served in order to need all this staff.
As if she’d heard the unspoken question, Mrs. Haversham turned to her. “His Grace is the head of a garrison and while his men are billeted there, their families are hosted here.”
Jacqueline quirked an eyebrow, storing the information for later.
Well, well, I’ve hardly passed the threshold of the house and I have already acquired some intelligence.
“Is that normal, then? For your English nobles to accommodate the families of their men like that?”
The nanny turned to her, shaking her head vigorously. “Oh no, the Duke is a very generous man, caring for his men and their welfare. His servants, too, you’ll see. He treats us very well.”
“Well, what if he does not require a baker?”
Mrs. Haversham gestured to the kitchens and their hurrying, bustling population. “Can you bake bread or is it just cakes? Because every morning we have to take a delivery from the bakery. If you can save Cook from that, she’d be more than happy to have you.”
“I can bake all sorts of things,” Jacqueline said quietly, studying the layout of the kitchen and the organized chaos of preparing meals. She was quite sure she could sidle away and disappear into the house without being noticed. Especially if she used the boy.
“May I have another cake now?” He piped up right on cue. She laughed out loud before digging into her basket to get one. She stretched her hand towards George then snatched it back as he reached for the cake. “What do you say?” she asked.
His eyes widened adorably, large, blue, and full of innocent appeal. “Please?”
She handed him the cake with a smile.
This is going to be easy.
* * *
It turned out that getting Mrs. Gendry, the housekeeper, to take her on was quite simple. However, getting any useful intelligence was proving much harder than anticipated. For one thing, the servants did not know much about what their master was up to. For another, he kept his study locked while he was away.
The only thing that gave her any hope was that everyone said he came home quite often to visit his son, poor orphaned boy that he was. In the meantime, Jacqueline focused on building her relationship with George, playing with him every chance she got and feeding him lots of delicious cakes.
Soon he was following her around like a friendly puppy and they were all but inseparable. Jacqueline saw the down side of that because it left her with even less time to search for the papers she had been sent to obtain.
Hmm, might have to do something about that. A dose of sleeping potion, perhaps?
