“That Stevenson is a remarkable worker,” Mary announced when she entered Lizzie’s dressing room after dinner.
“What makes you say that?” Lizzie replied without looking away from her reflection in the looking glass.
“I went to ask him about your boots, and we talked for over an hour. He is insanely dedicated to his duties! He takes such good care of the Duke’s things. He showed me how he cleans and maintains his wardrobe, every detail is meticulously organised – the hats are wiped on the inside with a clean handkerchief, but on the outside he brushes them with a soft brush, the clothes in the wardrobe are covered with linen wrappers to protect them from dust, and so on. When I came to see him, he was rubbing the Duke’s wet clothes with a spongebeforehanging them by the fire, because, in his words,later he might be unable to remove the roughness.It actually made me feel bad about myself.”
Elizabeth turned to face her friend. “Why would you feel bad about that?”
Mary sat down with a sigh. “I don’t think I’ve been a good lady’s maid to you.”
When she saw Lizzie shake her head, Mary held her palm up. “I’m serious. Stevenson made me realise that I’ve been acting more like your friend or sister instead of someone with a job to do.”
“I don’t see what more you could do for me. Perhaps you could follow me around and fix my hair the way Stevenson is always fixing Colin’s cravat,” Lizzie laughed, but Mary didn’t.
“I am now a duchess’s lady’s maid, I’m not just doing my friend’s hair for a ball. I never want to be the reason you embarrass yourself, so I am going to work closer with Stevenson to make sure that never happens.”
“Thank you,” Lizzie said, touched, and the two friends shared a long hug.
“I always feel like I’m embarrassing myself, and it has nothing to do with how you care for my clothes,” Elizabeth said as she broke the hug. “My clothes are perhaps the only thing Idon’tworry about.”
“Why would you feel that way?” Mary frowned.
“The tenants and the townsfolk are always staring at me and whispering,” Lizzie admitted.
“You are their new mistress, of course they are staring,” Mary said matter-of-factly, but Elizabeth shook her head.
“I don’t know. There have been things in the papers, and there is always gossip, -”
“But there are always rumours, even when absolutely nothing has happened,” Mary interrupted her. “Put it out of your mind.”
“I wish I could.” Elizabeth sighed.
*
“Come here, wife,” Colin lifted the coverlet as she approached his bed.
“I’ve started my courses,” she said somewhat sullenly as she climbed in.
“So?” he lifted an eyebrow at her as he pulled her into his arms.
“I’m simply warning you, in case you get any ideas. Besides, my whole body hurts and my legs are sore from riding,” she mumbled against his chest.
“Here?” he asked as he put his large palm on the outside of her thigh and started rubbing it in slow, methodical movements.
“Everywhere,” she moaned as she relaxed slightly.
“Do they hurt terribly? Your courses,” he added when she looked up at him in confusion.
“Not typically. The second day is usually the worst one.”
They remained silent for a while as Colin kneaded her thighs.
“Where else?” Colin asked when he finished.
“My lower back.”
Colin flipped her onto her stomach and straddled her behind, which gave her a naughty thrill of pleasure, despite all her previous complaints. She felt like she might have imagined the discomfort, since, at the moment, she was in heaven. She couldn’t resist lifting her behind to slightly press into him. He stopped the soothing movements of his hands on her lower back.
“Careful, wife, you don’t want to entice me more than you already do,” he warned and she was briefly tempted to do exactly that, but decided she’d rather die than let him see her menstrual belt so she remained still as he thoroughly massaged her back, her thighs, and her arse (a little more than was necessary, she was sure, but who was she to say no to a good thing) until she felt sated and warm and relaxed enough to sleep.
