He returned to the table a moment later, setting the teacup and saucer before her. “Would you care for eggs and bacon? Or perhaps you would prefer porridge?”
“Eggs and bacon would be lovely, thank you.” Irene removed her gloves and unfolded her napkin as he filled a plate and brought it to her, and the fact that she was being waited upon by a duke made this entire episode of her life seem even more surreal.
“I’m actually glad of this chance to speak with you,” she said as he resumed his own seat. “I have a request to make.”
“I will do my best to fulfill it.”
“Your mother’s maid has somehow become mine, it seems.”
He did not seem surprised. “Yes, of course. That is always the case when a guest has not brought his or her own servant. Do you not like her? We can—”
“No, no, it isn’t that. I haven’t even met her. But we don’t need her. We don’t need anyone, truly. I meant what I said last night. My sister and I are accustomed to dressing ourselves.”
He studied her for a moment, then he said something wholly unexpected. “You’re a very proud woman, aren’t you?”
Irene’s face flooded with color. She could feel it happen, even before he said, “My apologies. I did not mean to embarrass you.”
She looked down, pretending keen interest in her bacon. “I have my fair share of pride, I suppose,” she admitted after a moment. “I suppose you think that a bad thing?”
“Not at all. I’m very proud myself. I bring it up only because I would like to advise you without hurting your pride, and given what occurred last evening, I am concerned I might inadvertently do so.”
She wriggled in her chair, appreciating that after their altercation, he might have a point, and she looked at him again. “Go on, please.”
“I suggest you accept my mother’s hospitality with good grace. To do otherwise would reflect badly upon her as a hostess, and I’m sure you would not wish to do that.”
Irene was confounded. Sometimes, the aristocracy was truly baffling. “I did not understand that it would be discourteous to refuse the use of your mother’s maid. I’d have thought the opposite.”
“My mother is far too considerate a hostess to see you do without a maid. It would distress her enormously to see two young ladies in the season doing for themselves.”
“But what will she do, then?”
“In cases such as this, precedent decides. My mother will take Carlotta’s maid. Angela and Sarah, who are unmarried and therefore share a maid, will give their maid to Carlotta, and a housemaid will be brought up to assist them.”
Irene groaned. “I now see what Lady David meant about how my sister and I would be causing everyone inconvenience. I thought at the time that she was just being catty.”
“You mustn’t mind Carlotta, truly. I took her aside last evening, and I don’t expect there will be any more trouble from that quarter.”
“But it sounds as if she was right. If the staff is short a housemaid, the other servants will have to pitch in to help cover her duties, won’t they?” She sighed. “It was a decision of pride,” she admitted. “I did not consider the impact my choice might have on other people.”
If he discerned that she was acknowledging his words to her from the first time they met, he was too polite to crow about it. “In this case, it’s perfectly understandable. Your own household is quite small, I daresay.”
“A cook, a housemaid, a housekeeper, and my father’s valet comprise the whole lot.”
“While we have a staff of over fifty servants, half of whom are here with us in town for the season. You would think in a house like this, a decision so small wouldn’t matter, but it’s actually the opposite. In a large household, duties demonstrate rank, and rank is everything, even below stairs. No servant is happy doing work that might be considered to be beneath him. You would not believe the hard feelings even the smallest decision can generate.”
“All the more reason not to deprive your mother of her maid, then, for we are definitely a comedown from a duchess. Can she not be persuaded to take her maid back?”
“I doubt it. And though you don’t yet know it, your fortnight in society will be much easier if you have someone to assist you.” He paused, then gave a cough. “I should like to make a suggestion, if I may? I am going to Merrick’s Employment agency today to engage a nanny for my nephews. I could engage a maid to assist you during your stay. That is, if you’re willing to trust such a personal selection to my care.”
“Oh, no, please, don’t trouble yourself.”
“It shall be no trouble, Miss Deverill, for as I said, I have to be at Merrick’s anyway. My nephews simply must have a nanny, for they have been in the care of maids and footmen for several days now. If you want to talk of unhappy servants, let us discuss that! No footman or maid should ever be required to look after my nephews, believe me. They’re good boys, but they are a handful. My family has become thoroughly exasperated with them. So has my staff. If I do not find a nanny soon, I expect a mutiny.”
“Shouldn’t your brother-in-law be the one to find his son’s nanny?”
“Yes, but as Angela pointed out last night, Jamie’s efforts in that regard have been less than successful. When I offered to assist, he was glad to allow me to do so.”
“Do you always feel obligated to solve other people’s problems?” she asked, curious.
