Chapter One
“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was here.”
Georgina wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the kitchens at such an early hour. The maid sat alone with her back to the door, her shoulders jerking up and down, high-pitched sobs emanating from her.
She froze, ready to turn tail, but the weeping sounds echoed what she held in her heart, so she hesitated long enough for the maid to turn and look over her shoulder, who then shrieked in surprise.
The scream startled Georgina immensely.
“I’m so sorry,” the maid gasped as though she’d done something horribly wrong. She quickly wiped her eyes and then her nose with the back of her sleeve before standing and brushing down her apron. “Oh, my lady, it’s you. I mean… I’m sorry; I’m being terribly rude.”
Georgina held up her hand. “Please, think nothing of it. You didn’t expect anyone to be wandering around at this hour.”
“No, I didn’t.” Tears returned to the maid’s eyes, but she didn’t wipe them away, as if by ignoring them they would disappear.
Her shoulders heaved as though they were following music.
“Why don’t you sit?” Georgina suggested. She was carrying her own significant problems, but the maid’s sadness broke her heart. She walked over to her and took her by the arm. “Come, sit down and rest.”
Georgina Walford was the daughter of the late Earl of Ridgewell and was now in the company of her uncle, the current Lord Ridgewell, at his townhouse residence in London.
“I’m not sure what came over me,” the maid said as she sat. “I will pull myself together and then see to your needs. Did you come down here for some food? What can I make you, my lady?”
“It is my order that you sit and don’t move.” Georgina smiled. “Now, I didn’t expect anyone to be here, but I did expect to make myself some bread with butter and jam, and I have a craving for warm milk with honey. Can I make you some, too?”
The maid started giggling through her sobbing. “Oh, my goodness, what is happening to me? I can make all of that, my lady, I’m just being a silly goose!”
“You will not, and you are not. I ordered you to sit, and I’m ordering you to eat and drink what I make for you, and I won’t hear another word about it. Do you understand me?” She spoke firmly but kindly, as she didn’t want to scare the poor girl.
The maid nodded, but her eyes immediately widened. She froze for a moment before her head snapped to the side as if on instinct, and she stared wide-eyed at Georgina.
“My goodness, it’s your wedding day today, isn’t it, my lady?”
Georgina laughed because it was much more pleasant than joining the maid in her sobbing.
She poured milk from the bottle into the pot, adding more wood to the embers in the center of the range.
“Yes, it is indeed my wedding day. Everyone knows that a lady should get what she wants on her wedding day; what I want is to ensure no one is sad on mine.”
“I didn’t mean to?—”
Georgina held up a finger as she added ground nutmeg with her free hand. “Your name is Dottie, isn’t it?”
The maid smiled and nodded.
“Dottie, I want to help you with whatever you are going through. Please, will you share with me what’s troubling you?”
Dottie lost her smile and looked down at the floor.
“My lady, I couldn’t possibly burden you…”
“Please, Dottie. Consider it a wedding gift,” Georgina pressed.
The maid pursed her lips, “It’ll be one of the worst gifts you’ll receive today, my lady.”
“A gift all the same.”
Dottie sighed, a torrent of emotions and thoughts flickering in her eyes. Finally, she exhaled once again, and her hand moved from her leg to her stomach, telling Georgina everything she needed to know.
