“Very well,” she said to her cousin. “I’ll help you.”
Chapter 21
Penelope’s peacocks were shrieking outside when Elinor woke up the next morning, just as they had every morning and evening for the past six months. As soon as Elinor could force herself out of bed, she would need to wash and dress herself and find her cousin and aunt, to discover to the list of chores Penelope had chosen for her that day. Now that Penelope’s début was drawing near, the list was almost certain to be unreasonable. She…
Something stepped on Elinor’s legs, and her eyes flicked open.
The sun was shining through the windows of one of Hathergill Hall’s best bedrooms. Sir Jessamyn had just walked over her legs on his way to the closest patch of warm sunlight…and when Elinor looked down, she saw another woman’s larger hands in place of her own.
Last night’s gown, freshly cleaned, lay folded on top of the chair.
Memory swamped Elinor. She pulled her covers over her head and moaned.
Then she sighed and pushed the covers off. “Well,” she said. “At least I won’t be doing any chores today.”
It took nearly twenty minutes for her to arrange her hair as Carter had taught her, struggling to manipulate thick hanks that looked so different than they felt. By the time she’d finally succeeded, Sir Jessamyn was fast asleep again. For once, it was Elinor whose stomach was rumbling impatiently.
“Come along.” She scooped the little dragon off the ground.
His eyes slitted half-open for only a moment as she set him upon her shoulder. Closing his eyes once more, he began to slide off, straight down her front.
She grabbed him just in time.
“You’rethe reason I’m so hungry,” Elinor told him. “If you hadn’t been so greedy with my supper last night, I would have let you sleep in!”
Sir Jessamyn, settling with relief into her arms, fell asleep with his head tucked into her left elbow. Even walking down the stairs didn’t disturb his slumber. As they neared the breakfast room, though, his snout finally began to twitch.
Elinor could smell that freshly-cooked bacon, too. She wasn’t surprised when one golden eye opened and then another. Sir Jessamyn’s long neck rose, following the scent like an arrow.
“You see?” she said. “This wasn’t such a bad idea after all, was it?”
Sir Jessamyn didn’t bother with a response. He was too busy yearning towards the breakfast room.
He was perched alertly on her shoulder by the time they walked inside.Thank goodness, Elinor thought, as she saw Miss Armitage sitting already at the table with her dragon sitting perfectly still and composed on her shoulder.
Miss Armitage, she was certain,nevercarried her own dragon in her arms. Her dragon was so well-trained, he didn’t even turn to look at them as they walked into the room.
Sir Jessamyn, on the other hand, let out a loud chirrup of glee as he spotted the well-laden sideboard.
“Mrs. De Lacey.” Miss Armitage set down her knife and smiled up at her. “I see you’ve recovered from last night’s drama.”
For a moment, Elinor could only blink. How had she known—?Oh, wait. Thepublicdrama! “Perfectly.” She smiled back. “Really, it was nothing.”
“Really?” Miss Armitage raised her eyebrows.“Ithought it rather an odd way to treat an honored guest. To be frank, I was surprised you didn’t simply walk away when our host first began shouting—or leave the house entirely.”
“Well…” Elinor was grateful for the excuse to turn her back as she took her plate to the sideboard to gather her food. “I have promised to help Penelope with her début. I could hardly leave before then.”
“Very noble of you.”
In the pause that followed, Elinor bent over the sideboard, spearing eggs and bacon and toast and glaring sternly at Sir Jessamyn when his nose inched too close to the platters. Soon, though, her plate was entirely covered, and she was left with no excuse to linger.
She sat down at the table, forcing a serene expression. In the bright sunlight that streamed through the windows, Miss Armitage looked well-rested, fresh, and entirely at ease, her dark hair a rich contrast to the red scales of the dragon on her shoulder. Again, Elinor was struck by the other girl’s air of effortless confidence. She couldn’t be more than twenty, and if her older brother had only just become known in Society, then she must have only recently made her London début as well…but she held herself with all the assurance of a matron who knew her place in society, not like a girl still searching and hoping to be chosen.
When she met Elinor’s eyes, Elinor had to remind herself forcibly not to drop her gaze. The Armitages might be wealthy and charming new members of high Society, but Mrs. De Lacey was Society’s reigning queen…no matter how little Elinor herself might fit that role.
“At least the food here is delicious,” Miss Armitage said. “Sir John and his wife may be a rather tempestuous pair of hosts, but one can hardly fault them for their cook.” Her lips twitched. “I do think your dragon may be angling for a bit of your bacon, though.”
It was hard to argue, as Sir Jessamyn was now hanging off Elinor’s shoulder with his mouth half-open and his golden eyes fixed on her plate. Still, Elinor couldn’t stop herself from flushing under Miss Armitage’s amused gaze.
