Chapter 4
MELLIE STARED AT her image in the looking glass, truly seeing herself for the first time in ages.
The full-length mirror had always been in her chambers, but in recent years, Mellie barely noted her appearance.
It was far more common that she turned down her maid’s assistance when dressing or pinning her hair.
The state of her appearance hadn’t mattered, for it was her mother’s care and comfort Mellie applied herself to day in and day out…
not the cut of her gown or the quality of her slippers, or even the stylish flare of her curls.
Who would have been near to notice anyways?
But things had changed since the previous day, had they not?
A light tap sounded at her door. “Enter.”
As she watched in the mirror, Lilly closed the door behind her and hurried to Mellie’s dressing table. “Can I pin your hair, my lady?”
For the span of a moment, Mellie wondered if it mattered if her curly locks were pinned atop her head, bound at her neck, or sheared off.
Brigham had sent his regrets the night before, calling off on their meal due to his exhaustion, and so Mellie had had a plate delivered to his room as she dined alone in the hall.
Not the way she’d envisioned spending her evening; however, it had given her much time to think.
“Allow me to tie my sash, and then I think I would like my hair down, mayhap pinned behind one ear?”
The glow of Lilly’s excitement beamed, illuminating the already sunlit room. “Very good, my lady.”
Could it be that Mellie was not the only one brightened by Brigham’s arrival? She’d noted a positively lighthearted air in the house during her evening meal. Cook had even taken her guidance and prepared shepherd’s pie, Brigham’s favorite.
Mellie moved slowly to her dressing cabinet, the doors already thrown wide from when she’d searched for the perfect gown—among her six options.
She’d never been one for finery in excess or even vanity for that matter.
Her cabinet held only what she needed: several gowns, two pairs of slippers, one pair of half boots, and underpinnings.
A few ribbons were nestled in a tiny shell Brigham had brought her from Sheerness in Kent for their first Christmastide as husband and wife.
She possessed no jewelry beyond the plain gold band he’d given her on their wedding day.
Quickly riffling through her stockings and such, Mellie had a moment’s hesitation as she pulled out a long, midnight blue silk sash.
The material was smooth and cool against her fingertips.
So far, Mellie hadn’t strayed from blacks and greys during her time of mourning—but she suspected this day was important.
This day, she would take great care in her attire and appearance, if for nothing but to gain Brigham’s attention.
Her husband’s stay at Hockcliffe would not last longer than a day or two, at most.
Lilly stepped forward, taking the silk sash from Mellie and wrapping it about the high waist of her gown before tying it at her back.
“It is lovely,” her maid sighed. “But it will be all the more attractive when I am done with your hair.”
Attractive?
Mellie had never seen herself as striking in any way.
Certainly, she had the classic appearance of an English rose, though her hair had always held a bit too much red for her liking, her skin had turned pale and sickly over the last several years, and it was only recently that she noted her gowns no longer hung limply from her thin frame.
She took a seat at her dressing table, and Lilly went to work with her brush and pins.
Turning her face slightly, Mellie scrutinized her reflection.
Perhaps there had been a time when she’d thought herself pretty, or at least comely enough by Hertfordshire standards.
If she lifted her chin at just the right angle, her neck appeared nearly swanlike, her petite ears tucked under her hair, and her large almond-shaped eyes sparkled.
“Should I change my gown?” she mused. “Perchance I have something with a—“
Mellie’s voice cut off as she met Lilly’s knowing stare in the mirror.
She was going to say low-cut neckline.
“Oh, do not look at me thusly, Lilly,” Mellie chided, in hopes of distracting her maid. “And do hurry, or I will be late for breakfast.”
“Breakfast with Lord Whitmore?” the girl prodded.
“Do you mean my husband?” Mellie corrected, narrowing her stare on the servant. “Because, yes, with Lord Whitmore. That is what wedded couples do when in residence with one another—they dine… together.”
Mellie held Lilly’s stare, refusing to be the first to look away, mainly because she wasn’t sure if the words were meant for Lilly or to reassure herself that dining together was, in fact, what wedded couples did.
Heavens, there was a great possibility Brigham would request his meal in his room, as had been the case the night before.
And she would be made to dine alone…again.
Poppycock. If Mellie sought to tempt her husband, she would actually need time in his presence. Her gown and hair would not matter a whit if he never laid eyes on her.
“Done, my lady.” Lilly stepped back and clasped her hands at her throat. “You are beautiful.”
“I appear adequately gowned and coiffed for a morning meal,” Mellie corrected, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the woman staring back at her.
Her hair was pinned behind one ear but hung free down her back and over the opposite shoulder, highlighting her tanned skin.
She’d spent much time outdoors in recent months, and her complexion was the better for it. “Thank you, Lilly.”
Mellie stood from the bench, careful not to muss her hair as she smoothed the wrinkles from her skirts.
It was time to tempt her husband.
She only prayed he was below and not cloistered in his room.
“Enjoy your meal, my lady. I will have your cloak brought down to the hall for your morning walk.”
She smiled at Lilly. The maid was skilled at her post and had provided Mellie with a listening ear on more occasions than could be counted on two hands.
“Again, thank you,” Mellie said and hurried from the room to the main stairs.
She took hold of her skirts as she descended to the foyer.
A cold draft hit her squarely in the face when Mr. Danvers, the Whitmore butler, closed the front door.
“Good morn, my lady,” he greeted with his usual cheerful tone. “Shall I have Cook bring your meal to the dining hall?”
Mellie glanced over his shoulder at the front door, but try as she might, she could not see through the thick wooden panel. Someone had recently left, but who departed the house at this ungodly hour? And where could they be going? Even the market in town was an hour from opening.
“My lady?”
Shaking her head, she smiled at Danvers. “If that is where Lord Whitmore is pleased to dine, yes.”
“My lord has broken his fast and left.”
Left? Her skin prickled at the word. Could Brigham have departed for London so quickly? Certainly, he had no pressing matters to attend to on Christmastide Eve morn.
“Where, may I ask, has he gone?”
“He went to the steward’s cottage.”
“But Mr. Briars is away to visit family for the holiday,” Mellie countered.
“I told Lord Whitmore as much, but he thought the time good to look over the ledgers for the year.”
Mellie pursed her lips to keep from snapping at the butler. If Brigham were avoiding her, it was between her and her husband, not the servants. Though she could not tamp down her ire. Certainly, there was time after the holiday for business matters.
There was no time to contemplate why Brigham’s early rising and departure irritated her so much.
“I will make certain he knows Mr. Briars is away,” Mellie said, turning toward the stairs.
If she were going outdoors, she was not senseless enough to brave the elements without her cloak.
And true to form, Lilly made her way down the hall from the servant’s stairs with Mellie’s long, black wrap in hand.
“I will not be long,” she called to the butler as she slipped her arms into the waiting garment.
“I will break my fast when I return from the steward’s cottage. ”
“Shall I have a horse brought round?”
“No, it is only a brisk walk away.” Mellie waved off the servant, thankful for his concern, but she was in a rush to set off after Brigham.
If she didn’t catch him at the steward’s office, it was likely he’d find yet another task that needed his attention which would keep him from the main house.
It would be harder than that to avoid Mellie.
She had plans, and they had naught to do with poring over old ledgers in the dusty steward’s cottage—and everything to do with capturing Brigham’s notice.
Mellie only hoped she knew what to do with his attention once she had it.