He saw her visibly relax at his words, and as she sipped her drink and he sipped his, he wondered how far from the truth he had actually spoken. Somehow, he had become the caretaker of a wild and rude young woman.
* * *
Even as she had a bath drawn for his lordship and hot water brought to her basin, Kitty stomped around in a temper. She washed with the hot water, soaped herself, and rinsed with fresh hot water. She brushed her golden locks until they did, in fact, shine in luxurious waves around her face and down her back, where they swayed against her waist.
She donned the day gown Nanny liked so much. It was old. She hadn’t bought anything new in ages. This one was especially tight around the bodice, which was too high to be fashionable and made her look like a schoolgirl. She clucked at her reflection. She wanted this earl to take her seriously, but how could he if every time he saw her she was either dressed like a dirty boy or a silly schoolgirl?
She stared at herself in the long glass and sighed. Nothing about her said ‘woman’.
She hadn’t really looked at herself in so long. A woman should have looked back at her, but instead she was, even in a gown, nothing more than a hoyden.
A footman knocked at her door, and she opened it. The older man said, “His lordship’s bath should be ready in about ten minutes, miss.”
“Thanks, Gromley. I shall go and tell the insufferable—” She cut herself off, “Indeed, thank you for all your trouble. I shall go and tell him,” Kitty answered.
He smiled and added, “Seeing as I watched ye grow up, I don’t think it would be too forward of me to tell ye, well, ye look beautiful, miss.”
She smiled at that, and for a moment her temper vanished. “Oh, dear Gromley, thank you.”
She braced herself then and left the safety of her bedroom behind, thinking if the earl had made her Nanny uncomfortable in any way, she would shoot him dead!
~ Ten ~
BY DINNER, KITTY was in a temper the likes of which she had not suffered in ages. Each time his lordship opened his mouth, it was to say something she thought odious. She retaliated in kind, and the two would end at an impasse.
He had one, only one redeeming quality, she told herself. He was kind and respectful to Nanny.
Before going to dinner, she had changed her gown and surveyed herself in the oak-framed looking glass in her bedroom.
Her image frowned back at her. Oh, her hair looked neatly brushed, but it hung about her shoulders like a schoolgirl’s. It wanted styling. And her gown, this was no better than the green gown she had worn earlier that day.
Nanny tied a matching blue ribbon in her hair, and she pulled at the wispy bangs over Kitty’s forehead.
“Perhaps I should wear it up?”
“What? Now? Not suitable, my dear,” Nanny answered.
“Why not? I am nearly one and twenty.”
“But, ’tis only a simple country dinner with no one but the earl dining with us,” Nanny answered, surprise opening her eyes wide.
Kitty studied her gown. It was a simple creation of blue muslin, dotted throughout with soft white. Its neckline was too high to be thought provocative, and it was trimmed with a simple white lace fringe. The same lace trimmed the tightly fitted sleeves at their cuffs.
The gown’s fitted waist, did however, display her slender figure to advantage, as it was accentuated with a wide band of blue satin. Her slippers were made of the same blue satin and covered her feet in a dainty fashion, but looking at herself, she felt a dowd. It occurred to her that if London and the beau monde were her destination, then she would take them on, and this, she was fairly certain, was not the image she meant to present.
“Nanny, this sort of gown will never do. I know we are only having a simple country dinner, but … it is … so …”
“Wrong, I know, dear, but what is to be done?”
“Well, I was with Henrietta last year when I purchased it, and then I thought it very fine, but she did not. Henrietta has already suffered a London Season, so I think, yes, I do believe she was in the right of it. So what is to be done? I don’t know, but something.”
Nanny sniffed. “And still, what is to be done at this late hour? And besides, you do look fetching, as you would in almost anything.”
“Thank you, Nanny,” she said but then pursed her lips and continued to stare at her reflection. “Well, as simply fetching is not what I am looking to achieve when in London—we must get the hang of this fashion thing. I want … stunning. Do you know why?” She proceeded to answer her own question. “Because if the earl is an example of the sort of people who are part of the beau monde set, well, if I turn out in something like this they will eat me up and spit me out, and I shall feel a fool.” She sucked in her bottom lip. “I don’t think they could break me, but I don’t want to be anyone other than who I am … and they could hurt me. So, if fashion means so much to them, then I shall learn the knack of it.”
“Spit you out?” Nanny was astonished. “What kind of talk is that? Kitty, you must learn to watch your tongue, and as to breaking your spirit?” She shook her head. “No one, I am quite certain, could ever do that. You would simply pick yourself up and brush yourself off. ’Tis what you always do.”
Kitty smiled. “I adore you, Nanny.” She grimaced as a thought settled in her head. “However, if they are all like the earl … oh my, I just might never take, even if I manage to dress well. He dislikes me I think even more than I dislike him.”