ANNE ASHLEY - A Lady Of Rare Quality

‘I’ll need to take your word for that, Dish, because it’s unlikely I’ll ever receive an invitation to visit that particular grandiose dwelling,’ Annis returned, before she paused to consider for a moment. ‘And, to be truthful, I suppose rank curiosity was responsible in part for my agreeing to come here on Godmama’s behalf. I wanted to more than just glimpse the kind of house Mama grew up in. Of course I never imagined I would be granted the opportunity to sample such luxury for so many days.’

An element of concern was easily discernible in the maid’s homely features. ‘That’s understandable, miss. But it wouldn’t do for you to become too comfortable with this way of life.’

Annis didn’t pretend to misunderstand. ‘Don’t worry, Dish, I’m too much of a realist even to attempt to delude myself. His lordship’s reasons for wishing me to stay are honourable enough, if not wholly flattering, as he himself was the first to admit. He believes my presence will be beneficial to the ladies of the house. He has no interest in me, personally.’

Disher, however, was not altogether convinced that her engaging young mistress, who had proved to be an exceptionally good judge of character in recent years, not to mention uncannily accurate in her predictions, was correct in her judgement about everything.

The loyal maid was by no means the only servant inclined to ponder that day over his lordship’s actions. An hour later the head groom, Wilks, began to do just that when he caught his first sight of the young woman who had taken care of the Viscount in his time of need. This action alone would have ensured that Wilks regarded Miss Milbank in a favourable light; and he was forced to own, as he watched her trip lightly across the stable-yard, that she was a pretty enough young woman whose voluminous fur-lined cloak, he suspected, hid a trim, shapely figure. All the same, she was hardly in his lordship’s usual style!

Wilks, like Dunster, was a devoted servant. He had worked for the Greythorpe family most all his life, and had sat the present holder of the title on his very first pony. Compared to the other servants of long standing, Wilks possibly knew his lordship’s ways better than most, and had undoubtedly forged the closest bond with the present master of Greythorpe Manor. He invariably travelled with him whenever the Viscount took it into his head to visit the capital, so he had seen often enough the type of female who found favour in his lordship’s eyes.

Undoubtedly the Viscount’s tastes ran to golden-haired lovelies. His mistresses, and there had been several over the years, had all been acknowledged beauties. Even his flirts, those ladies who might or might not have shared his bed, but who had been his chosen companions at the theatre and at leading social events, had all been sophisticated ladies of rank and style, not innocent young females who might easily misunderstand the reasons why they had been singled out for particular attention.

And that, if what the most recent household gossip to reach the realm of the stables was to be believed, was the truth of the matter, Wilks reflected, nimbly jumping up on the perch at the back of the phaeton, a moment after his lordship had taken up the reins. Astonishingly enough, it was none other than the Viscount himself who had wished Miss Milbank to extend her stay with the family.

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