A princess on the run, Briar Aldrich has no choice but to take on the role of scullery maid when Lord Sterling Huntington stumbles upon her in the woods and doesn't recognize her. But how safe is she actually in his home? And how safe is her heart?
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When no one was looking, Briar managed to sneak some of the sweeter snacks from the ball into the folds of her dress and, when she returned to her room that night, she and Elsie ate them together and talked about all if the noble men and women who had attended the ball until Elsie said it was late and they should sleep as they would be expected to clean the mess the next morning.
She turned out to be right. The next morning, Briar found herself with a headache from perhaps a bit too much wine, hunched over to sweep crumbs of the previous night's offerings from the floor. She found herself missing the delicate lace and satin of her previous night's gown as the rough burlap rubbed against her knees.
"Mrs. Woods," Lady Cora said as she entered and Mrs. Woods dropped what she was doing and appeared by the Lady's side in an instant. "Leave this for later. I've got a splitting headache and I'm sure my brother is feeling much the same. Do have breakfast ready as quickly as possible. I'm sure my brother is still sleeping but I will wake him myself."
Mrs. Woods nodded but Lady Cora was already strolling from the room back toward the stairs and her brother's bedchamber. In an instant, they were moving. Mrs. Woods barked orders as they gathered their cleaning supplies, stowed them in a corner of the room, and headed off towards the kitchens. Once downstairs, Mrs. Woods put Briar and Elsie to work preparing the food for breakfast while Kitty and Lucy prepared the trays and coffee. When the food was cooked and on its way up the stairs with Kitty and Lucy, Mrs. Woods ordered Elsie and Briar to return to the cleaning until it was time for the ladies' tea which they would be serving.
So they went back to the ballroom for a couple of hours of sweeping and scrubbing until Lucy and Kitty came to relieve them around mid-morning. They took over the cleaning while Elsie and Briar collected the tea and biscuits from the kitchens and walked them up to the ladies tea room where they served them to the gathered women, a few more than usual, and took their place along the wall, listening to the gossip and waiting to be needed.
"Did you see Miss Morris in that hideous yellow dress?" one of the women was saying. She was new to the group, no doubt a remnant from the previous night's guest list who had not yet taken her leave. "She looked like a canary."
The other women laughed cruelly. Briar felt her jaw set in irritation. That is when she caught the Duchess' eye. Adelaide was sitting in a corner of the room alone, present but removed from the conversation. She smiled when their eyes met and dipped her head slightly in greeting. Briar did the same.
"And did you see Miss Bennett fawning all over him?" another unrecognizable woman put in. "Her father is a simple tradesman. What was she even doing there? She can't possibly think she has a shot."
"Mr. Bennett owns the Northbrook logging industry. He is contracted with every building project in the region. Without his lumber, there would be no Northbrook so, yes, I think the titles Miss Ella Bennett has a shot of becoming Lady Huntington if my cousin so wishes," the Duchess snapped from her corner. The woman who had spoken smiled sweetly at the Duchess but her lips were set in a tight line and the anger at being scolded so was plain on her face.
