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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"Skipping lunch?" Mrs. Woods exploded from the doorway of the kitchen. Briar and Lucy looked up from the dishes at one another as Mrs. Woods' outrage continued. "First he skips dinner and now lunch! Heavens! The lord will have to eat sooner or later! He'll run himself ragged."
Lucy gave Briar a pointed look at that.
"What?" Briar asked.
"I saw you last night," Lucy confessed. "In the kitchen with him."
Briar felt agitation at that, heat rising to her cheeks. Gracious. Was she blushing?
"He wanted a snack," she lied. "So I made him one."
Lucy seemed to believe her, looking back down to their work on the dishes. But after a moment, she asked quietly. "Did you tell him? I mean, about what we all said about him?"
"I would never!" Briar gasped and Lucy smiled, the worry dissolving easily enough.
"You're a good friend, Brenna," Lucy said and Briar smiled at her but the façade faltered the moment that Lucy looked away. These girls had been so kind to her, so welcoming. They had done what they could to make her feel comfortable, to make her feel as though this could be a home. Briar was in danger now but someday she would be a Queen, living in a castle with servants of her own and Lucy, Kitty, and Elsie would still be in the basements of grand estates, dutifully serving those that society deemed more important than them. With a sudden thrust of passion, Briar vowed never to forget them and to do what she could for them once she were coronated. They would, after all, make excellent handmaidens. If her court could bear such a scandal, that is. She smiled to herself when she thought of Lady Cora's face the day when a palace coachman arrived to escort her servants into the esteemed service of the Queen.
"Come," Lucy said suddenly, pulling Briar out of her reverie with a quick tug on her arm. "We're to serve lunch to the others."
Briar nodded and wiped the soapy water off onto a nearby towel before following after Lucy toward the trays that Mrs. Woods had hastily arranged. The old cook was in her usual state of disarray at having a singular event changed the course of her meticulously planned typical day. She wasn't one for adjustment, Mrs. Woods. Lucy and Briar straightened the trays and piled the meals atop them. Then they carried as much as they could up the stairs and into the dining room beyond.
Theodore and Lady Cora were waiting quietly above. They ate their meals just as quietly, an unusual occurrence for these two. Briar looked over to Lucy to see if she had noticed the oddity and it was clear she had but the girl could do nothing but shrug her shoulders in response to the silence. They both looked exhausted as far as Briar could tell. But, other than that, nothing seemed to be amiss. That is, until Douglas burst through the door just as Theodore had finished his lunch.
"Douglas," Theodore said in surprise.
"Sir," Douglas responded. "Where is Lord Huntington?"
"He is in town for the morning. What do you need?"
