Persuasion in the Pantry [Maid for More #1]

Chapter 36-Part 2: Stirrings in the Night

Liara sauntered through the shadowed fall of canopied leaves, gliding along the border of twinkling candles reflected from the large glass windows. The orchestral music rose and fell softly with the evening summer breeze as she swished her voluminous skirts in time to its ebb and flow. Practicality dictated that she head swiftly back into the house and change into a spare maid's uniform but the feel of sumptuous silk against her skin persuaded her further into the gardens, as she dipped into daydreams once more.

She waved goodbye to Mina who scurried up a large tree again, her keen eyes ravenously seeking a certain duke within the ballroom. Liara shrugged, each to her own, she supposed. Mina had professed that nothing was going on between her and the Duke of Wyvernstone but Liara, who had only been paying attention to half of the conversation, could tell that her friend was head over heels for Jay. It was a pity really that Mina was able to see the object of her desire and yet never have him for her own, and worse still for Verushka who was so close to Cain that she could almost claim him, yet be destined to live apart. How her heart must pine for the loss of someone who made her soul sing, Liara wondered.

It was almost sad in its own way that she herself had never felt anything close to love. She had wandered the earth for over twenty years and never felt what men wrote poems for, what women sequestered themselves for hours to discuss and dissect. It was that intangible item that had never so much as brushed her being, and that in itself was a loss.

A tactile memory flickered across her skin and Liara licked her lips at the recollection of Spanish wine on her tongue. The Captain of the Spanish Guard. She gave her head a little shake and continued walking through the lush carpeted grass of the outer grove. Love was not exactly what she felt for the Conde, and it was highly doubtful that he felt something as illustrious as love for her either. Lust, she shrugged. Lust and Secrets. They were powerful aphrodisiacs, not to mention power, and the Conde had buckets of it flowing out of him. If there was a faucet that supplied the stuff of the Spanish Captain it would most certainly burst with the pressure. He would be one of those hydrants from the Americas, used in emergencies to put out fires, she mused. Although the type of fire that Marco would put out was sure to be in some woman's drawers. Liara frowned at the idea of a horde of non-existent women dancing in the rain of an exploded hydrant, and suddenly ceased at the border of the garden.

Without meaning to she had traipsed a long distance from the main house in the direction of the familiar smells and sounds of the stables. The farmyards and stalls were a great deal more extensive than those of the Duke of Bexley's in London, where they had to fit cramped between Grosvenor Square and Hyde Park. Intrigued by the multitude of milling animals and structured vines of vegetation, she lifted up her skirts gingerly and proceeded further down the path.

The bodice of the dress pulled tight against her ribs, rebelling against the jostling of a body significantly larger than her slight friend. Liara tugged at the demurely cut neckline that looked less than demure on a woman of ample bosom. She could not deny that it was a handsome dress despite the snug fit. Luckily Verushka had similar sized feet and the delicate lace satin slippers that peeked out from the skirts which fell in full layers, complemented the outfit beautifully.

Meandering passed, she caught the interest of a particularly large sow who scuffled to edge of her pen for a better look. Liara offered her empty hand up to view, and the pig promptly pressed its nose deeply into her palm and snuffled insistently for food. Liara couldn't help but chuckle and think of how Geoffrey would love the wide open spaces and voluminous mud baths here. She bent down gingerly and picked up a stray apple that had rolled out of the trough and over the fence. Brushing it off she offered it to the pretty pig who eagerly mouthed her hand and chopped delightedly on the fruit.