Jack (The Jaded Gentlemen Book 4) by Grace Burrowes

Author:Grace Burrowes [Burrowes, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grace Burrowes Publishing
Published: 2016-06-14T05:00:00+00:00

“I heard you sent that Abernathy woman packing,” Hattie Hennessey said to Jack. “What took you so long?”

Jack had to admit the question was fair, if rude.

“Aunt,” Madeline muttered from across the room that served as Hattie’s kitchen, parlor, and dining room.

“One doesn’t discharge an employee on a whim,” Jack said, shifting on the hard chair at Hattie’s table. “To do so invites employees to quit on a whim, and the entire household suffers from the resulting chaos.”

Hattie’s cottage was neat as pin, and unlike her sister’s dwelling, free of the smell of dog. A spinning wheel sat near the hearth, dried flowers hung in bunches from the exposed rafters, and a braided rug covered the middle of the plank floor.

And yet, the cottage was frigid, and Hattie’s teapot was a small jasper-ware version with a chipped spout. The chair Jack occupied was missing a slat, the table did not sit evenly on the plank floor. Her tea cups did not match each other or their saucers. Over the mantel, however, was a portrait of a lovely young girl in the garb of the past century.

The girl was willowy, with auburn hair peeking out from a lacy cap. Her bodice was decorated with fanciful embroidered flowers. Her hair was unpowdered and adorned with strings of pearls, and her pose exposed an amount of bosom that the present day would consider daring, if not scandalous, for such a young woman. She bore a girlish resemblance to Madeline, though her eyes lacked Madeline’s sharp intelligence.

“I know all about discharging employees,” Hattie said. “When I was in service, finding housemaids and footmen willing to work for their pay and remain sober on their half day was as much effort as tending to the laundry. Mr. McArdle tolerated no slacking, and his butler was worse than he was.”

As both a magistrate, and as an officer of the crown in India, Jack had learned to listen to the prompting of instinct. Why had Madeline chosen to visit Hattie, after purportedly dropping in on her on earlier in the week?

And why hadn’t Jack asked Madeline’s aunts about the Hennessey family history?

“Have a biscuit,” Madeline said, setting the tray before Jack. “Aunt’s favorites are ginger, while I prefer the shortbread.”

Jack took a cinnamon biscuit, but he wasn’t about to be distracted from Hattie’s disclosures.

“You worked for Hector McArdle?” he asked, holding the plate out to Hattie.

Hattie deliberated, though Jack counted four ginger biscuits among the dozen left on the tray.

“Not Hector,” she said, taking a piece of shortbread. “His father, Abner McArdle. I was his housekeeper, until he turned me off without a character. This is the best shortbread I’ve had in ages.”

Very likely, the only shortbread she’d had in ages, unless Madeline had included some on a previous visit.

Madeline poured the tea all around, though there was no question of adding sugar or milk, for Hattie apparently hadn’t either. The irony of wealth had impressed Jack during his first year abroad. The poor would graciously share

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.