Shadow Schemes by Tilly Wallace

Author:Tilly Wallace
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ribbonwood Press

Thirteen

“I am so glad to find you are still here, Mrs Pymm. Has much changed?” Vilma peered around the housekeeper and into the kitchen.

“There are a few old and wrinkled ones left who fondly remember you and your parents.” The housekeeper let go of Vilma and turned a critical eye upon Sera. “Would this be your maid?”

“No. This is Jones, Contessa Ricci’s maid.” Vilma made the introductions.

Sera bobbed a curtsey. “Pleased to meet you, ma’am.” She remembered the maid’s caution about familiarity.

“We are busy preparing for supper, Miss Winters. But do say you will return and have a quiet cup of tea with me? I’d so love to hear how Lady Hillborne is these days.” The housekeeper’s hand fell to the silver chatelaine at her waist, a plain oval with multiple chains dangling below as though they sprouted from the main part. Each chain held some useful item in the housekeeper’s daily life. Keys, scissors, needle holder, notebook…some women crammed so much onto the devices that Sera wondered they didn’t walk at an angle to compensate for the weight.

“I have a letter from my mother for you, Mrs Pymm. She entrusted it to me should I find you still here. I shall bring it to you tomorrow morning, if that would suit?” Vilma said.

“Oh, I shall look forward to it. Now Jones, I will show you to your room and where we take our supper. Then you must return upstairs to tend to your mistress. They will want to change for dinner, I am sure.” The housekeeper nodded to Vilma and shooed Sera through an open doorway.

Mrs Pymm pointed out the servants’ hall with its long table, where they took their meals and gathered. Along another corridor, she pushed open a door. “This will be your room. There is a bell outside your door to let you know when your mistress requires you.” Her task done, the housekeeper bustled away to supervise the preparation of the upstairs meal.

Sera stepped inside the small room with a single window high on one wall. The walls were unadorned. A pitcher and ewer sat atop a plain dresser with four drawers. Her bag had been deposited on a narrow cot with a flat-looking pillow. A wool blanket was folded at the foot of the cot. She lingered long enough to whisper a spell to protect her privacy and to fix the room’s location in her mind. Then she hurried upstairs to help Noemi change out of her travelling clothes.

Twice on her trip back upstairs, she became lost in the rambling twists and turns of the corridors, and had to stop and focus on Kitty’s mage silver ring to orient herself. By the time she found the contessa’s room, her companions had already changed. Vilma sat by the fire and watched as Noemi twirled Kitty’s locks and pinned them atop her head. Having a vampyre with over two hundred years of experience with such things was proving invaluable.

“How are you feeling?” Sera asked Vilma, kneeling on the rug before her.

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