"Sometimes you don't realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness." Susan Gale
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XV.
Grace and Ruby were both awoken the next morning by the sounds of their bedroom door being opened. Grace had heard Ruby enter the room in the early hours of the morning, but she hadn't roused herself properly to tell her the news. Of course, her promotion to lady's maid would be the only piece of news she would be sharing.
She sat up in her bed suddenly, worrying if the duchess had returned to take back her offer, but instead Grace was faced with Mrs Hayes. She was carrying a black uniform, the same kind that she had seen Miss Naismith wearing.
"I am sorry to wake you both," apologised Mrs Hayes, "but I thought I would deliver your new livery, Grace. Or rather, Miss Denham," she corrected herself.
Grace's eyes widened. She supposed she would be called Miss Denham now as a lady's maid.
"New livery?" asked Ruby groggily. The poor girl was awakened with only three or four hours of sleep. "Whatever for?"
"The duchess has favoured Miss Denham," replied Mrs Hayes, a sense of caution in her voice. "You have best ready yourself now, Miss Denham. You will want to have enough breakfast in you for when the bell rings and you are forced to abandon your tea." Mrs Hayes laid the uniform down on the end of Grace's bed. While still bent over, she looked up into Grace's eyes. "You best be careful now, Grace," she warned in a whisper, only for her ears. "The duchess does not bestow gifts. There is always a price."
Grace nodded, even though she already knew the price. She knew exactly the price she would need to pay, and she was willing to pay it, not matter how it hurt her. She could withstand pain.
Mrs Hayes righted herself and went to the door. "I will see you both down at breakfast. Quickly now. This is our guests' first Sunday in church. I am sure there will be quite a spectacle about it." She then closed the door behind her.
"The duchess has favoured you how?" pressed Ruby, waking herself up further, sitting up in her bed.
"She asked me to attend Lady Sarah Ashley," replied Grace. "Just last night."
"Well," remarked Ruby, surprised, "that is lucky indeed. Are you trained as a lady's maid? Do you know how to fix hair? How to dress a lady?"
Grace pursed her lips awkwardly. "No," she confessed, "I am not trained, not in the way that I have travelled to France for courses. But I can fix some styles, and others I will learn. I can certainly dress someone."
Ruby didn't seem angry, but surprised, just as Grace had been momentarily before the duchess had revealed her ulterior motive. "Will you insist upon me calling you Miss Denham as we have to address Miss Naismith?"
Grace giggled before throwing her pillow across the room at her. "Don't be silly," she scolded playfully.
Ruby grinned, before tossing her red hair over her shoulders dramatically. "Please do feel obliged to practise fancy hairstyles on me of a night-time. Even in the morning, and I might tuck my hair under my cap. I would love to have something fine done to my hair."
"I might take you up on that offer," confessed Grace, before she climbed out of bed. She picked up her new livery and held it up against her person to measure the fit.
***
Mrs Hayes had been right. Grace had barely had a chance to sip her tea and take a bite of porridge before the bell in Lady Sarah's bedroom sounded.
She was now seated beside Miss Naismith at the breakfast table, much to her distaste. There were several curious expressions on the faces of the servants when she appeared dressed as she was, but a quick look from Mrs Hayes silenced the gossiping. Miss Hale was also at breakfast, sitting opposite Grace. She was the long serving maid to Lady Ashley.
Grace collected Lady Sarah's tea tray before making her way up the servant's staircase. As she ascended, she felt Adam's signet ring burning a hole in her pocket. She would inevitably see Adam today as it was Sunday, and he would walk by her in church. Would he make a scene? Surely not.
Though she and the duchess could agree on one thing. Adam would certainly seek her out. He was determined, and always had been. It was a trait that she had once admired. Now it made it her nervous.
Guests were housed on the same floor as the Beresfords, only in an opposite wing. Grace had never been in this part of the house before, not even when she had Adam used to run about the halls as children. She had to remember Mrs Hayes' instructions for finding Lady Sarah's bedroom.
When she reached the door, Grace felt her stomach seize. She didn't know what to make of this lady. She knew that she could trust herself to be perfectly attentive, but how would it feel later? This woman was to be Adam's wife. He had proposed marriage to her.
Resting the tray against her hip, she knocked on the door quickly. Grace heard a soft beckon from inside, so she opened the door and took back control of the tray.
The guest quarters of Ashwood House were expansive and luxurious, and Lady Sarah looked to be entirely enveloped by the sheer size of the bed she was sitting up in.
The young lady was smiling, albeit nervously, as Grace approached. As she came closer, Grace wondered at her age. She did look young, perhaps not yet twenty, and she had an endearing, youthful innocence about her. She was certainly very pretty, with bright, clear skin, lovely green eyes, and fair, brown hair. She understood Lady Sarah's appeal.
"Good morning, milady," greeted Grace politely as she set the tea tray down on the table beside the bed. "My name is Grace Denham, and I am to attend to you while you are staying at Ashwood."
"Good morning," replied Sarah. "I've never had a servant of my own before. Mama's maid, Hale, usually sees to me once she has been in with her."
Grace smiled as she poured the tea. "How do you take your tea, milady?"
"Oh, a little milk and sugar, I suppose," she replied.
Grace added a splash of milk and a sugar cube before she stirred it. Once she was satisfied, she carefully handed the teacup to Sarah.
She sipped the tea and smiled. "Thank you," she said gratefully. "I am frightfully tired after last night, but I thought it prudent that I look my best this morning. It will be my introduction into the parish, after all."
"Of course, milady," Grace murmured, taking a step back to assess the room, and to decide upon what she would need to do. They had arrived last night, so the trunk at the foot of the bed would be filled with Sarah's gowns. She wondered if anyone had thought to hang them. "Shall I unpack for you?" Grace motioned to the trunk.
"Oh, please," nodded Sarah as she took another sip.
Grace went to the trunk and knelt down, unfastening the two latches. Sure enough, there were at least a dozen gowns folded neatly that would indeed be creased. She was already planning on borrowing something from Susanna when she noticed a miniature portrait placed on top of a silver hairbrush on the other side of the trunk.
The artist had captured his hazel stare perfectly, alongside his very handsome features.
"Adam," breathed Grace.
"What?" asked Sarah.
"Oh, nothing, milady," said Grace quickly. "I only noticed the portrait you have packed." She quickly pulled out several of Sarah's gowns and hurried away with them to the wardrobe.
"Isn't it perfect?" sang Sarah blissfully. "It was a special request of mine the day after we became engaged. I asked my dear Lord Beresford to sit for an artist so that I might have a reminder of him during these months we were parted from one another."
Grace was so thankful that she was facing away from Sarah that she might not have seen the exact shade of green she was turning at hearing her refer to Adam as her dear Lord Beresford.
"How ... nice," Grace managed to say.
"He is terribly handsome, is he not?" Sarah gushed. "I thought he was certainly the most handsome of my suitors during my Season. I feel so fortunate that everything has worked out as it has."
"My warmest congratulations, milady." The words tasted awful on her tongue.
Grace finished hanging the gowns and focussed on controlling her face as she returned to Sarah.
"Shall we see to your hair, milady?" she suggested.
Sarah nodded, and put her teacup down on the tray. She climbed out of the bed and walked over to the dressing table and sat down. Grace fetched the brush from her trunk, careful not to stew on the miniature, before walking to stand behind Sarah.
Sarah removed the ribbon from her braid and allowed her hair to fall down her back.
"I hope we might be friends," Sarah said softly as Grace began to brush her hair. "I am away from home, and I don't know anyone here."
Grace met Sarah's eye in the mirror, and her face softened. "Of course, milady," she said, smiling as warmly as she could muster. Grace would be Sarah's friend, but she was sure the sentiment could not be returned. Could she bring herself to befriend the woman who was to be Adam's wife?
Was this part of Cecily's plan? Could she be so conniving? To force her to be in Sarah's presence every day to remind her of what she could not have. Of course, it was. Cecily was determined to remind Grace of her proper place. Brushing the hair of the future Duchess of Ashwood.
"Do you have any way in particular that you like your hair styled?" she asked Sarah, praying she would not say anything too complicated.
As Sarah told Grace how she wanted her plaits fixed, the door to the bedroom opened, and a fully dressed Lady Ashley entered the room. Sarah was very like her mother, though Lady Ashley possessed none of Sarah's innocence. She looked like any other mother that Grace had ever encountered in a ballroom or assembly hall. Determined.
"Good morning, Mama," greeted Sarah cheerfully.
"You are not dressed?" exclaimed Lady Ashley. "Quickly, child! You are missing a grand opportunity. Lord Beresford is downstairs in the dining room having breakfast."
Sarah frowned. "Why do I need to rush, Mama?" she asked. "I am telling Denham how I like my hair."
Lady Ashley did not even look at Grace, though Grace was not surprised. She had been a servant for a long time. They were supposed to be invisible. She raced over to the wardrobe and went through Sarah's gowns, gasping as she appraised each one. "But these are all creased!" she shouted. "Why did you not hang them up?" she accused Grace. "Lady Sarah cannot wear these. She would look like a pauper!"
"I beg your pardon, milady," apologised Grace, holding her tongue. "I only began attending Lady Sarah this morning. I hung them up almost immediately."
"She did, Mama," confirmed Sarah.
Lady Ashley huffed. "My darling, you must look your best. The duchess is very set on you and Lord Beresford spending lots of time together and I agree. Is that not what's best? He only danced with you once last night. You do not want him getting cold feet."
Sarah frowned. "Cold feet?" she repeated. "But we are engaged."
Lady Ashley selected a gown from the wardrobe and handed it Grace as she walked past her to Sarah. "That will need ironing," she murmured.
Grace laid out the gown on the bed before returning to start Sarah's hair.
"Sarah, nothing is final until you are standing before a clergyman," Lady Ashley said tiredly. "It has been some months since you last saw each other. You must still secure him. There are not many handsome young men in line to inherit such a rich dukedom. Believe me, I have searched."
Sarah looked quite dejected at her mother's words, and Grace checked her reflection in the mirror to make sure that her expression was neutral. She hated being privy to this conversation. She didn't like Adam being discussed as though he were a fish on a line.
"He loves me," Sarah told her mother.
The silver hairbrush slipped through Grace's fingers. "I am terribly sorry," she whispered, her eyes welling up as she knelt down to collect the brush. Adam loved Sarah. Had he told her that?
Lady Ashley seemed to read Grace's mind. "Has Lord Beresford told you that explicitly?" she asked.
"Well, no," confessed Sarah. "But I am certain he does. You do not need to worry, Mama. Everything will be alright. The next Duchess of Ashwood is in this very room."
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Hope you enjoyed it!!
I hate the fact that lady's maids were referred to as just their surnames by their mistresses. It seems so rude to me lol.
Has anyone else binge watched The Home Edit on Netflix? I turned my bedroom upside down today purging stuff. I chucked so much that I'd been hoarding for years.
I've ordered so much storage online it's not funny.
I found my Federation medallion though. Every primary school student was given this medallion in 2001 on the 100 year anniversary of Australia becoming a united country. It's filled with hopeful messages about creating a better Australia for all. The cynic in me was like, yeah it took you another 17 years to legalise marriage equality among other things.
But I do think we're still The Lucky Country, with a long way to go!
Alright, off to bed. Night!
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