Sinful Seduction by Kate Benedict Page B

wife’s maid while she was under the same roof. As long as Lady Georgina was in the house, Maggie was safe.
    Feeling more secure than she had in weeks, Maggie set about tidying things away again, humming happily under her breath.
    But it wasn’t to last.
    Three days later, the letter arrived.
    â€˜Mr Harris the butler gave me this,’ Mrs Hardcastle said to Maggie, waving a narrow envelope as she bustled into the kitchen. ‘You’d better take it up with her ladyship’s breakfast tray.’ She held it up to the light and peered at it. ‘It’s not Master Jeremy’s writing. I wonder who it’s from...’ She laid it on the tray. ‘No doubt we’ll find out soon enough.’
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    â€˜A letter for you, my lady,’ said Maggie as she laid the tray on the bed.
    Lady Georgina picked it up and slit it open with her butter knife. She scanned it rapidly, then tutted and shook her head. ‘Poor Lucy, enceinte again,’ she muttered to herself. ‘There’s nothing else for it, I shall have to go.’
    She looked up at Maggie. ‘I shall be leaving for the country as soon as possible, Carter. You may start packing as soon as I have dressed.’
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    â€˜What’s “enceinte” when it’s at home?’ Maggie demanded when she took the tray back to the kitchen.
    â€˜In the puddin’ club,’ Mrs Hardcastle said bluntly. ‘It’s one of those fancy words them upstairs uses when they’re talking about something “not quaite nice”. Anyway,’ she went on, fixing Maggie with a suspicious stare. ‘Why are you asking that? You ain’t, are you?’
    â€˜Of course not!’ Maggie protested. ‘Lady Georgina used it and I wondered what it meant, that’s all.’
    â€˜Ahhh,’ said Mrs H, comprehension dawning. ‘So that’s what the letter was about.’ She sniffed. ‘It’ll be that young sister of hers again. Miss Lucy - or Lady Fortesque as she is now - and a blooming good job she’s married, too. This’ll be the seventh by my count.’ She shook her head. ‘Poor girl; all that husband of hers needs to do is look sideways at her and she falls - and she was never very strong to start with.’ She sighed. ‘He’s going to kill her one of these days, you mark my words.’
    â€˜Lady Georgina’s going to stay with her,’ Maggie informed them. ‘I’ve to start packing once she’s dressed.’
    â€˜More work,’ said Mrs H glumly, then she brightened. ‘Mind you, once she’s gone we can loosen our own corsets a bit, and you’ll like it down there, Maggie. It’s a beautiful old house. You’ll have a bedroom to yourself, and the grub’s lovely. Mrs Benson’s a grand cook.’ She looked at Maggie. ‘The fresh air’ll put a few roses in your cheeks, too,’ she added. ‘You’ve been looking a bit peaky lately.’
    â€˜Will I be going, too?’ asked Maggie eagerly. The thought of being safely away from Lord Edward was almost too good to be true.
    Mrs Hardcastle looked at her in surprise. ‘Course you will, love!’ she exclaimed. ‘Don’t you know that by this time? No lady travels anywhere without her personal maid.’ She chuckled. ‘Can you imagine her majesty trying to put on her own stays? I should cocoa!’ She patted Maggie’s hand and gave her a wink. ‘It’ll be like a holiday, and you enjoy yourself while you can, pet. Bit o’ new blood? I’ll bet them young footmen will be falling all over you.’
    Maggie smiled back. She could live without the footmen, but it would be lovely to get away from this place and all her fears, and by the time she got back perhaps Lord Edward would have found someone else to lust after.
    Buoyed by the thought she whisked through the rest of the day, oblivious of the sheer hard work