Hope - Lesley Pearse [18]
What if the man had recognized himself in Hope? If Nell could see the similarity, surely anyone could?
Nell went up to the nursery a little later to see Ruth, so befuddled that she forgot her ladyship was often in the nursery at this time of day.
‘Ruth was just telling me that your young brothers and sister came back with you this afternoon,’ she said pleasantly.
‘I’m sorry, m’lady,’ Nell replied. ‘I should have asked if it was all right for me to bring them here.’
‘Nonsense, you don’t need my permission for them to see their brother and sister.’ Lady Harvey lifted Rufus on to her lap and began bouncing him up and down. ‘I wish I’d seen them too, and I’m sure Rufus would have enjoyed a visit. He could do with some little playmates.’
The nursery was the place where Lady Harvey was always at her most relaxed, and she welcomed Nell coming in there too, saying she had never liked the idea of small children being cloistered away from people. Nell wished she hadn’t come in now, but she could hardly leave immediately without it looking suspicious, so she bent down to pick up some building blocks off the floor.
Nell felt relieved that her mistress looked perfectly normal. She wasn’t flushed or excited, and she was wearing a plain, dove-grey gown which was entirely suitable for a mother, but hardly the kind of dress a woman would choose to wear to meet a lover. Her hair was still as neatly pinned up as it had been this morning when Nell fixed it for her. So maybe she was wrong about the man?
‘We wouldn’t dare bring our brothers up here to meet Rufus,’ Nell ventured, trying very hard to act and speak normally. ‘They are too rough for a little gentleman like him.’
Rufus looked like a little girl with his long blond curls, blue eyes and the customary long baby dress. Only a few days ago Nell had heard Sir William saying he thought that at three it was time his son was put in breeches, but so far Lady Harvey hadn’t instructed Ruth to do so.
‘But your sister could come and play,’ Lady Harvey said with a smile. ‘How old is she now?’
‘Hope’s six, mam,’ Nell said nervously, afraid that her mistress might mull that over later and think it was a strange coincidence that the Renton child was the same age as the one she lost. ‘But going on eighteen, she never stops asking questions,’ she added quickly.
‘Get down now, Mama,’ Rufus said, and climbed off his mother’s lap and toddled off to Ruth.
Both Nell and Ruth adored Rufus; he was a sweet-natured little boy with a great sense of fun, and as affectionate to them as he was to his mother.
‘Bring Hope up for tea on Monday,’ Lady Harvey said, getting up off the couch and smoothing her dress down. ‘You can pop off to fetch her after luncheon. By the time you get back Rufus will have had his nap. I want him to learn to share his toys and mix well.’
As their mistress swept out of the nursery, Ruth looked at Nell and giggled. ‘Our Hope in here! She don’t know what she’s letting herself in for.’
Nell was brushing Lady Harvey’s hair that night when Sir William came into the bedroom.
‘You make a pretty picture,’ he said as he leaned against the doorpost. ‘Who brushes your hair, Nell?’
Nell giggled. She could tell the master had drunk too much for his face was red and his shirt was hanging loose over his breeches. He was undeniably the most handsome man she’d ever seen, his features as perfect as the marble statues’ in the rosebed, hair the colour of ripe corn and eyes of an intense blue. Cook had often said he was pretty like a girl, but Nell didn’t agree; his lips might be just a bit too full, but he had a strong chin, and very shapely thighs and buttocks from riding so much.
She knew he was in a good mood, drunk or not, for she’d heard him laughing with his wife as they came up the stairs after their dinner guests had left. ‘No one but me, sir,’ she replied.
He just stood there silently