Princess of Glass - Jessica Day George [11]
“Noooo!”
Sweating, Poppy sat bolt upright in bed and looked around. The room was dark, and empty, and she didn’t want to lie down again. She put on her dressing gown and slippers and went down to the kitchen to see if she could make some sweet tea.
“Oh, Your Highness!” Mrs. Hanks, the housekeeper, struggled to her feet. She was sitting at the big table in the middle of the kitchen with another plump woman in an apron, who also stood and curtsied.
“Hello,” Poppy said. Seeing a strong resemblance between the two women, she asked, “Sisters?”
“Yes,” they said at the same time.
Poppy felt a wash of homesickness. She had never spent so many nights away from her twin. She wondered how Daisy was faring and if sometimes they were thinking of each other at the exact same moment.
Then she realized that Mrs. Hanks and her sister were staring at her, and made an effort to drag her mind back to the here and now. They were standing on each side of the table, their hands clutching at their starched aprons.
“Anything I can get for you, Your Highness?” Mrs. Hanks said at last. She and her sister shared a look. “With the Laurence’s ball going until the wee hours, we didn’t think anyone would notice if Louise snuck away to have a little chat.”
“Oh, of course,” Poppy said. “I just came in for some tea. Please, keep visiting. I shan’t tell a soul.”
They smiled at her and Mrs. Hanks’s sister sat back down. Mrs. Hanks, however, hurried to the stove and fixed Poppy a cup of peppermint tea, despite Poppy’s assurances that she could do it herself.
“So.” Feeling awkward, Poppy looked at Mrs. Hanks’s sister, Mrs. Mills. “Are you also …” She had to think of what they called it here in Breton. “In service?”
“Yes, I’m the head housekeeper at Tuckington Palace,” Mrs. Mills said with real pride.
Poppy could see why and she gave a low whistle of appreciation. “That must be … hectic.”
“It is, that’s why we have to sneak a visit whenever we can,” said Mrs. Hanks. She bustled over to the table and gave Poppy her tea, a bowl of sugar, and a plate of biscuits.
Never one to turn away free food, Poppy ate three biscuits immediately. Then she stirred sugar into the fragrant peppermint tea while listening to the two older women.
“She’s a real trial, Jane,” Mrs. Hanks’s sister was saying. “Can’t do a lick of work without breaking, spilling, or burning something. That’s why I couldn’t keep her with me, not at the palace! And now she’s about to be turned out of another place—her third!”
“Poor child,” Mrs. Hanks clucked. “I know she wasn’t born to it, but hasn’t she had enough experience by now?”
Mrs. Mills heaved a huge sigh. “That’s what makes it so hard. She can’t seem to do anything right, but if you correct her, she just cries. It’s easier to clean up the mess yourself, but there’s not many housekeepers as will put up with it.”
Poppy couldn’t stand it anymore. “Pardon me for eavesdropping, but who are you talking about?”
Mrs. Hanks and Mrs. Mills exchanged looks.
“Please? I won’t tell another soul,” Poppy wheedled. “Except Daisy and maybe Rose and Galen and Lily and Orchid,” she added to herself, but they weren’t in Breton so it hardly mattered.
Mrs. Mills leaned closer over the table. “Well, Your Highness, before I was at the palace I was the housekeeper for an earl’s family. They had a daughter named Eleanora, just a darling little thing with dark hair like yours, but blue eyes.” She smiled in reminiscence, and then her face clouded. “But the earl’s luck turned sour overnight. First they had to sell their beautiful country estate, then they sold most of the furniture in the town house. They let the staff go one by one, including me.” Her eyes were shiny with tears.
“Still,” she went on in a choked voice. “My lady was so good to me. She helped me get on at the palace. I was an under-housekeeper at first, but I’ve moved up smart enough.” She took a sip of her own tea. “Two years later, they lost everything.