Page 11

Chapter

FIVE

With Scotland and the requirements of being a traveling companion entirely unknown entities, Lottie had given up trying to pack light for the trip.

On Kitty’s advice, she had prepared for every conceivable eventuality.

Her friend had warned her that the hardest part of being a lady’s companion were the whims of the particular lady concerned.

Apart from being a prizewinning battle-axe, the only thing that she knew about her new employer was that the old lady spoke her mind and seemed to like honesty.

But as the hackney pulled up outside Lady Frinton’s vast double-fronted town house and she spied the small but regal purple, black, and gold carriage waiting outside it, she regretted bringing such a large trunk.

With that strapped to the back, there would be precious little space left for any of Lady Frinton’s belongings.

She briefly considered getting the hackney to turn around so that she could repack in something a third of the size, but the old dragon had specified noon sharp and it was already a quarter to.

The last thing she wanted to do was anything that displeased the famously fickle old witch today.

Even if that meant putting on every essential garment in her trunk and leaving all the rest of her belongings on this pavement.

Her enormous trunk was in the process of being unloaded when a very harried and hook-nosed fellow clad in black appeared at the front door. “Miss Travers?”

“Yes.” She pulled herself to her full height, trying her best to look professional and unintimidated by the glimpse of opulent grandeur of the cavernous hallway behind him.

After two years of working as a governess in Mayfair, she was accustomed to the wealth of some of its inhabitants, but Lady Frinton was clearly in a different league if the sheer size of her house was any gauge.

Only the wealthiest crème de la crème could afford Grosvenor Square in the first place and this residence positively dwarfed all its neighbors.

Lady Frinton must be as rich as Croesus! “And you are…?”

“The long-suffering Longbottom. I have the great misfortune of being her ladyship’s butler.

A post that I have miraculously held for close to two decades now, although why I stay is beyond me as it is hell on earth here—but nevertheless—welcome to Frinton House.

” A sentence that made her like the man instantly.

Longbottom looked her up and down, the ghost of a smile playing at the corners of his mouth as his eyes settled on her face.

“Her ladyship tells me you have spirit, which reassures me greatly as you will need it in spades to survive her. Employment here is not to be recommended for the fainthearted.” An addition that made her like him more.

“If you are of a delicate disposition, easily offended, or under the foolhardy misapprehension that this isn’t going to be the worst job that you have ever had, then this is your last chance to run.

” When she didn’t, he grinned and Lottie felt as though she had passed a test. “On your own head be it then, Miss Travers, and don’t ever say that I didn’t warn you.

Lady Frinton is impatiently awaiting you in the drawing room.

” Unexpectedly, he gestured for her to enter via the grand front door and not around the side at the servants’ entrance.

The hallway was every bit as intimidating as the glimpse of it had suggested.

The floor was highly polished white marble.

Two sweeping stone staircases flanked it on either side, their banisters covered in gilt, and twisted upward through four floors toward a ceiling decorated with painted cherubs floating in naked splendor amongst the fluffy white clouds of a bright blue sky.

A whimsical scene completely at odds with the two terrifying suits of Japanese armor standing guard on either side of an uncomfortable-looking, narrow sofa upholstered in purple velvet.

Both wielding raised, unsheathed, and razor-sharp samurai swords as if ready to slice any unwelcome intruder who dared sit on it to shreds.

“Her ladyship bought them to discourage uninvited callers,” said Longbottom as he caught her looking. “And by and large they work.”

“Good heavens,” said Lottie as, frankly, she had no other words.

“Good heavens indeed.” The butler hurried her past them at speed. “Although I’m not convinced it is the warriors’ swords that scare them all away as much as the sharp tongue of their owner.”

“I only met her briefly, so I really cannot comment beyond saying that I noticed she was rather forthright.”

“A very diplomatic way of saying rude, Miss Travers.” The butler chuckled as he continued to race her down the hallway and then stopped outside an imposing pair of double doors with a wince.

“I’ll give you fair warning that her ladyship is not in a good mood today, so gird your loins and try not to take it personally.

But as she hasn’t been in anything but a foul mood for the last fifteen years, you should probably get used to girding them. ”

“I heard that!” Lady Frinton’s voice came from beyond the doors and Longbottom grinned briefly again before he flung them open and, rather tellingly, made no attempt to apologize to his mistress, who sat glaring at him from a wingback by the fireplace.

Bedecked from head to toe in the same purple as her compact little carriage and hallway sofas.

“Miss Travers, my lady.”

Lottie immediately dipped into a respectful curtsy that would have made Miss P proud.

“You’re late, Travers!”

A quick glance at the clock on the mantel confirmed that she wasn’t. “You said noon, my lady, and I did not want to inconvenience you by arriving too early.”

“Well, it has inconvenienced me,” said Lady Frinton, pushing herself to her feet with the aid of a gold-tipped walking cane.

“Because I decided this morning that I wanted to leave earlier and your tardiness has thwarted that.” She hobbled toward Lottie with a face like thunder. “But better late than never I suppose.”

As it seemed expected, Lottie followed Lady Frinton back down the hallway, resisting the urge to make polite small talk.

By the time they got to the threatening samurai, the foyer was now a hive of activity.

Almost as if Longbottom knew that the lady of the house had only been waiting for her new companion’s arrival before she could take leave of it.

There was a swarm of footmen, surely more than any residence could possibly ever need, all carrying something outside.

She counted at least five trunks coming down the stairs, all twice the size of Lottie’s, along with enough hatboxes to open a milliner’s shop.

So much luggage, in fact, that it would need a separate carriage of its own to take it all to Scotland.

“The post has just arrived.” Longbottom held out a silver salver laden with a tied stack of letters the size of a brick. “Would my lady like to read them before or after her holiday in the Highlands?”

“Give them to Travers to bring with us.” Lady Frinton jerked a gloved thumb back at Lottie as she hobbled through the door. “She can read them all aloud and answer them in the carriage.”

Lottie hadn’t thought to pack either paper or pens and that must have shown on her face because Longbottom came to her rescue with a roll of his eyes.

“I’ll fetch her ladyship’s traveling lap desk too then, seeing as we’ve already got everything else bar the kitchen sink.

” As he said that, two footmen came down the stairs carrying a rolled feather mattress that was trussed like a ham and so heavy that they were both out of breath, while another juggled a tower of pillows.

What sort of person traveled with their own bed on a holiday to the Highlands?

“Stop gawking, girl, and come help me!”

“Yes, my lady.” Lottie hurried outside, convinced that she had seen everything, then her jaw practically fell to the floor.

Because now, three more and significantly larger carriages were all lined up behind the smaller one at the front.

All in various stages of loading and all sporting what she assumed was the Frinton family crest on their smart purple, black, and gold livery.

It was ostentation in the extreme and quite preposterous.

Unless they were traveling with another ten people.

Which obviously they had to be to warrant four whole carriages.

She swept a hand to encompass them all. “Who else is traveling with us today, my lady?”

Lady Frinton frowned. “What a silly question! I certainly wouldn’t need the services of a paid companion if I was bringing more interesting company along, now, would I? And I can hardly expect my staff to travel by cart when the Scottish weather is famously unpredictable.”

“I suppose not.” As her new employer was waiting with her hand outstretched, Lottie took it and helped her into the carriage.

Despite Lady Frinton’s constant rudeness, she could not help finding her amusing.

There was something quite refreshing about her disregard for all the expected social niceties and her determination to live her life exactly how she pleased.

No sooner was the dragon seated than she was breathing fire. “Do stop dallying, Travers. I want to get going!”

Reasoning that she could hardly read out and respond to her demanding new employer’s correspondence from up on the perch beside the driver, she climbed in behind her and sat opposite.

Instantly, the older woman took issue.

“No! That will not do at all. Your legs are far too long and are crowding mine. You’ll have to sit beside me!”

“Very well, my lady.” She did that just in time for Longbottom to return, laden with things.