Page 2 of The Gentlewoman Companion (The Gentlewoman #4)

Chapter One

L ouisa clutched the seat of her chair to prevent herself from fleeing.

A swarm of bees buzzed around the knot in her stomach, and her toes and fingers tingled.

She sat before Lady Halverton in Lundbrooke’s morning room beside Mrs. Eliot, and it was here that her fate would be decided.

She had come to beg her former employer to once again accept her as a paid companion.

Mrs. Eliot, on Lady Halverton’s insistences, was detailing the last few months of Louisa’s life.

Although Lady Halverton had already learned from Louisa about her running away, supposedly to avoid an arranged marriage, she listened attentively to the full account.

Mrs. Eliot described anew Louisa’s “fright” at her father’s overzealous matchmaking, Aunt Mary’s “brilliant” plan to find her a husband in Bath, and Louisa’s “heart-wrenching” disappearance.

She went on to remind everyone quite unnecessarily of her role in finding Louisa and delivering her safely back to her aunt, where Louisa’s intended match, Mr. Fletcher, had eventually revealed his reciprocated love for Aunt Mary.

Mrs. Eliot concluded happily that she was traveling directly to Cornwall to obtain consent for Louisa’s employment at Lundbrooke.

“Mr. Thorpe is easily managed. If you, my lady, would be so good as to write a letter requesting her companionship, all will be well.”

At this, Louisa stopped bouncing her leg and fingered the brooch that drooped from her hip.

It had belonged to her mother and contained a braided coil of her mother’s hair.

As the only bit of dear Mama accessible to Louisa, she wore the heavy piece of jewelry for luck.

And perhaps it had brought her fortune, for Mrs. Eliot had completed her recitation without mentioning that man once.

Heaven bless her! Louisa wrapped her hand around the brooch and squeezed until convinced that the sharp edges imprinted upon her palm.

Lady Halverton turned to Louisa, a thoughtful but kind expression on her face. “It seems you have had quite the ordeal. Tell me, did you find Bath distasteful? Society, all the bustle?”

Louisa let go of the brooch and answered honestly. “No. Indeed, I enjoyed it very much, having never strayed far from Cornwall.”

“But you were not happy there?”

“Only because I was meant to find a husband.” Louisa glanced at Mrs. Eliot.

“Truly, I am not begrumbled or ungrateful, bu’ we did not visit the tailor for the love of a new gown.

No! To impress the gentlemen. I did not dance for the enjoyment of dancing bu’ to demonstrate grace and attempt to beguile.

I was adorned an’ paraded to every conscious man of respectable fortune.

I did not like ’em geeking at me.” Louisa became aware of her long speech and shoved a biscuit in her mouth.

Mrs. Eliot scowled, but Lady Halverton’s eyes brightened at the outburst.

“‘Geeking’?” Lady Halverton asked.

Heat rushed up Louisa’s neck. Her Cornish accent strengthened when she became passionate.

“I believe that is a Cornish word for ‘gawking,’” said Mrs. Eliot.

Louisa mentally sealed the word in a box.

This was not the first time Lady Halverton had asked for clarification due to her accent or vocabulary.

She meant to eradicate any trace of Cornwall from her mouth, though it was proving difficult since prior to her arrival at Lundbrooke, she hadn’t known she had an accent at all.

“Well,” Lady Halverton said, “I do not agree with the practice of arranging or forcing marriages. Why shouldn’t a woman choose her fate as well as a man?

Miss Thorpe, not many young women are brave enough to take their destiny into their own hands.

I applaud you. More women should champion their own interests. ”

“That is certainly one view of the matter,” Mrs. Eliot muttered.

To Louisa, her flight had been borne of desperation rather than courage, but she found peace in Lady Halverton’s view.

Perhaps one day she truly would advocate for herself.

Beyond that, the countess’s approving viewpoint filled Louisa with hope that she would be accepted once more into the household. When would she hear the verdict?

Lady Halverton continued as if Mrs. Eliot had not spoken. “And to leave the wonders of Bath to seek employment here as a lady’s maid—another astonishing action. Few would trade a genteel life for one of servitude.”

Louisa clenched her jaw, willing herself not to look down or seem guilty.

She had not been alone when she had left Bath, nor had she planned to become a servant.

But it had become her plan eventually. “It was the only course that occurred to me. Had I known you were looking for a companion, I would have attempted that first.”

“Do not blame yourself for my mistake,” said Lady Halverton. “I can hardly believe I started you off as a lady’s maid. It took me far too long to realize you were not a servant. Weeks! You poor dear.”

“Oh! I am all gratitude, my lady.”

“And then to be whisked off to your family and returned here so soon—you must feel like a bandalore, up and down, back and forth.”

Louisa sipped her tea with what she hoped was a show of placidity. “The past months have been dizzying.”

With a pinched brow, Lady Halverton addressed Mrs. Eliot. “I struggle to comprehend this aunt of hers. Mary Allen, she’s called? Why would she want the man she loved to marry her niece?”

“If you knew her, you would not wonder.” Mrs. Eliot pressed a napkin to the sides of her mouth. “Lady Mary is an author and a paradox, utterly romantic and severely proper. She did what she believed Louisa’s mother would have wanted.”

Lady Halverton nodded, her curiosity seemingly satisfied. She turned once more to Louisa. “Are you quite able to perform the duties of a companion?”

“I am! I shall be a louster.” Louisa clasped her hands tight in her lap. She would promise anything to secure the position.

Lady Halverton looked to Mrs. Eliot.

“A louster is a hard worker, my lady,” Mrs. Eliot said.

Lady Halverton nodded.

“If I may…” Mrs. Eliot showed an uncharacteristic amount of humility to Lady Halverton.

“As I’ve explained, Louisa has been through a harrowing experience and is not quite herself.

I’ve known her intimately for some months.

Despite how she appears now, she is joyful and clever.

She but enters a room and sunshine follows her.

You could not do better than Louisa. I may take her myself, if you do not. ”

Joyful and clever? Mrs. Eliot thought so well of her? Probably she didn’t, and the speech was meant to get rid of her. Most likely, Mrs. Eliot had no intention of taking her as a companion, but if she did… Oh! Mother, do what you can to spare me from that.

“I believe you’re right, Mrs. Eliot. I have already found her delightful.

” Lady Halverton faced Louisa with that calm, inviting expression.

“I would like very much for you to continue as my companion, Louisa. But I must think of your well-being. Due to your trying experiences, would you prefer a bit of rest before suffering an introduction into the neighborhood? If that is the case, you may remain at home while I make calls and abscond yourself should anyone come here.”

Louisa barely managed to keep from sighing in relief.

She had been accepted! But she could not risk losing Lady Halverton’s favor and was not sufficiently acquainted with her to ascertain the best response.

The offer was generous and compassionate, but would it cause Lady Halverton to grow indifferent to her services?

The great lady might realize she did not need a companion at all.

However, the prospect was almost irresistible.

Louisa longed for a bit of rest; if given time to herself, she could sit with Nellie.

Though a lady’s maid, they had traveled together for the past several months.

Nellie was the only person with whom Louisa could discuss all that had transpired.

Louisa cleared her throat. “I believe that one of my primary duties is to accompany you on visits and pour tea for your guests.”

Lady Halverton stilled for a moment, becoming more serious. “After losing my husband, it took months before I felt ready to socialize. I imagine you need some respite. There will be time enough for visits and tea.”

Louisa felt the sting of grateful tears. Hardly anyone in her life had treated her with such consideration and understanding before. “Thank you, my lady. You are too generous. I will strive to fully meet your requirements as soon as I feel able.”

Lady Halverton leaned forward and rested her hand on Louisa’s knee. “When you are ready, I shall be delighted to have you.”

Louisa smiled for the first time in weeks. Yes, she would rest, to try to forget that man , but then she would stay at Lady Halverton’s side as the best companion in all of Stroud. The idea felt like freedom.

A fter nearly two weeks at Lundbrooke, Lady Halverton’s gentle sincerity had convinced Louisa that the lady’s concern for her was genuine.

The countess treated her more like a friend or a daughter than an employee, integrating her into the household routine.

When Lady Halverton was absent from home for hours at a time, as she was presently, Louisa took solace in visiting with Nellie.

The hours with her maid, who was becoming a friend, were a balm that soothed the many anxieties of so dramatic a change to Louisa’s situation.

Nellie was familiar and never disapproving.

In her room, Louisa tinkled the handbell—a delightful luxury. In her own home, she’d have yelled down the stairs or gone in search of a servant. In this grand establishment, servants hovered in the halls, ready to assist.

A maid entered.

“Will you ask Nellie to come up, please?” Louisa paced the room as she waited, fingering her brooch.