Chapter Text
By hour two of the flight, Eddy was ready to jump out of her skin. She stalked down the aisles, from first class into business premium, whatever the hell that was. Lucius was sitting in an aisle seat, legs stretched out in front of him. Izzy’s seat was already pushed into bed mode and the man was out.
“He said you’d be by,” Lucius glanced up as Eddy approached. “You know this shit is over the counter, right?”
“Didn’t think I’d need them,” they stuck out their hand. Lucius pulled a tiny ziplock bag out of his shirt pocket and dropped two white pills into their palm. “Thanks.”
“Can’t imagine you getting motion sick.”
“Don’t,” Eddy shrugged, shaking the chalky things right into her mouth and dry swallowing them.
When she got back to her seat, Stede glanced up at her, “All right?”
“Mhm,” she flopped into the very comfortable seat. At least these days if she had to fly, it was in style. “Going to try to sleep.”
“Good idea,” he yawned himself. “The flight attendant can do the bed conversion thing.”
Eddy did wind up stretched out on a bed, suspended a thousand feet above the ground. She read a little first, some terrible romance novel that John had offered her before they left. ‘Good travel reading’, he’d said.
Her eyes went heavy and she drifted off before the heroine made it to her first destination....
“What else?” She demanded, holding the sword beneath the would-be governess’ chin.
“Nothing else,” they spat. “We’re servants, not even working ones. What do you think we’d have?”
“I told you, boss,” Izzy muttered beside her.
“And I told you that that isn’t even the point,” Eddy hissed at him. “Open their trunk.”
“Please,” the man, who had tried to reason with them and was now tied next to the would-be governess to the tree, pleaded. “We’re just looking for work. We don’t have anything.”
“It is just clothes mostly. Few books,” Izzy told Eddy.
“Think the dresses will fit?”
“Probably?”
“You’re welcome to them,” the would-be governess spat at their feet. “I don’t want to take care of any snobby kids anyway.”
“So what are you doing heading there then?”
“Got to keep mind and body together. It’s the only work I can get. I’d make a better stablehand any day.”
Eddy grinned, dropped their swordpoint a few inches, “You know, I may have just the thing.”
“Boss, come on...”
“What’s better, Iz? Two dead bodies or two new allies?”
Izzy eyed the two warily, but then gave a reluctant nod. Without their entire crew to back them, they were skating on thin ice. Leaving them behind had been a calculated risk with the heat building in the city. The two of them were a good team, but not that good. And this was a new kind of venture.
“You can have my duds,” Eddy decided. “My hat too. You’ll look like a down-on-his-luck stablehand right enough.”
“Huh,” they studied them.
“We can’t-” their companion started.
“Why not? We’re already...” they stopped, frowned. “You know. Might as well.”
The man glanced between them. “What about the footman job?”
“They were looking for a couple of guys,” Eddy shrugged. “Iz?”
“What do I know about it?” Izzy’s eyes went wide. “You said you wanted me off the grounds.”
“Plans change. Anyway, you used to be in service.”
“Nearly fifteen years ago!”
“Good enough.”
“We’ll need letters of recommendation,” Izzy pointed out. “Proof of-”
Eddy grinned, “Let me take care of that.”
The timing couldn’t have worked better. Eddy didn’t actually fit in any of the dresses, but the chemise, stays and crinoline would do. A few aesthetic tears left one dress sleeve hanging from her arm as if someone had ripped the rest off her. Their hair was easy enough to pin up and then disheveled as though someone had forcibly removed their bonnet.
“Got to make it look like you put up a fight,” Eddy told Izzy.
“Yeah, I figured.” He sighed and spread his arms wide. “Go ahead.”
Eddy slugged him and then cut up his shirt, gave him a few deeper scratches for bloody authenticity. The not-governess and their companion were still tied to the tree, but now more for scene setting than to keep them there.
“I could get out of these in a heartbeat,” said the not-governess.
“Good. You do that if you hear anything go wrong, not-governess.”
“That’s Mr. Jimenez then. He’s Mr. Boodhari.”
“And I,” Eddy grinned, “am now Miss Teach, accompanied by my loyal half-brother, Mr. Hands.”
“No one’s going to believe we’re related,” Izzy groused.
“That’s what the half is for,” she waved that away.
“I hate all of this.”
“You hate everything. Come on, let’s go lay in wait.”
It was another two hours before their quarry came down the road. More than enough time for Eddy and Izzy to get believably dirty in the ditch to add authenticity.
“That’s them,” Izzy confirmed. “Look at the damn thing.”
The carriage was ostentatious to say the least. Gilded and gussied to an inch of its life. Holding the reins of four lovely white horses was a handsome man dressed in the lord’s livery of blue and gold. Beside him was an annoyed looking dandy in red and white, his fluffy hair ruffled by the breeze. They were talking animatedly and Eddy waited until the last second to dash out, Izzy pulled along with her momentum.
“Stop, please!” She begged. “My brother is gravely injured. Please!”
“Woah!” The driver pulled the reins and the horses slowed.
“Why are we-” the dandy cut himself off. “That man is bleeding!”
“What’s going on?” The carriage door popped open.
“Good sir!” Izzy made a show of staggering in front of Eddy to ‘protect her modesty’. Lovely touch. He always did have a hidden flair for the dramatic. “We were on our way to the Bonnet estate when we were waylaid by highwaymen.”
“Coming to our estate? Truly? I knew this place was in the wilds, but honestly!" The dandy groaned.
From inside the carriage, a voice carried out, "Mr. Chery, do be a dear and get that poor woman a blanket out from the back. You must be freezing, poor thing.”
Eddy was not cold. She shivered anyway. The man that stepped out of the carriage was absolutely lovely. His hair shone gold in the afternoon sun, his eyes a soft brown. His pants were remarkably tight and a vibrant shade of blue to match his suit jacket. All of it was heavy with gold embroidery. What a peacock! A glorious bird of a man.
“Yes, my lord,” Izzy gritted out and Eddy prodded him in the spine. “We were looking for a bit of work. They had already captured two other men, doing the same, but we managed to wiggle free and come for help before they could get what they wanted from my sister.”
“Sister? The lord took the blanket Mr. Chery provided and without hesitation handed it directly to Eddy instead of to Izzy.
“Half,” Eddy provided, wrapping the fabric around herself. “My mother, God rest her soul, left this world early. Mr. Hands and his father looked out for me for many years.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, Miss-”
“Teach,” Izzy said warily. “Miss Teach. We would provide you with some proof and references, but that’s been taken from us as well. Along with everything we own in the world.”
“Lord Bonnet,” he introduced, even bowing prettily. “A shame we met under such more circumstances. Mr. Spriggs, can you go free the other two?”
“Me? Tromp through the woods?” Mr. Spriggs voice ascended an octave.
“Yes, you,” Lord Bonnet said imperiously. “Mr. Handy, would you just point the way?”
“Hands,” Izzy corrected.
“Come Miss Teach, you must come into the carriage with us, after such a shock. The manor isn’t far from here and we can find you something to wear.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“My lady wife!” He turned and called. “Move over, please, we have an unexpected set of guests!”
Lady Bonnet was clothed in gray and white, sitting in one corner of a seat looking utterly miserable. When her eyes landed on Eddy, taking in the state of her, she frowned very deeply,
“What on earth happened?”
“They were beset by highwaymen!” Lord Bonnet offered with quite a lot of enthusiasm considering the topic. “This is Miss Teach and her brother, Mr. Handy has gone to help the other victims with Mr. Spriggs. Miss Teach, my wife, the most patient, Lady Bonnet. They were on their way to us, so it’s nearly our fault, my dear, don’t you think?”
“What say do we have over highwaymen?” She asked dryly. “But I am sorry it happened so close to our borders. Did they harm you, Miss Teach?”
“Tried to,” Eddy said readily, taking a seat, careful not to let her muddied hem or the blanket touch the Lady’s fine dress. “But my brother held them off admirably. He does insist on carrying a sword nearly everywhere and here I tried to argue him out of it!”
“And what were you proposing to do when you reached the manor?” Lady Bonnet asked tightly.
Shit. She was not buying this even a little, Eddy realized. Across from them Lord Bonnet was clearly hanging on every word.
“I read that you were in search of a governess and I came to present myself as an option.”
“A governess?” Disbelief permeated every syllable. “And have you done the work before?”
“Now, now, my Lady, don’t question the poor woman when she’s had such an ordeal. Such things can wait until she’s had something to soothe her nerves and is properly dressed, don’t you think?”
“Of course, my lord.” It was said the same way Eddy often told Izzy to fuck off.
Lord Bonnet seemed to either not notice or not care. Izzy returned with their new allies and Mr. Spriggs, who looked to be limping a little, in short order. The carriage took off again and Eddy did her best to look pathetic, hunched under the blanket.
The horses took a turn, the carriage rocking and the trees parted at last.
In laying the groundwork for the job, Izzy and Eddy had gathered as much gossip about the newly minted Baron Bonnet and there had been quite a lot. Apparently, he’d abandoned his father’s favorite house in town the minute he’d inherited and began an extensive renovation on the country manor which had fallen into disrepair. It was uncommonly close to the ocean, removed from the rest of polite society by a significant distance.
The words ‘excessive’, ‘ridiculous’, and even ‘utterly mad’ had been thrown around with abandon. When word reached town that that he had renamed the house ‘The Revenge’, it cemented his place in the realm of the entirely eccentric and untrustworthy. His father’s servants abandoned the place and left the young family almost entirely on their own. The ad had had the whiff of the desperate.
Money, impulsivity, and no allies. Eddy couldn’t have picked a better mark if she had made them out of whole cloth herself. Even Izzy had reluctantly agreed after a few weeks of subtle reconnaissance. Lord Bonnet was a ripe fruit, waiting to be plucked. They would only need some time to access the place, figure out what was worth taking, then they would be gone in the night, signaling their waiting gang. A bloodless raid that would enrich their coffers and maybe, finally, allow Eddy to leave the life entirely. Izzy too if he wanted, though she doubted he had the guts.
If Eddy had held any secret doubts, they evaporated the very moment The Revenge came into view. The house was a monument to architectural excess. It dripped with flourishes, even the drive lined with fantastic marble statues and an enormous fountain out front, bubbling away merrily.
“Amazing,” Eddy murmured and across the carriage, Lord Bonnet lit up like a chandelier.
“Do you really think so?”
“I’ve never seen a place like it before,” Eddy said, no lie in sight.
“Nor had I,” Lady Bonnet agreed tightly.
“It was a surprise gift to my wife,” Lord Bonnet’s smile drifted away. “I wanted to...well. In any case, I’m glad you like it.”
The carriage door opened, Mr. Chery waiting beside it.
“Tell Mr. Spriggs to ask the kitchen for a tea service in the Lilac Room,” Lord Bonnet instructed as he climbed gingerly out of the carriage. “And ask Mr. Feeney if we have any spare dresses that might be altered quickly for Miss Teach. We can fetch him more materials for something proper shortly. I suppose Mr. Handy-”
“Hands,” Eddy corrected amused.
“Right, he will need some medical attention. Perhaps Mr. Feldman can spare some time from the kitchens? The doctor may not come after our last incident.”
“Sure thing,” Mr. Chery said vaguely, holding his hand out for Eddy to take.
Sure thing? What the hell kind of servants were these?
Mr. Chery caught Eddy’s eye, glanced down at her hand, rough with work that no governess would ever do. They prepared themselves.
Mr. Chery winked at them.
Well. Her kind of servants, maybe.
Within minutes, Eddy found herself in the kitchens in a chair by the fireplace, holding a very delicious smelling cup of tea while a giant that apparently went by Mr. Feeney spread a measuring tape across her shoulders.
“Got just the thing,” he assured her. “If you like, Mr. Chery is a treat with braiding. Could get your hair pinned back up anyway you like.”
“Oh, would you mind?” She asked.
“Fine by me,” Mr. Chery set down his own cup. “You’ve got leaves in it. Making me itch on your behalf.”
“No need,” she laughed.
Izzy was over by the sink, gritting his teeth as the cook wiped down the cuts Eddy had given him. Mr. Boodhari and Mr. Jimenez had their own teacups and Mr. Boodhari was already chatting away with a slight blond fellow, who’s name Eddy hadn’t caught.
She had been in kitchens of great houses before. Never had one been this convivial. They were all clearly enjoying each other’s company and not in much of a rush to go about their work. Izzy met her eyes, and pulled a dark face. She gave a little shrug. Not their problem. If anything, an advancement. None of them were talking about the Baron with anything like respect or even much interest.
By the time Mr. Chery has finished with her hair, Mr. Feeney had reappeared with a dress.
“I asked the Baron if I could use it,” he explained. “Bit fine for your station and all, but no one else was wearing it. His mother was a powerfully big woman apparently. We’ll have to take it in a bit for you, but it’ll work a treat.”
The dress was a sedate shade of blue, but the fabric rustled over Eddy’s palms, catching on her callouses. It was softer than anything she’d ever touched. Mr. Feeney pulled out a sewing kit and began putting in quick darts.
“I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a man sew outside a tailor’s shop,” she offered.
“Ah, we all make do here,” Mr. Chery told her. “Lord Bonnet is an odd one, but at least he lets us do the things we’re best at rather than what we’re meant to do.”
“Is that what's happening here?” Izzy asked bitterly.
“Oh yes and sometimes things we aspire to be good at. It’s the world’s calmest asylum,” Mr. Spriggs was in the doorway. “When you’re done with the governess, his lordship wants to speak with her in the Lilac Room.”
“Not the governess yet,” Eddy corrected.
Mr. Spriggs shrugged, “We don’t have any other applicants. Running this place with a quarter of the people we need and we’ve all been taking turns making sure the little lord and lady don’t accidentally kill themselves. It’s become a bit desperate.”
“No nanny either?” Eddy frowned. They’d been counting on someone who knew something about children being around.
“Quit in a huff weeks ago,” Mr. Spriggs took a seat at the table, pouring himself tea and topping off everyone else’s while he was at it. “The children are...mmm. Well you should meet them. Why poison the well?”
“Hellions?” Eddy asked and if anyone thought her uttering swears was out of order for a governess, none of them showed it.
“Not at all,” Mr. Feeney said. “They’re never poorly behaved. Or at least not in manners. And...there we are. I’ll need more time if you’re going to wear it regularly, but it’ll do for today and I’m sure the Baron will send out for more cloth and things, get you a proper wardrobe.”
“Really? Why?” Eddy took the dress.
“He’s just like that. Here, let me show you where you can change.”
Eddy was glad of the little pantry off the kitchen where she could firmly shut the door. It gave her all the privacy she could’ve asked for as she pressed her hands into the fine cotton of the dress. It had a subtle chevron pattern, blue on blue. Jimenez’s underthings were even plainer beside it, but at least they were functional. Eddy was glad for the practice she had had in undoing such things over the years, setting all of it to rights.
The dress glided over her head and rested cloud light over her body. It fit perfectly. She wished very deeply for a mirror, but she could picture it in her head. Eddy, the thief, the con, the scourge of the rich and nightmare to order, must’ve looked as well put together and orderly as any noble woman just now. There was a lace cap to match, white and plain, but for the blue ribbon. It settled easily over her hair and she pinned it into place.
Eddy was a Miss now in form as well as feeling.
She took in a shaky breath and exhaled it carefully. None of this could show on her face, so she schooled herself. This was just a role. She was a governess. A nobody, truly. Caught in that no man’s land between servant and lady.
She exited the pantry to find the kitchen almost empty. Only Mr. Spriggs and Mr. Feldman were still there and Mr. Feldman was about his work at the stove.
“Lady Bonnet took your brother upstairs to discuss his potential for service here,” Mr. Spriggs offered. “Ready to talk to Lord Bonnet?”
“It should be the other way round, shouldn’t it?”
“Probably,” Mr. Spriggs got to his feet. “They’re a bit backwards by design sometimes. Come on then.”
The servant’s stairs were steep and Eddy wound up just hiking up the dress so she wouldn’t tear the pretty lace trim straight off. Luckily Mr. Spriggs had gone before her and she was able to drop them again as they entered the room that was indeed painted a pale shade of purple, curtains open to let light pour in.
Lord Bonnet was sitting at a writing desk under the window, but he wasn’t writing. If anything, he seemed to be lost in thought, twirling a quill between his fingers as he stared blankly out over his estate. Mr. Spriggs cleared his throat pointedly.
“Oh!” Lord Bonnet sat up straighter and turned to face them. “I see they found you something to wear Miss Teach. I hope you don’t mind its origins, as it it's a bit out of date, but it looks well on you.”
“Thank you,” Eddy said mildly, even as her heart skipped a beat. Traitorous thing. “For the dress, the compliment and your hospitality.”
“All easily given. Please, sit, you’ve been through a lot today.” He gestured at a pillow purple sofa which had a spindly-legged table beside it hold up a plate of nibbles. “If you like oranges, you must try the biscuits.”
“Thank you,” she repeated. She picked up one and took a small nibble in case it was foul, but the burst of flavor over her tongue made her give a very indiscreet and distinctly unladlylike moan.
“Sir,” Mr. Spriggs said quickly before Lord Bonnet could react. “Would you like me to take notes?”
“Oh,” Lord Bonnet tore his gaze from Eddy to Mr. Spriggs. His secretary apparently. “No, that’s fine. I’m sure this will all be managed informally enough. Do you have any experience with children, Miss Teach?”
“Loads,” she said after she swallowed the heavenly bite.
“And your last appointment was where?”
“Overseas, sir. The family I served traveled to India and I’ve only lately returned as their children were grown and I had a desire for home,” she said smoothly. “The letter of recommendation was...well. They took it from me as they took all of my things...”
They trailed off, put a hitch in their voice.
“Of course, please, don’t worry now. I’ll have my men score the forest and see if they can recover anything though it's likely all long gone, I’m afraid.”
It definitely would be considering the remains of the trunk's contents had been burned to a cinder a far distance away and the trunk itself left to be found, empty and broken.
“That seems likely,” she agreed solemnly. “I’d understand if you didn’t want to take us one without proof-”
“Nonsense. How about we get you to the children and that will be proof enough. Mr. Spriggs, please escort Miss Teach to the children’s wing and make sure both children are brought there once she’s seen her work space.”
“Yes, sir,” Mr. Spriggs rolled his eyes behind the Lord’s back. “Right now?”
“Oh! No, do finish your biscuit, Miss Teach. It can certainly wait for that.”
Eddy had several biscuits and two cups of tea while Lord Bonnet talked about everything other than his children and the sudden strange appearance of their potential governess. He had a range of interests and seemed content to ramble about them. When Eddy offered an idea, he sprang on it with bright delight that encouraged her.
“You really think that would work?”
“Pulley systems can do any number of things,” Eddy said readily. “Seen them lift all kinds of weight.”
“Do you think you could- no no. Perhaps not today, but if you get the chance, any diagram you might imagine would be very useful.”
“I could do it up quick,” she got to her feet, crossing to his desk. She leaned right over him, grabbing up the discarded quill and torn bit of paper that hadn’t made it into the wastebasket.
Mr. Spriggs gave a discrete cough. Eddy glanced up at him irritably, then caught what his eyes were indicating. She had given Lord Bonnet a very close view of her backside, even as covered as it was. With a grimace, she shuffled to one side and pretended she hadn’t noticed. Lord Bonnet said nothing though he’d gone very pink. Adorable.
“Like this,” she plowed on, sketching a system she’d seen in the construction of one of the tallest buildings in the city. Her penmanship was nothing to write home about, but she was a decent hand at drawing when pushed.
“Marvelous,” Lord Bonnet leaned in to study it. “And that works smoothly?”
“It’s a beautiful thing,” they nodded.
“I’ll have to see about having it crafted.”
The clock chimed and he grimaced.
“I’m afraid I have an appointment and you have the children to meet. Much to discuss though. I hope you’ll be willing to speak with me again about this in the future.”
“It’d be my pleasure,” she smiled at him. “My Lord.”
“I- right. Uh. The children, please, Mr. Spriggs,” he stumbled.
“This way, Miss Teach,” Mr. Spriggs gestured back to the servant’s stairs behind their concealed door.
The children’s wing turned out to be a collection of rooms on the second floor. Two sunny bedrooms side-by-side, a small dining room where apparently the children ate when they were not invited to join their parents and a study that had been converted to a school room with two prim little desks facing a far more imposing one. There were books in every room, some of them clearly in use on bedside tables or in piles on the desks.
“Who was teaching them before?” Eddy asked, taking in the creeping chaos that threatened around the edges. Places where plates had been left to molder and piles of leaves by some young naturalist remained untouched on the floor.
“No idea. We’re all new to the household, just since the manor was reopened,” explained Mr. Spriggs as he fussed with the curtains of the school room until they opened at last and let in some much needed light. “Like I said we’ve been passing the two of them around.”
“What are they called?”
“Miss Alma. She’s 9 and her brother is meant to be Mr. Louis, but he refuses to respond to it, so we’ve all taken to calling him Mr. Charlie even Lord and Lady Bonnet, so don’t worry about being too familiar...not that that seems an issue for you,” Mr. Spriggs added on with a snort.
“Things were more casual overseas,” she said lightly, adding on a feminine giggle for verisimilitude.
Mr. Spriggs turned to face her, crossing his arms over his chest, “Miss Teach, nothing has ever been that casual in any household. But I can tell you I truly don’t care. I’m just here to take notes and write letters. The rest is between you, Lord Bonnet and God Almighty, should He take an interest.”
“Thanks, I think,” Eddy started opening the drawers of the desk. She’d already seen a few things that she wouldn’t mind liberating, but getting into the inner chambers would take a little more doing.
The hallway was suddenly filled with noise and they almost closed their fingers in a drawer, startled by the onslaught.
“Here they are,” Mr. Spriggs sighed. “Have fun.”
“Where are you going?” Eddy asked, suddenly confronting the idea that she might get left alone with the brats.
“To do my job, Miss Teach. Now do yours.”
“It’s not mine yet.”
But he was out the door just as two small beings raced into it.
The girl was as spindly as Lord Bonnet’s end table. Her dress was a white cotton muslin with a dark green ribbon tied at the waist and her hair in a long single braid. The boy was smallish, standing behind his sister, in short pants and a matching deep blue jacket. He had his father’s blond hair, if a far sight messier.
“Hello then,” Eddy observed them. “I’m Miss Teach, meant to be your new governess.”
“We know,” the girl said gravely. “We saw you come in and Mr. Feldman told us when we came in to get our lunch.”
“What were you doing outside?”
“Exploring,” Miss Alma’s eyes dropped to her shoes.
“Love exploring,” Eddy decided. “Show me what you found.”
“Really?” Mr. Charlie asked, his voice a high squeak.
“Really. I’ve had enough of the indoors for the day. Let’s go.”
Miss Alma led Eddy and the boy back out into the hallway, then approached a marble bust of a distinguished looking gentleman. Before Eddy could say a word, she yanked hard on it and Eddy could see her carefully molded plans shattering along with the stone.
Except it didn’t shatter. It just rocked forward and there was a click and a door swung open in the wall.
“Are you kidding me?” Eddy came forward, peering around the doorway. There were stairs leading down.
“Father put in secrets all over the house,” Mr. Charlie whispered. “For himself, but this one is for us.”
“I see,” Eddy said delightedly. That should make the job far easier. “Lead the way then!”
The stairs let out the side of the house and Eddy’s afternoon quickly became about keeping up with the children. Miss Alma rattled off every story about the Fair Folk Eddy had ever heard and several new ones while Mr. Charlie jetted ahead and several times climbed up onto tree limbs that Eddy couldn’t reach without trying to follow. So she left him to it and when he got higher than she liked called out,
“Jump and I’ll catch you!”
“You won’t!” Miss Alma said scandalized.
“I can and I will,” Eddy assured her. “Go on then!”
And Mr. Charlie gave her an accessing look and then jumped. Eddy caught him with a quiet ‘oof’ then set him on his feet.
“Again?” He asked shyly.
“Not today,” Eddy glanced back up at the height. That may have been unwise. If a broken statue would do in the plan, a broken child would certainly kill it dead. “But another day from a lower branch.”
“Miss Teach, what kind of mushroom is this?” Miss Alma asked, holding up a bit of fungus.
“No idea, suppose we can look it up. Any of those books of yours full of nature things?”
“Lots!” Mr. Charlie supplied.
So they did wind up back in the school room, Eddy sitting on the floor, her only nod to her new attire to have her legs out in front of her instead of crossed and the children on their bellies leafing through books trying to pin down the elusive fungi. Once they discovered its name, Eddy figured they might as well make a go of the school thing and had them write out the name on a slate. Mr. Charlie did a blobby drawing of the thing as well which wasn’t bad.
“Right where you should be,” Mr. Feeney said from the door. “Isn’t that a pleasant surprise!”
Mr. Charlie ran up to him and mutely held out his arms then squealed happily as Mr. Feeney hefted him up in the air and over his head. When he set him back down, Mr. Feeney gave the boy a rough pat on the head which might explain the state of Mr. Charlie’s hair.
“What can we do for you?” Eddy asked, getting to her feet. Her knee didn’t twinge. And well, why would it? She was a young healthy governess. Wasn't her hair black as a raven's wing still and her skin smooth as silk?
“The children were requested to dinner by Lady Bonnet,” Mr. Feeney said. “They’ll need tidying, dinner clothes and then escorting down. Figured I’d give you the lay of the land Miss Teach, for tonight.”
“Please,” she said with relief.
It wasn’t hard to lay out clothes and supervise face washing. Alma didn’t need help, but Mr. Charlie couldn’t tie up his own breeches just yet. When they looked as though they had been quiet in a school room all day instead of trudging through mud, Mr. Feeney walked most of the way there with them, breaking off near the stairs down to the kitchens.
The formal dining room was done in such light woods and yellow paint that it seemed that the day had never quite left it for all the sun was well on its way down. Lord Bonnet was sitting at the head of the table, Lady Bonnet seated to his left. They were both reading their own books. The children walked to their mother’s side and she looked up. Immediately the foreboding, bitter face of Lady Bonnet softened into a motherly tenderness that was so familiar, Eddy had to swallow back an ancient yearning.
“There are my dears,” she put a hand to a cheek of both children. “You look very tidy. How did you find your day?”
“It was amazing!” Miss Alma burst out. “Mother, we found out the name of my favorite mushroom. It’s a chanterelle! Isn’t that pretty? And just like the story!”
“I know the one,” Lady Bonnet said softly.
“And I drew it,” Mr. Charlie said with quiet pride. “Miss Teach said it was a very good, if slightly squishy mushroom.”
“Did she?” Lady Bonnet looked over their heads, piercing Eddy with her gaze. Eddy met it, chin up. “I’d love to see it. You will have to show me tomororw. Why don’t you take your seats, darlings? Miss Teach, thank you for your service today. Mr. Feeney is in the kitchens, but he can guide you through dinner and then to your quarters for the evening.”
“Surely for-” Lord Bonnet started.
“For tonight, my lord,” Lady Bonnet said with steel in her voice. “We have much to discuss.”
“Yes,” Lord Bonnet allowed.
Eddy took a tactical retreat. Anyway, she was starving. It took a few goes, but she re-found the kitchen stairs, descending to the far happier atmosphere of the servant’s dining table. There at last was Izzy, black storm cloud shoved in the corner of the merry band. Though he too had been re-clothed in some kind of suit, patchily hemmed. There were white gloves, the thumb of one easing over his lip over and over, a tell of deep thought. Eddy worked her way through the crowd to his side.
“How was your day, Mr. Hands?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I fucking told you,” he muttered.
“I would,” she nudged him with an elbow. “It’s wild here. So are you a footman?”
“No,” he said quietly. But before Eddy could drop into planning mode, to find a way out of the mess that would make their plans, he pushed on, “I’m the butler.”
She blinked. “No, surely not...”
“She asked me questions about running the house and I answered them,” Izzy said quietly. “I didn’t realize how much I remembered. It’s been so long. But my father ran a household this size and he spent so much time moaning about it, I must’ve absorbed it along the way.”
“And that sold her?”
“Apparently no one here has much fucking experience, hard as that is to imagine.” Sarcasm practically dripped onto the floor, but Eddy had to concede that no one here had quite the right manner of service. Including her. “She didn’t sound happy about it, but here we are.”
“Did she notice....” Eddy waved at her own cheek where Izzy’s tattoo sat only partially hidden by the way he'd tied back his hair.
“That was the oddest thing,” he frowned, staring out into space. “She said...she said that she knew war left its mark on all men. Never even told her I saw battle.”
“Suppose she assumed it was a soldier’s mark.”
They had both seen more than one battle and left parts of themselves behind on the field. Eddy left her giddy joy, her faith and her old ill-fitting identity there. Izzy had buried his tenderness and what kindness the world had left to him. They’d stumbled clear of it together though and found a new way to survive.
“In any case, I have to get these layabouts doing actual work so this ridiculous place doesn't collapse,” Izzy grimaced. “I don’t like my fucking chances.”
“Only for a few weeks,” she assured him. “We’ll take a week or so to let them get used to us, then start doing some midnight hunting around.”
“You think you’ve got your job?”
“Good as done.”
They ate with everyone else. Izzy was silent, wary, but Eddy quickly folded into the conversation. How could one not laugh when Mr. Feeney did, with his belly deep chuckles, or want to share their own feats when Mr. Black (apparently a footman though his uniform was much disheveled) bragged so boldly of his own. Mr. Spriggs was not held separate despite his ostensibly higher position, teased and praised as roundly as anyone else. Their comfort with each other was an ease.
A bell tinkled and they talked over it, until Izzy banged a hand down flat on the table,
“Who’s job is it to see to that?” He demanded.
“I’ll get it,” Mr. Chery got to his feet without much speed. “All in good time. Might be you too Miss Teach. Kiddies are probably ready for bed.”
She followed him up the steps and sure enough, the children were waiting for her at the door of the dining room. Mr. Chery gave Miss Alma a pat on the shoulder as he went by and then started in on the plates.
“What’s the routine then?” Eddy asked them. “How do we do bedtime around here?”
“We wash our faces and hands, change into our bedclothes,” Miss Alma offered as they took the stairs. “Then Mother comes in and says good night, tucks Charlie in.. Then he goes to sleep and I read for a little then go to sleep too.”
“Sounds easy enough, let’s get it done.”
It turned out that Mr. Charlie needed some oversight in the washing department and some help getting his day’s clothes put away properly. Miss Alma was able to accomplish much of it herself, but needed Eddy’s help in braiding back her hair. Not a skill Eddy had in abundance, but managed in the end. Apparently, Lady Bonnet came to them in Mr. Charlie’s room and she arrived not along after both children were at least mostly ready for sleep.
“Good night, my darlings,” Lady Bonnet held out her arms and gave them both a hug. “Charlie, do you want tucking in?”
“Please,” he said readily and got into bed. Eddy looked away as Lady Bonnet smoothed the covers over the small body and bent to kiss his forehead.
“Alma, stay with your brother a moment. Miss Teach, a word in the hall.”
With a sinking heart at the tone, Eddy stepped out into the darkened hallway. At least Izzy had established himself. That would still leave them with a chance of getting the job done.
Lady Bonnet gently closed the door and turned to Eddy with fire in her eyes.
“My husband has decided on you, Miss Teach, and with no other applicants presenting themselves than I find I must settle on you too,” she said with the same cool tone she’d used on Lord Bonnet. “But those are my children and I will fight to the death for them. Whatever you intend to do here, walk softly and carefully with them. Treat them with respect and kindness or I will find a way to make you regret it. Do we understand each other?”
“Perfectly,” Eddy said, careful not to return her fire. She kept her voice as genteel as she knew how. “They are my first concern, Lady Bonnet. You have my word.”
“I hope your word is worth having then.”
And she was gone in a flurry of skirts. Eddy watched her go and wondered what kind of woman understood a war veteran’s agonies and protected her children with such ferocity. An admirable one, perhaps. Not that Eddy was in the habit of admiring any one, least of all a fine lady.
Eddy went back into the room, nearly tripping over Miss Alma, who was suspiciously close to the door.
“Eavesdropping is more effective if you don’t get caught,” Eddy informed her.
“I wasn’t!” Miss Alma pinked up.
“We couldn’t hear anything anyway,” Mr. Charlie pouted from the bed.
“Good, nosy things,” she laughed. “Now what about your father?”
“What about him?” Miss Alma asked with a scrunch to her nose.
“Does he not come to say good night?”
“He used to,” Mr. Charlie said quietly. “He used to read us stories, but that was before we moved. Mother says he forgets sometimes and we can't bother him about it.”
“Hm,” Eddy looked between them. “Moving house can shake us all up a little. Tell you what, no one's told me that I can't bother him. You stay here, bundle up together for now and I’ll see if he’s got the time.”
“Really?” Miss Alma’s eyes went wide.
“Of course, really. Off you go.”
Eddy found Mr. Feeney down the hall, stoking the fires in Miss Alma’s room.
“Your brother is a rough one, miss,” he said as she came in. “Sent us all scattering to work no one’s thought needed doing since we arrived.”
“He’s used to barking orders,” she allowed. “But surely the child still needs a fire at night this time of year.”
“Guess so,” Mr. Feeney allowed. "But she's been doing it herself and Mr. Charlie."
"I burned myself on a grate doing that at her age," she frowned. The mark was high on her arm, barely visible now.
"Aye, suppose many a child has. And no need for it to be her."
“Do you know where I might find Lord Bonnet?”
“This time of night, he’s in the Lilac Room, but you can’t just go dropping in on him.”
“Why not?” She demanded, already well on her way.
The map of the house already building in her mind, she found her way to the Lilac Room without help. Probably good as apparently she wasn’t meant to be going there at all. She rapped on the closed door twice.
“I’m busy, my lady,” his voice carried from some corner of the room.
“Not your wife, sir.” Should she have come in the servant’s way? Too late now. “Your children wish to say good night.”
There was a pause, then she heard him pace to the door and after another hesitation, it cracked open. He looked the same as he had earlier that day, but perhaps, a little more tired. A little less excitable.
“Miss Teach, I cannot be interrupted to-”
“It will only take a moment...sir,” she tacked on. “They’ve been missing your stories, but I’m sure just a good night would suffice.”
“They missed them?” He asked, his posture straightening a little. “I thought perhaps they’d gotten too old for such things.”
“Who is too old for a story?” She returned, mildly horrified by the idea.
“Who indeed? Are you not too old for one, Miss Teach?”
“No, I would stay and hear one if you would tell it,” she insisted.
“I don't know if that's strictly...but the children would be there...”
“I will take no offense if you will not,” she offered.
Lord Bonnet bit his lip, then nodded. “Let me fetch a book.”
“We're in Mr. Charlie’s room.”
“Very good.”
The children were at least actually in bed when she returned this time.
“He’ll be here shortly,” she sat on the end of the bed.
“Truly?” Miss Alma checked.
“If he’s not here in five minutes, I will go down and drag him here by his ear myself,” Eddy assured her. The scandalous suggestion made the children giggle and that warmed her more than the cozy fire now going in the fireplace.
There was no need for ear tugging as it turned out. Not a minute later, Lord Bonnet stepped into the room, holding the prettiest book Eddy had ever seen. The edges were gilded, the cover a bright blue leather and the spine decorated with delicate swirls of color.
“Father!” Charlie chirped happily.
“My boy,” Lord Bonnet’s worried lines went smooth. “And good evening to you, Alma.”
“Hello,” she beamed at him.
Eddy rose and took the chair that sat by the bed for herself so Lord Bonnet would have to take her place. To his credit, he sat down on the blankets without any further dithering.
“I found the book we were reading back in our old house. Do you remember where we left off or should we start again?”
“We remember,” Miss Alma said carefully. “But Miss Teach has never heard it before.”
“Start over, please,” Mr. Charlie put in.
“Then I will,” Lord Bonne said happily, cracking open the book and trailing one fine-boned finger down the page. “ Once upon a time there was. . . . “A King!” my little readers will say at once. No children, you’re wrong. Once upon a time there was a block of wood. ”
His voice was strong like this, Eddy decided. Not at all the feathery and unsure thing it had been at dinner or even when he asked her about pulleys. He sounded confident here, with his pretty book and his eager children. It was a voice of a man doing something he did well. And Eddy had always liked that kind of voice best. She sank into it as readily as little Mr. Charlie. A few weeks here wouldn’t be torture. Not in a fine dress, with stories, and lively characters to amuse her.
Idly, she took in the rings on Lord Bonnet’s fingers, flashing gold as he trailed down the page. How close would she have to get to whisk those away too? Close enough to touch. Close enough for many sins.
Eddy smiled to herself and leaned back in the chair. There was nothing she liked more than a fresh challenge that would pay off in more ways than one.