A Royal Kiss and Tell

I never dreamed I would meet someone like you, much less love someone like you. I fear this love I hold for you will drive me to madness. I think of you every day and I will for the rest of my life. I will hold dear what we have shared. I will never have the strength to feel this way again, and I want you to know, no matter what else, I loved you beyond compare and will burn for you for the rest of my days.

So did she love him beyond compare. So would she burn for him until she was all burned up.

She didn’t care if she was sent to the country. She didn’t care about anything anymore.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Bibury, the Cotswolds

Everyone who is able has left the dreaded summer heat of London, but a few souls remain, including a peacock, who lost a few feathers this summer and reportedly hasn’t the energy to fly.

Lady Caroline Hawke announces she will not be taking orders for dresses, as she has decided the London air is unkind to her constitution and has determined to take some time to recuperate in the country.

After a scandalous departure of one maid, a certain lady whose husband is a rising star in politics has taken two more new servants into the fold. The lucky young ladies are Londoners.

Disturbing rumors of a slave ring operating at the highest reaches of British government continue to swirl, and we’ll be keeping our eyes and ears open to bring you more news of it.

Ladies, new studies in physical health suggest that calisthenics should be incorporated into every woman’s daily routine.

—Honeycutt’s Gazette of Fashion and

Domesticity for Ladies

THE THREE LADIES gathered in the drawing room at the Hawke country house had come from the parish village. Two of them were seated politely on the settee. One of them stood on a box, her arms held out as Caroline measured her.

She’d been in the country for four months now. Summer had long since departed and a cool autumn had taken its place. She’d taken to wearing her hair long and in a single tail down her back—it didn’t seem worth the effort to coif and curl when she had no society to impress. She likewise wore a plain skirt and one of Beck’s old shirts tucked into it, as well as one of his older sweaters that hung to her knees.

Around the drawing room were dresses in various stages of construction. She didn’t care to wear them anymore, but making them took her mind off...other things. “You will look lovely in blue, I think, Mrs. Carter. Do you like the blue silk?” she asked.

“Oh, but it’s beautiful,” the woman said.

“You may lower your arms,” Caroline said. She looked at her notes and smiled at the three women. “All right, then, I have three dresses to be made for the Yuletide. One red,” she said, pointing at one of the ladies on the couch. “One in the green-and-cream-striped silk, and the blue.”

The women all nodded their heads in agreement.

“Wonderful!” Caroline said, and nodded at Martha, who stood from her desk and walked over to the ladies. “Thank you all so very much for coming.”

“Thank you, Lady Caroline,” Mrs. Carter gushed.

Martha escorted the ladies to the door. She paused to chat with them, something about the new doctor in the village, and then saw them out. Martha liked it here, Caroline could tell. She’d taken to baking, and she and the cook who came from Bibury four days a week had become fast friends.