Nothing But Time (16 page)

Following just a handful of yards behind Harrowby as she returned to the house with Timson at her side, Kate had
the
curious experience
o
f watching the earl greet his mother who was awaiting his arrival on the large terrace that backed his palatial home. 
She looked older than Kate would have guessed, perhaps in her late fifties or early sixties.  Her hair was a dark, steely gray that seemed to blend like the clouds on a stormy night right into the black dress she wore.  Stark black, from head to toe.

She sat stiffly at a small table with a tea service ready and a half-dozen footmen hovering nearby.  Another younger woman
who looked a lot like Brand
, also in black, sat at the table with her
,
as did Nathan.  All of them looked utterly miserable.

“You’ve kept me waitin
g, Harrowby,” she called when the earl
was still a dozen paces away.

“My apologies, Mother,” he replied in a tone just as
distant
as
hers did
as he neared.  When he was still outside her arm’s length, Harrowby stopped and bowed low.  “I was
walking
about
the park.”

“You were ever one
for e
xcuses, Harrowby.”  Even from
a
dist
ance, Kate could see the woman eye her son from top to bottom in a manner that was chilly at best.  After a moment, she tilted her head and the earl dutifully stepped forward
,
offering a peck to her cheek.

Wondering at the frosty relationship
Harrowby
had with his mother, Kate was surprised when the earl also greeted the other woman, who Kate was certain was his sister, with an equally cool greeting which was returned in kind.

Timson led the way around the
perimeter of the
terrace to a small service entrance and gestured Kate inside.  “Wow, is it a bit nippy out there or is it just me?” she whispered
as they ducked into the passageway that led to the kitchens.

“It is not your place to speculate on the relationship between the earl and his family,” the valet returned sternly.

“I know, but…
I’m just saying
!  Really?”  Kate couldn’t get over it.  From the first day she had moved away to college, she had gotten off the plane when coming home with a full on run into her mother’s arms, or her sister’s, or her dad’s
, w
hichever one she got to first before she was passed around with joy and tears after months at a time of not seeing one another.  Oh,
maybe in high school she wouldn’t have reacted like that.  Most teen girls consider their mothers to be not much more than a huge pain in the ass and Kate
had been
no different, but moving away had made her appreciate her family and the love and support they gave her.

She couldn’t imagine greeting any of them
in the manner which Brand greeted his family
.  “How long has it been since they’ve seen each other?” Kate asked wondering if maybe it had just been recently which might account for a lack of feeling.

Timson
snorted as if he had no intention of answering, but then shrugged.  “My lord hasn’t seen his mother in almost two years.”

Kate inwardly cringed.  “And his sister?”

“Not since her husband’s funeral
six
months ago.”  He paused and looked back at her.  “And just in case you think to ask, no, their mother did not attend the event.”

Not show up at your son-in-law’s funeral?  Kate
couldn’t imagine someone being s
o cold and uncaring to their own child.  “Ouch.”

“Just so, Miss Kallastad.  Just so.”

***

“
We’re so happy for ye
,” Margo gushed as Kate gathered her belongings together that evening
after dinner
. 
She fingered the velvet of Kate’s heavy robe thoughtfully.  “Any of us might ‘ave guessed ye weren’t always a maid, Kate.”

“‘Tis truth,” Nan agreed and Mary nodded along as well.  The other girls were all gathered around as Kate pulled her nightclothes from the hook near her bed and gathered her shoes and personal belongings, placing them in a basket she could carry up to the nursery.  While Hendricks had actually ordered Nan to do it for her – in deference, Kate supposed
,
to her new ranking in the household –
Kate knew she wasn’t destined to be waited on by others.

Even Milena, their housekeeper, didn’t truly wait on them in any way.  She took care of the cooking since her mother
– in
an ironic twist considering the company she worked for
– was
a horrible cook and kept the house neat as a pin otherwise.  Milena had had a healthy hand in raising both Kate and her sister, Anne, as well.  Given her parents active
,
professional lives, a third
pair of
hand
s
had been necessary at times.

That close relationship with a person most here would probably consider a servant had given Kate a different
perspective on the role that an employee
could play in their employer
’
s lives and, after seeing the familial relationships abounding in the Ryder family, thought that perhaps what Nathan needed most was not a family member at all. 

Kate normally didn’t like to draw quick conclusions about people, but she thought that beyond Brand, the family was lacking in what she considered a nurturing environment.
Perhaps
Nathan
needed
someone who could actually care about him as Milena had cared for Kate and Anne. 

“We’re going to miss ye, Kate,” Marta offered with a sad sniff.

“Hey, it’s not like I’m moving to Timbuktu here,” Kate said wrapping an arm around her new friend’s shoulder and giving her a little squeeze.  “I’ll just be one floor down, you
know
.”

“Ye’ll be so alone down there,” Mary said.  “I can’t imagine how lonely you’ll
be
in the evenings.”

A wry smile quirked the corner of Kate’s lips.  This coming from a girl who’d probably never had a moment of true privacy in her entire life.  Mary, like so many of the others, came from a large family who had shared
,
not only bedrooms but beds
,
their entire lives.  They worked as a group, ate
as
a group and socialized as a group. 
Most of the girls probably couldn’t imagine that solitud
e might be an enjoyable thing… having never experienced it, that is.  “You’re probably right, but I’ll still see you at dinner.”

“But ye’ll be
at the other end of the table
now,” Marta said mournfully.

Kate thought of the long dining table in the servants
’
great room and suddenly the order of the seating there struck her as it hadn’t over the course of the past two weeks.  Geoffrey, the butler, at
the head, with Hendricks, Timson
and Mr. Scott nearby.  Down the table, sorted by rank.  She frowned.  “I’m sure I can still sit with you if I want to.  Can’t I?”

The girls all shared a look.  “Never seen anyone sit where they weren’t supposed to before,”
Mary
told her.

“That’s just wrong,” Kate muttered as she threw the last of her stockings on top of the pile before ducking down to pull her larger valise containing the clothes
David
had gotten for her from under the bed.  “We’ll work it out, you guys.  Don’t worry.  I mean we all work here
,
right?  They can’t insist on that kind of separation, can they?”

A knock came on the doorframe of the open door and they all looked around to find
an upper level
maid
Kate wasn’t familiar with
there.  She bobbed a quick c
urtse
y and spoke to Kate.  “I’m Janice. 
I serve up in the nursery
as one of Master Nathan’s nannies
. 
Mrs. Hendricks
asked me
to
help
you
move upstairs and
also
to be available to you
in the future
in case you need anything else.”

Kate glanced around to her companions.  Janice wasn’t actually indicating that she was being assigned as her maid, was she?  A servant with a servant?  Did that actually happen?  “Anything, like what?”

“
T
o help you dress or
to fetch anything you might need
from the kitchens
or such
,” Janice clarified.

Kate almost rolled her eyes, not in annoyance but in relief.  Even if it did mean that Janice was to wait on her in any small sense of the word, Kate knew that at least one duty Janice had been assigned would be beneficial.  Mainly because, Kate had not yet been able to accomplish the entire process of ‘dressing properly’ on her own.

In those first two weeks at
David
’s, she’d managed all right on her own, but only because she’d eschewed the corsets and more elegant
gowns
he’d bought in favor of simpler dresses that buttoned up the front.  Upon her arrival here though, with the earl’s return imminent, all the staff had been required to be at their best at all times.  That meant the
dreaded
corset, which Margo had had to help her into the past two weeks despite the fact that it laced up the front, and the more formal uniform that didn’t allow for an excess of motion.  It had been hard for Kate to imagine that they meant to get so much work done from women who could barely move. 

Most of the dresses
David
had provided were similar in fashion to the uniform she’d worn here.  Long, tight sleeves.  Long, tight bodices.  Long, tight skirts.
  Though those, at least, flowed more freely from
knee
down below the overskirt
,
which gathered about her hips before being drawn up into a
bustle in the rear.  Unlike the
serviceable gray of the Harrowby uniform, her other dresses were all very beautiful in a purely aesthetic sens
e that dismissed the practical
issues.  They were bright colors, silks and fine lawns.  Some with stripes or checks or lace. 

However, e
very one of them required the assistance of another person to don and Kate was glad for Janice’s assignment.  “Thank you, Janice.  I’ll be glad for any help you can offer.”

Though
such thanks were
a standard
twenty-first
century workplace nicety, Janice looked a bit surprised for a moment then smiled more fully.  “I’m happy to help, Miss Kallastad.”

“Oh, just call me Kate, okay?”

“O-kay,” she repeated a little more hesitantly as Kate hugged her roommates goodbye with promises to see them soon and inviting them to the nurseries to visit.  Rather than lifting the heavy basket herself, Janice waved a waiting footman in from the hall and had him do the honors. 

That done, she tried to take the larger valise from Kate but Kate just nodded with a smile.  “Lead the way.”

It didn’t take long for Kate to put Janice at ease as the
nanny
showed her the nursery and, farther down the hall, her bedroom
which was decorated nicely in a manner that Kate considered a perfect midway point between the dormitories above and the more lavish bedchambers below. 
There was a comfortable looking, four-posted bed and a chaise near the window opposite the fireplace. 
Soon
she and Janice
were chatting comfortably as they unpacked all of Kate’s gowns and hung them on the pegs inside the wardrobe that dominated one wall of her small chamber.

“There we are at last,” Janice announced as she placed the last of Kate’s shoes neatly on the bottom shelf of the wardrobe.  “It’s getting late.  You should probably get some rest.  I’m sure you’re excited to start your new duties tomorrow.”

“I am very excited,” Kate agreed.

“Master Nathan is a very sweet lad.”

Kate til
t
ed her head thoughtfully as Janice gave her a piercing look.  No doubt she was wondering what Kate could possibly offer as a tutor to a young boy of the aristocracy.  “I will do my best to treat him well.”

“I overheard at dinner that A
ndrew – ”

“The footman Andrew or the stable boy Andrew?” Kate held up a hand, interrupting to ask.

“The footman Andrew,” Janice clarified before continuing, “Andrew overheard Lord Harrowby in a conversation with his sister that Master Nathan has spoken to you.”