Lady In Waiting
Authors: Kathryn Caskie
You'll never look at facial cream the same way. Jenny Penny is a lady's maid to the matchmaking Featherton sisters and a lover of all things fin
e
—
a
nd expensive. But soon her debts pile up, forcing her to secretly sell her homemade facial cream. Jenny could never have anticipated the sensation it would cause...
o
r that women in the ton would use her tingle cream in the most intimate of places to boost their libido. As if that weren't enough, the Featherton sisters have made Jenny their project. Passing her off as Lady Genevieve, they are determined to see her wed sexy Scottish marquis Callu
m
Campbell. Being wooed by day and churning out tingle cream by night, Jenny is leading a double life and she's about to get caught. But will Callum's feelings change when he learns she is not a lady but an entrepreneurial lady's maid?
******************
Good heaven
s
—
I
've gotten
m
ysel
f
into a
scrape! Mere weeks ago, I was
si
m
ply
Jenny
Penny, a lady's maid, a lord's illegitimate
daughter, and a lover of fine frocks.
B
ut my
credit at the shops of Bath has been c
u
t off, and I am forced to sell my homemade facial cream at night, without my employer
s’
knowledge. Who knew it would become the sensation of
the
ton? That society ladies would apply it to a most
intimate
part of
their body? Or that rumor would spread that "tingle
cream”--
was created by a highborn woman named Lady Eros?
If that were not enough, my mistresses—
t
he matc
hmak
ing Featherton sister
s
—
h
ave made me their new pro
j
e
ct.
By
passing me off as Lady Genevieve, they mean to see me wed to Callum Campbell, Lord Argyll. I cannot fault their
taste.
His
sable-dark eyes and his devastatingly wicked smile thrill me.
Now I am Lady Genevieve by day and Lady Eros
by
night. And I blush to think of what will happen when Callum and society discover that, in truth, I am neither.
******************
LORD ARGYLL TURNED TO JENNY WITH A DECIDEDLY WICKED GLEAM IN HIS EYE.
"Alone at last, my bonnie lass."
Well, that didn't take long, Jenny mused. In any case, she still had the advantage.
She batted her eyes. "Please temper your words, my lord. The ladies are bound to return in a moment."
"A moment is all I need, lass."
She knew she should pretend to faint, or at the very least wilt. But as Jenny looked into Lord Argyll's eyes, she somehow didn't care about the ruse anymore. She slipped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his.
She had half expected her brazenness to shock or repel him. But he ran the tip of his tongue along the fullness of her lips until she shuddered.
Jenny pulled back. "You..
.
are not the gentleman you pretend to be, my lord."
He laughed deeply. "And ye are not the lady you pretend, either..."
Let's keep it short and sweet!
Any word with an m is suspect and can be a th such as the word "me", "mey", "mis" may be a mistake and actually be "the", "they", "this"
D is inaccurately being read instead of TL.
Any word with d like gendy, silendy, flady, gende, etc. should be gently, silently, flatly, gentle, etc.
And the ususal "di" is being read instead of th such as "anodier" for "another", "fadier" for "father", "diere" for there" , "die" for "the" etc.
U may actually be li Examples:
Uttle = little, Up=lip
h may actually be li Examples: hke=like, hfe=life
Warner Books, Time Warner Book Group
Copyright 2005
P
rologue
Scientific Diary of Miss Genevieve Penny
20 December,
1
8
1
7
/
have made an important scientific discover
y
—
o
ne that will change my life forever.
By crossing two particularly vigorous varieties of Mitcham peppermint, I have produced an essential oil of unmatched potency. Alas, which two varieties, however, I have no memory, having no mind
for storing such dreary details. Hence, the introduction of my exquisite new scientific journal with fashionable marbled facings, satin page mark, and soft leather spine. I purchased it today, along with a gorgeous cairngorm brooch I saw in the window of Bartleby
'
s, which has fast become my favorite shop on all of Milso
m
Street, if not all of Bath. But I digress.
Through a most fortuitous accident, I found that this particular oil has the curious effect of causing the skin to flush with youthful vigor immediately upon contact. Thus far, there have been no ill side effects, therefore I
2
shall commence blending a half-dozen gallipots of the peppermint cream for the Featherton ladies. No doubt they will be pleased, as will the shopkeeper at Bartleby's, for the guinea the Feathertons will likely gift me must be applied directly to my overdue shop bill before I am barred from the establishment forever.
Chapter One
Bath,
England
January 2, 1818
Genevieve Penny spun around and stared, quite unable to believe what she was hearing. "What, pray, do you mean she used the cream down
there?
My God
,
Annie, it's a
facial
balm. Did you not explain its intended use to her ladyship?"
"Course I did, Jenny. I'm not daft." Her friend, an abigail like herself, punctuated her words with a roll of her eyes and settled her plump behind on the stool before the herb-strewn table. "But how could I have known Lady Avery and the viscount had a more
amorous
plan for
the
cream?"
"And now she wants a pot of her own?" Jenny nervously tucked a loose sable curl behind her ear. "I gave the Feathertons’ cream pot to
you.
My gift was meant to be our secret. I never intended for the cream to find its way above stairs."
Above stairs?
What an awful thought. Jenny's stomach
4
muscles cinched like an overtight corset and she gasped for a breath.
What if the Featherton ladies learned of her little gif
t
born of supplies
they
paid fo
r
—
b
lended in
their
own stillroo
m
? Heaven forbid. She might find herself out on the cobbles without a reference! Where would she be then, hawking oranges on the street corner for her daily bread?
She seized Annie's shoulders. "You did not tell your mistress that / gave you the cream."
"Nay, of course not. Said a friend gave it to me." But as she spoke, Annie's keen eyes drifted across the table to the sealed clay gallipots on its edge. With a twist of her ample form, she broke Jenny's grip and made her way across the stillroom.
"Have some made up, do you?" Prying open the lid, Annie lifted the pot to her nose and, as she breathed deep, let out a pleased sigh. "Well, my lady wants two pots of the tingle cream to star
t
—"
Jenny's cheeks heated. "Lud, stop calling it that! It's
not
tingle cream. It's a peppermint
facial
cream."
"You can call it what you like, but I tried a dab myself. You know ...
there."
Annie flushed crimson and looked away. "And I own, Jenny, the way it tickled me below ... positively
sinful.
I do not doubt it revived my lady's desire."
Jenny heard Annie return the clay gallipot to the table, but then she heard something else. Her ears pricked up at a faint but unmistakable jingle of coins.
As Annie turned around, she withdrew a weighty silken bag from her basket and pressed it into Jenny's palm. "My lady bade me to give the maker this,
if
that
5
maker could be persuaded to oblige her with two pots today."
Jenny loosened the heavy bag's satin tie and emptied ten gold guineas onto the table. It was a fortune for a lady's maid like her. A blessed fortune! Her blood plummeted from her head into her feet and she sank onto a stool, unable to stop staring at the gleaming mound of riches.
"You do have two spare pots, don't you, Jenny? Her ladyship would be most displeased if I returned to the house without her cream."
Jenny nodded absently and pushed two of the three gallipots forward. This was certainly not the use she intended when she blended the cream. But what else could she do except oblige? This was more blunt than she'd ever seen in her lifetime.
"Jolly good. Knew you'd come around." With great care, Annie wedged the pots into her basket and covered them discreetly with a square of linen. "Must run now. Haven't much time, you know. I'll be needing to dress Lady Avery for the Fire and Ice Ball this eve."
"Of course." Jenny glanced at the rough-hewn table and the lone gallipot sitting amid the crushed herbs. "Only one left," she muttered to herself.
Annie set her fist on her fleshy hip. "One? You mean that's all you hav
e
—
a
t all? Well, dove, if I was you, I'd set about making more of that tingle cream right away."
"Why should I need more?" Jenny raised her brow with growing suspicion.
Beneath the snowy
m
obcap, Annie's earlobes glowed crimson. "Wel
l
... I
might
have overheard Lady Avery telling Lady Oliver about her thrilling discovery of an amazing cream. Of course, I knew she was talking about
6
the tingle cream. And, Jenny, Lady Oliver was
most
interested."
A jolt raced down Jenny's spine. "You do not mean others in society know of this? Lud, this is a disaster."
"Oh, Jen, you're getting all foamy for nothing. What's so wrong with an abigail making a few bob on the side? Who knows, a society connection could be the very thing to catapult your sales and help you remove yourself from debt for good."