BRIGHTON BEAUTY Read Online Free PDF Page B

number would likely swell to fifty. Still Chelsea couldn't bear to see a single one of them lose their positions. So, after some thought, she decided to handle the matter not as Alayna might, but in her own singular fashion.
    Jared, she had observed, had few duties other than to loiter about the corridor outside Lady Rathbone's chamber, in order to be on hand when the woman bellowed. It had not taken Chelsea long to ascertain the reason for her unorthodox habit of shouting when she wished Jared to appear. Not a single one of the bell-pulls in the castle worked.
    On the afternoon that Chelsea intended to put her plan into action, she approached Jared, as usual, to request an audience with Lady Rathbone.
    "Do come in, dear," the woman said, after Jared had announced her. It had been some days since Lady Rathbone had bellowed at Chelsea. "My, is it tea time already?"
    "No, ma'am, I have come about another matter," Chelsea replied, a warm smile on her lips.
    "And what might that be, dear?" Already, Lady Rathbone had sat up in bed and was reaching for her cane, apparently intent upon joining Chelsea at their customary place before the fire. "Do you require something?" she asked pleasantly, as Chelsea reached to assist her to a standing position.
    "No, ma'am; not for myself." Chelsea walked slowly alongside Lady Rathbone, then after adjusting a cushion at her back as she eased onto the sofa, Chelsea slipped onto a nearby chair.
    "Well, then, what is it?" Lady Rathbone asked expectantly.
    In a confident tone, Chelsea began. "I have come to ask if you would consider opening the dining hall, Aunt Millicent, so that you and I might take our meals together? And," Chelsea rushed on before the woman could object, "I should like us to take our tea in the drawing room from now on. I located a perfectly good Bath chair belowstairs, and I am certain that with Jared's help, and perhaps one of the footmen, we could wheel you about the corridors, and perhaps even venture outdoors. A breath of fresh air on occasion would bring color to your cheeks, Aunt Millie."
    A slow smile moved across Lady Rathbone's face. "Why, I think that a capital idea, Alayna. You are a positively dear girl for thinking of me. We shall begin this very evening. Jared!"
    * * * *
    L eaving the old lady's hide-away moments later, Chelsea smiled to herself. A bit of life about the castle and she felt certain the servants would once again be inspired to take pride in their work.
    Supper in the dining hall that evening proved a somewhat haphazard affair, what with the servants not being accustomed to properly serving or clearing. However, breakfast and luncheon the following day went a bit smoother; and though tea in the drawing room that afternoon came a little too soon for the draperies and carpets to have been aired, Chelsea helped dispel some of the gloom by drawing aside both the curtains and shutters and allowing some much-needed air and light in.
    Over the next days, Dulcie assisted Chelsea in transforming the gloomy castle into something that more closely resembled a home. Chelsea saw to cleaning the bed hangings and linens in Lady Rathbone's chamber, and brought in armloads of colorful wildflowers and arranged them in vases throughout the castle. She also supervised the dusting of portraits, and polishing of all the brass hinges on the great oaken doors. Though Jared's stoic countenance never varied, Chelsea began to sense his approval of her brightening up the place.
    She also became aware of a certain respectful camaraderie that existed between that gentleman and Lady Rathbone. On one afternoon, as she was sitting with Lady Rathbone in her chamber, a particularly high wind came up. Not an uncommon occurrence in this part of England, wind seemed to whistle about the crumbling castle walls with disturbing regularity. However, on this particular afternoon, it loosened an outside shutter from its moorings and caused it to fly straightaway to the ground, where it landed