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.What surprised her was the light in the room, let in by large windows and accentuated by pale yellow paint.“Such a pleasant kitchen,” she whispered to him.“Sir, did you do all this?”Mr.Butterworth nodded, and smiled at the scullery maid, who was beaming at him and sitting up straighter as she worked on the mound of potatoes.“Moira, you are an expert with that knife,” he said, and then, “Mrs.Chatham, do your exertions point to kidney pie for dinner? You are a pearl beyond price.”Jane tried to imagine Lady Carruthers even going belowstairs and then speaking to a scullery maid, and could not.Heaven knows she did not speak to me, she thought, watching while Mr.Butterworth engaged his cook in earnest conversation.He was joined by the butler and footman, who each seemed to have a morsel to contribute.I wonder if it is like this belowstairs at Stover, she thought.After a few minutes, everyone returned to their duties.Jane picked up the tray, smiling her thanks to Mrs.Chatham.Mr.Butterworth held open the door and admonished her to mind her steps as she walked upstairs.I wonder if he even knows about me, she thought, then decided to plunge ahead.“Did you know, Mr.Butterworth, that I came to Stover Hall through the scullery?” she said as she set the tray on the table in the sitting room.“In a letter, Lord Denby told his sister—Lady Carruthers, of course—to retrieve me from the workhouse, but he neglected to add that I was meant to be upstairs, and not belowstairs, so down I went.”“I’ve heard those rumors,” he replied, giving her his full attention, in that way of his that she always found perfectly gratifying.“If I may ask, how did you find yourself in a workhouse in the first place?”“No one has ever wanted to know,” she said, wishing that her uncertainty did not show.“Are you certain ….”“I am certain, Miss Milton,” he said.“In fact, I am firm upon the matter.”“My mother was a Stover on a modest branch of the family tree.She made an improvident marriage.My father left us when I was five.” My, I sound so casual, she marveled to herself.“After Mama had contrived and schemed and then sold everything of any value to keep us afloat, she locked the door and we walked to the Leeds workhouse.”“Why did she not apply to her Stover relatives instead?” Mr.Butterworth asked, seating himself beside her.“Pride, sir.Her father had made no bones about his distaste for the marriage, and on the Milton side, I can only assume that there were grave reservations, as well.And I suppose people said things they could not retract.”As she watched his face, she could not overlook his expression.“People do that, don’t they?” he commented, after a moment.“Have you ever been in a workhouse, Mr.Butterworth?” she asked suddenly.“No,” he said, and he looked at her in that kindly way that had sparked her earlier truth telling.“I cannot imagine that it was a place for children.Were you separated from your mother?”She nodded, and found herself hardly able to speak of it, even after so long.“I suppose that is one reason I have coddled Andrew all these years,” she said finally.“Every child needs a mother.I saw her once a week.” She paused a moment, then spoke when he looked at her.“She died there when she was 27.Her grave is number 248.”“I do not understand,” he said.“No one gets an actual headstone, Mr.Butterworth,” she explained, pleased with her control.“That would be an expense.”Mr.Butterworth nodded, in a way that she found most sympathetic, and yet without embarrassing her, then turned his attention to the window, where he had taken himself.“But why the scullery, Miss Milton?” he asked.I shall pick my way delicately here, she thought, and I have no actual proof that Lady Carruthers meant harm.“Lord Denby was away with his regiment in Canada when he heard the news of my mother’s death.He has always taken seriously his duties as head of the family.” Jane sighed, joining him at the window.“I do not believe his sister precisely understood his orders about retrieving me from the workhouse, and so I went to the scullery.”She allowed herself a glance at his face, and was surprised to see such an expression of dismay.“Mr
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