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up by now. And if he were up, would he not have checked on her? Prudence could picture him tapping softly and entering her room when she was sound asleep. She could see him cross the rugged carpet to look down on her and find that she looked perfectly healthy, as she had the previous day. Oh, he would not be fooled. He would know she was faking her illness, and he would be furious with her.
    A knock on her door startled her, and she grabbed at the bedclothes, pulling them up around her. But then she realized it was the door to the corridor from which the sound had issued, and she forced herself to call, “Enter.”
    Mrs. Granger peeked around the door, her face full of concern. But when she saw Prudence sitting up, she smiled broadly. “Just as I told his lordship. A night's sleep has done you a world of good, my lady. I trust you are feeling better.”
    “Much better,” Prudence acknowledged. “Is . . . is Ledbetter next door?”
    “Oh, no. He's made a hearty breakfast and gone out to see to the horses. Seems one of them threw a shoe yesterday, which no one noticed until this morning. Shall I send for him?”
    “Oh, no! I shall be up directly. He must be fretting to be on the road.”
    “Well, the blacksmith is here and seeing to the shoeing, so there's no need to rush, my lady. Shall I bring you a cup of tea and some breakfast in your room?”
    “Thank you. And if there is a girl who could help me to dress before my meal arrives, I would be grateful.”
    Mrs. Granger assured her that she would send Tessie right along, and almost before Prudence had her feet on the floor there was a scraping at the door. Half afraid that it would be Ledbetter, Prudence called for her visitor to enter. The girl who slipped into the room appeared no more than six and ten, but her resemblance to Mrs. Granger seemed to mark her as one of the family. She was quick and competent. Well before her mother arrived with Prudence's breakfast she had their guest disposed into the gown she had packed for the second day of her journey. While Prudence ate, Tessie packed away everything that had been laid out for her the night before.
    “Shall I have the trunk taken down, my lady?” she asked as Prudence took the last sip of her tea.
    “Thank you, yes. Has Lord Ledbetter's trunk gone down?”
    “Oh, yes, but they've been seeing to the shoeing, so there was no way you could have left sooner.” The girl grinned at her, adding, “Not that his lordship would be hinting otherwise, of course. But Lord Ledbetter has stayed here before, and he's always that imp . . . ready to be away, you see.”
    “Yes, I do see.” Prudence studied the young woman thoughtfully. “Are you the Grangers' daughter, Tessie?”
    “I am that. There are four of us, ma'am, all girls.”
    “Just like my own family. And are you the oldest, too?”
    Tessie shook her head. “The third. Only Jessie is younger, and she's seven and ten.”
    Prudence considered. “So you're older than you look.”
    “Almost twenty, my lady.” Tessie wrinkled her nose. “We're all small, so folks think we're children. Jane and Margaret are married with little ones of their own. But folks still take them for schoolgirls.”
    “Very annoying,” Prudence said. Her mind was strongly seized with the idea of making this young woman her dresser. Something about her . . . Well, her lack of awe at Ledbetter, for one thing. Prudence did not want an abigail who fawned over her or her husband. And Tessie would have experience of waiting on ladies from having worked at the inn.
    “Will there be anything else, my lady?” Tessie asked.
    Prudence frowned. “No, yes. Tessie, would you be at all interested in coming to Salston? I'm in need of an abigail or a dresser. Perhaps I should see what awaits me there, but I think you would serve admirably as my personal servant.”
    She noted the girl's surprise, and hedged, “Well, I daresay your parents would be hard pressed to lose you. And there may be a