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table.
    “Go outside through that door, Miss Hawthorne,” Vanessa said. “The path leads through the gardens. You might walk there, but it’s a fair distance, and it looks like rain.”
    Eugenia smiled her thanks. “Please call me Eugenia.”
    Silence fell but for Monsieur Renaud’s brisk chopping. Vanessa looked troubled and glanced over her shoulder as she led Eugenia outside. “I’m sorry I cannot. Mrs. Throsby would flay me alive.”
    “Who’s Mrs. Throsby?”
    “The housekeeper here at Lilac Court.”
    Eugenia nodded. She’d had experience of housekeepers while in Canterbury.
    “If you go around to the stables, the groom will help you. I must return to my work upstairs.” Vanessa darted back inside.
    With an eye on the lowering sky, Eugenia walked along the garden paths and emerged onto the raked gravel driveway. Nearby, a gardener trimmed a hedge, and she hurried over to him. “Good morning.”
    “You’re out early, lass.” He took in her shabby clothing. “New kitchen maid, are you?”
    “I arrived yesterday.” She found it difficult to explain further, still unsure of her place here. She held out her hand. “How do you do, I’m Eugenia Hawthorne.”
    He put down his clippers, smiled, and shook her hand. “William to those who know me.”
    “I want to visit the home farm, William. Is this the right direction?”
    He nodded. “Best you get a ride with the dairy maid. She’ll be delivering the milk and cream any minute.” At the clatter of a vehicle, he turned. “Ah, here is Alice now.”
    When the trap trundled up to them, William called out to her. The fair-haired girl pulled the carthorse to a stop.
    Once a delivery was made to the kitchens, they boarded the cart. Alice chattered all the way to the home farm about her intended who worked in the dairy. Eugenia left Alice at the sprawling well-stocked farm and skirted the farm buildings. She entered through a gate into a wide paddock dotted with trees. The smell grew more pungent, the pond alive with squabbling waterfowl. Molly hadn’t joined the gaggle of geese who reigned supreme in their corner of the paddock. Alone, she peered from behind a tree.
    Eugenia called to her, and Molly waddled over on her twisted foot. “My poor Molly.” Distressed, Eugenia stroked her feathers. There was a speck of blood on the goose’s neck. She’d been pecked. “Have those geese been beastly to you?”
    An hour later, Eugenia, chilled without her pelisse, which she’d been unable to find, strode back to the house. She wished she could return Molly to her former happy life. But she’d be in greater danger there. She’d walked a half-mile when a trap stopped for her, loaded with vegetables and fruit and flowers. By the time the driver, Jed, put her down near the kitchen gardens, she’d learned all about his six sisters, two brothers, and his ma and pa.
    Barker met her at the door. “You were out early, Miss Hawthorne, and without your pelisse and bonnet. Please ask myself or a servant to fetch them for you should you go out again. Do you care for breakfast? Chocolate and rolls were sent to your room, some time ago, I’m afraid. Perhaps you’d prefer to eat in the breakfast room?”
    “I would, thank you, Barker. How is his lordship this morning?”
    “He passed a good night, the doctor tells me.” Barker showed her into an empty room with long windows overlooking the rose garden. She took a seat at the linen-covered table set with sparkling silverware. “His lordship’s sister, Lady Beale, has been sent for. She is expected soon. May I relay your request to the chef?”
    “Yes, please.”
    “Do you prefer coffee or tea?”
    She’d worked up quite an appetite. “Might I have tea?” They couldn’t often afford tea at home, and she enjoyed a cup.
    “China or Indian?”
    “Um, China, thank you.”
    “Do you care for kedgeree or kidneys, bacon, eggs?”
    “Eggs and toast.” She smiled at the butler. “May I also have a