Agent kingdom of maidenh.., p.24
Agent: Kingdom of Maidenhead Book Two, page 24
My demonstration of what I want to do with my hands has her throw her head back and release a low, shuddering moan.
When I wake in the morning, I can see through the window curtains that it is a little past first light. There is also a dim light coming through the cracked open door of the bathroom. I seem to be able to smell a damp warmth from there. Brenda must have already drawn our bath. She may have to do it again. This bed is so absurdly comfortable that I don’t want to get up. I’ve no idea when Therese will be waking up.
“Arem, you are ruining my reputation as a late riser,” Therese says.
When I turn my head to her, I smile at her lovely face. I notice the chair on her side of the bed that was pushed back against the wall is now pulled out, and a blue robe is draped over the back of it. I look at my side of the bed, and there is a brown robe to match my pajamas on my repositioned chair.
“What is it, dear?” my love asks.
I smile at her.
“Someone was in here last night,” I answer. “The chairs are moved, our clothes are gone, and there is a pajama matching robe for each of us. I bet it’s silk as well.”
“For once, I want to get up early, if only to try on that robe.”
Therese swings her feet out from under the covers.
“Eep!” she exclaims, then laughs. “Slippers.”
I look over the side of the bed, and sure enough, there is a pair of slippers perfectly aligned for my feet. I go ahead and get up. Therese was right about the robe. When we go into the bathroom, we find a lightly steaming tub full of water waiting for us. This is the first time I’ve taken a bath with Therese.
“I think I need to refurbish my bathroom,” she says sometime later.
“I can get behind that,” I reply.
A long while later we re-enter the bedroom, and Brenda is waiting for us.
“Milord, if you will come over here, we have clothes waiting for you,” Brenda says.
She escorts me to an alcove where a full set of clothing is waiting. Brenda draws a privacy curtain across the front of the alcove. I then hear her and Therese talking, but don’t pay them much mind. I get fully dressed, but instead of a tie, there is a cravat.
I open the curtains and see Brenda’s hands-on Therese’s tight waist. They almost seem to have a glow to them. Therese has a look of utter contentment on her face. Something I never expect to see when she has just been laced for the day.
“That was wonderful, Brenda,” Therese coos. “What did you do?”
“It’s called comforting hands, milady,” Brenda replies. “I’ll do it again once we finish tightening your corset.”
“It’s already laced tighter than it’s ever been. I won’t be able to handle it any tighter.”
“You’ll do fine, ma’am. We will need to tighten it all the way for the dress I’ve selected for you.”
“It is a lovely dress, I’ll try it. I hope you have another one picked out for when you can’t fully close this torture device.”
“Yes, ma’am. Sir, do you need help with your cravat?”
“Yes, please, Brenda,” I answer her.
Brenda walks over to me and expertly puts this confounding thing around my neck.
“Just out of curiosity, how long ago did you have to get up to rearrange our bedroom and draw our bath?” I ask.
“That was Teena, our night maid,” Brenda answers. “She may have drawn your bath two or three hours ago.”
“How was it still warm then?”
“There is a small recycle system that constantly pulls the cooler water out, heats it, and puts the warmed water back into the tub. Now, if you’ll come with me. I’d like you to finish tightening Milady’s laces.”
“Why me?”
“She can tell her maids to stop. You, on the other hand, will likely have an ulterior motive to keep going.”
“What will that be?”
“You’ll find out when we get her dress on her.”
Brenda is right. Even Therese agrees that the blue satin wonder is worth the effort. When we enter the great room, I see Anjie posted outside of the bathroom.
“Good morning, Anjie,” I greet her. “How long has your temporary mistress been in there?”
“About an hour, sir,” the young lady’s maid replies.
“I’m guessing she’s not alone.”
“No, sir. Ma’am, if I may say, you look absolutely lovely.”
“Thank you, Anjie,” Therese says. “I’m sure you’ll do even better with Her Majesty.”
“I hope so, ma’am. You aren’t making it easy, though.”
Therese responds with a hug and a kiss on the forehead. We move past her into the great room.
“I adore that girl,” Therese says.
“So do I,” I agree. “I’m impressed how easily she changed the subject on us, too.”
“Oh? She did? I didn’t even notice.”
When I look at Therese, I see that she is being serious.
“If I had asked another direct question, she would have been put in the conflicted space of how to answer it,” I say. “She would have either had to tell me something that her charge may not have wanted her to tell us or lied to me. She is quite good, very good considering her age and experience.”
“What if she said she couldn’t answer your question?” Therese asks.
“Then that would have still given me information that her mistress may not have wanted me to have.”
It isn’t too long after that when the bathroom door opens, and four very happy-looking young women spill out into the hall. The Queen gives each of her bath mates a sensuous kiss. With the way Therese is gripping my arm, I start to wonder if she is going to drag me back to our bedroom. She wouldn’t have to pull very hard.
Some wonderful aromas start emanating from the kitchen area. I distract my glazed-over-eyed duchess by guiding her to the dining table. I again see what Bethany means by not wanting to lose her cook. I expect there is a lot more in the relationship between the two than just him being her cook/bodyguard, though. I hope, for the girl’s sake, that Charlie gets a clue someday. Anyone can see how much in love with her he is. Love doesn’t know types.
If he doesn’t get with her, he’ll be missing out on the best happiness life has to offer. His body and mind will learn to adapt to who she is. Knowing Bethany now, someday she’s going to give him one option that he will be completely unable to resist or refuse. Not that Charlie will want to.
The Queen walks in with a look of wonder on her face. Likely she is wondering how her little maid crushed the royal waist smaller than it’s been since she was a teenager. From the looks of things, she did so without causing Anne any discomfort. The dress Anjie found for her is absolutely stunning. It’s telling that I’m no longer surprised that Bethany had that hanging in one of her guestroom closets.
“Bethany, I’m starting to get a serious inclination to steal your maid,” Anne says.
“Barring that, you’ll just have to visit more,” Bethany replies. “I’ll make an effort to ensure she’s available to attend you whenever you do.”
“But, she told me her comforting hands will only last a month at most.”
“Then you best visit at least every other week or so to make sure it’s renewed on time. Besides, if she went to the palace, she wouldn’t be able to oversee her two pages.”
“She has pages already?”
“In a way. Moira and Teddie are my pages, but I have made her responsible for overseeing them.”
“We’re pages?” Moira gasps out. “Anjie’s pages?”
“Yes, dear. I know you were helping out Miss Shawn in her lab until late yesterday, so you didn’t witness what happened. Her Majesty made Anjie an imperial baroness while you were gone. I’d say that rates two wonderful pages such as yourselves.”
“Speaking of the Queen, her school awaits us. Come on, you two,” Anjie says.
“But…” Moira sputters to a stop when Anjie raises her hand.
“The Queen and her mother didn’t create the schools so we could skip out on our education.”
“Yes, ma’am,” comes the tired reply.
“From the sounds of things, Her Majesty may become a regular visitor,” Anjie says as they leave the room. “You’ll both have a chance to gawk at her another time.”
Anne can’t help laughing, “I don’t suppose you have a baronetcy singled out for those two?”
“I have a couple stashed away for them,” Bethany says. “But I want them to have a little more adjustment time before I start giving them responsibilities like that.”
“You do care about your people, don’t you, Bethany?”
“I do. That’s why I make them my people.”
Therese and I look at each other. We seem to both be wondering if we are Bethany’s people now. When I look at Bethany and see her smile, I have my answer. When I feel Therese’s hand taking mine, I come to understand the benefits of having that status.
“Question for you, Your Majesty, “Bethany says. “How come Anjie is an imperial baroness and the rest are baroness imperials?”
“Because Anjie is special,” Anne says. “She is a step above everyone else I’ve ever met, except maybe you.”
“Shouldn’t I be an imperial grand duchess then?”
“Maybe, give it some time. Bethany, you have got to tell me who your seamstress is,” Anne says while admiring her dress some more.
This was far from one of Anne’s best subject changes.
“Why don’t we just go visit after we finish downstairs?” Bethany asks.
“That will be quite acceptable,” Anne agrees.
After breakfast we go back to the basement and continue our research. The Queen is satisfied after another hour that the evidence is real, and that Bethany’s translation and decoding are accurate. There are still a few unclear spots, but we have a good idea of what is going on. Just as we are about to leave, Bethany palms her face.
“I am such an idiot,” she says.
“What’s wrong?” Anne asks.
The week before we took down the main espionage ring, the smugglers started bringing in artwork crates like we have here. On the day of the raid, a second shipment of six crates was brought in, which means twelve of them were stored, all of which Charlie helped me abscond with on the evening of the raid.
Due to the way they had the deliveries set up, I was able to impersonate the wagoner at the pickup point and receive three more crate deliveries for a total of thirty. I only found twenty in the baronet’s personal vault. We need to go open the secondary shipments of crates up and see what the other ten can tell us.”
She starts leading us to the cellar entrance.
I can’t help asking her, “Are you sure there weren’t supposed to be additional crate deliveries?”
“No, I’m not,” Bethany answers me. “But the next two deliveries were just money, so I strongly doubt there were more art crate deliveries in the offing.”
“Why did you keep going back?”
“I didn’t have nearly as much money then as I do now. Getting up at 3:30 AM to go pick up a delivery and return home by 5:00 AM was well worth the six hundred thousand golds I received each week. I didn’t actually care about any of the artwork until Yenjy found the maps.”
Chapter twenty-two
A Reunion and Riches
We arrive at a pile of artwork crates which Charlie starts to open up. Bethany keeps track of the paperwork and the maps as they come out of the crates. Somehow, she remembers all of the existing maps and paperwork. She is able to separate out the new information.
The existing maps are given to one of the Queen’s guards so they can take them upstairs to the basement so they can be checked against the existing maps. Once verified to be identical, they are placed on a shelf with their associated paperwork. Bethany says she will check all of it later.
Once we are most of the way through opening the crates, Bethany gets an odd look on her face. She drifts away from the group and goes over to a corner of the cellar. I follow her and find piles of paintings stacked here. She gently starts to take the paper off of the back of one of the paintings. I see it has a drawing on the inside of it. The little we see looks like a map.
Bethany now goes over to a box on a nearby shelf and opens it. She starts pulling out more paperwork, quickly sorting it into two piles. Bethany goes back through one of the piles more carefully and moves three sheets of paper into the other pile. Then, the pile she just went through is placed back into the box. She picks up the remaining pile of paper and heads back to the sorting area.
Bethany selects ten of the maps, and they go upstairs. The twenty that remain here go on a shelf, and we all leave her cellar and go up to the basement. I can see the calculating going on in Bethany’s eyes as she considers the new maps.
“It’s likely going to take me several days to fully get through this, but my first glances tell me these are invasion plans,” Bethany says. “That seems to fit with the rest of the parts of the conspiracy. It seems they first hitched their wagons to Baron Gimden. They likely didn’t find out until later that he is nothing but an ineffectual fop. He has a little cunning, though, so I need to check some things.”
Bethany goes over to another shelf and pulls a ledger off of it. She sets it on the table, and I watch her scan through it. Bethany starts taking notes about what she sees. When the statuesque woman finishes, she folds her notepaper up and slips it into her bodice. I give her a quizzical look.
“Baron Gimden has personal vaults under his given name instead of under his title like most nobles,” Bethany says. “We will likely find the rest of the paperwork he should have received there. It’d be nice to have at least two full copies of the paperwork to compare. That way, we can see if they are trying to change things. If I can go through what you found in the basement, we may end up with three full copies.”
I can’t read the looks that Arem and Anne share when I start talking about the personal vaults. I watch Arem closely when I place my vault ledger back on the shelf. Our Queen looks at him quizzically for several moments before it dawns on her what must be in the ledger.
Her look briefly exceeds Arem’s in the level of desire to look in the ledger. She quickly gets her expression under control, and then she looks at me. I see her eyes narrow at the slightly smug smirk on my face. I’ve no doubt she’s going to come to hate that smile of mine.
We have a late lunch, then all of us head for Miss Millie’s. I talk Anne into walking. Lots of people are out on the streets, many of them wishing to greet her. Sergeant Dellerio has his smiling security detachment deployed in a way that prevents people from approaching her presence. Soon enough, we reach and enter Miss Millie’s shop.
“Aunt Millie!” the Queen exclaims as soon as she sees Miss Millie.
I guess I don’t need to make any introductions here.
“Oh, Annie!” Miss Millie cries out when Anne comes into her view.
Miss Millie holds her arms out, and Anne flies into her embrace.
“Aunt Millie, it’s been too long,” Anne opens.
“Yes, dear,” Miss Millie says. “I was ordered to leave the palace as soon as your mother died. Certain people there didn’t want me to influence you. They felt I was too much like your mother. When you gained your majority and the full authority of the crown, I was warned away, threatened even. It has always warmed my heart to see you carry on as your mother did. Much to the consternation of those who moved me out of your orbit.”
“You are saying the people who were supposed to be supporting me removed the person who could provide me with the best support? Support that I needed when I lost my mother.”
“Yes. They all felt insecure in their positions and were afraid you would replace them all on my recommendation if I stayed around. I’m sure it confused them entirely when you used every opportunity to replace most of them.”
“The only advisor I have left from that time is my master of ceremonies. Elizabeth has decided to sic herself on him.”
Miss Millie lets out the most delighted set of giggles I’ve ever heard from an adult.
“We won’t have to worry about him then,” Miss Millie says. “I won’t be surprised if he ends up in gaol or on a self-imposed exile by the time she’s done with him.”
“Only if Elizabeth finds evidence of illegal activity,” I say.
“Aunt Millie, do you want to come back to the palace?” Anne asks.
“To be honest, dear, I’ve built a very nice life for myself here,” Miss Millie says. “I wouldn’t want to give it up and re-enter politics. I do want to see you frequently, though.”
“Now that I know where to find you, you will see me often.”
“Miss Mille, Queen Anne will be staying with me tonight,” I say. “Perhaps you will join us for dinner as soon as you finish here for the day.”
“Bless you, dear,” Miss Millie says. “Is the delectable Charlie cooking?”
“Of course,” I say, looking at Anjie, Moira, and Teddie with a slightly mischievous grin. “I think I’ll make it a somewhat formal affair and have some of my junior staff serve. That will give them a chance to wear the wonderful formal service livery you made for them.”
I can see Anjie visibly swallow. Moira’s eyes achieve the seemingly impossible and get even larger. Boys aren’t going to have a chance after I teach her what to do with those weapons when she gets old enough. If the girl grows any sort of breasts at all, I’m going to have to have several very serious talks with her, along with providing lots of training.
“That will give Miss Millie the opportunity to gauge your progress,” I say, just to get them even further off-kilter.
Now Moira’s limpid pools of beauty start to water up with tears. I can’t help myself, and I go over to her and gather the girl in as motherly an embrace as I can manage.
“Don’t worry, dear,” I say. “It will only be family there.”
As soon as I finish speaking, I hear an oddly choked whimper. When I look around, I realize it came from Anne. Only then do I think about the fact that she has no family outside of her far away cousin, Queen Dianna of Hellada. The thought of being adopted into our family must be an enticing one to her.
