Match For Melissa (21 page)

The letter spoke of Melissa’s birth and what a joyous event it had been. But in spite of the contented days her mother had spent with a man she described as generous, loyal, and loving, one small portion of her heart had not been engaged. She had longed for her childhood love though she knew she could never
see him again, and she had treasured her fond memories of the short time they had spent together.

Melissa sighed. She knew her parents’ marriage had been happy. She remembered the tender looks they had exchanged and the fond words they had spoken. Her mother had been a devoted wife and Melissa was certain her father had never known of the love she had relinquished. The letter ended with a poignant request from mother to daughter.

Why had her mother not mentioned the man’s name? Melissa read the letter again, but there was no clue as to his identity. It was quite obvious that her father had never known of his existence and it was far too late to ask. With a heartfelt sigh, Melissa slipped the earrings in the bottom of the basket she would carry to Oakwood House in the morning. Perhaps it was not exactly as her dear mother had intended, but this would be her first formal ball and she was determined to wear them.

It seemed as if Melissa had just closed her eyes when she was rudely awoken by a series of loud, distressed cries. At first she was confused and thought the noise came from one of the peacocks that Jane had imported to Harrington Manor. The birds were indeed beautiful, but they possessed disagreeable dispositions and were bad-tempered, vicious and prone to frequent squabbling amongst themselves. But she was no longer at Harrington Manor and Melissa blinked in the strong sunlight that streamed into her chamber. This was the rented house in Belgrave Square and the cries that came from below stairs were emanating from her stepmother.

Melissa threw back the covers and jumped to her feet. She had barely managed to slip into her wrapper before Jane burst into her bedchamber.

“It is a disaster of the first magnitude!” Jane pressed the back of her hand to her brow in a classical pose and sighed theatrically. “Whatever are we to do?”

Melissa crossed the room and took her stepmother’s arm, leading her gently to one of the chairs near the brazier. “Please sit down and calm yourself. If you could but tell me what is the matter, I may be able to help.”

“There is no help at this late date!” Jane took the lavender-scented handkerchief that Melissa offered and dabbed daintily at her face. “Madame Beauchamp has failed us!”

In spite of her stepmother’s distraught state, Melissa immediately assessed her meaning. “Gina’s costume is not finished?”

“No, and that horrible French woman, who is much too high in the instep to my way of thinking, has sent round a useless apology. She writes that regrettable and unforeseen circumstances have kept her from completing her commission!”

“I see.” Melissa nodded quickly. “Perhaps it may be possible to—”

Before Melissa could finish her thought, Jane emitted a joyous cry. “You dear child! How glad I am to have brought you here to serve as our dresser! You are indeed brilliant to have saved us from this utter disaster!”

Melissa frowned slightly. Had her stepmother slipped from the bounds of normalcy? She turned to look where Jane was pointing and gasped as she realized that the costume she had fashioned was draped over the clotheshorse in plain view.

“I shall be sure to tell everyone of your merits, Melissa.” Jane leapt to her feet and snatched the costume up in her hands. “How clever of you to have fashioned another costume in the event that one should be delayed! I must take this to Regina immediately to make certain that it suits her.”

As Jane rushed from the room, Melissa opened her mouth to call her back. Then she closed it again, in utter defeat, as she
realized that she could offer no reasonable objection. She could not admit that she had intended to wear the costume herself. Jane would never allow her to slip in amongst the guests if she were aware of Melissa’s plan.

Melissa used the word she had heard the duke’s stable boy utter when he had been kicked by one of the horses. Use of profanity did not serve to lighten her spirits, but she said it several more times as she dressed for the day and stuffed a clean apron into her basket. If the recipient of her costume had been her stepmother, Melissa might have torn out the stitches in a fit of pique. But she could not begrudge its use to Regina.

As she hurried down the staircase, Melissa did her utmost not to think of what might have been. The duke was intending to declare for her dear stepsister, and it was only fitting that Regina be Queen Guinevere to his King Arthur. The costume was merely a costume. There had been nothing magical about it and it would not have served to change her life. But oh how Melissa wished that she could have been the one to wear it!

“What would you have me do first, Mrs. Parker?” Melissa addressed the duke’s housekeeper the moment she entered Oakwood House.

Mrs. Parker slipped a companionable arm around Melissa’s shoulders and gave her a welcoming hug. “You have accomplished the preparations so well in advance that there is little to do upon this day. The flowers will need arranging, of course, but I can think of little else.”

“Tell me of Henri.” Melissa’s lips turned upwards in a smile. “Is he in a taking yet again?”

Mrs. Parker laughed. “But of course, Lissa. Henri is forever in a taking on the day of an important affair. He began asking when you would arrive as soon as the sun peeked over the rooftops. I doubt that he truly needs your services, but it is apparent that he desires your company.”

“I will go and find him then.” Melissa turned toward the kitchens. “Please send for me if I am needed elsewhere.”

Melissa found Henri working busily, the kitchens in a predictable state of disarray. When the French chef looked up to see her in the doorway, a broad smile crossed his face.

“Lissa!
Mon dieu, mon enfant!
I thought you should never arrive! I have been waiting for your opinion of the decorations I made last night.”

Melissa took a seat on the stool at the counter as Henri sent a kitchen maid to fetch the decorations. When the girl returned with a long platter filled with miniature confections, she gasped in delight.”
Magnifique
, Henri. You have outdone yourself!”

“And now we must assemble the
piece d’resistance,
the grand finale of our banquet!” Henri’s eyes sparkled at Melissa’s obvious delight. He turned to another of the kitchen maids. “Fetch the cakes.”

Melissa waited anxiously. The marvelous dessert had been her conception. The idea had occurred to her shortly after Emmy had told her that the duke planned to dress as King Arthur. It was to be a massive cake in the shape of a medieval castle with turrets, a drawbridge, and a moat. When she had mentioned it to Henri the concept had caught his fancy and he had declared that he could make such a cake with the appropriate trimmings, every one of them completely edible. Now it was time to turn their dream into reality. If their assembly succeeded and the cake was as wondrous as Henri and Melissa anticipated, it would be a credit to the duke’s ball and the subject of
ton
legend for years to come.

Melissa nodded as several kitchen maids carried in platters filled with cakes of various sizes and shapes. There were small, round cakes for the turrets, long, thin cakes for the walls, and several cakes that were dense and nearly flat for the roof and the drawbridge. Seeing the pieces thusly gathered and resting upon their platters reminded Melissa of a complicated puzzle and she prayed that they would be able to assemble them in a manner that resembled a castle. The materials were ready and
Henri had prepared a large bowl of sticky icing that they would use as an edible mortar to affix the pieces together. Once the castle took shape, Henri’s frosting would harden and then their cake would be ready to receive decoration.

“Come, Lissa. Let us begin.” Henri cleared a large space on one of the long tables and referred to the drawings she had made. “The pieces are here. All we must do is fit them together.”

Melissa sighed. It seemed an insurmountable task, but Henri appeared much more confident than she had expected. “Have you done something similar before, Henri?”

“Not of this magnitude,
mon enfant.”
Henri chuckled. “But I once created a cake to resemble a box tied up with a ribbon. How much more difficult can this be?”

Melissa’s mouth dropped open in surprise. A cake was naturally shaped like a box. It would be no great feat to wrap a ribbon about it. She turned to Henri to ask him how this would compare with the task they had set for themselves on this day, and noticed the twinkle in the French chef’s eyes. He was bamming her, but she could give as well as she could get.

“Thank you for telling me this, Henri.” Melissa’s eyes twinkled back at him. “As you are so experienced in this art, I will step aside so that you may lay the first piece.”

Robert wore a smile as he stepped from the carriage. It was late morning and he had made much better time than he had anticipated. After he had greeted the members of his staff who had come out to welcome him home, he went directly to his bedchamber where he found his valet waiting.

“Your grace.” Mr. Oliver favored him with a rare smile. “Your costume was delivered in your absence. Would you care to examine it?”

Robert nodded and his valet hurried to fetch the costume. One look, and a satisfied smile spread across Robert’s countenance. His costume had been fashioned exactly according to
the directions he had left. “It is precisely as I had envisioned it. It will do admirably.”

“Very good, your grace.” Mr. Oliver looked pleased as he whisked the costume off to the dressing room. When he returned, he was surprised to see his master standing pensively at the window. “Do you require further need of my services, your grace?”

Robert nodded as he turned. “I should like water brought up for my bath. When I have washed off the dust of the road, I shall require a light nuncheon in my private sitting room. Please ask Mrs. Parker to join me. I wish to hear of the preparations that have been made in my absence.”

“I shall see to it immediately, your grace.” Mr. Oliver made ready to exit the bedchamber, but he halted as the duke held up his hand.

“One other thing. Is Lissa in attendance?”

“Yes, your grace.” A broad smile spread over Mr. Oliver’s face. “She arrived shortly after daybreak and I believe she is with Monsieur Henri in the kitchens. Shall I call for her?”

“No. I merely wished to know, that is all. Precisely what is she doing in the kitchens?”

“Assembling the cake, your grace. Monsieur Henri and Lissa have barred all from the kitchen until it is completed, for its appearance is a secret. She did, however, confide to me that it is to be a most elaborate affair.”

Robert smiled. He knew of the nature of the cake, he had discussed its contents with Lissa at length, but he had left its appearance to her. Now it seemed that Lissa had concocted another mystery to pique his curiosity. “Am I to be barred from the kitchens as well?”

“You, your grace? Surely you do not wish to venture to the kitchens.”

Robert laughed at his valet’s shocked expression. “Not at the present time, no. It would not do to intrude upon Lissa’s surprise.”

“No, your grace.” Mr. Oliver nodded emphatically. “I am
certain the staff would be quite distressed if any were to ignore Lissa’s instructions.”

Robert waited until his valet had left and then his shoulders quaked with suppressed laughter. Though it was
his
staff, and
his
residence, it appeared that Lissa commanded more loyalty than he did himself.

“Oh, Henri! It is indeed, remarkable!” Lissa stood back to survey the cake with a proud smile. “I am certain that this is the finest creation that you have ever fashioned. Now everyone will know that you are truly the finest chef in London!”

Henri nodded. “It is
magnifique,
but I did not create it alone. You must also claim credit for our feat,
mon enfant.”

“But I did no more than assist you, Henri.” Lissa’s eyes were warm. “And while it is true that you fashioned it in response to my suggestion, I had not the slightest knowledge of how to go about it by myself.”

“What of his grace? Do you believe that he will be impressed?”

“How could he not be completely overwhelmed with its magnificence?” Lissa gestured toward the cake. “I wish I could be there to see his enraptured expression when it is presented.”

Henri rolled his eyes heavenward and slapped the side of his head with his palm. “I am an idiot,
mon enfant!
If I had but thought, I should have found you a costume so that you could slip inside with the guests. This would have enabled you to see the presentation with your own eyes.”

“I, too, thought of this scheme, Henri.” Lissa sighed deeply. “I planned to do exactly as you suggested, but I no longer have the costume I made in secret.”

Henri frowned. “Where is this costume? I shall have someone fetch it immediately!”

“It is far too late for that, Henri.” Lissa blinked back the tears that suddenly formed in her eyes. “Lady Harrington discovered
it ih my room and now Miss Regina is to wear it. Her costume was not finished in time and I gave it to her freely, Henri. She is a fine lady who regards me as a sister and I do not resent that she is to wear it. Perhaps it is just as well. I should not have presumed that I could masquerade as a fine lady.”

Henri led her over to a stool and handed her a bit of clean linen to wipe her eyes. “Fustian! You
are
a fine lady, Lissa, much finer than the ones who will attend the ball this evening! Perhaps you are not of noble birth, but you are the finest lady, all the same.”

“I am sorry to turn into such a watering pot.” Lissa dabbed at her overflowing eyes. “It is just that I had so wished to dance at his grace’s ball. I was even so foolish as to imagine that I might find the man of my dreams!”