The Secret Lover by Julia London Read Free Book Online

housekeeper and cook.
    But she was not exactly heartened by the sight of her first applicant—
    bent with age, she had a foreboding beak nose and a generally unpleasant demeanor.
    "I been sent to do yer cleanin' and cooking," she flatly informed Sophie, and thrust a list of references at her. Sophie glanced at them, noticed two names she vaguely recognized. "The name is Lucie Cowplain."
    "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mrs. Cowplain," Sophie said politely.
    "Not
Mrs
. Cowplain.
Lucie
Cowplain," the woman said abruptly.
    "Ah… I see. Where have you served before, Lucie?"
    The woman pressed her lips so tightly together that they all but disappeared. "
Not Lucie
. Lucie Cowplain. Seems rather simple to me, mu'um."
    Now
that
was a different response than Sophie was accustomed to and she hardly knew what to make of it. "Oh," she said, nervously rubbing her palms on her gown. "Ah… where might you have served before, Lucie Cowplain?" she asked carefully, cringing a bit when the woman's lips disappeared again.
    "Ye got the paper right in yer hand, ye do," she said, motioning impatiently to the references Sophie held.
    "Umm, yes, so I do indeed."
Heavens, was this the best the placement
agency could do
? She glanced blindly at the list of references as she tried to think of how to politely send the woman on her way. "Let me see… you served Lady Kirkland. I would suppose she'd entertain quite frequently."
    Lucie Cowplain's eyes hardened into tiny rocks of coal. "Will ye want me for yer employ or not?" she asked.
    "I… I—"
    "Have it yer way, then. But there ain't too many willin' to work for ye and the Frog," she said, and shoving her battered bonnet onto her head, pivoted tightly on her heel, prepared to quit the study.
    Stunned by what she had said and awed that someone could be so impossibly rude, Sophie could only gape as the woman began her uneven march to the door. But as Lucie Cowplain reached for the brass handle, it occurred to Sophie that Honorine was never in the company of such an unbending woman and would not have the vaguest notion how to bear her.
    Something about that made Sophie smile. "Lucie Cowplain, please!"
    Lucie Cowplain paused; her shoulders stiffened as she turned slowly to glare at Sophie.
    "I should very much like it if you would consider our offer of engagement."
    Lucie Cowplain's frown deepened. "Do ye indeed? Then ye'll kindly show me to yer kitchen."
    Having no desire to be the one to deny her, Sophie gestured lamely in the general direction of the kitchen, and Lucie Cowplain marched crookedly in that general direction, mumbling to herself.
    This, Sophie thought as she followed the woman's slanted walk toward the kitchen, would be
most
entertaining.
    She was not to be disappointed. In spite of all outward appearances to the contrary, Lucie Cowplain turned out to be a fine housekeeper and an even better cook, producing an array of dishes with sauces as delicate as any Sophie had learned in France. Though she thought it rather odd that someone as hard and bitter as that old woman could make such delectable food, Sophie was eager to learn from her, and Lucie Cowplain was, surprisingly, eager to teach.
    Fabrice and Roland, however, were not particularly pleased with Sophie's choice, at least in the beginning. From the moment Lucie Cowplain hobbled into their midst with a tray of tea and biscuits, they were taken aback by her.
    It didn't help matters at all that Lucie Cowplain practically laughed at them as she set the tray down. "Now then, what 'ave we here?" she asked, peering at the two of them seated side by side on the divan. "Blimey, I ain't seen a bonnier pair of lassies in me life," she remarked, then cackled at her own jest.
    Fabrice gasped with astonishment and came quickly to his feet, one hand on his hip, the other waggling a finger at Lucie Cowplain. "You do not speak to
me
thus!" he insisted.
    Lucie Cowplain merely laughed and waved an old hand at him. "There now, don't be getting