“I will miss you too, Mama.” I squeezed her hand. Letters would be too expensive to send and would take too long to arrive in Bibury. If Mama had any news about Papa, I wouldn’t receive them until I returned. My anxiety rose at the realization that much could happen in one month. Papa had been awaiting trial for three months, but that could change in an instant.
“Take great care in Mistress Sophia’s appearance,” Mama said in a firm voice. “You know how eager her parents are to see her succeed.”
“I will.” I gave a weak smile, ignoring the way my insides tossed and turned. I had only a few minutes to spare before it was time for my departure with Sophia. We had spent the last week rehearsing my manners and talents, most of which felt strangely unfamiliar. I was certainly out of practice. But after a few days, the skills returned to me as if they had never left. Since becoming Sophia’s maid, I had been doing all I could to present her in a way that involved coiffing and dressing and styling. But for the next month, I would be presenting her in a way I never thought I would. Every word I spoke would be hers, every movement, every mistake. To the guests in Bibury, I would be Miss Sophia Sedgwick.
Yet the two of us could not be more different. Sophia was blonde, blue-eyed, with porcelain skin. My hair was a dark coffee brown, my eyes the same, my skin marked with freckles. I had never carried myself with the poise and confidence of Sophia, nor had I spoken with as much rehearsed elegance while in social situations. Sophia assured me that all the guests were unfamiliar with the appearance or conduct of the Sedgwicks’ only daughter, but the fear persisted that I would be discovered immediately upon my arrival.
Mama pulled me in for one last hug before sending me toward the house. The carriage was already waiting, and I still had to help Sophia finish packing her final belongings. We had already packed her second trunk full of dresses for my use while in Bibury, most of which were dresses she had already planned to give me anyway, as I often wore her second-hand clothing. Her father had taken a great deal of convincing from Sophia to allow her the trip with only myself as a chaperone, but he had eventually agreed, requiring a second maid, Jessie, to accompany us. It had worked to our favor, for it wouldn’t suit for me to arrive in Bibury unaccompanied if I were charading as Sophia, so Jessie would stay there with me.
I found Sophia in her room. After folding the last of her dresses, we made our way downstairs, where the footmen began loading our trunks and valises onto the coach.
Mr. and Mrs. Sedgwick watched their daughter with proud smiles, Mrs. Sedgwick holding a handkerchief to her nose. “I cannot believe my daughter is off to meet Mr. Hill,” she whimpered to her neighbor, a short, plump woman who had come to visit for tea an hour earlier. “Mrs. Ollerton has all praise for the man and seems to think Sophia will suit him. I believe the town of Bibury will be quite attractive as well, for I have heard it is lovely in the spring.” She gave another wave as Sophia climbed happily into the coach. “The next time I see her she could be engaged!” Mrs. Sedgwick looked near to dissolving into tears of pride.
I followed after Sophia into the carriage. The other maid, Jessie, entered after me. Jessie hadn’t spoken to me much since my arrival at Sedgwick Manor, nor had several of the other servants. As the lady’s maid, I was not to be trusted. Any gossip they wished to share below stairs was shushed at the sight of me, a trusted confidant of the family. Even now, Jessie watched me with a hint of worry, but it was also accompanied by pity. She knew the task I was to accomplish. At least I would have a friend to confide in during the ordeal.
The moment Sophia’s mother was out of sight, her sweet smile transformed to one of mischief, and she ducked away from the carriage window. “I believe we have fooled them all.”
I stared at the passing scenery as Sedgwick Manor grew smaller in the distance, disappearing entirely as we moved down the slope of the path.
I exchanged a quick glance with Jessie, her brown eyes filled with a similar measure of misgiving.
Mrs. Ollerton, I had learned, was the name of the matchmaking woman Sophia had spoken about. She was Sophia’s mother’s cousin, a woman she had never met, and whom Mrs. Sedgwick had only shared one greeting in her entire life. As unfamiliar as Mrs. Ollerton was with Sophia and her parents, it was even more surprising that she had written to invite Sophia to come to her house in Bibury. According to Sophia, Mrs. Ollerton had learned that she was of marriageable age and considered a beauty. That had been enough to earn Sophia an invitation.
Jessie knew much less than I did about the situation, and it showed in the deep creases on her brow. “How’ll we fool the guests in Bibury? I daresay that’ll be much more difficult than foolin’ your family.”
“I don’t believe it will be,” Sophia said with a sigh. “If Mrs. Ollerton is daft enough to think herself a talented matchmaker, and if a gentleman is daft enough to allow himself to be thrown into an event such as this, then they will have no problem believing Sherbrooke’s impersonation of me.”
The nature of this visit was still quite puzzling, and Jessie’s concerns echoed my own. Why was this Mr. Hill allowing Mrs. Ollerton to seek a wife for him? As Sophia had explained in greater detail that week, Mrs. Ollerton had intentionally sought out some of her distant relatives, young women, to come for this specific purpose. She intended to find a wife for Mr. Hill by the end of the spring, and he had agreed to it all. What sort of man would agree to choose his wife from among a total of five young ladies? There was a great chance he could find little to admire in all of them. All of us. Mr. Hill’s task sounded even more difficult than my own. All I had to do was ensure I was the least admirable of the five.
“I have no doubt Sherbrooke will pass easily to the bottom of his notice,” Sophia said in an offhand voice. “My mother learned that at least two of the ladies in attendance are considered quite beautiful and accomplished in London. They were unsuccessful in their first seasons, however, and so their parents agreed to allow Mrs. Ollerton to attempt a match for them with Mr. Hill. He is quite eager to be married, I have heard. All the events of this house party will be entirely proper, and in an area far removed from Town, there will be no need for reputations to suffer if he appears to be courting multiple women at once.” Sophia laughed. “I am glad to have no part of that.” She took one of her golden curls between her fingers, gazing contentedly at the passing countryside.
I exchanged another glance with Jessie, not bothering to hide my dismay. My pulse had not been normal for days, it seemed, always racing with anticipation or dread. I could hardly believe that soon I would be wearing elegant gowns, dancing and conversing and living like a lady all over again. I squeezed my eyes closed to calm the surge of nervousness that clenched my stomach. How could I do this?
Do not be too elegant, Sophia had warned me on multiple occasions. Men are drawn to elegance, and you mustn’t give Mr. Hill anything that might draw his eye to you for even a moment.
That would not be difficult. Even before becoming a maid, I had never been very elegant. I swallowed hard as I recalled my great failure of a Season. I would have to simply replicate that as I tried to evade Mr. Hill’s attention.
The journey to Hampden Park was expected to take three days. After leaving Sophia there, Jessie and I would stop at the inn between Hampden Park and Bibury, where Jessie would help me change into one of Sophia’s gowns and arrange my hair. The rest of the journey would take less than a day, and then I would be welcomed in and introduced to Mrs. Ollerton as Miss Sophia Sedgwick.