“Ah—yes. What has she done?” A slight frown bent his mouth down.
“What? Oh—no. No, she was actually lovely.” Jane wondered if her recollection of the name was mistaken. “Amey’s mother?”
“Yes.”
“You had spoken of having an older woman assist me. I should like it to be Nkiruka.”
He glanced beside Jane to Louisa, raising his brows slightly. In reply, the maid spread her hands a little with a small shrug. Frank frowned, returning his attention to Jane. “She will most likely not be willing.”
“Forgive me, but I feel as if we are discussing two different people.” And yet, Jane remembered Zeus’s response to the older woman, and his obvious deference to her. “She is an older glamourist, and we had an interesting talk about the art. I mentioned the possibility of her coming to the great house for both further discussions and to help with the records. She seemed quite willing.”
“Well. Well, if she is willing, then we can make the arrangements.” He turned over his shoulder and said, “John, will you make a note that I should discuss an alteration of staff with Mr. Pridmore?”
Jane frowned, trying to understand why the overseer needed to be involved in her project. “Mr. Pridmore?”
“Nkiruka is a field slave—retired, due to her age, but still. She is under Mr. Pridmore’s direction. I have charge of only those slaves involved in maintenance of the great house.”
Jane nodded slowly, absorbing this information and altering her picture of how the plantation was run. “So … the safe house. Is that your charge as well?”
“Ah. No. Mr. Pridmore saw to that himself.” He gave a cold, bitter smile that put her in mind of Vincent. “In any event, I am certain he will have no objection to giving Nkiruka over to my charge.”
“Perhaps … this is more complicated than I thought. Her daughter, Amey, is very near to her lying-in, and I thought that moving her to the great house would make everything easier. Nkiruka would not need to go between her quarters and here so often, and it would be more comfortable for Amey.”
Frank’s expression became carefully reserved. “You want to bring Amey to the great house. And for Nkiruka to live here?”
“There are empty rooms enough.”
He tucked his chin into his cravat and studied the floor. “And after the birth, you would return them to their own home?”
She had not thought of after the birth. “I … surely it is safer for Amey to give birth at the house, where there is less dirt and ready access to water.”
The young men waiting for Frank had become quiet. Their bodies leaned ever so slightly towards the conversation, though their faces all gave the impression of being intent upon their papers. Frank worked his jaw for a moment, then nodded. “I will speak to Mr. Pridmore. Louisa? Please arrange for the yellow bedroom to be made up for two.”
The maid curtsied. “Yes, sir.”
He looked back at the young men, whose attention to their paper increased. Compressing his lips, he turned back to Jane. “Will there be anything else, madam?”
He possessed an unnatural ability to make an entirely civil query into a dismissal. “No, thank you.” Jane took her leave and retreated with as much grace as she could.
Zeus met the women at the bottom of the counting house stairs. He carried a giant Chinese parasol that cast enough shade for Jane and Louisa both. He fell into step behind them as they began their walk down the hill to the slave quarters. They had entered the orange grove halfway along the route when Louisa cleared her throat.
“Madam. May I speak to you about a matter of some delicacy?”
Jane’s heart clenched. A matter of delicacy could only be Jane’s condition. She glanced around to see if anyone besides Zeus were in hearing. “Please, continue.”
“Mr. Frank’s concerns about Nkiruka. I think that he did not explain fully what those were, out of consideration for your sensibilities.”
“And you have no such consideration?” Jane almost laughed at the reprieve. Nkiruka? That was a topic she would willingly discuss, so long as it had nothing to do with increasing.
“It’s part of my job to help you get settled and to keep your name out of people’s mouths … that is, madam, I have been instructed to help you acclimate and to avoid lapses that may expose you to public disapprobation.” Her brows were drawn together. “Please believe that I speak only out of concern for your reputation.”
“My reputation?” That was the last thing that Jane had expected. “Oh, my dear, you will have to explain yourself bluntly, because I have not the least idea of what you are speaking.”