“And so you shall be, Miss Melinda, so you shall be! You will be wanting to make your curtsy to the new marquis and his bride with every advantage on your side. Mind you, you might just as well bathe in pig swill, for even then you shall be at an advantage!” “What an unkind thing to say, Jane!” Melinda, however, could not suppress a small chuckle at this image, despite her own woes. “Well it be true, ma‘am, and you know I don’t hold for roundaboutation! Their lord- and ladyships arrived last night they did and it was not a sovereign dished out to anyone it was! There was Peggy drivin’ ‘erself ’alf balmy gettin’ together a cold collation of Westphalian ham, roast fowl, a seasoned lamb, and a decoction of truffles and new peas, and all scoffed down it was without so much as a common thankee! My lord commented on the burgundy in unfavourable terms, and beggin’ yer pardon, ma‘am, you know it was only the best for yer grandfather and Cunningham not one to water down the spirits, like, so what the new lord can have agin it I cannot be sayin’ and that be fact!”
