Chapter Text
“And I’ve packed some of the leftover cake from tea,” Mrs. Bauer said as she handed Bridget the hamper full of food. It was heave enough the maid had difficulty holding it, even with both hands. Fortunately she’d only have to get it too and from the cab.
“Doesn’t Jack have his own cook these days?” Miss Armstrong asked, not looking up from her mending. “I shouldn’t think he needed you to feed him.”
“He’s said he misses Mrs. Bauer’s cooking,” Bridget informed her, shifting her grip on the basket. Perhaps, Mrs. Bauer though, she should have packed a bit less. “And I’m happy to take it to him.”
“I bet you are,” the lady’s maid muttered.
“What does that mean?”
“Ignore her,” Mrs. Bauer advised, shooting Miss Armstrong a glare as the lady’s maid simultaneously replied:
“We all know what you’re doing. Don’t think just because he used to fancy you that he will actually marry you now.”
“What?” Bridget’s pale face went red at the suggestion. “Of course he won’t! That’s not…I only want…”
“Ignore her,” Mrs. Bauer repeated firmly, placing her hands on the maid’s shoulders to get her attention. “She’s just being nasty. Now, hurry along. You only get one half day, after all!”
Still looking shaken and with a final, uneasy glare at Miss Armstrong, Bridget scurried out of the servants’ hall and up the steps. As the door closed behind her, Mrs. Bauer turned the full weight of her glare on the other woman. “Why can’t you just leave her alone? She and Jack are friends, after all, and it doesn’t hurt the girl to dream.”
“I’m being practical. You won’t be so cheerful if she gets her heart broken,” was the curt reply, “nor will you like it if she gets sacked without a ring on her finger. Mrs. van Rhijn won’t like it you know, one of the staff carrying on with a gentleman, even if he’s new money.”
“Mrs. van Rhijn isn’t in charge anymore,” Mrs. Bauer pointed out primly. “And I doubt Mrs. Forte will be half so disapproving.”
Miss Armstrong finally looked up from her work, pulling the thread taut and pursing her lips. “Are you hoping that when she’s his wife they’ll hire you to come work for them?”
Mrs. Bauer scoffed. There were reasons beyond class to doubt that the two young people would get wed, but she certainly wasn’t going to tell Miss Armstrong that, especially since Bridget seemed to be moving past that. She would miss the girl if she left — and it was more likely ‘if’ than ‘when’ — much as she already missed Jack, but she would be happy for them, just as she was happy with her job, apart from one little detail. “Well at least they might want me. They certainly won’t be asking you!”
“It’s coming along,” Larry nodded approvingly, looking over the latest drawings for Jack’s…well, alright, he still wasn’t quite certain what it was. A kitchen implement of some sort. And if he was honest, he wasn’t even certain it was coming along, since he was a structural engineer rather than a mechanical one, but Jack seemed bolstered by the progress and after the success with his alarm clock, Larry had complete confidence in the other man’s technical ability, even if socially he was still a bit awkward. Speaking of clocks, Larry checked the one on the mantle and pushed back his chair, standing. “What do you say we go and get something to eat?”
Jack also glanced at the clock, gave a small jump, and hastily started collecting his papers. “I would, but I’m actually supposed to be meeting someone for lunch. I should hurry or I’ll be late.”
That surprised Larry. He’d been unaware that Jack had actually been making connections at the various events he’d been hauled to, not that it would be a bad thing, of course. Just surprising. Then again, there was always the chance the other man was facing some sort of legal difficulties. Just to be safe, Larry asked, “Who are you meeting?”
“Hm?” Jack asked in a distracted tone, sliding the drawings into his folio case. “Oh, just an old friend from sixty first street.”
“One of the servants?” Larry frowned, unable to think of any other friends the other man would have from the van Rhijn household. Of course, he and Marian had clearly spent time together, but if it was her it was really none of Larry’s concern. Certainly nothing to feel jealous about, or so he told himself. “You still associate with them?”
That earned him a sharp frown. “They’re my family,” Jack insisted, as if Mrs. Russell hadn’t dropped her own sister as soon as she’d ‘made it’. Of course, Jack wouldn’t know about that. “And really, it’s only Bridget.”
“Ah, a girl.” Larry nodded knowingly. That was different. Of course, the general assumption would be that Jack would want a girl from a higher class, now that he himself was rising through the ranks, but there was nothing really stopping him from marrying a lower class of girl. After all, look at Mrs. Winterton!
Jack’s ears immediately went pink. “It’s not like that,” he insisted. “She’s a friend.”
“If you say so.” Larry highly doubted the truth of that statement, given the blush, but he wouldn’t push. It seemed clear to him that, to Jack at least, it was more than simple friendship.
“I do. Anyway, I’ll see you later.” And with that perfunctory parting, he left Larry standing in the empty room with a knowing smile on his lips.