Very quickly, Jasmine found the Countess to not be completely inaccurate in her assessment of Penelope. While Jasmine now was skilled as a servant, Penelope very much was not. This was made clear enough by their arrival at home in the evening. Penelope began to ask what her duties would be, and when informed, asked how she could do them. As such, the next morning, Jasmine gave Penelope the task of shadowing Chelsea and Betsy. Hopefully, they would be able to give the former noblewoman a base that Jasmine could build upon.
Jasmine was nursing Bry when her betrothed came by the house. Patricia let him into the nursery without consulting Jasmine first. Jasmine wished she could have put Bry down before meeting Richard. She felt very vulnerable with a babe suckling on her tit. Richard, however, wasn’t put off in the slightest.
“Normally, women of your future status hire wet nurses for their babes, but when we have our first child together, it might be wise for you to suckle him yourself,” Richard commented. “I have heard that women who produce large amounts of milk experience pain if they cannot nurse.”
“…This is correct,” Jasmine said softly. She tried to ignore Richard already planning for their first child together, whom he assumed would be a son. Bry unlatched from Jasmine’s breast. Jasmine burped her. Before she could put her daughter into the crib, however, Richard spoke.
“May I hold her?” he asked.
“Um. Yes.” Jasmine hesitantly handed Bry to Richard. To her surprise, Richard knew just how to hold a babe of Bry’s age, and was looking at her with an immense fondness. He even cooed at Bry while Jasmine covered her breasts again, nursing finished for now.
“Bry Anne Townshend has quite the ring to it,” Richard commented.
“It does.” Truly, it was a finer name than Bry Anne Smith.
“I look forward to her being properly declared as my daughter. I know I need sons as heirs, but secretly, I have always wished for a sweet, gentle girl child.” Richard smiled and tickled Bry’s stomach. Bry giggled happily. “She will want for nothing in this world and be raised as though she were my own flesh and blood. And if she is even half as comely as her mother, she will have no difficulty finding a suitor once she comes of age.”
“I am most honored by how you treat mine child,” Jasmine said. She couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed by how generous and kind Richard was being. Then again, he had always been a proper gentleman. She used to think it was to hide his poor upbringing, but now, she wondered if it was how he truly was.
“She will be mine soon enough.” Richard kissed Bry on the cheek then handed her back to Jasmine. “Alas, my love, my future wife, I must leave. I have duties to attend to that cannot be addressed in Vingery. When the roads are safe for your travel, I will send word as well as an escort. We will meet in Wind’s Grove for our wedding.”
“I look forward to it,” Jasmine lied. Richard beamed. Then he leaned in and kissed her. On the lips. Some secret, hidden instinct made Jasmine kiss him back, though the moment they broke apart, she felt her skin crawl.
With that, Richard left.
After Richard departed Vingery, the Muscat household settled into a pattern. Penelope assisted not just Jasmine, but also Betsy, Chelsea, and Damon, so she could get a wide range of skills. Every other day, she assisted only Jasmine. During the other days, she assisted the other servants on a rotating basis. Jasmine could see Penelope beginning to settle into her role as a servant as time went on, becoming better with chores and more comfortable in her lower status. It was also a relief to have Penelope as a helping hand with the babies every other day. Yes, Penelope could not feed them, but she could change and burp them, as well as play with them.
Whilst Penelope was playing with the babies one day, Jasmine snuck away to dye her hair again. She could see her red roots beginning to show, and was worried her cover might be blown. Betsy caught sight of her, however. Quickly, Jasmine lied that she was worried her hair was graying, after experiencing so much trauma and then tending to three babies at once. Betsy chuckled in response and helped Jasmine to rinse her hair out once the dye had set.
The Countess came by much less frequently. Jasmine had insulted her by not being eager about the betrothal, and she made her feelings clear. She typically sent a servant to check on how Brook was doing, though on rare occasion would come by to fetch Brook for church or other activities. Any time Jasmine encountered her, she was sure to act especially demure and subservient, which slowly began to make the Countess warm to her more.
As the time went by, Jasmine settled into this new pattern. It was a lot of work, but there was a comfort to it. And she was beginning to get incredibly attached to not just Bry, whom she had already bonded with in a parental manner, but also Pyotr and Brook. She would be truly sad to leave the babes behind. This, combined with her dread over playing the role of happy bride-to-be, made part of her hope that her journey to the Eastern Hills was far in the future. At the very least, she would like to leave after the babes had been weaned. By then, her milk supply would drop, and she wouldn’t need three babes to drain her.