Roswell shoved his chair back and rose. “I want no part of this.”
“You already said that,” Emma remarked as she brought her teacup up to her lips.
“That makes it no less true.” He tossed his napkin onto his plate. “If you need me, I will be in my study.”
As he headed towards the rear of the townhouse, Roswell felt himself growing increasingly annoyed. He didn’t want anything to do with this Miss Bentley. He had no doubt she would be intolerable.
Miss Elizabeth Bentley laid on the grass and stared up at the clouds in the sky, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face. She couldn’t quite believe how different her life had become in the past year. She used to dress in the finest gowns, be invited to every social gathering in town, and spend her days however she saw fit. It had been a sublime life, and she had taken it for granted until it all came crumbling down after her father died.
How she missed him. There was not a day that went by that she did not think of him. She missed the little things he used to do, like the way he said her name, or how he was always willing to speak to her, even if he was busy with his work.
After his death, his title was passed to a distant cousin, and the new Lord Worthington came to take up residency at the manor. He was an awful man, and she was wary of him. She always felt a sudden, soul-shattering chill whenever she met his gaze that caused her not to trust him.
Her mother’s voice broke through her musings. “Ellie!” she called from the cottage.
Sitting up, Ellie reached for the basket of eggs next to her and sighed. This was her life now, though it wasn’t a terrible one. She didn’t mind her daily chores, but at times she did miss her carefree days.
She rose and smoothed her blue cotton dress, then walked the short distance to the thatched-roof cottage.
“There you are,” Mrs. Webster declared as Ellie entered. She walked over and reached for the basket of eggs. “If you sit, I will prepare your breakfast.”
“I don’t mind helping.”
Mrs. Webster gestured towards the table. “Nonsense,” she said. “I need to earn my keep.”
Ellie smiled, knowing Mrs. Webster was downplaying her role as housekeeper. She fed them, cleaned for them, and still managed to complete all other necessary tasks.
The door opened and Ellie’s mother walked into the room, wearing an ivory cap over her brown hair. “You must have slipped past me,” she observed.
“I am rather crafty,” Ellie joked.
“I see you collected the eggs.”
“I did.”
“After breakfast, we need to go over your Latin, and I want you to practice the harp for at least an hour,” her mother instructed.
Ellie groaned. “I am terrible at Latin.”
“I know,” her mother replied. “That is why we need to continue practicing it.”
Ellie glanced at the harp in the corner of the room. “I am surprised that Lord Worthington allowed us to move the harp to the cottage.”
“As am I,” her mother agreed. “Which is why we must take advantage of it; in case he decides to change his mind.”
“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Ellie commented.
“Precisely my point.”
Ellie slumped her shoulders slightly. “I wish I could go to the manor and practice on the pianoforte.”
“I hope you won’t do something as foolish as that,” her mother chided. “It is not safe for you to visit the manor without me.”
“I understand.”
Her mother walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I did receive the most wonderful news.”
“You did?” Ellie asked, perking up. She hadn’t heard her mother say those words since before her father passed away.
