CHAPTER 10
Selina awoke to someone swearing. Noise that should not have been anywhere near her bedchamber.
But she wasn’t inher bedchamber. She was at Ashbrook Manor, in a very lovely guest chamber that she couldn’t even begin to enjoy. She was honestly surprised that she had slept at all, considering yesterday’s events.
“Oh, mercy, I’ve woken you,” someone said.
Selina sat bolt upright and rubbed her sore eyes. Across the room was a dark-haired, dark-eyed maid, all neat and tidy in her uniform. Not someone Selina would ever have guessed might use such profanity.
“Mary,” the maid said, as if that explained her unexpected presence in the room. “I was told to bring up some of your things, but I didn’t want to leave them in the hallway. Figured I could do it quietly, but apparently not. Forgive me.”
Selina pressed her palms into her temples to ease the beginning of a headache. Whatever sleep she hadmanaged to get, it hadn’t been too restful.
“Are you well, My Lady?” The maid came forward. “Have you a headache?”
Selina nodded.
“Shall I fetch you some tea? I think there’s willow bark in the kitchen,” the maid said. “Doesn’t taste good, but there’s nothing better for a sore head. What’s the culprit? Too much wine at dinner last night?”
“Too many thoughts,” Selina croaked.
Her voice seemed to have dropped an octave this morning.
Mary nodded. “That’ll do it too. So, what do you say to that tea?”
“I think… that would be a fine idea.” Selina neglected to add that perhaps a drop or two of brandy in the tea might be a fine idea too.
“Well, you stretch out your limbs and rouse yourself a little more, and I’ll be back before you know it.” Mary gave a charming, easy smile and scurried back out of the room.
Dazed, Selina considered turning over, pulling a pillow over her head, and trying to pretend like none of this was happening. Another hour or two of sleep might ensure that she woke up back in her own bed, all of this a jarring nightmare.
No, you ought to get up and out of bed.
Habit, and the fragile hope that the situation might change in the warm light of a new day, got her to shove the coverlets back.
Then, she saw the valises that must have caused the swearing in the first place. Three of them, neatly stacked beside a reading chair by an unlit fireplace. There were two hat boxes on the chair itself.
“I am not going home,” she whispered, as if possessed by the dark spirit of reality. “Oh heavens, I am never going home.”
She had been too entrenched in the fog of sleep to fully appreciate what the maid had said to her. Her things were here.
Her father hadn’t just gone home to discuss things with her mother. He had had her belongings packed—or had her mother do it, apparently—and sent them first thing this morning.
It was a matter of a few hours by carriage between their townhouse in London, where they had been staying for the Season, and Ashbrook Manor in the Surrey countryside. Goodness, how prompt her father had been.
The door opened, and the maid breezed back in. “Your tea, My Lady.”
Selina jumped at the abrupt intrusion, her hand flying to her heart.
“Mercy, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Mary cringed. “That’s twice in one morning. I promise, I am usually more discreet than this.”
“It is quite all right.”
Mary set the tray down on the low table by the reading chair, stepping around the valises. “I suppose it must be strange, getting used to the new noises and habits of a household. When I first came here, it took me an age to settle in.”
There was a charm in the woman’s easy manner that soothed Selina.
Seeing as Selina wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, maybe Mary wouldn’t mind being her lady’s maid. The chatter and liveliness would certainly make the rest feel less oppressive, even if just for a short while.
