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Within minutes, he was fast asleep.
“What do you think you are doing?”
Petal winced when Edward’s voice hissed in her ear.
“Get out of this bedroom at once. I will deal with you later. How dare you?”
Petal didn’t bother to reply as she stood she looked at Sir Aidan for support, but he was sleeping. She hadn’t realised he had fallen asleep or she would have stopped and returned to her chores.
Carefully placing the book on the table beside the master’s bed where he could reach it, she quietly left the room.
Tears gathered on her lashes as she hurried down the main servants stairs. She didn’t know why she was so emotional. It wasn’t that she feared for her job or anything. She had only been doing what Sir Aidan had asked her to do, but she felt as though she had lost something special; something that had been stolen by indomitable Edwards. It was upsetting to think she would never get the opportunity to do something like that again. Having witnessed Edwards’ anger, it was evident that the woman would ensure that Petal never got the chance to be alone in the room with Sir Aidan again, and that was deeply troubling.
Don’t be ridiculous, you goose, she chided herself as she raced down the stairs. You are being an utter fool over him, and you know it.
“What is it, Petal? What’s the matter?” Rollo demanded when she raced into the kitchens moments later.
“It’s that Edwards woman again, isn’t it?” Mrs Kempton demanded with a scowl.
Petal nodded. She knew that to be able to keep Rollo and Mrs Kempton on her side she had to be honest with them, and relayed what had happened in the bedroom.
“He asked you, you say?” Rollo asked. His brows rose.
“Yes. I didn’t want to but he insisted on it. I barely got through the first chapter before he fell asleep. Then Edwards turned up and told me she would deal with me.” Petal turned beseeching eyes on Rollo. “I was only doing what the master said to do. He was quite insistent on it.”
“I know, Petal. I think I need to have a word with Master Jeremy. He said we should go to him with any concerns for now. Go on with your duties. I will deal with it. Thank you for telling me.”
“What do I say if Edwards raises the issue?”
“Edwards is staff in this house unless the master gives her authority over all of us. If that happens, he can have my resignation. If she gives you any trouble, Petal, come to me. However, if the master asks you to read to him again, you need to just mention to him that Edwards has been on at you about it. As long as he assures you there is no problem then you are free to read to him as often as he wishes.”
Doubtful that Edwards would listen to any protest she put forward, but at a loss to know how to raise the matter with Rollo without being seen to be arguing with him, Petal nodded. Reluctantly, she returned to her chores although remained thoroughly tense and nervous.
By the time the guest bedroom she was cleaning was polished she had just started to relax a little, but that didn’t last long. On her way back to the kitchens, she found her route blocked by Edwards, who appeared to have been lying in wait for her.
“I have told you to watch your place in this house, and I mean it,” she began coldly. She looked Petal up and down insultingly. “You are an upstairs maid; nothing more. Make sure you remember that. In future, do not go into that room without my permission.”
Petal felt her temper burn. “I am not running around this house searching for you if the master rings his bell. He won’t like waiting that long.”
“Oh, so you know what the master does and does not like now, do you?” Edwards sneered.
“No,” Petal protested. “But it is my job not to keep him waiting if he rings his bell.”
“Don’t you ever enter t
hat bedroom without my permission,” Edwards reiterated.
Petal snorted. “You are not my employer or my supervisor, so are in no position to set limitations on my duties like that. I am sure that if you were intelligent enough to read, he would have asked you.”
In retaliation, she eyed the nurse up and down in a caricature of her own insult before she stepped around her and continued down the corridor. Unfortunately, Edwards wasn’t going to be thwarted so easily.
“I am not going to be ignored you, you little guttersnipe,” Edwards snarled. Her fingers dug cruelly into Petal’s arm to prevent her walking away again.
Petal gasped and glared at her, tears pooling in her eyes at the pain now shooting down her arm. She looked down at the pink-tinged skin, and lifted a hand to squeeze the woman’s wrist to try to let her go. When the hold didn’t loosen, Petal began to squirm.
“Let me go,” she ground out. “How dare you do this?”
“Is there a problem, Petal?” Rollo asked threateningly from a few feet away.
