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With her heart shattered, Petal hurried out of the room. Once back below stairs, she dealt with the chamber pot and sent Aggy back to the room with it before returning to her duties. For the first time that day, Petal was relieved there was a lot of chores to do. It helped take her mind of the horrifying realisation that last night she had most probably made the most colossal mistake ever. It could almost certainly have ruined her future. More importantly, there was only one way of dealing with the matter.
She had to leave her dreams, and Wenland Lodge, behind.
“I am warning you now to stay away from him,” Edwards drawled later that night when Petal was giving the kitchen table one final wipe down before going to bed.
Thankfully, Aggy had taken a little persuading to change jobs with her again. With Rollo’s agreement, Petal was now the new downstairs maid; for the time being at least. While she still hadn’t decided whether she could bear remaining in the same house as Aidan, she rather suspected that her future didn’t include being his maid for foreseeable future.
“I am just doing my job,” Petal replied noncommittally.
“Oh, I know what you are doing, but you are playing in waters that are deeper than you are supposed to go,” Edwards murmured knowingly.
“I don’t know what you mean.” In spite of her belligerence, her heart bega
n to pound as her dismay grew.
Had Edwards seen them last night?
“I think you do, but if you think you are anything other than a casual fling then think again. You are a servant. Someone who is paid; I guess we all know what that makes you now, don’t we?” Edwards mused coldly.
“You don’t know what you are talking about.” Petal knew from the glee in Edwards’ eyes that she was going to do everything possible to ruin her.
“If you want to behave like some back street doxy that is up to you, but remember your place in this house. You are the maid. You could never be anything more because you don’t have the connections I do. His family would never consider you anything other than a mistake. He is, after all, on medication and not thinking clearly. Once he is back on his feet he won’t even look twice at you.”
“Shut up,” Petal seethed. Her heart was breaking, but she wasn’t going to have Edwards spell it out to her. She searched for an argument but couldn’t find any. It galled her to acknowledge it but Edwards was right.
“I shall do no such thing. In fact, I wonder what the dowager would do if she knew what a little trollop he had working for him. I mean, I knew you were here to provide him with personal services, but I didn’t realise they included anything that personal.”
“That is enough,” Rollo declared coldly from the doorway.
Edwards jumped, having not realised he was there.
“Don’t you dare ever speak to any of the staff in this house like that again, Edwards, or I shall march you out of the door myself.”
“You cannot,” Edwards declared with an arrogant sniff. “I am to be the new lady of the house. Speak to the dowager if you don’t believe me. We are just waiting for Aidan to get well again so we can announce it to the ton.”
She turned a somewhat arrogant sneer on Petal.
“Do you know who the ton are? They are the epitome of society; one step below royalty. The majority of them, of whom I am one, have titles of which you wouldn’t even have heard, and have heraldic families going back hundreds of years. I am sure you wouldn’t know anything about that kind of thing, though. Not living in this quiet little backwater as you do.” She turned and pierced Rollo with a domineering look that made the butler’s brows lift. “I would watch your step as well, if I were you. As soon as I am lady of this house, I shall be making a few changes.” She raked Petal with a disparaging look from head to toe that left nobody in any doubt as to how lowly she considered her to be. “There are a few people who simply have to go.”
Yes, and I am one of them, Petal thought sadly as she watched her stalk arrogantly out of the room.
Because of Aidan’s quite pointed snub earlier, she knew she was now in an impossible situation. Her dreams of a better life working in a big house were now in tatters, alongside her heart.
“Don’t pay her any attention. I have heard the master talking about that one. She is leaving as soon as he can stand up long enough to throw her out.”
Petal nodded, but thought over the nocturnal activities she had shared with him last night, and suspected he already had the ability to walk wherever he wanted. He just hadn’t seen fit to walk Edwards to the door. Whether he wanted to or not was doubtful. However, she couldn’t say as much to Rollo.
Sensing he was studying her, she looked questioningly at him.
“Is there anything you want to tell me?” He asked kindly.
Petal felt her cheeks flush and knew he had overheard everything Edwards had just said, and believed it. She wanted to deny it, but couldn’t. Instead, she slowly shook her head but could do little to quell the tears that began to trickle slowly down her cheeks.
“It will be alright, you know,” he assured her.
He wouldn’t admit it to her, wasn’t sure it would be. Still, he trusted the master to do right by her. Whatever had happened between them, Aidan Quigley-Myers was not the kind of man who would ruin a young woman for sport. He would certainly have something planned before he took such liberties with her, a maid. He just hoped that Petal would be the one who would succeed over Edwards, and that the nurse’s her threat was nothing more than that; an empty threat.
“I need to leave,” she whispered.
