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“Lady Helen, please—”
“You can imagine my surprise then to see this young lady here, though she is not a lady anymore, but a boy!” The words were loud and accusatory.
Violette tore her arm out of Lady Helen’s grasp and whipped round to face her. A cruel smile lit up Lady Helen’s features as she folded her arms and stared her down.
“Y-you knew?” Violette asked in a stammer.
“I am not so blind,” she said with a scoff. “Though it amazes me to see how much other people are! Apparently, most people will believe what they are told. I even tried flirting with you to see if it would make your ruse come down any sooner, but oh no, you held onto your act very well indeed. What scandal is this? How I shall laugh when I tell people of this.”
“No, you wouldn’t, please Lady Helen.” Violette stepped toward her, with her hands together imploringly. “No one can know about this.”
“Look at your desperation,” Lady Helen said, pointing at Violette’s face. “You are practically catatonic with it.”
“This cannot be happening,” Violette muttered to herself as she stepped away from Lady Helen. She covered her face and pacing in a small circle, yet the world seemed uncertain beneath her feet, as though she were in danger of falling to the ground any minute.
“Your tale is quite the talk of the town! I cannot wait to add to it.”
“Leave me be, Lady Helen,” Violette demanded insistently, ready to walk away, yet Lady Helen grabbed her arm and jerked her back into place.
“Do you not wish to know the rest of the tale? The gossip that is spreading about the Brunlow family?”
Violette’s eyebrows furrowed together.
“Oh! I see you do not know,” Lady Helen said, softly shaking her head. “I suppose that is what happens when someone abandons their family in such a way.” Violette flinched at the words, feeling the sting they caused. “So, it seems you do not know what happened to Lady Brunlow? Your mother?”
“What? What happened to her?”
“She took ill and has not left her room since you left. Though my lady’s maid is a cousin to your mother’s lady’s maid, and from what I hear, it was not an illness that confined her to her bed, but a beating from her husband. He struck her so hard she fainted and has not climbed out of bed since. Did you never wonder what happened after you left them?”
