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Anne then heard the unmistakeable sound of a piece of parchment being snatched out of someone’s hand, and Lord Graham said, “I do not believe what you are telling me. Louisa, give me that piece of paper.”
“No,” Louisa snapped at him. “This has been forged to make it look as though I am the one at fault, and I will not have that! Robert purchased that massive order of books, not I!”
Then the sound of parchment being grabbed came again, and Anne assumed that Lord Graham had taken the paper for himself. Anne waited with bated breath, desperate to hear if Lord Graham believed Lord George or not. She knew that even if Lord Graham did believe his son, however, he might not be willing to admit it. Her heart pounded so hard it felt as though it was rattling her ribcage within her chest.
There was a long, tense silence. Anne tried to stop herself from fearing for the worst, but she couldn’t help it. She kept thinking about what an awful situation poor Robert was in and that if this continued, they might not be able to be together.
Then, finally, she heard Lord Graham heave a long, exhausted sigh. “I still do not believe what you are telling me, George ... but I can see that you are telling the truth. Louisa, what is the meaning of this?”
Lady Louisa gasped, and then Anne heard something hit the floor with a resounding thud. She couldn’t figure out what had happened until she heard the two lords saying something about ‘fainting’. Anne knew that she had to assist because she was quite prone to fainting herself and knew exactly what to do in this type of situation. Putting aside her fears of being caught out by the family, she rushed towards the room.
When she got inside the door, the two men immediately looked up at her, but she ran straight to Lady Louisa’s side. “I know this is very impertinent of me to ask, Lord Graham and Lord George, but could I trouble each of you to take a couple of steps back? Lady Louisa needs all the fresh air she can get right now, and crowding her is only going to make things worse.”
Lord Graham looked about as though he was ready to explode, but Lord George understood. “Father, back up and allow Anne to assist us. She is well-suited to be attending to Louisa.”
The older man still looked wildly displeased, but he obeyed his son’s orders and backed away from his daughter, as did Lord George. Anne came and sat a little way from her and checked her pulse, just to ensure that it was normal, which it was. Then, she looked to Lord George and said, “My Lord, could I possibly impose upon you for a glass of water?”
He obliged her instantly and took up his own glass that was sitting on a shelf nearby.
“Thank you most kindly,” she said quickly, and then dipped her fingers into the glass and pressed them against Louisa’s head. She hoped that the cool water would revive the young woman, but it seemed to do nothing. She continued dabbing her with water while she thought. Then, she looked to Lord George once more and said, “You don’t happen to have anything strong-smelling on you, do you, My Lord?”
Lord George nodded, surprised, and pulled a slightly wilted lilac flower from his breast pocket. “Eponine picked it while she was on her morning walk with the children.”
Anne smiled kindly at her employer. “That will do perfectly, thank you, My Lord.”
She then took the flower and moved it beneath Lady Louisa’s nose. She wasn’t sure this was going to work, as a lilac wasn’t quite scented enough to do the trick, she didn’t think. After a moment, however, Lady Louisa’s eyes fluttered open, and relief flooded through Anne. She pulled the flower away just in time, as Lady Louisa sat bolt upright and looked very cross.
“Why is she attending to me? What happened?” she positively screeched.
“She just rescued you from a faint, sister,” Lord George explained, obviously annoyed. “You should be far more grateful to her.”
Lady Louisa looked Anne up and down. The young governess continued smiling at her pleasantly, as though she had only ever thought pleasant things about her. Thankfully, Lady Louisa’s initial crossness seemed to dissipate, and she allowed herself to take a deep breath.
“Yes, well,” she said quietly, “I suppose that you expect some thanks?”
Anne shook her head ardently. “None are necessary, My Lady.”
“Good,” Lady Louisa said as though that was the answer she was expecting. “Now, I suppose that I must face whatever punishment my father is about to lay upon me for my cruelty!”
Anne began standing up and backing away so as not to interrupt the family’s discussion anymore, but Lady Louisa started crying very, very hard while looking utterly pathetic sitting there upon the floor. She kept walking away but had a very hard time tearing her eyes away from the sorry sight of the young woman.
However, Anne knew she had to return to the children as quickly as she could, and so she took her leave of her employer, his father, and his sister. As she was closing the door, however, she could hear Lord Graham saying something very sternly to Lady Louisa.
That is a great relief, Anne thought to herself. I am very glad that Lord Graham is taking her punishment seriously ... but I do still pity her. She must be completely and utterly miserable if she can treat other people that way. I do hope that being caught in her scheme teaches her a valuable lesson about how she should treat other people.
