AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come,” he declared and pushed a cup and saucer toward her. “You might as well sit. I am guessing you have been tasked with the burden of my company.”
She glanced toward the door, wondering how Peggy was getting on without her and how late they would have to work to keep the pace.
“If you leave now, Lady Lydia will not receive the full pleasure of her slight,” he said with a deep chuckle. “Anyway, I’m sure tea and biscuits are not your usual fare. Sit with me and enjoy them.” He patted a seat beside him, but she had no intention of sitting so close to a man while unchaperoned, even if in this house chaperones seemed to be in short supply.
She noted his smile. He was amused! At her? At Lady Lydia? Any man in their right mind would be furious at Lady Lydia’s posturing, but Mr. Crowley seemed to have expected it and decided to thwart the lady by appearing to enjoy himself. Marilee suppressed a grin. No wonder Lady Lydia did not like the man, he surely seemed unaffected by the lady’s charms and maneuvering. She would not take kindly to anyone who did not fall easily into her pocket.
Even though he had patted the settee next to him, Marilee chose a perch across from him and as far away as was possible. She thought it was prudent since the man’s very gaze seemed to rob her of sense and make her heart beat extraordinarily fast. She watched him over the rim of her cup while he picked at the biscuits on the tray and sipped his own cup of tea.
“My name is Nikolas,” he mentioned in such an offhand way, so lacking formality, that Marilee nearly spat out her tea at the unorthodox introduction. On the other hand, there was no one about to introduce them.
“And yours?” he asked.
“Err.” She stumbled over the question, and stuttered, nearly offering the man her true name. She evaluated him in that moment. She felt she could trust him, but really, could she? He watched her without guile. With purpose, she collected herself Finally, she said one word, “Kate.”
“Well, Kate,” he laughed to himself, “Lady Lydia would do better to saddle me with that crass old butler next time if she wants to punish me. You aren’t so terrible.”
Marilee raised her eyebrows in shock. It was not much by way of a compliment, but it was amusing just the same. She gave a short laugh despite herself, but stifled it immediately. “So nice to know that my countenance is likened to Smyth’s. I’ll try to be more forbidding next time,” she promised.
He chuckled heartily.
She did not know if there would be a next time, but she found the thought pleasing. She hoped there would be a next time.
“Do,” he grinned. “Perhaps leave the fire unlit. We solicitors like the cold to match the ice in our veins.”
At that Marilee did laugh aloud. Truly laughed. Perhaps it was simply the result of her dismal circumstances. There had been little enough to laugh at this past week. Still, she had almost thought she would never laugh again. She was glad that this strange young man had forced a bit of mirth from her.
As if the house itself rebelled against the sound of merriment, a blood-curdling scream rent the air not a moment later. Marilee stood up with a jolt, her eyes wide and her hand trembling.
Mr. Crowley rose to his feet as well, though more slowly. His observant gaze scanned the room, looked to the door and then, when another shriek broke forth, he looked towards the floor.
“It is coming from below,” he murmured. “From the servant’s quarters, perhaps?”
Marilee’s first thought was Peggy, and she flew toward the door in a panic. Mr. Crowley caught her by the elbow as she moved past, and he turned her toward him, concern written all over his face.
“Is everything alright?” he said in a low voice. “You can trust me.”
Oh, how Marilee wanted to tell himno, nothing is alright.She wanted nothing more than to tell him the truth, to beg him to take her from this place and never return, stranger though he was. But she did not know enough about him save that he was involved in matters of business, no matter how tenuous, with the Blackwells. She did not know if he could be trusted, or what would happen to her and, to the others, if she did speak. She made some incoherent excuse about a woman having fits and tore away. The last thing that Lady Lydia or Mrs. Cavendish would want was a strange gentleman snooping around in their business.
“Let go,” she said pulling from his grasp and hurrying towards the door. He tried to follow her, but she pushed him back into the parlor and demanded that he remain. Marilee closed the door behind her and raced for the stairs. “Please, enjoy your tea,” she said desperately. Please, please, she thought, do not allow Peggy to be hurt. The thought foremost in Marilee’s mind was that somehow, she had spilled the scalding water on herself, but as the next scream came from the area near the kitchen, she realized it was unlikely Peggy was hurt.”
* * *
“Keep your voice down,girl, or I’ll send you back out to be whipped some more,” Mrs. Cavendish growled, slapping someone beyond the door.
Marilee burst into the kitchen and came to a skidding halt by the side of the table. Across it lay the young maid with her pale back exposed and a patchwork of shallow bleeding slashes cut across it, but one cut across her shoulder was amazingly deep showing white tendons through the red meat of her shoulder-blade. Marilee clamped her hand over her mouth and willed herself not to be sick. The girl was the one who had been expelled from Lady Lydia’s room for the burn.
“Hold her down,” Mrs. Cavendish ordered, but Marilee stood frozen in the doorway “Hold her down I say! This one cut too deep and I’ve got to put a stitch in.”
“C-call the doctor!” Marilee cried. The girl was writhing on the table in agony while the housekeeper, and the footmen all attempted with varying degrees of incompetence to hold her still. Mrs. Cavendish had a needle held in her mouth and a long length of string that she clearly intended to use on the girl’s flayed back.
“There’ll be no calling for a physician,” Mrs. Cavendish snarled. “She got what she deserved and I’ll not bring any meddling fools into this house.”
“I have some medical expertise,” came a calm male voice from over Marilee’s shoulder. Marilee froze and instantly cursed her fates. Mr. Crowley had followed her despite her orders… Had followed her straight into the hellfire. She turned, staring at him.
Mrs. Cavendish’s eyes bore into hers with pure loathing and Marilee knew she would be held to blame for the gentleman’s appearance in the kitchen.
“There’s no need, sir,” the housekeeper crooned in the sweetest voice Marilee had ever heard her use. “Kate will take you back up to the parlor. We’re just dealing with this thief here. Nothing to concern yourself with.”
