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He suppressed another surge of fear. He enjoyed being at Bosworth, and he liked his new position. Apart from Lenny, he had made more friends here. He was settling into the manor and the community. But now, it was all up in the air, thanks to Sally Potter and the fact she wouldn’t leave him alone and mind her own business.
Was he going to lose his position? Was he going to be sent away in disgrace, hounded out of the county and the house?
Immediately, he felt ashamed for focusing on how it would affect him if his affair with Evelina was exposed rather than her. Yes, it would be a shame to leave Bosworth and even the county, but he could do it if he must. He would survive. He would find work somewhere else, perhaps not in service at a grand house ever again, but he was flexible and versatile. He would manage somehow.
He frowned. But the consequences for Evelina could be worse. She had no capacity to just leave Bosworth and start her life anew. She was completely under the control of her father and must submit to his will. Her life was not her own to invent, as she liked.
At best, they would marry her off quickly to her betrothed. At the worst, they could send her to a nunnery for shaming herself with a servant, or even a lunatic asylum. He had heard dark tales of such things happening to wayward ladies who refused to submit to the control of their fathers.
His heart twisted with fear for her. He liked the duke and thought him a good, kind man. He didn’t think the gentleman would be unnecessarily cruel to his daughter. But Evelina’s brother was another matter entirely. And he might manipulate their father to exert strong punishment on Evelina. He knew it was the brother’s machinations that had led to the unwanted betrothal in the first place.
His mouth went dry with fear. He needed to speak to Sally Potter again and plead with her. It was humiliating, but it was far better than the maid exacting revenge upon them. Sally was a loose cannon, and if he didn’t deal with her immediately, there was simply no telling when she would fire her ammunition, causing untold damage to everyone.
***
He found Sally near the water pump at the back of the house, filling a bucket. She looked tired and harassed. His heart tightened. It was best to just get this over and done with, no matter what mood the maid was in.
“Sally,” he said, when he was close enough, in a low, urgent voice.
She glanced up at him warily. But she said nothing. He waited while she finished pumping the water and put down the bucket, turning to look at him, her face impassive.
“What do you want?” she asked in a clipped voice.
He took a step forward. “Sally, you must promise me you will not talk about what you saw last night,” he said in a strangled tone. “Please. It would be a catastrophe for everyone.”
Sally’s green eyes were full of contempt. “Do you think I care about that? It would be just desserts for everyone involved.” She paused. “Youandthe lady. You aren’t supposed to even look at women like that. And she’s not supposed to lower herself with a servant. It goes against the natural order, so it does.”
“Sally,” he pleaded. “We are just people. She is just aperson, the same as you. We tried so hard to fight it, but we couldn’t.” He hesitated. “I know it is wrong and so does she. I promise to never go near her again if you will promise to just forget all about it.”
Sally’s mouth twisted. “I don’t know what I am going to do yet,” she said in a terse voice. “I might say nothing. Or I might.” She narrowed her eyes. “Would you be willing to leave her alone if I don’t say anything?”
He nodded mutely. His heart felt so sore at the thought of never being with Evelina again. They had just declared their love for each other. He was in a heightened fever of intense desire and love for her unlike anything he had ever felt before.
But he was willing to do it if it kept Evelina safe. Inevitably, he was going to lose her eventually, anyway. They didn’t have much more time together as it was. If that time was prematurely cut short, then that was just something they must accept for the greater good.
“I will promise anything, Sally,” he said in a desperate voice. “Do we have a deal?”
Her face tightened. “I will think about it,” she said, picking up her bucket. “Now I must get back to work before cook tans my hide.”
She turned and walked into the kitchen without another word.
Jude stared into the distance. She hadn’t promised to not say anything, but she had said she would think about it. That was something. He would keep up the pressure. It was all he could do now.
His heart twisted. Sally was hurt, and she was unpredictable. Was she also vindictive?
Chapter 32
Evelina stood in the wings of the stage in the village hall, peeking through a curtain at the people milling into the hall, taking their seats. Her belly felt like it was full of furious butterflies jostling and clamouring around. At long last, it was the night of the Christmas pantomime.
She glanced down at the plain brown gown she was wearing, with a raggedy white apron over the top of it. She was dressed as Cinderella before her transformation by the fairy godmother for the ball. She had never worn anything so plain and ragged in her life. Somehow, it was liberating.
She wasn’t Lady Evelina Percival any longer. She reallywasthe cinder girl, whose life was about to change, in the most dramatic of ways.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. Her father and Richard were already seated in the best seats at the front of the stage. She smiled slowly. Papa had promised her he would be here for the performance and he was. She wasn’t as happy to see her brother here, but then, she should have expected it. She knew her brother wasn’t here to support her, as Papa was, but to keep an eagle eye upon her, making sure she didn’t maketoomuch of a fool of herself.
Her smiled widened as she saw Caroline and her parents, sitting in the row behind her own family. Her dear friend was always supportive. But how supportive would she be if she discovered Evelina had been having an affair with a servant? Would she disown her, for the sake of her own reputation, unwilling to be associated with someone embroiled in scandal?
Evelina’s eyes filled with tears at the mere thought. The fear tugged at her heart afresh. Jude had told her a week ago that the flame haired maid who fancied him had seen them together that night at the garden gazebo, and she wouldn’t promise not to say something, despite Jude’s pleading.
