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“No!” Ellie blurted out. “Don’t tell him about this!”
“Why not? He should be made aware that someone spilled their drink all over you.”
“It was mine that was spilled.”
“Doesn’t matter. It was deliberate.”
Before Ellie could respond, Regina had left the room. Lady Northampton sighed.
“While I think we shouldn’t bother my son, he does need to know.”
“But we don’t know that it was deliberate,” Ellie pointed out. “It’s not something we can prove, and Lady Saxton will say that it was an accident until she’s blue in the face.”
“I know she will. I saw the look on her face when she was apologising. She wasn’t ashamed at all.” Lady Northampton shook her head. “Honestly, I thought young ladies grew out of these games when they were children. Why would Lady Saxton do that?”
Ellie knew the reason why, but she wasn’t about to say it aloud. Lady Northampton wouldn’t care to hear about her son’s affairs, so it wasn’t right for her to say anything. She bit her lip.
“Maybe she’s jealous?”
“Jealous?”
“Well, her husband is a good deal older than her. Maybe she’s upset that I managed to get something she didn’t?”
Lady Northampton snorted. “That woman would be upset at anyone else having something. It wouldn’t matter what it was. I think she just likes to stir up drama. She was like that when she was younger. She and North ran in the same circles, and she was a bit of a troublemaker.”
“How so?” Ellie asked. Part of her didn’t want to know, but she was still curious.
“She liked to cause discord between others. If she witnessed people getting close with the potential talk of courtship or marriage, she would go in and drop subtle hints that things weren’t as they seemed. And she was quite successful. Not everyone fell for it, but enough that there were plenty of members of thetonwho didn’t end up with the people they had their eye on.”
Ellie stared. “She really did that?”
“I even witnessed it at one point. You can imagine that I dragged her aside and scolded her for it.” Lady Northampton shook her head in disapproval. “She just liked to stir things up and watch the drama from afar. It was like a sport to her. I told my son that I didn’t want him to be acquainted with her anymore once I caught her, but I’m sure you know he’s rather stubborn.”
Ellie hadn’t expected any of this when she’d asked about Lady Catherine being a troublemaker. She broke couples apart for a bit of sport? She swallowed.
“Did she do it with married couples as well?” she asked. “Did she target those who were already married?”
“I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised.” Lady Northampton arched an eyebrow. “Do you think she’s still targeting people for her own amusement?”
“I have no idea. However, we know that this was deliberate despite her objections. Maybe she’s not really matured despite her own marriage.”
The dowager countess grunted. “I wouldn’t be surprised. I didn’t care for her before, and I’m not keen on her now. I only tolerate her because her husband is a sweet man who’s very kind.”
“And he’s married to someone like Lady Catherine?”
“Well, some men have bad judgement when it comes to women.” Her mother-in-law looked Ellie up and down. “It’s not always the case, but there are instances when we have to wonder what part of their body men are actually thinking with.”
This remark came out of nowhere and Ellie found herself choking on air in her surprise. She coughed and slapped her chest, coming to terms with what Lady Northampton had just said.
“Are you alright?”
“I… I wasn’t expecting that to come from you, my lady,” Ellie croaked.
Lady Northampton’s mouth twitched. “Let’s just say that when you get older, when you say certain things you can play it off as old age and nobody will question it.”
“I’ll remember that.” Ellie started giggling. “You’re making me look forward to getting older if that’s possible.”
“We certainly don’t get boring once we’re over the age of forty, Eleanora. And we can be as mean as we want to be in the right moment.” Huffing, the dowager countess went to the door. “Where is your sister? I thought she was meant to be finding a maid.”
