Fairest of Them All (Marriage by Fairytale Book 4)

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  Tabitha looked up from the book, and Viola was struck by the young lady’s beauty. She had the kind of beauty gentlemen liked. Which was good. She should have no trouble securing a couple of suitors as long as she was able to maintain a conversation with them, which was where Viola had failed.

  “I’m happy to meet you,” Viola began with a smile. “I’m Viola.” Somehow, it seemed too strange to refer to herself as her step-mother. Tabitha wasn’t too much older than her younger sisters. “I married your step-father earlier today.” She forced herself not to wince. That was a terrible way to introduce herself. Of course, Tabitha knew she’d just married her step-father.

  Tabitha scanned her up and down. “At least you’re wearing the appropriate color.”

  Though Viola already knew she was wearing black, she found herself looking down at her gown anyway. “Oh, this. Yes, I’m in mourning. My brother recently passed on to the next life.”

  “You’ll be joining him within a year. Did you realize that when you married my step-father?”

  Viola laughed. “Don’t tell me you believe in that curse, too.”

  Tabitha rolled her eyes. “It seems you’re going to be just like all the others. None of them believed in it until they were in a coffin. But by then, it was too late.”

  “I’m not saying they didn’t die unexpected deaths. That’s a terrible thing.”

  “Yes, I thought so, too, and I didn’t blame my step-father for killing my mother, but I do blame him for the deaths of my step-mothers. There really is a curse hovering over him. Despite my protests, he’s brought you here.” She slammed her book shut and stood up.

  Viola took a step back as Tabitha approached her.

  “If you’re smart, you’ll avoid him,” Tabitha said. “Don’t go up to the attic, even if he asks you to. Be stronger than him. If you do that, you might live longer than a year.”

  Viola wasn’t sure she liked the way Tabitha was talking to her. Viola was older than her, and what was more, Viola knew better than to give into such nonsense as curses.

  “You have the same look on your face that my second step-mother did,” Tabitha said. “I can tell you won’t heed my warning.” She let out a frustrated sigh. “For the brief time you have left, I’m going to be forced to let you chaperone me. If you do nothing else, I ask that you stay alive long enough for me to find a husband. After that, you can satisfy your curiosity and take a look at my step-father’s face.”

  The butler came to the doorway and told them dinner was ready.

  Tabitha went to the desk, set her book down, and left the room, not bothering to look at Viola.

  Viola couldn’t say she hadn’t been warned. Evander had made it a point to tell her that Tabitha wasn’t happy about the arrangement, but she had hoped for a warmer reception.

  She was tempted to tell the butler she’d take her dinner in her bedchamber. No. That wasn’t the right response. She was older than Tabitha, and that being the case, it was up to her to lead by example. She might not be able to control how Tabitha responded to her, but she could control how she responded to Tabitha.

  The best thing Viola could do was put herself in Tabitha’s situation. How would she feel if her step-father married for the fourth time after losing three of his wives, including her own mother? She would probably assume this wife would die, just like all the others. In that case, she would be afraid of getting attached to her new step-mother. She would do her best to keep her distance from her.

  Death was a painful thing to go through. Viola didn’t know if she’d ever get used to not having Oliver in her life. She would just have to learn to live without him. Considering she was in good health, she had a long life ahead of her. She wouldn’t be joining Oliver any time soon. And that meant she would do her best to push past Tabitha’s wall. She wasn’t going to do it immediately. But she might be able to chip away at it little by little. She would be patient.

  Strengthened by these thoughts, Viola followed the butler to the dining room. When she got there, Tabitha was already eating, and, if Viola guessed right, Tabitha was eating faster than usual simply because she wanted to get away from her.

  Well, Viola wasn’t going to let this bother her. She was simply going to sit down and eat her meal at the same pace she did any other time. After she set the napkin in her lap, she picked up her spoon and dipped it into the chestnut soup. Tabitha, she noted, was almost done with her bowl of soup.

  Viola thought over things she might say, but in the end, she chose not to say anything. She’d just met Tabitha. The young lady might be more willing to have a conversation in the morning. That was, if the two would share a breakfast together. She wasn’t sure how many times they would be in the same room. It would take a week or two before she figured out the routine around here.

  So, the entire meal was spent in an awkward silence, and Tabitha had finished all of her courses before Viola even started dessert. Viola glanced at the butler, who offered her a sympathetic look. Her gaze then went to a maid, who was filling her cup of cinnamon tea, but the maid refused to make eye contact with her.

  “Thank you,” she told the maid, thinking that would get the maid’s attention.

  The maid, however, just added a stiff nod and hurried away from her.

  Viola frowned. She didn’t think she’d done anything to upset the maid. In fact, she couldn’t remember seeing the maid until she’d entered this room.

  The evening got even worse when it was time for her to get ready for bed. Not only had the maid at dinner been unwilling to make eye contact with her, but the maid assigned to be her lady’s maid was as well. The maid made it a point to stare at the floor in front of her when she entered the room, and, to Viola’s surprise, she didn’t go further into the room until Viola instructed her to.

  Viola struggled with how to respond. First, Tabitha. Then the maid downstairs. And now her lady’s maid. Did everyone in this townhouse not like the fact that she’d married Evander? She bit down the urge to groan in frustration. Considering the fact that this particular maid seemed to be ten years older than Viola, she was surprised the lady’s maid didn’t show more understanding about the situation.

  Well, for this evening, at least, Viola was stuck with her. Viola glanced from her lady’s maid to the armoire. She had chosen to change her outfits earlier that day, but it would be more difficult to do that now that she needed to remove the corset. She’d chosen the one with the strings in the back, a choice she was quickly regretting at this point.

  “Would you like me to get the evening’s chemise for you, Your Grace?” the lady’s maid asked, her gaze still fixed on the floor in front of her.

  Viola hesitated to respond. It was her wedding night. Perhaps she was expected to go to the attic, or perhaps Evander planned to come to her bedchamber. She glanced around the room. Right away, she could tell it would be too light in here, even with the candles blown out.

  “His Grace doesn’t have a message for me, does he?” Viola asked.

  The lady’s maid shook her head.

  Viola hid her disappointment. After finally securing a husband, she wasn’t going to have the kind of marriage other ladies did. She pushed the observation aside and forced her attention back to the lady’s maid. “The chemise is in the armoire.”

  The lady’s maid nodded and tiptoed over to it. Viola couldn’t help but notice that the maid made sure there was plenty of space between her and Viola.

  This was getting stranger and stranger all the time. Viola went to the vanity and set out her brush and opened the box she kept the pins in. She waited until the lady’s maid had retrieved the chemise before she waited for the lady’s maid to help her out of the gown.

  The lady’s maid paused for a long moment before she took a deep breath and proceeded over to her. She set the chemise over the back of the chair and, her gaze still lowered, leaned forward and lifted the gown over Viola’s head. The lady’s maid’s action was so quick that Viola barely had time to move her head so t
hat the gown didn’t get caught in her pins.

  The lady’s maid rushed over to the hook on the wall and hung the gown on it.

  Viola stared at her in disbelief. What was going on? Even if the lady’s maid didn’t like the fact that Evander had married her, this was unnecessary.

  The lady’s maid returned to her and whispered, “I’ll remove your corset now.”

  After a moment, Viola turned her back to her. At first, she thought there was a knot in one of the strings since the lady’s maid spent longer on untying the corset than she should have, but when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, she saw that the lady’s maid’s hands were shaking.

  “Are you afraid of me?” Viola asked in shock as she turned around.

  Her arm brushed against the lady’s maid’s fingers, and the lady’s maid jumped back with a loud gasp. The lady’s maid made the sign of the cross and started running for the bedchamber door.

  Viola ran with her, and since she was younger, she was able to reach the door first. She blocked the lady’s maid from leaving.

  “Please, don’t put me under the curse,” the lady’s maid said, tears in her voice. “I might be past my prime, but I still want to live. I don’t want to be a ghost.”

  Viola didn’t hide her surprise. “A ghost?” What on earth was she talking about?

  “The curse.” She gulped and clasped her hands together. “It kills every wife His Grace takes and turns them into ghosts. I’ve seen one of them roam the corridors late at night.”

  This was more ridiculous than believing in a curse. “Are you telling me you’ve seen a ghost in this townhouse?”

  “No. It only haunts the country estate. Oh, it’s restless. I’m afraid it’s only a matter of time before it comes here.” Tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t want to be your lady’s maid, but I lost the wager.”

  She lost the wager? All of the maids in this place had made a deal that the loser of a wager had to be her lady’s maid? “Are you telling me that all of the maids are afraid of me?”

  “Why shouldn’t they be? It’s only a matter of time before you die. The curse is on you.” Her eyes widened, and she stepped back. “Even now, I can see the shadow of death covering you.”

  Despite her better judgment, Viola jumped and scanned the area around her. Oh, good heavens! Everyone was so terrified of this nonexistent curse that her own imagination was starting to run away with her.

  “There’s no curse,” Viola told her, hoping that her soothing tone would help calm the poor lady. “And there are no such things as ghosts. Whoever has been spreading these rumors has been scaring everyone around here for no good reason.”

  “I’ve seen it,” the lady’s maid insisted. “Others have, too.”

  “If you’re so scared, then why do you keep working here?”

  “I have nowhere else to go. This is the only employment I can get, especially at my age. But others have left. Only a few have remained in His Grace’s employment all this time.” She put her hand to her heart. “May I go? Please?”

  Viola had more questions on the tip of her tongue, but the poor lady had begun to cry. Viola didn’t have the heart to keep her there any longer. She nodded and opened the door.

  The lady’s maid timidly approached the door, and when Viola realized she was afraid to get close to her, Viola stepped away from the doorway. With a look of relief, the lady’s maid ran out of the room and down the hall.

  Viola sighed and closed the door. This was getting stranger and stranger by the moment. Was everyone except the butler afraid of this curse? Was that why the maid hadn’t made eye contact with her in the dining room? Was that why she hadn’t come across any of the other servants? Now that she thought about it, the butler was the only one who was willing to talk to her and make eye contact with her.

  And she hadn’t even looked at Evander’s face!

  She leaned against the door. Was this what her life was going to be like in this townhouse? Her husband was only going to allow her in his presence if it was completely dark, her step-daughter wasn’t the least bit happy she was here, and all but one of the servants were afraid of her.

  It was no wonder no one wanted to marry Evander. The two women had tried to warn her about this on the day of her brother’s funeral. They had known life as Evander’s wife wasn’t going to be an easy one.

  How she missed the way things had been when her brother was alive. He wasn’t home every night, but sometimes he’d play cards with her and the others. He and Maud would tell jokes that made her and her sisters laugh. He could tell a good story, too. Viola couldn’t tell if those stories were real or if he was making them up, but they’d always been interesting.

  She’d never once felt this sense of foreboding when Oliver was alive. But it seemed since the day he died, her world had been slowly falling apart, and this evening was just one more hole in the wall that had once made her feel secure.

  She returned to the vanity, feeling more alone than she had on the day her brother died. Tears came to her eyes, and she didn’t know if it was because she missed her brother or because she felt isolated in this townhouse. It was probably a mixture of both. Everything was happening so fast. It didn’t seem like she had time to adjust to any of it. After a moment, she stopped trying to hold back the tears and gave herself into every emotion she was feeling.

  Chapter Six

  The next morning, Viola decided not to eat breakfast with Tabitha. She ate by herself in the drawing room and then spent a good hour staring out one of the windows. Out there, things seemed so normal. People were greeting each other as they passed by. Horses pulled carriages at a leisurely pace. She saw a couple of people leave the nearby townhouses, looking as if they didn’t have a care in the world. She’d never felt more disconnected from the outside world as she did this morning.

  There was definitely something strange about being inside this townhouse. The atmosphere was just so… so… She didn’t even know the word for it. All she knew was that nothing about this felt real. It was almost as if she’d slipped into someone else’s dream, and she couldn’t escape from it.

  She took a good look around the room. She recalled the first time she came to this townhouse. It’d been so bright and cheerful. The windows had been open, just as they were this morning. Now, as she studied the room, however, it didn’t seem bright and cheerful. There was a sense of heaviness hanging in the air. The light and fresh air were trying to come into the room, but as soon as they hit the room, they seemed to lose their luster. The light dimmed. The fresh air grew stale.

  No. It couldn’t be that way. Her first impression had to be right. How she felt this morning was an illusion. It was based off of everyone else’s fears. Those fears were getting through to her on a subconscious level. She had to be strong to fight it. She couldn’t let the others affect her this way.

  She rose from her chair and went to her bedchamber. Not wanting to distress any of the maids, she had dressed herself this morning. And thankfully, she’d chosen a gown she could wear for an outing. After putting on her hat and gloves, she headed for the front door. She wasn’t surprised when the footman refused to make eye contact with her as he opened the door. She did, however, choose to offer him a greeting on her way out. He jerked for a moment but then mumbled a greeting in return.

  Then she stepped out of the doorway, and at once, it felt as if she had joined the sane and normal world she’d taken for granted. She took a deep breath then headed down the sidewalk. It wouldn’t take her long to get to her family’s townhouse. It was hard to believe it’d only been yesterday that she left it to come to live with Evander. For some reason, it felt like she’d been away from her aunt and sisters for at least a month.

  By the time she reached her old townhouse, she felt much better. She reached the front door, but before she could knock on it, her aunt opened it and waved her in.

  Viola caught the bewildered expression on the footman’s face. The poor footman didn’t have a cha
nce against Maud when she was excited.

  “I’m so glad you came,” Maud said as she led Viola toward the drawing room. “The place isn’t the same without you. Of course, it isn’t the same without your brother, either.”

  Viola tried to blink back her tears. So far, she’d been able to hold them back when in the presence of other people, but something about being back in a home filled with warmth and love weakened her resolve.

  Maud put her arm around Viola’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. “It’s all right to cry, child. I keep telling you there’s nothing wrong with crying.”

  Her aunt’s kind tone prompted Viola to give into her tears. She wished Oliver was still alive. She didn’t know if she would have still married Evander to help the family gain a firm financial foundation if he was living, but her marriage would be more bearable if he was at least alive.

  “I miss Oliver,” Viola whispered once she could trust her voice not to crack.

  “We all do,” her aunt replied, still holding her. “Your brother had a wonderful gift. He could make anyone laugh no matter what was going on.”

  Yes, Oliver could do that. And in Evander’s townhouse, there was no laughter. For all she knew, there had never been any laughter, and that only made Oliver’s absence much more pronounced.

  “I think you’ve been so busy looking for a way to see that your sisters and I are provided for that you didn’t take time to mourn Oliver’s passing,” Maud continued.

  “I was scared that we’d lose our home.”

  “I know you were. And you carried that burden by yourself. What you did by marrying the Duke of Sutherton was a great sacrifice. Your sisters aren’t old enough to appreciate it, but someday, they’ll understand how much you loved them by doing it.” She rubbed Viola’s back. “It’s time you stopped worrying about us and took care of yourself.”

  Her aunt’s soothing tone offered her enough comfort where she felt the pain in her heart ease. It wasn’t completely gone, but it seemed bearable. She took a deep breath and slowly released it. When she straightened up, her aunt handed her a handkerchief.