Selina was unsettled by the odd looks the servants were giving her. She had yet to find a place to sketch, mainly due to her focus being on their unusual behaviour.
“Why are they looking at me in such a way? Am I simply imagining it?”
More than once she had seen servants whisper to each other behind their hands as they pointed at her. The male servants’ grins were wider than usual, and not altogether friendly either.
“Am I missing a vital clue?”
Granted it had been several days since she had ventured out of the house, but what could have caused them to act so differently towards her? Her discomfort grew with each step until she couldn’t handle it anymore and ran back to the house. She headed to the kitchen, hoping that Mrs Albermarle could shed some light on the situation. She found the cook taking out a large pie from the oven, transporting it to the open window where she would leave it to cool off. Despite her worry about the servants’ behaviour, she could not stop her mouth watering from the buttery smell of the pastry and the meat filling inside.
“Please tell me that I will be having that for lunch?”
Mrs Albermarle positioned the pie on the windowsill before turning to her, her thin lips stretched into a warm smile.
“Selina, it is good to see you out of your room. I have missed your presence these past few days. But I am glad that your appetite did not diminish along with your absence.”
She was right. Selina had seldom left her room, but that didn’t mean that she did not wish to eat. She simply loved her food too much to have her problems affect her appetite.
“I do not think that we are in danger of that ever happening, Mrs Albermarle. I’ve never been one to refuse food, especially when made by someone who cooks as wonderfully as you do.”
The cook waved her kitchen cloth at her. “Oh, go on with you. So much puffery.”
“I give praise where praise is due. I shall miss your cooking when we return home. Our cook is not bad, quite the contrary, but it takes eating your cooking to realise that everyone else’s food is rather mediocre.”
“You’re going to make an old woman blush,” she said then peered closely at her. “You seem troubled, Selina. What is on your young mind?”
She sighed. “More than I care to have, Mrs Albermarle. When I arrived at this estate, my only worry was having my mother and Aunt Dorothy try to foist suitors upon me, but I have come to realise that there are far more issues to be had than avoiding insipid men.”
Mrs Albermarle took a seat, motioning Selina to do the same thing. She sat down, taking an unladylike position by putting her elbows on the table and propping her chin in her hands.
“So,” Mrs Albermarle began. “Tell me what has happened to affect you so. Rarely have I seen you without a smile.”
“Perhaps you could tell me why the servants are acting so strangely towards me–unless it is all in my imagination?”
The cook’s face took on a closed expression as she sat back in her seat, folding her arms on her belly.
“You say that they have been acting strangely?”
“Yes. The women seemed to be whispering about me, and the men had these grins that seemed, well, inappropriate to say the least. Have you heard of anything that would have possibly led them to treat me differently?”
“And you say that you are certain that they have been treating you strangely?”
Selina tilted her head, regarding the older woman with speculative eyes.
“You know something, Mrs Albermarle. Are you trying to hide it from me? Did I miss something?”
The cook rubbed the tip of her nose, an action that Selina had come to know as a sign of distress. But why would she be distressed? What could have happened?
“Oh, child. I don’t really know what to say to you. I really don’t.”
A tingling feeling travelled throughout her body, an uncomfortable feeling that had her shifting in her seat.
“Tell me what? Do not keep me in the dark, Mrs Albermarle. I would like to know what is going on. Even if it is ...” her words trailed off as she swallowed. Hard. “Even if it is terrible.”
“I wish to tell you that I do not believe a word of what people are saying.”
“People have been saying something? About me? Why?”
Mrs Albermarle waved her hands. “I don’t know, child. People just being their nasty selves.”
“But what have they been saying? What could they possibly say about me? What have I done?”
“Nothing! You have done nothing, Selina. Do not pay attention to what these people have been saying.”
Selina covered her face with her hands. She had a terrible feeling that it had to do with Alex somehow. She lowered her hands, almost too afraid to ask the question.
“What have they been saying?” she asked quietly.
Before Mrs Albermarle had a chance to say anything, Ophelia ran into the kitchen, breathless.
“Selina,” she panted. “Aunt Dorothy.”
Her sister wasn’t making any sense. Selina waited for her to catch her breath, wondering what she had to say.
“Selina,” she finally said. “Aunt Dorothy has requested your presence in the parlour. She doesn’t look happy, Selina.”
She could see that her sister looked worried.
“Do you have any idea what it is about?”
Ophelia shook her head. “She didn’t say, but she has that look on her face.”
Selina immediately knew what her sister was talking about. This day seemed to be going from bad to worse. She got up from her chair, her limbs heavy.
“Well, I best be going. Aunt Dorothy does not appreciate tardiness.”
She left the room, her anxiety growing with each step she took towards the parlour. Her aunt was angry. Ophelia didn’t have to say it for her to know.
After a polite knock, Selina entered the parlour. Her aunt sat perched on a chair, her back straight and tense. Her arms were draped on the armrests, her fingers tapping on the wood. The sound of her nails against the chair had an ominous ring to it as if heralding the trouble that was to come.
“Aunt Dorothy, you wished to see me?”
Her aunt nodded. “Take a seat, Selina. There is much to discuss.”
She sat down, sitting towards the edge of the seat. I may need to get up at a moment’s notice. I am already planning my escape, and yet my aunt has hardly spoken to me. Aunt Dorothy scratched her nose and took a deep breath, her chest rising. She released it on one short huff.
“You have disappointed me, Selina.”
Well, this conversation is off to a flying start.
“Disappointed you, Aunt Dorothy?”
She nodded. “I have had the unfortunate experience of hearing some disturbing rumours.”
Selina had a terrible feeling of what her aunt was about to say. This must be the very same rumours that Mrs Albermarle was going to tell me about.
“I have not heard any rumours, Aunt Dorothy. Who are they about?”
“You know very well who they are about, Selina, and frankly, I am disgusted and ashamed to have people know that you are my niece. To think that I took you in to help you! And this is how you repay me?”
Her aunt’s face quickly became mottled with anger. It was such a sudden change that it left Selina wondering if her aunt was part chameleon.
“Aunt Dorothy, I assure you that I do not know what you are talking about. I have done nothing to initiate a rumour–”
“Silence! You are an impertinent girl! Must you always have an answer?”
Now that was unfair and confusing. Was it wrong to defend one’s self?
“I apologise if I have angered you, Aunt Dorothy, but I mean it when I say that I have done nothing wrong. I do not know what these rumours are about.”
Her aunt lifted her hand and pointed a crooked finger at her.
“You and that man!”
“A man?”
“The baronet!” her aunt hissed.
Selina stilled
. Were the repercussions of his words finally coming to pass?
“May I ask what the rumours are about?”
She was surprised that she sounded so calm.
“Do you still have the audacity to ask me that question? As if you do not know!”
“I’m afraid that I do not know.”
She had an inkling, but she needed her aunt to say it.
“Really? Ha! Well, let me tell you! You have behaved inappropriately with that man–do not deny it!”
And there it was. Of course, she was not going to sit by idly as her aunt accused her of this lie.
“I assure you that I did no such thing. I respect my family, Aunt Dorothy. I would never think to entertain any man in a familiar way.”
“That is not what people have been saying, Selina. What were you doing with that man?”
“Nothing whatsoever. I ask you to remember that I did not know who he was at first. Furthermore, I did not go to the river to meet a man. I was there to sketch. Sir Russell happened to come along whilst I was there. He was polite, as was I. He asked to see my sketches, and I agreed. That is all there is to it, Aunt Dorothy. Has anyone thought to ask the baronet about this? I am sure that he will relate the same story.”
Her aunt sniffed. “And why should I believe you? Are you not the one who goes wandering about all over the grounds, chatting to servants and doing who knows what else?”
“Walking is hardly a crime, Aunt. Neither is talking to the servants. They are people just like us. How can these actions affect your opinion of me regarding this false rumour? Is that not unfair?”
Her aunt scoffed. “You speak to me of fairness when I had to deal with people telling me about the shame that my own sister’s child has brought upon this family?”
Her aunt was just not listening. Her anger rose up within her, threatening to spill over and cause a scene. It took all that she had not to leave her chair and confront her aunt while standing.
“What shame, Aunt Dorothy? What shame? You have never struck me as a woman who would so readily believe the worst about her own family. Now, I do not know who started that rumour, and why, but I can assure you that they are false and an attack on my reputation. I will not accept blame for something that I did not do!”
Her aunt’s tongue darted out of her mouth, moistening her lips. A little spittle remained at the corners, giving her the look of a rabid dog.
“Listen to me closely, Selina. I will only say this once. If you put more effort into acting like the lady you were brought up to be, none of this would have happened.”
Selina opened her mouth to defend herself, but Aunt Dorothy held up a finger, silencing her.
“Did I say that I was done speaking? I think not. I will remove your family from this house if you do not change your ways, do you hear me? The rumours may not be true, but you should have never put yourself into a position where someone could easily craft such a falsehood about you.”
Her aunt believed her?
“I understand. It was never my intention to bring shame upon this family, and never did I ever think that such an innocent encounter could produce such lies.”
“This is the real world, child. As a woman, you must be on your guard at all times, especially when other women are looking for husbands. This rumour has damaged your reputation; you can be sure of that.”
Selina hung her head. Although she had said that she did not care about her reputation, somehow hearing about it being damaged was another thing altogether. And what of her sister?
“Has this tainted Ophelia’s reputation?”
“Fortunately, it has not. For now.”
Selina breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.”
“Yes, we were lucky this time around, but next time ...”
She understood. Selina could not afford another rumour like this. She had to be more careful, and that meant staying away from Alex at all cost.
“I will make it my mission to avoid the baronet should we see him again.”
Aunt Dorothy chose that moment to sit down. Her temper had simmered down, and so had Selina’s.
“Let me tell you something about the baronet, child. That man has long since been labelled as a notorious flirt by all who know him. He may be wealthy, but he is hardly the type of suitor that I would want for you. Furthermore, he associates himself with the lower classes, and that is just not becoming in a man of his bearing. As a result, he has become rough and is known to behave inappropriately. But because he is a man, he is not held accountable for it. People talk, yes, but that will never affect him as much as it will affect you.”
This was the second time that she had heard about Alex being a flirt, but so far he had not come across that way during their brief interactions. And he associating himself with the lower classes was not a bad thing, in fact, she was impressed by it. Her aunt dismissed her, and she was free to go and mull over what had been discussed.
“But not too much,” she cautioned herself. “Or I will begin to obsess once again, and I do not wish to do so.”
She climbed the stairs to her bedchamber, belatedly remembering her sketching materials in the kitchen.
“I am sure that Ophelia will bring them to me. She is thoughtful like that.”
Just as she would have to be more thoughtful when it came to her actions. She would act as the perfect gentlewoman from now on. For her sister’s sake.
The church building was already full of people chatting away as they waited for the sermon to start.
“I knew that we would be late,” her mother wailed. “Where are we to sit now?”
“Calm down, Charlotte dear,” Aunt Dorothy said. “I am sure that there will be a space for us in the front row. That is where I normally sit.”
Aunt Dorothy walked ahead, and they all followed, Selina feeling conscious of all the eyes on them. Or rather on me if the rumours have spread throughout the countryside. She kept her gaze straight ahead, not wanting to see the judgement that she would expect from the parishioners. An odd sensation made her look to her left, and she froze. Ophelia bumped into her, immediately complaining about the hold-up.
“Why have you stopped?” she whispered. “People are staring!”
Selina didn’t speak but just continued to look to her left. Ophelia finally looked that way.
“Oh, Thomas is here! I didn’t know that he would be here.” She was silent for a few seconds before speaking again. “Sir Russell is looking straight at you. So is Lavinia. Oh, Thomas is looking this way as well. Oh, do go, Selina. I don’t want to be caught staring.”
Ophelia gave her a little nudge, which finally got her moving again. Selina put her hand to her chest, feeling her heart beating rapidly. What Ophelia didn’t see was the intense look that Alex had given her. So intense that it had immobilised her. She had not even noticed Lavinia sitting next to him. Other people must have seen her stunned gaze because some were tut-tutting and others had knowing smiles that only served to make her feel more uncomfortable in the church. Selina hurried to catch up to the rest of her family, Ophelia trailing behind. It seemed that the vicar had been waiting for them because only then did he come out of his little side room. People stood to their feet as he led them into the first hymn. The singing was achingly slow and off-tune, with some women singing far too high, and others starting and ending before the actual hymn. This is going to be a long sermon.
A Charming Lady for the Intriguing Baronet: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 18