He wanted to make one more attempt to find Lenora before giving up for the day.
And there was one person he hadn’t asked yet. One person who was almost certain to know where Lenora was.
The head housekeeper of Brackhill Manor was a severe, imposing woman who was likely in her late sixties. Adrian had avoided speaking to her until now, knowing that she would discourage him from socializing with one of the maids under her supervision. But as Lenora’s direct superior, she would be able to provide the information he sought.
He found her in the dining room, supervising the tidying up of their supper. “I beg your pardon,” he said upon seeing her.
She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. “Lord Galdhor.”
She seemed not to be intimidated by his rank and station at all. “I wonder,” he said, “whether you might be able to tell me where the maid Lenora is?”
“I’m certain I don’t know, My Lord.”
He frowned. “You don’t?”
“That little hummingbird is impossible to keep your eye on,” she complained. “Always flitting away here and there. She has ideas above her station, if you want my opinion. Thinks she might have a chance to run away with a handsome gentleman. Probably best you leave her alone, My Lord, before she attaches herself to you.”
“But you don’t know where she is?” Adrian pressed.
“I know I ought to,” the housekeeper sighed. “Trust that she’ll be in for a scolding when she finally does deign to show herself, My Lord. She’s been absent all day, if you can believe that. I’ve had others covering her duties.”
“Where could she have gone?”
“Off on one of her flights of fancy, I’m sure,” the housekeeper said.
“But that’s not like her, is it?” Adrian was seriously concerned now. “Disappearing like that, I mean. Maybe she has big ideas sometimes, I suppose I wouldn’t know anything about that. But isn’t she usually where she ought to be?”
“A maid with big ideas never stays in her place,” the housekeeper said. “I’ve seen others like her in my time. They start out obedient, but in the end they always run. They break away and try to claim their freedom, or they fall in love and try to pursue that. I always knew that eventually this world would feel too small to Lenora. What she had here wouldn’t be good enough for the likes of her.”
“So you believe she’s run off?”
“Maybe not,” the housekeeper said. “But it would surprise me not a bit if she had, Lord Galdhor, I don’t mind telling you that. And if she hasn’t run off, well, then she’s hiding somewhere around the manor and devoting hours that should be spent on work to her own pursuits. It would be better for her if she had run at this point, for when we find her there will be harsh words indeed.”
“Thank you,” Adrian said, his head spinning. “I appreciate your thoughts. Thank you for taking the time to speak to me.”
She nodded. “Good evening to you, Lord Galdhor.”
She eyed him suspiciously as he retreated from the room, and Adrian wondered what she knew of his conversations with Lenora thus far. As the head of the female staff at Brackhill Manor, the housekeeper would have been responsible for monitoring Lenora’s actions. Was it possible she was aware that Lenora had been speaking to Adrian regularly?
Maybe she even suspected Adrian of having a hand in Lenora’s disappearance! Maybe she thought that he had her secreted away somewhere, and that he was now asking around to see whether anyone suspected him.
And there was that comment the housekeeper had made about Lenora getting ideas above her station, about her hoping to run away with a handsome gentleman. She must have meant me, mustn’t she? She couldn’t have meant Jimmy. Adrian couldn’t deny that the stable hand had good looks, if unrefined, but he wasn’t a gentleman. Who else could she have been talking about?
No, it seemed as if the housekeeper knew that something had been brewing between Lenora and Adrian.
On one hand, that was good news. It meant that there was a possibility that Lenora returned Adrian’s affections. Certainly, the housekeeper had seemed to think that was plausible.
But on the other hand, if the housekeeper knew, who else might know? Adrian had already begun to suspect that the Duchess was aware of some part of what had been going on. What will she do, if she knows the truth?
It didn’t matter, he told himself firmly. He was going to get Lenora out of here. Once they were back at Galdhor Manor, no one would be able to harm her.
He just had to find her first.
The mystery of her disappearance had begun to haunt him, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus his thoughts on anything until it had been solved. Certainly, he could no longer pretend to Lady Katherine or the Duchess that there was any hope of a marriage. That facade had already begun to crumble, and he was surprised nobody had accused him of wasting their time yet.
Tomorrow, he thought, making his way up to his rooms. Tomorrow I’ll speak to them. I’ll tell them the truth—that it’s Lenora I want. I suppose they won’t want anything to do with me once they know I’m the sort who fancies maids. Well, so much the better.
He would ask the Duchess to help him determine Lenora’s whereabouts. If anyone in Brackhill Manor would be able to find her, the Duchess would be the one to do it. The conversation would be terribly uncomfortable, he knew, and no doubt the Duchess would be enraged that Adrian wanted a maid instead of her daughter.
But she’ll want me out of the house quickly, Adrian thought, and I’m sure she’ll want Lenora out too. She’s an intelligent woman. She’ll see that the best thing she can do is to give us the opportunity to leave together, so that we can all put this unfortunate failed courtship behind us.
Exhausted and more uncertain about the future than he had ever been in his life, Adrian dressed down for the evening and settled into his bed. He picked up the book on his nightstand and examined, it, but he was too preoccupied to read.
Where was Lenora right now?
Could she have had any idea what Adrian was thinking? Did she imagine how badly he wanted her to be his? Had she hoped that she would be invited back to Galdhor Manor? Or were such things beyond her wildest daydreams?
What would she say when Adrian finally found her and asked her to be his?
She’ll say yes.
She has to say yes.
She feels the connection between us just as much as I do. She won’t turn me down.
But what reason could she possibly have for hiding, if she wasn’t trying to avoid this very conversation with him?
And if she wasn’t hiding, where had she been all day?
It’s only been one day. Don’t overreact.
There was no chance he could figure it all out. He replaced his book on the nightstand and extinguished his light. He would speak to Lenora tomorrow. It might be tactless, and his mother would be appalled, but he was ready to tell the Duchess the truth and request her assistance. He would make his confession first thing in the morning, over breakfast.
That decided, he rolled over and promptly fell asleep.
Chapter 11
The day had begun in a perfectly ordinary way for Lenora, with a visit down to the stables to see Jimmy. From there, however, everything had gone off track.
To begin with, there was her conversation with Lord Galdhor. Although she had remembered her place and declined his request for her to call him by his first name, it had not been without effort. She had wanted to give in.
What did that say about her?
Adrian, she thought as she went about her day. What a lovely name. Adrian. She whispered it, feeling the way it would taste when she said it out loud, late at night in her room. Where no one could hear her.
Why did he want her to use his name?
It was so intimate. So personal.
Did he really think of her as a friend?
She had left the stables and made her way back up to the manor, thinking to get the bulk of her chores done while Lady Katherin
e was out on her afternoon ride. Lenora always did prefer to do her work while her Lady was out of the manor. She knew that if Lady Katherine was around, she would find something to criticize, something to complain about.
In fact, she would likely make me start all over and complete work that I’d already finished a second time. Lenora would not soon forget the day she had mopped the entire first floor of the manor only for Lady Katherine to come walking through with dirt on her boots, pausing only to give Lenora a contemptuous look.
She’s horrible.
It was a thought she would never have permitted herself before Lord Galdhor had come into her life. Thinking ill thoughts about Lady Katherine was almost as bad as actually saying the terrible things that came to her mind sometimes now. She felt ashamed and guilty, and yet she couldn’t push the thoughts away.
She really is horrible. A good person, a kind person, would never treat her servants the way Lady Katherine treats me. I’m sure Lord Galdhor doesn’t. And he’s been kind to me, even though I’m nothing but a chambermaid.
Lady Katherine could be kind too. So could Her Grace the Duchess.
They’re choosing not to. That’s all.
So lost was Lenora in thought that she almost walked right into Mrs. Durian, the housekeeper. “Oh,” she said. “I apologize, Mrs. Durian. I didn’t see you standing there.”
“I assume you’ve been out at the stables again, wasting time with that boy?” Mrs. Durian asked.
Lenora almost laughed. That was another thing she would never have dared before Lord Galdhor had come into her life, but suddenly the paranoid assumptions so often made by members of the Duke’s staff had begun to seem funny to her. Wasting time with that boy. She was at perfect liberty to walk down to the stables if she wanted to, as long as she hadn’t been assigned a chore, but she knew that everyone from the Duchess down assumed that she and Jimmy were engaged in an affair.
The idea was laughable. Lenora loved Jimmy, and she always would, but he was like a brother to her. She had never felt any sort of attraction to him. He was kind, he encouraged her to eat and sometimes provided her with food, and he was a good friend. But that was as far as that went.
Still, Mrs. Durian did have the power to make Lenora’s life difficult, so she composed herself. “I went down to feed the horses,” she said. “I do enjoy spending time with them.”
“If you have time for idleness, perhaps you haven’t been given enough to do around here,” Mrs. Durian suggested.
Lenora didn’t argue. It was probable, she thought, that the quickest and easiest way out of this was to accept more chores and just go about doing them. At least chores would get her away from Mrs. Durian.
The housekeeper appeared to be considering something. “The cellar,” she declared finally.
Lenora was confused. “What about it?” She had never been down to the cellar. Almost no one had. The gardener kept his tools down there, she knew, and some of the Duke’s stores of wine were kept in the cellar, but there was no reason for a chambermaid to venture down.
“It needs to be cleaned,” Mrs. Durian said. “The floors must be scrubbed. You can be the one to do it.”
She’s trying to punish me, Lenora knew at once. Something she had done had offended Mrs. Durian. Could it really just be the fact that she had spent time around Jimmy?
“Very well,” Lenora said. She wouldn’t give Mrs. Durian the satisfaction of seeing that the cellar frightened her a little. “Where shall I find the supplies?”
“Already down there.” Mrs. Durian strode to the cellar door, pulled it open, and indicated that Lenora should lead the way down.
Lenora steeled herself and did as she had been bidden. She knew what Mrs. Durian was expecting. The older woman thought to see Lenora beg for mercy. She thinks I’m going to throw myself at her feet, Lenora thought. She thinks I’ll apologize for my errant ways and promise never to see Jimmy again, if only she’ll let me go back upstairs.
It was all so foolish. There was nothing at all between her and Jimmy. The idea had been fabricated out of thin air.
And Lenora had to admit to herself that this was another thing she might not have been able to face before she had known Lord Galdhor. She had never been weak, exactly, but she had never felt a need to demonstrate strength, to stand up for herself.
Giving in to what other people wanted had made life easier, and so Lenora had always been willing to do just that.
But things were different now. Something fundamental had changed.
It doesn’t matter that I’m only a chambermaid, she thought as she went down the stairs. It doesn’t matter that Mrs. Durian is a high ranking member of the staff. What matters is that I am right, and she is wrong. What matters is that I am a person, a human being, and I deserve to be treated with respect.
The thought felt alien, and yet there was a radiant kernel of truth at the heart of it. I deserve to be treated with respect.
Lord Galdhor, she knew, would agree.
She had reached the bottom of the stairs, but there was no sign of any cleaning supplies. Confused, she turned back to Mrs. Durian. “Where is the scrub brush?” she asked. “I thought there would be a pail of water down here.”
Mrs. Durian only smiled.
Suddenly, hands seized Lenora’s arms from behind. She let out a cry and jerked away, but whoever was holding her was much stronger than she was. There were also two of them, she realized. Two hands on each of her arms. Even if she tried to kick backward to free herself, she would strike only empty air.
“What’s going on?” she managed.
Mrs. Durian didn’t answer. “Roy, John, tie her up.”
Roy and John were two of Brackhill Manor’s footmen. They had served alongside Lenora at meals. They had stood by the door at Lady Katherine’s ball.
Lenora had known them for years.
Now, though, they dragged her to a chair as if she were a sack of potatoes instead of a young woman they had known all their life. They handled her roughly into the chair, and John stood above her with his hands pressing down on her shoulders as Roy pulled her arms together behind her back.
“John?” Lenora looked up at him. “What is this?”
He refused to make eye contact with her.
Lenora’s heart was beating double time. They weren’t hurting her badly—the pressure of John’s hands on her shoulders was uncomfortable, but not painful, and the rope Roy was now winding around her wrists was tight, but her circulation hadn’t been cut off. She knew that John and Roy were more than capable of harming her if they wanted to. They were the bulkiest, strongest men she knew.
The fact that they hadn’t harmed her so far didn’t make her feel any better, though. What might they do next?
“Is she secure?” Mrs. Durian asked.
Roy tugged at one of Lenora’s arms. That hurt a little, but Lenora refused to cry out. Once again, she didn’t want to give them the satisfaction. “The rope will hold,” he said. “She isn’t going to be able to break out of this.”
“Should we tie her feet, too?” Mrs. Durian asked.
John looked uncomfortable. “Don’t reckon there’s any need for it, ma’am,” he said. “She’s bound to the chair as it is. She’s not going to be able to walk away.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Durian, “all right.”
“What’s going on?” Lenora hadn’t wanted to let them see her fear, hadn’t wanted them to know they’d gotten to her, but she could no longer conceal the fact that she was trembling. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes. She swallowed hard several times, hoping to keep them down. “I don’t understand. What is this?”
Mrs. Durian narrowed her eyes. “I think you know exactly what brought you here,” she said. “I think you know exactly what you did to deserve this, little miss. You walk around this place as if you’re above the rest of us, as if you’re the most important person in the entire manor.”
“I don’t do that,” Lenora protested.
“Listen
to you. Even now, you have the nerve to argue with me. Even now, you refuse to accept your place. Every other maid on the staff defers to me as she should, but you…” Mrs. Durian shook her head, “the way you act, it’s as if you truly think you’re worth more than I am.”
“I don’t think that at all!” Lenora cried. “Everyone is worth something.”
“You’ve never learned to show deference, have you?” Mrs. Durian asked. “You’ve never learned proper respect for your betters.”
A Game of Chess With the Marquess Page 14