Lady Katherine strode into the cellar and stopped before Lenora, regarding her carefully, as if Lenora were somebody she had never seen before in her life. As if they were strangers, instead of girls who had lived together all their lives, who had grown up together and been educated together.
That’s not how she thinks of me, though, Lenora thought. She’s never thought of me in those terms, and I’m sure she never will. Because we weren’t two girls growing up in Brackhill Manor. Not in her mind. She was one girl growing up here, and I was a weed in her garden.
Lady Katherine now drew back her hand and slapped Lenora across the cheek, hard.
Lenora was stunned by the sharp pain, but she managed not to cry out. She closed her eyes, seeing stars, and waited for her breathing to settle and for her cheek to stop stinging.
“Take the gag from her mouth,” she said quietly to Mrs. Durian.
Mrs. Durian moved around behind Lenora. After a moment, Lenora felt the cloth that had been bound around her face loosening. As it was pulled away, she opened and closed her mouth several times, stretching her jaw, relishing in the feeling of finally being free.
“You’re a traitor,” Lady Katherine said quietly. “You’ve betrayed the house you serve. Do you wish to deny it?”
“Of course I deny it,” Lenora said. “I haven’t betrayed His Grace.”
Lady Katherine slapped her again. “I am Lord Brackhill’s daughter! A betrayal of me is by extension a betrayal of my Lord Father. Surely you can understand that? You may be base and unrefined, but you did receive an education. You are not a stupid girl, Lenora. Do not play at stupidity with me now.”
Lenora drew a deep breath and looked up at the Lady above her. Lady Katherine’s eyes were wild with anger, an anger Lenora had never seen there before. She had always known that her Lady was selfish and temperamental. She had always known that Lady Katherine was prone to fits of anger if she didn’t get her way about something.
But this was different. This was rage.
I won’t be afraid of her, Lenora told herself. What is she to me? Just a petty girl who can’t accept the fact that the man of her choice doesn’t return her affections. It’s sad, truly, and it has nothing to do with me. It’s not because of me. I didn’t betray her. He never wanted her.
So she steeled herself, bracing for another slap, and said quietly, “I never betrayed you, My Lady. I never did anything against you. I never acted to harm you.”
She thought Lady Katherine was certainly going to slap her again, but her Lady just stood there, gaping like a fish.
“How can you deny it?” Lady Katherine asked her after a long pause. “How dare you deny it? How can you look me in the eye and say that you didn’t do what we know you did?”
“My Lady?” Mrs. Durian spoke up from behind Lady Katherine. “Perhaps this will go more smoothly if we tell Lenora what we know. Perhaps she imagines she can lie to you, that you don’t already have all the evidence against her.”
Lady Katherine seemed to collect herself. “Yes,” she agreed, “yes, Mrs. Durian, that is a fine plan. Tell her everything. Let her know that she was seen, that she was discovered, and that she no longer has any secrets worth keeping from me.”
“I don’t know what you think you saw,” Lenora said. “I haven’t done anything to deserve this.” And that was true. She knew what she had done to anger Lady Katherine, certainly. But what she had done did not deserve the treatment she was now being subjected to.
I deserve to be treated like a human. I deserve respect.
Mrs. Durian stepped forward. “From the moment the Marquess of Galdhor arrived,” she said. “You, Lenora, have behaved in a manner I never would have believed of a member of the Duke’s household staff. You have been shameless with the poor man. Flaunting yourself! Flirting! Following him everywhere he goes, like a stray dog after a bone.”
This was blatantly false. Lenora had never followed the Marquess around. She had never sought his attention. She had been shaming herself for daring to enjoy his attention, but it was never something she had pursued.
And yet, she couldn’t disagree with Mrs. Durian. There was no proof, and she knew that Lady Katherine would prefer to believe the worst of her most-hated maid. Besides, it hardly mattered what was true and what wasn’t. The fact was that Lord Galdhor did not want to marry Lady Katherine.
They mean to make me a scapegoat, Lenora realized. Lady Katherine has sensed Lord Galdhor’s disinterest in her, and now when he refuses the marriage contracts, she will be able to point to me as the cause. She will be able to tell herself that she would have won him if not for my interference.
But it wasn’t true.
“I spoke with him,” she admitted. “He seemed interested in the life of a servant, and I indulged his curiosity. To do otherwise would have been rude, and I was sure His Grace would never want me to be rude to one of his guests.”
“How dare you?” Lady Katherine spat. “How dare you invoke my father? He would never approve of what you have done. Rudeness is failing to remember your place, Lenora. You have always struggled with that. When we were children, you spoke to me as if you were my equal. Perhaps you remember?”
Lenora did. She had been scolded by the Duchess every time she had tried to play with Lady Katherine. She had been only a small child at the time, less than five years of age, and hadn’t yet quite understood the fundamental differences between herself and her Lady. She hadn’t realized it would be so inappropriate to play together.
But that was a lifetime ago. How could Lady Katherine still be upset about that?
“You’ve always resisted accepting who you are,” Lady Katherine said. “You’ve never wanted to embrace the life you have here. You should be grateful, Lenora. You should be down on your knees to me. You should worship me for allowing you to clean up my chamber each day.”
“My Lady is very kind.” Lenora tried to keep the irony out of her voice, but she couldn’t manage it. How could she call Lady Katherine kind, in good faith, when her Lady had her tied up in the cellar?
“What you should never have done was to try to ingratiate yourself to Lord Galdhor,” Lady Katherine said. “The poor man doesn’t know you, Lenora, and he doesn’t know your ways. I’m sure he thought you were just a stupid little chambermaid, simpering up at him like that. But you’re not stupid, are you?”
Lenora didn’t answer.
Lady Katherine took a step closer. “I asked you a question, Lenora. Are you stupid? Yes or no?”
Lenora was mesmerized. Lady Katherine had always disliked her, yes, but it had never been like this. Her antipathy had taken the form of complaining, mostly. But the anger, the slapping—that sort of behavior was all new to Lenora.
What is she going to do to me? she wondered. Right now, Lady Katherine seemed capable of anything. Nothing would have surprised Lenora. And finally, belatedly, the first tendrils of real fear began to creep in. She had forced them away again and again by focusing on her anger at being treated this way. She had forced herself to feel indignant rather than fearful.
But now she might actually be facing her own death.
It was horrifying.
“No,” she whispered. “No, My Lady. I’m not stupid.”
“Of course you’re not,” Lady Katherine said. “I know you’re not. And you know that I know you’re not. That was your mistake. You thought that I wouldn’t see what you were doing, didn’t you? You thought I’d never believe a maid capable of it.”
Capable of what? Lenora dared not ask. Stupid or not, she still wasn’t sure what Lady Katherine thought she had done.
“But I’ve known the truth about you for years, Lenora,” Lady Katherine said. “I’ve known since we were children. Father never wanted to see it, and that’s why he kept you around. But Mother and I knew. We always knew how conniving you were. We knew you’d seize any opportunity to elevate your station. You would never be happy with your lot in life.”
But I was happy, Lenora thoug
ht. My only complaint was that I was so mistreated by Lady Katherine and the Duchess. Other than that, I was pleased to live in the manor, to receive an education, to dine on fine foods sometimes and see beautiful garments. To serve at balls. I liked my life.
It was Lady Katherine. She was the one who had never been happy. She was the one who had never been able to accept things as they were. Lenora had embraced her station long ago.
“That’s why you flirted with Lord Galdhor,” Lady Katherine said. “That’s why you tried to win his attention, isn’t it, you little minx? You hoped to steal him away from me. You hoped he would come to prefer you. That he would wed you.”
This idea was so laughable that Lenora couldn’t keep quiet. “Wed me?” she burst out. “The Marquess would never wed me.”
“Of course he wouldn’t,” Lady Katherine said. “But don’t expect me to believe now that you find the idea laughable, Lenora. You were seen on more than one occasion fairly throwing yourself at the poor man.”
“I never did,” Lenora protested.
“Mother saw it,” Lady Katherine continued as if Lenora hadn’t spoken. “She was appalled at your behavior. She apologized for you to Lord Galdhor. Of course, the Marquess was nothing but gracious. He acted as if he had enjoyed your company. But we both knew the truth, even then. We knew what you were doing—or trying to do.”
“You can’t truly believe this,” Lenora said. “You can’t think I would try to win the Marquess for myself.” She had pined after him, yes. After all this time, she would admit that to herself. And she had allowed herself to interact with him far beyond the bounds of what simple politeness and respect had demanded.
But to suggest that she had actually hoped to make him her own?
That was crazy.
In her wildest fantasies, Lenora had not even dared to hope that the Marquess returned her feelings. The most she had hoped for was that he felt some small affection toward her, some lingering emotion that would leave him with some good memories when the two of them inevitably went their separate ways.
Even if he had returned her feelings, she knew, he would never have actually asked her for her hand. That was simply absurd. It was as likely that he would sprout wings and fly around the manor grounds.
For Lady Katherine to stand here and accuse Lenora of plotting to cause such a thing was simply ludicrous. The accusation had nothing to do with Lenora’s behavior. It had nothing to do with Lenora’s feelings. It was pure fiction.
“You’re smart too,” she said to Lady Katherine. In truth, Lady Katherine had never been as adept in her studies as Lenora had been—and she had never troubled to care. A lady doesn’t need to be clever, the Duchess had often said. A lady must be charming and lovely, and you, my dear, are both.
But right now, she needed Lady Katherine to listen to her and to understand. She needed her Lady to try to apply some logic to the nonsensical accusations she was making. So she looked Lady Katherine in the eyes. “You’re smart,” she repeated, “and you grew up with a title and all the expectations that go along with it.”
Lady Katherine narrowed her eyes. “What’s your point?” she asked.
“My point is that you know what’s expected of a member of the noble class,” Lenora said. “You know Lord Galdhor couldn’t just walk away from the expectations placed on him by his family and by his role in society. He couldn’t marry a chambermaid. The idea would never even occur to a man such as him.”
“If you’d bewitched him, ensnared him with your flirting—”
“Do you think him a fool?” Lenora asked. “Do you think he is the sort of man to see a woman and forget everything else in the world? Or don’t you think he’s very clever?” In a way, it made her deeply sad. Lord Galdhor was one of the most thoughtful and clever people she had ever met, but Lady Katherine clearly saw him as soft and easily manipulated.
“I don’t know how you can talk to me so,” Lady Katherine said. “I don’t know when you became so bold. I always knew you thought too highly of yourself, Lenora, but to interrupt me while I’m speaking!”
“I suppose things changed when you arranged to have me tied up,” Lenora said. “I always respected you, My Lady. You say I never knew my place, and yet I’ve spent all my life doing everything I was told, haven’t I? Never once have I stepped out of line.”
“Perhaps you were always just waiting for the right moment,” Lady Katherine said. “But there’s always been something about you, Lenora. You’ve always had an attitude to you. It’s been clear since we were children that you thought yourself more important than you are.”
“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”
“I think you do,” Lady Katherine said. “I think you think you’re special. Maybe it’s because Father has always liked you. Mother told him he was too soft on you, but he’s away so often. He doesn’t see the way you are.”
“He isn’t going to like this very much,” Lenora said. “He isn’t going to be happy that you tied me up in the cellar.”
“She said that earlier,” Mrs. Durian said. “She seems to think His Grace is going to miss her personally. You’re absolutely right about her, My Lady. We should have seen it sooner. She thinks she’s something special, when in truth she’s nothing at all.”
Lady Katherine ignored the housekeeper’s comment. “My father will never know about what happened here,” she said. “By the time he returns to Brackhill Manor, you’ll be long gone. We’ll tell him you were dismissed, or maybe that you decided to run away—yes, I think that might be best,” she mused. “He might be angry if I dismissed a member of his staff, but if you ran away, he would only be angry with you.”
“He’s never going to believe that,” Lenora said. “He knows I wouldn’t run away.”
“Please,” Lady Katherine laughed. “He doesn’t know anything about you, Lenora. Why would he? You’re nothing to him. I can tell him any story I want about you, and he’ll accept it as true.”
This was almost certainly correct, and yet Lenora couldn’t help feeling a little relieved by what she was hearing. If Lady Katherine intended to take her out of the manor, that meant she wasn’t going to die here in the cellar.
Of course, she still might be killed by the side of the road. And even if they didn’t kill her, she would be left without a home. But almost anything would be better than starving to death in the cold cellar of the manor that had once been her home.
“Gag her again,” Lady Katherine said.
“Wait,” Lenora protested. She hated to beg for anything when she was in a situation like this, but that gag had been horrible. “Please don’t.”
Lady Katherine shook her head. “You’ll scream,” she said. “The walls and floors are thick, but you might be heard. Mother wouldn’t lift a hand to stop me, of course, she hates having you here as much as I do. But there are those who would interfere, I believe. Henderson might.”
She didn’t mention Lord Galdhor, and Lenora didn’t dare mention him either. But the name hung unspoken in the air, and Lenora could tell they were both wondering the same thing. If the Marquess knew of Lenora’s plight, would he act to help her?
I believe he would, Lenora thought. He’s a good man. A kind man. He wouldn’t allow this to happen to anybody. Lady Katherine was crazy to think that Lenora posed a threat to her romantically, but Lenora could easily believe that Lord Galdhor wouldn’t want to see her mistreated.
And Lady Katherine must know that if Lord Galdhor became aware she was doing this to me, he would want nothing to do with her, Lenora realized. It gave her some small measure of satisfaction to know that Lady Katherine was at least facing the fact that the man she so admired would not approve of her actions.
It’s too late for you, though, Lenora thought. It doesn’t matter what you do now, My Lady. It’s too late regardless. Get me out of the way or don’t. Keep it a secret from Lord Galdhor or don’t. It’s not going to make a difference for you in the end. Because he doesn’t want you. He nev
er will.
When Mrs. Durian moved to secure the gag around her face again, Lenora didn’t protest. It was too late for her as well, she was fairly certain. There was no stopping whatever was to come. But it was all right. She knew now that Lady Katherine had always been frightened of her, and whatever came next, there was a bit of satisfaction in that.
She would carry that with her as she embarked upon her new life. Whatever came next, she would remember that they had thrown her out of Brackhill Manor not because they hated her but because they feared her.
For the first time in her life, Lenora felt powerful.
Not that the power she felt was going to help her much, at least in terms of her current situation. She was still tied to a chair in the cellar. She was still going to be ejected from the manor. She would still have to find a new life for herself somewhere in the world beyond Brackhill.
A Game 0f Chess With The Marquess (Historical Regency Romance) Page 16