by Rebecca King
Eager to get her last duties over with so she could go to bed herself, Petal entered the master’s bedchamber. She peeped cautiously at the bed.
Good, he is asleep, she thought with a sigh of relief, and hurried over to the fire to get her jobs done quickly before he woke up.
Once the fire was lit, she stood and turned around only to catch the edge of the table with her backside. The dull thud of a book hitting the floor echoed loudly around the room. She gasped and froze, her wide eyes locked on the man in the bed. Time passed slowly as she waited for him to twitch. Thankfully, he didn’t wake up, so she bent down and picked up the thick tome. Before she put it back, she read the spine: The Adventures of Jacob Sago by Rochester Millenhall.
“Can you read?”
“Oh!” As she spun around to face the bed, her grasp on the book loosened, and it toppled out of her hands and came to rest at her feet. “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“I thought I told you not to keep apologising,” Aidan replied wryly, sitting up with a yawn.
He wasn’t angry with her. Unless his eyes were deceiving him, she could read. When she didn’t answer, he nodded toward the book she picked back up again and slid onto the table.
“Can you read?” He repeated.
Petal nodded. “Yes, I can,” she replied with a slight frown. “I didn’t mean to poke into your business. I was just looking at the title.”
“Have you read it before?”
She shook her head.
Aidan studied her. It was highly unusual for an upstairs maid to be literate to the point that she could read something like the material he enjoyed. Determined to find out just how well she had been taught, he heaved himself higher on the bed and nodded to the book.
“Hand me the book, please,” he murmured.
When she held it out to him, he nodded to the chair beside the bed. “Take a seat.”
“I can’t,” she replied. “I am not allowed to sit on the furniture.”
Aidan stared at her. “Pardon?” He hadn’t stopped to think about that.
“I am staff. I am not allowed to sit on the furniture,” she repeated dully.
Aidan mentally cursed. “Well, I am the master of the house, and I am telling you to take a seat.”
He cursed aloud when she looked at the chair as though it was a beast about to strike her. Thankfully, though, she was dutiful enough to do as she was told and perched cautiously on the edge of the chair.
“Now, read a bit to me.”
“Would you like me to fetch Edwards for you, sir?” She asked and popped straight back up only to freeze when he lifted a hand to stop her.
“No, I do not want you to fetch Edwards. I want you to take a blasted seat,” he ground out through clenched teeth, his patience ebbing.
Aware that she must be under some sort of ridiculous order from Rollo, he took a moment to steady his anger. “While I don’t want to see any of my servants lollygagging around on the furniture, on this occasion it is necessary because I should like you to read to me. I have a headache, and it is affecting my ability to read. Now, if you would kindly sit back down and read to me, it would be appreciated. I know it is not your duty, but this is a special request from me to you.”
Petal felt a little sorry for him and sat back down. She opened the front cover and hesitated.
“Where were you?” She lifted the book when he looked askance at her.
“Start at the beginning. I will tell you when to stop.”
After a moment’s pause, Petal settled back in the chair and began to read.
Her soft, melodic voice echoed soothingly around the room as she recounted the escapades of a rather rebellious explorer who was busy trying to acclimatise back to London’s social climes after several months in a far off distant jungle. Aidan shook his head in disbelief. Her reading was fluent and expressive. Whoever had taught her had done well. As he listened, he had to wonder just what other secrets Petal had that he should know about. For now, he was happy he had discovered this one, mostly because he could benefit from it.
Lost in her gentle voice, he settled against the plush pillows behind him with a contented sigh. For the first time in a very long time, he began to relax.
Within minutes, he was fast asleep.
“What do you think you are doing?”
Petal winced when Edward’s voice hissed in her ear.
“Get out of this bedroom at once. I will deal with you later. How dare you?”
Petal didn’t bother to reply as she stood she looked at Sir Aidan for support, but he was sleeping. She hadn’t realised he had fallen asleep or she would have stopped and returned to her chores.
Carefully placing the book on the table beside the master’s bed where he could reach it, she quietly left the room.
Tears gathered on her lashes as she hurried down the main servants stairs. She didn’t know why she was so emotional. It wasn’t that she feared for her job or anything. She had only been doing what Sir Aidan had asked her to do, but she felt as though she had lost something special; something that had been stolen by indomitable Edwards. It was upsetting to think she would never get the opportunity to do something like that again. Having witnessed Edwards’ anger, it was evident that the woman would ensure that Petal never got the chance to be alone in the room with Sir Aidan again, and that was deeply troubling.
Don’t be ridiculous, you goose, she chided herself as she raced down the stairs. You are being an utter fool over him, and you know it.
“What is it, Petal? What’s the matter?” Rollo demanded when she raced into the kitchens moments later.
“It’s that Edwards woman again, isn’t it?” Mrs Kempton demanded with a scowl.
Petal nodded. She knew that to be able to keep Rollo and Mrs Kempton on her side she had to be honest with them, and relayed what had happened in the bedroom.
“He asked you, you say?” Rollo asked. His brows rose.
“Yes. I didn’t want to but he insisted on it. I barely got through the first chapter before he fell asleep. Then Edwards turned up and told me she would deal with me.” Petal turned beseeching eyes on Rollo. “I was only doing what the master said to do. He was quite insistent on it.”
“I know, Petal. I think I need to have a word with Master Jeremy. He said we should go to him with any concerns for now. Go on with your duties. I will deal with it. Thank you for telling me.”
“What do I say if Edwards raises the issue?”
“Edwards is staff in this house unless the master gives her authority over all of us. If that happens, he can have my resignation. If she gives you any trouble, Petal, come to me. However, if the master asks you to read to him again, you need to just mention to him that Edwards has been on at you about it. As long as he assures you there is no problem then you are free to read to him as often as he wishes.”
Doubtful that Edwards would listen to any protest she put forward, but at a loss to know how to raise the matter with Rollo without being seen to be arguing with him, Petal nodded. Reluctantly, she returned to her chores although remained thoroughly tense and nervous.
By the time the guest bedroom she was cleaning was polished she had just started to relax a little, but that didn’t last long. On her way back to the kitchens, she found her route blocked by Edwards, who appeared to have been lying in wait for her.
“I have told you to watch your place in this house, and I mean it,” she began coldly. She looked Petal up and down insultingly. “You are an upstairs maid; nothing more. Make sure you remember that. In future, do not go into that room without my permission.”
Petal felt her temper burn. “I am not running around this house searching for you if the master rings his bell. He won’t like waiting that long.”
“Oh, so you know what the master does and does not like now, do you?” Edwards sneered.
“No,” Petal protested. “But it is my job not to keep him waiting if he rings his bell.”
“Don’t you ever enter t
hat bedroom without my permission,” Edwards reiterated.
Petal snorted. “You are not my employer or my supervisor, so are in no position to set limitations on my duties like that. I am sure that if you were intelligent enough to read, he would have asked you.”
In retaliation, she eyed the nurse up and down in a caricature of her own insult before she stepped around her and continued down the corridor. Unfortunately, Edwards wasn’t going to be thwarted so easily.
“I am not going to be ignored you, you little guttersnipe,” Edwards snarled. Her fingers dug cruelly into Petal’s arm to prevent her walking away again.
Petal gasped and glared at her, tears pooling in her eyes at the pain now shooting down her arm. She looked down at the pink-tinged skin, and lifted a hand to squeeze the woman’s wrist to try to let her go. When the hold didn’t loosen, Petal began to squirm.
“Let me go,” she ground out. “How dare you do this?”
“Is there a problem, Petal?” Rollo asked threateningly from a few feet away.
Petal heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the crisply suited butler watching them. As soon as she realised they were not alone, Edwards loosened her hold. Petal took the opportunity to put some distance between them and hurried over to Rollo. She rubbed absently at the bruised flesh of her arm aware that Rollo was studying the reddened marks with cold eyes.
“She wants me to fetch her if the master rings for anything and is trying to ban me from the room.”
Rollo’s brows lifted. “Well, ignore her. If the master rings for anything, you answer it immediately.”
“Yes, sir,” Petal murmured with a frown.
“Go back to your duties, Petal,” Rollo ordered, his voice hard. He didn’t wait for Petal to leave before he stepped forward. “You touch any of my staff again, and I shall call the magistrate. Do you hear me? I don’t care what the master says or does; nobody in this house is here to be assaulted by you. I am going to make sure Sir Aidan hears about this.”
Without lingering in the corridor to listen in on the conversation, Petal had no choice but to hurry through the servant’s door out of the way. This she did with a huge sigh of relief.
“Horrible creature,” she muttered as she raced down the servants stairs toward the kitchens.
“Oh, not again,” Mrs Kempton sighed loudly as soon as she caught sight of Petal in the doorway. “What has she done this time?” Before Petal to tell her, her gaze dropped to the marks on Petal’s arm.
Immediately, she slammed the pan she was holding onto the table.
“Well, if that doesn’t just take the biscuit,” Mrs Kempton growled menacingly. “Where is Rollo?”
“Upstairs talking to her,” Petal replied.
“What happened?”
Mrs Kempton waved to a seat opposite. Petal slumped into it gratefully and took the cup of ale the housekeeper held out to her with a shaking hand before she relayed the altercation in the hallway.
“Well, it is about time she left here. I don’t want her in this house a second longer than she has to be.”
“Is it always like this working in big houses?” Petal asked with a sigh.
“No, it isn’t. This is an entirely unusual household. Mainly because the master doesn’t appear to want any guests, and there are more and more people trying to take charge with each day that passes. With the master being poorly and the like it is darned difficult to know who to turn to, but someone has to make the decisions. I have told Rollo it is the time he took all of this to Sir Aidan, and everyone was firmly put in their places, but I think even he is confused. The master wants to make the decisions, but then his brother says to take everything to him first. Then Edwards seems to be a law unto herself. I have heard from Rollo that she isn’t even employed by the master. She is hired by that awful mother of his. Then that mother keeps turning up and trying to make her mark on the place with that strange sidekick she drags around with her. Rollo has refused to allow them upstairs, but the dowager was most threatening the last time she was here. It is quite the most difficult situation I have ever encountered in my life I can assure you. No, believe me when I tell you that this house is most definitely not run the way that most big houses should be.”
“What do I do? Edwards seems to hate me.”
“She has an ulterior motive, that one. You mark my words; her scheming will bring her down.” Mrs Kempton threw Petal a knowing look and began to pound the dough as she stared blankly across the kitchen. “Let’s hope it is sooner rather than later, and before she succeeds in getting anyone fired.”
“If she carries on like she has today, it will be me who loses my job,” Petal replied morosely as she rubbed the tender flesh of her arm.
“No, you won’t. If you are doing the things the master asks you to do, and the chores Rollo told you to do, there is no reason for anybody to release you. Edwards is going to be a thorn in everyone’s side, not just yours.”
“I cannot lose my job. Papa didn’t want me to take it in the first place. He said he didn’t want me right under the noses of arrogant fops,” Petal confided. “I can’t go back to him so soon and tell him he was right. He would never let me forget it.”
Mrs Kempton snorted with laughter. “He is about right about the aristocracy too. They are nothing but a bunch of ingrates and nincompoops most of them. The master is different, though. He is a nice man. A good person.” She looked knowingly at Petal. “Thankfully, he doesn’t seem to like Edwards either, and that is something we can use to our advantage. Especially if she is doing things like that.”
She nodded at Petal’s arm.
“I have never known anything like it. Working here is nothing like I expected,” Petal admitted.
Mrs Kempton nodded in understanding.
“It is hard work in houses like this, not least because they are so blasted large. Filling a bath takes several people a good hour and involves carrying heavy buckets up several flights of stairs. It is hard, laborious work for the likes of you and me. I sometimes think there would be easier work in dairies, or in a cotton mill. Although the hours are long, they aren’t half as dangerous.”
“I nearly slipped on the back stairs yesterday,” Petal sighed, thoroughly understanding with Mrs Kempton’s sentiment.
“You just mind how you go. If you really don’t take to working here, then there is no harm in saying so. You won’t be the first, and won’t be the last who has found it far more challenging than they believed it to be. At least you tried.”
“I know, but I so wanted to work on a huge house like this,” Petal replied whimsically.
She stared blindly out at the vegetable garden as she spoke, but saw little of the neatly tended rows of vegetables and herbs lining the cobbled walkway.
Since she had been a young girl, walking past the hallowed gates of the vast Wenland Hall with her father, her fantasies had been taken up by dashing lords, and noble ladies, prancing around in their finery. On the rare occasion that she had caught a glimpse of the said aristocracy, they had been inside luxurious carriages laden with the finest silks, pulled along by four huge matching black horses. Even then she had promised herself that one day she would get to see inside the house. She had carefully ignored her father’s warning that people like them would never grace such finery and pomposity. At the time she hadn’t understood what he had meant but, now she had walked the oak-panelled halls and trod on the inches thick rugs, she knew exactly what her father had been telling her. She didn’t belong in such places. She frequently reminded herself that she now worked there and had to walk wherever she needed to go, but it failed to eradicate the feeling that she was imposing. That sentiment was magnified by the master whose company always made Petal feel gauche and awkward, even though he seemed nice.
While it was wonderful to be in his presence, deep inside, a tiny part of her desperately wanted to be somewhere, anywhere, else. Right until the moment she left. Unfortunately, as soon as she returned below-stairs, life just seemed that mor
e unsatisfactory. She now wanted more out of life. It felt as though there was something just out of reach and she knew that no matter how hard she stretched, or how many long hours she tried, she would never be able to get it. It was disillusioning, really, and a tad frustrating because she could do nothing to change the situation.
She was, after all, just a maid.
“Childish fantasies,” she whispered. She realised that she had spoken aloud when Mrs Kempton peered at her.
“What’s that?” She asked curiously.
“Nothing.” Petal jumped when a bell suddenly peeled and broke the companionable silence. Her stomach dropped to her toes as it was wont to do whenever the master summoned her, and she knew she was going to see him again.
“You had better go and see what he wants,” Mrs Kempton sighed. “Don’t you pay any attention to that nurse of his; she isn’t worth the effort.”
Petal nodded, but her stomach began to churn at the thought of another confrontation with Edwards. Being at odds with anyone was something she really hated. So much so that she was scowling when she pushed open the door to Sir Aidan’s room moments later.
“Are you alright?” Aidan asked, wondering what had happened to put her in such a bad temper. He watched her hesitate. Even with a frown on her beautiful face, Petal still looked utterly adorable.
Wait! Don’t you dare think about her as a woman, he remonstrated himself.
Forcing his attention away from the alluring way her hips filled out the maid’s uniform the staff wore, he waited until she dipped into a curtsey.
“Yes, sir?” she asked woodenly, aware that Edwards sat in the corner of the room, glaring balefully at her. It was clear she was put out at being reprimanded by Rollo. Petal threw her a dismissive look before she turned to Sir Aidan.
Aidan frowned. “I believe we have been through this before. Don’t curtsey. Don’t call me sir.”
“You rang for me?” Petal replied, refusing to acknowledge the nurse or his order.
Aidan studied Petal and then turned his slightly accusing gaze toward the nurse. He sensed the tension in the room and wondered what had happened between the two ladies to put them at odds with each other. Somehow, he doubted it stemmed from anything the maid had done. The nurse was glaring at her as though she hated her guts. Petal didn’t seem to be the kind of person who would be at odds with anyone. He threw the nurse a curious look and caught the dark, almost evil glare she couldn’t quite hide when she flicked a false smile at him.