“Very soon, one person at a time,” she mentioned as Emily held the door for her.
She curtsied in appreciation but Emily only smiled.
“We don’t curtsy for everyone here, Mary,” she teased. “In London, we are quite unruly.”
This made Mary Ann laugh,
“That is how things are too back at the countryside,” she replied.
“Some things never changed,” Emily uttered. “Here is where all servants enter from. We won’t want to disturb those sleeping. Believe me, it’s better we do our jobs without them nosing around,” she added her voice now sounding serious and business like.
Mary Ann nodded before giving a hearty smile. Since she got out, she had wanted to ask about Thomas and when he would be able to see him but she refrained from this. Other servants that were awake greeted Emily and eyed Mary Ann as she followed her.
To everyone that passed, she had an eager look that soon turn dull every time when she realized that they weren’t Thomas.
“Are you looking for someone in particular?” Emily asked after taking her through most of the building.
Mary Ann gave her a puzzled look that only made Emily giggle, covering her mouth with her palm before sounding louder than she planned.
“What?” Mary Ann asked still unsure of the reason for her reaction.
“So, the eager eyes and heavy sigh that surfaced every time a servant pass is just normal? They aren’t just signs that you are looking for someone?” Emily let out.
Mary Ann opened her mouth to object to this but Emily’s finger was up to stop her.
“I have two daughters like you, Mary Ann, I have seen that look more than you can imagine,” she told her smiling as she dragged her to the next part of the manor. “I have been with Her Grace, the Duke’s mother, since she was a child, so, you don’t want to argue this with me,” she added in just a single breath.
Mary Ann felt oddly comfortable with Emily. She’d never been so drawn to someone else before, always keeping others at arm’s length whenever she met them. It was to protect herself, but it was already becoming impossible with Emily.
“So?” she probed.
Emily looked a bit confused before she said, “He’s a little bit old but believe me when I say, he is as strong and charming as they come,”
“No,” Mary Ann quickly cut in, “I meant when would I be able to see the Duke’s butler?”
“He is normally by the side of the Duke, but I’m sure he would find a way to meet up with you if it is needed,” she told her.
This eased her mind, somewhat. Now that they had opened the conversation, she felt an urge to ask more about him from her but she decided against that.
One step at a time.
They continued their tour in silence until they got to the other end of the manor where the assistants were already running from one corner to the other while the cook shouted orders at them.
She didn’t notice them come in until Emily cleared her throat loudly.
“I didn’t see you there,” she gasped, grinning broadly at Emily
“That makes one of us,” Emily replied in her usual fast manner.
She quickly introduced Mary Ann to Florence, who didn’t look impressed. She gave Mary Ann a long hard stare as if trying to look into her soul before speaking.
“Welcome to the manor,” Florence greeted. “I hope you grow used to this mad house.”
“You’d better watch it,” Emily cautioned.
“I’m much too old to care,” Florence mumbled, turning back to her task. She offered them food which they ate quickly before they continued on.
“Don’t worry about her,” Emily told her, “She’s always like that. But past all that act, Florence is a good and kindhearted woman, not to talk of how excellent her cooking prowess is.”
They both laughed until they got to a poorly lit room. Emily took a torch from the wall, scrambled the things there and in a couple of minutes, she was out with all Mary Ann would be needing.
“You can start from anywhere you want, but if you want my advice you would start in places where you know the Duke will not pass this early morning,” she patted her back as she began to leave.
“Thank you,” Mary Ann appreciated and Emily only shook her head.
“If you need anything, you can ask around where you can find me,” Emily called before taking a turn that led to another passageway.
Mary Ann stood on the spot until Emily was gone. Even after this, she stayed for a bit, taking her time to look around where she was standing. Emily’s constant talk had it impossible for her to assess the manor very well. But when she left, she could do whatever she wanted; provided it was on a spot and won’t last more than a couple of minutes. There were paintings as well as a sculpture placed in the hallway and almost everywhere. She admired it for a little longer before starting her chores.
As she did, she began to think about her conversation with Emily. She even giggled at the thought of Emily referring to Thomas as being old.
Odd, she thought as she continued her work
“Yes, thank you,” Mary Ann answered another servant’s greeting just as she left the room. The servant’s clothes she had on this very day was a tad bigger than her but she didn’t mind. It would get her through the job, that alone was enough for her.
It had been three days since they had arrived at the manor and things were as she had hope they would. Candidly, some things had changed for the better, she now had more than enough to eat, a room that was better than every place she had stayed and she had Thomas to thank for that.
Where could he be all this while? I haven’t heard anyone speak about him and why he hadn’t come to check up on me?
She kept wondering about this until she started work for the day again. Her chores of cleaning everywhere took much of her time leaving very little time for her to rest. She also had no one to talk to while she worked.
“I don’t need no loafers in my kitchen,” Mary Ann heard Florence shout at someone in the kitchen as she got closer.
She waited by the for a couple of seconds then Florence spoke again, this time to her.
“Are you going to stand by the door all day or come in to have your breakfast, house elf?”
Mary Ann walked in slowly as she managed to paste a smile on her face.
“You slept well?” she asked, her once-hardened countenance now getting softer.
“Yes, yes I did,” Mary Ann responded nervously.
The cook ordered one of the servants to fetch her breakfast and she kept asking if she needed more. Even though she declined, she wondered if Florence was going to have an outburst over it — everything seemed to annoy the older chef.
She thanked Florence before taking her leave and she was able to get a smile and good wishes from her that morning before closing the door behind her.
“Grumpy, but kindhearted,” she muttered.
She knelt on the floor to start scrubbing after preparing all that she needed. It was then that she remembered all the things she had planned out to do with little to no time for her.
On the first day, she had thought about going into the city when she was done to see the big buildings, the nicely dressed ladies and the courteous men smiling at them. She had read that part from a book she stole from a haberdashery and would love nothing more than to see the fancy clothing outside the book. By the time she was done, she was too tired to go. She could barely stand upright on her feet as she had bent her body for so long.
“Today just happened to be that way. Tomorrow I will give it another try,” she had said to herself before sleeping.
The second day came but the tiredness was just as bad as the first day. She settled for seeing the statue at least but couldn’t fulfill that by the time she was done. She only stared at the fountain on her way back to her room with a hot plate of warm pudding in her hand. Even with this, she was happy to be at the manor where her only worry was not having as much time to herself as she used to.<
br />
Mary Ann had made it a point of duty to wake earlier than other servants to start work. And as usual, on the morning of the third day, she hummed a soft rhythm.
“You missed a spot,” a voice uttered.
The rapid-fire way in which she spoke gave her away immediately. Without rising from where she knelt, she raised her body to look eye-to-eye with Emily.
“Emily,” she almost screamed happy to see a familiar face after three days.
Emily spread her arms as if wanting a hug. Shyly, Mary Ann gave her one.
“How has the manor been treating you?” she asked, still holding her in her arms like her child.
“I do my best to cope,” she replied wiping the streak of sweat off her forehead.
“Good, you will get use to this in no time,” Emily commended.
They talked for a moment with Emily doing most of the talking as usual. Mary Ann had however grown used to hearing her talk and make jokes.
“So, has he been here?” Emily asked keeping her voice down before looking around as if she wanted to tell her a secret.
“No, no he hasn’t,” Mary Ann uttered, her voice depicting sadness and disappointment she didn’t think she had.
“Oh, don’t worry your head about that, they are probably shooting ducks or out hunting all day. The Duke loves that a lot. Anything to get him out of the manor, if you will ask me,” she whispered her last words as she looked around one more time.
Mary Ann nodded to this. Their talk lasted a couple of minutes after this and Emily might have seen the sadness in her eyes.
“We should go to town together the day after tomorrow,” she suggested making it sound like an offer.
“Yes, I would love that,” she blurted as she nodded fervently.
“Good. I need to go now, Mary Ann,” she told her, “have a good day.”
She walked away very fast, just as fast as she spoke.
“And you too,” Mary Ann whispered even though she was long gone. She resumed scrubbing the floor immediately after with a beaming smile and a much more cheerful hum.
Everything would fall into place. I just have to be patient, she told herself as she continued into another section of the manor.
By the time she was half done with the section she was in, her mind went back to Thomas.
I hope you miss me as much I miss you. She knew how silly the thought was and blushed furiously in embarrassment. She could hardly believe that she would be so sappy yet here she was, falling for this man.
“I do, Mary Ann, more than words can say,” she heard.
She turned to see who it was but there was no one there. Her mind was playing tricks on her. This made her smile more until she saw one of the servants looking strangely at her. When she noticed she had been caught, she gripped the tray in her hand tighter and walked away. Mary Ann fixed her gaze on her as she walked away. She had barely walked a few steps and she turned to look at Mary Ann again. But to the servant’s astonishment, her eyes met with Mary Ann’s. When she was gone, Mary Ann did not give this much thought as she continued with her chore.
Tomorrow is going to be better, she kept telling herself as she carried on with her day with the second-best gift she wanted; the first being seeing Thomas.
Chapter 19
“We’ve been through this, Thomas, more times than I can actually count. This is bigger than you and you know it,” Elisa Comeford’s voice reverberated as she spoke.
The cup in his hand was taken away by Elisa to prevent it from spilling any further.
“This is not my fault,” Thomas declared to his mother. “This is your doing, not mine.”
“But we talked about this.” Elisa answered moving closer with her hands stretched as if she wanted to hug him.
“No, Mother, you talked about this. You did all the talking and the decision making. Do you know what I did?” he fired furiously and without waiting for response he continued speaking. “I told you I was not interested and you did not—”
He paused seeing that he was about to curse. If there was one thing that had proven, it was that he was getting out of control. His mother had annoyed him to the extent that he was ready to say anything just to win; just any word to get by.
“I am doing this for your own good,” his mother pleaded but he wasn’t having it.
“No, it is for your own good,” he corrected his voice now lower than it was before.
“Yes, for our own good and for yours too,” his mother said.
He grabbed his cup on his way and took a sip from it as he came closer.
“Don’t act as if you do not know what is going on, Thomas, I raised you better than that,” his mother told him.
Her voice even though was not as loud as before again, still retained the disdainful tone. When her son didn’t reply, she kept talking.
“Lady Rebecca is the best for you, for all of us,” she said pausing, “for your unborn children. Think of them.”
Thomas smirked on hearing this, stepped backward and walked toward his seat. He grabbed his glass of wine, took a sip from it then poured all into his mouth with a loud gulp before speaking.
“I want to get married to someone because of love, not some funny business that only promises to enrich my purse,” he let out.
“How dare you?” Elisa shouted as she walked daringly toward her son.
“How dare you talk to me in such a manner? Who do you think you are? You are still my son. I can do to you whatever I please,” she kept ranting but had stopped trying to get through to her son.
Thomas had a flaw, while he could keep it in check when he was in the right state of mind, the demon let loose anytime he was angry. Just as he blurted out what he said, he regretted it. He stood still as he watched his mother pace angrily around the sitting room.
I didn’t mean it that way, he had wanted to say, but stood still with his mouth too heavy to open.
Unexpectedly, his mind drifted to the time he had hurt Mary Ann with his words. How terrible he felt that day and how his pride had stopped him from truly apologizing that instant. His heart was beating hard by now. He felt broken as all he did wrong came crashing into his consciousness. He looked at his mother again.
I just want a relationship like you and Father, is that too much to ask? He wanted to scream but his strength was gone; taken away by the guilt he felt.
He had been told about a year ago that the daughter of the Duke of Ruxbell, Lady Rebecca, was interested in him. While he had thought it was a joke at first, he noticed his mother getting closer to the family. Attending their parties, organizing a ballroom dance with them, meeting one another at the salon. Even with this, he hadn’t given it much thought until months ago when her father became persistent. He found this, however, not to his taste. Rebecca was not only ten-years older than he was but he also didn’t have an inch of feelings for her. But anytime he decided to talk about it with his mother, she would remind him of how rich Rebecca and her family were and how marrying her would do well to prolong and even foster their own riches.
“I’m sorry, Mother,” he uttered. “I shouldn’t have said that. I admit that it was out of place. I am sorry. ”
He walked closer and they had a hug.
“So, what now?” his mother inquired.
Thomas glanced at his empty cup and left to pick up a bottle. He poured one for her mother first, before doing the same for himself.
“Thomas,” his mother called again.
“I understand you, Mother,” he replied, talking his seat not far from where she sat.
“And—” his mother spoke.
“It would be bad to see a good business and not want to try it out,” he smiled raising his chalice to the air while Elisa did the same.
They drank at the same time, slowly. As the cup touched Thomas’ lips, he felt disgusted already with the thought of having a woman he didn’t love as his wife, much less, older than him. As he raised the cup even higher to make it appear like he was drinking it, he s
hut his lips tighter against the edge of the cup. After a while, he decided to open his mouth and give the drink a try.
A Fiery Duchess for the Dashing Duke: A Steamy Historical Regency Romance Novel Page 14
