by KT Grant
“Sorry, but you must stay home for now. I have an important appointment and it’s better if I go alone.” She gave him a hug and placed him back on the floor.
Wiping off her hands with a towel, she waited for Geraldine and Mina to leave for their shopping excursion. For some reason, they didn’t attend Mass or sleep in. She had to help them with their baths, then serve them brunch, which they ate at their leisure. If they didn’t leave soon, she would never meet Diana on time.
Her stomach cramped and every time her bodice brushed up against her chest, her breasts itched. When she thought about Diana, her nips, which had always been flat as coins, tingled and stuck out. She palmed a globe and gave her tender flesh a squeeze. She closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheek. This morning in bed she gave into the temptation and stuck her hand inside her nightgown. She played with her swollen nips— something she had never done before. A slight dampness had formed in between her thighs. She shifted her palm down over her mound, and when she slipped her fingers inside her feminine folds, the throbbing grew. She almost cried out from the wonderful build-up of pressure, and as she pressed down, a jolt ran through her body and a strange fluttering sensation settled in between her legs. She’d never experienced anything like it and wanted to continue touching herself but stopped, fearful of what would happen next.
For the past three days her sleep had been restless. When she closed her eyes, Diana would appear. Ellie couldn’t stop thinking of her. She was anxious to see her beautiful lady again, her nerves making her sick to her stomach. She leaned back against the kitchen table and took in a few deep breaths. That familiar fluttering in her belly and in between her legs grew.
The kitchen door swung open and she snapped to attention.
“There you are! Mama has been calling for you.” Mina fisted her hands on her hips. “You should hop to it before she comes back here.”
“I was busy cleaning the kitchen.” Ellie hastened her pace with Mina on her heels.
“You haven’t been yourself of late. You stare off into the distance with a silly look on your face and yesterday you almost broke the vase on the side table under the window upstairs.” Mina jumped out in front of her and crossed her arms with a suspicious look on her face. “You’re hiding something. You should tell me before Mama finds out.”
Panic shot up Ellie’s spine. Mina would run to her mother regardless of whatever story she came up with.
“It’s nothing, really. I think the sun from the other day went to my head. The sudden turn in the weather makes me slow. Remember the same thing happened to me last year? It must be allergies.” She crossed her two fingers behind her back over her lie.
Mina shook her head. “How could I forget? You were the reason I came down with a bad cold and had to stay in bed for almost a week.”
Mina was sick last year, but not because of Ellie. Most of the townspeople had succumbed to the flu, including Mina and Geraldine. While Ellie only had a small cough and a stuffy nose, she had suffered by taking care of both cranky women from morning to night.
“You should keep your distance, then. I wouldn’t want to get you or stepmother sick.”
Mina took a step back and held up her hands. “You don’t have to worry. Mama and I will be gone all day and won’t return until late tonight. We’re having dinner with the Countess Tremaine and Lord Robert.”
Ellie held back a sigh of relief. Whenever Mina and Geraldine visited the two siblings at their home, they always stayed away for hours, sometimes spending the night. Perhaps this would be one of those times.
She started to ask Mina if that would be the case but was interrupted when Geraldine surfaced from the drawing room.
“There you are.” Geraldine patted Mina’s cheek and gave Ellie an irate look. “Why didn’t you come when I called for you?”
Ellie lowered her eyes away from Geraldine’s sourpuss of a face. She tried to think of an excuse but was saved by Mina.
“Ellie was outside watering the garden. We started chatting and the time ran away from us.” Mina gave her mother an apologetic stare.
Geraldine nodded in satisfaction at her daughter. She turned back to Ellie and her lips dropped into a flat line.
The dong of the grandfather clock rang out and Mina gasped. “Shouldn’t we leave soon? There might be a crush at the emporium. I know how you hate waiting.”
“You’re so sensitive to my needs.” Geraldine kissed her cheek. Mina preened under her mother’s display of affection.
Ellie hid her hands in the material of her mourning dress, clutching the cloth to stop her from shaking her leg over her impatience.
“I wish there was another clothing establishment in town catering to women. I may talk Yvonne about investing in such a business tonight at dinner,” Geraldine announced and patted her hair.
Mina gave her mother a shocked look. “But Mama, you would go into a trade? How provincial.”
Geraldine didn’t comment on her daughter’s outrage and nodded in the direction of the staircase. “Run upstairs for our shawls. Then we can go.”
Mina gave Geraldine a kiss on her cheek and bolted up the stairs.
“Are there any extra chores you would like me to do while you both are away today?” Ellie asked, hoping her volunteering would keep Geraldine in happy spirits.
Geraldine gave her a shrewd look. Ellie held her breath, waiting for her next direction.
“You should come with us to Yvonne’s. She’s been asking for you.”
“Me-me?” Ellie stammered, taken aback.
“Yes, you-you,” Geraldine sniped, her eyes swarming with indignation. Her hand shot out and clasped Ellie’s chin.
“Perhaps I will loan you to Yvonne. For some odd reason she wants to take you under her wing. She always did have a tender spot for Angelica. Like mother, like daughter.” Geraldine’s eyes flashed with ire when she mentioned her mother’s name.
Ellie dug her fingers into her palms. “But then you wouldn’t have anybody to take care of the house,” she said, barely above a whisper.
Geraldine thrust her away, but not before one of her long nails caught the underside of her chin. “I don’t appreciate your sass, young lady—”
“I wasn’t sassing—”
“Silence!” Geraldine’s sharp voice rang out.
Ellie dipped her chin down to her chest and waited for the slap to come.
“Mama? I’m ready.”
Ellie inhaled through her nose, silently thanking Mina for interrupting. The stinging cut on her face gave her something to concentrate on other than her distress.
“I invited your stepsister to dine with us, but like always, she has treated me with disrespect and had the audacity to talk back to me. She will stay here and go without.”
Ellie lifted her head and willed tears to fill her eyes. It wasn’t hard for her to do. When Geraldine noticed, she smiled in satisfaction.
“Come along, Mina.” Geraldine took her shawl and gloves Mina gave her. “When will you ever learn?” she asked Ellie while she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders.
Mina waited behind her mother and shook her head in disappointment.
“I will convey your absence to Yvonne. She won’t be happy, but I’ll handle her like I always do,” Geraldine announced.
Ellie found that statement odd, but then again, her stepmother always said strange things when it came to the countess.
Geraldine swiped her hands down the front of her dress and with a swish of her skirts, she followed Mina outside.
When the door slammed shut, Ellie collapsed to the floor, trembling. She sat against back the wall and squeezed her hands together to stop their shaking. It wasn’t until August climbed into her lap that she composed herself.
“It’s all better now. She’s gone,” she whispered against the side of August neck. Jack stood near her hip on his hind legs, squeaking loudly. She let out a short laugh by the sight.
Wiping her eyes, she rose to her feet and combed bac
k her hair with her fingers. Everything would be all right now. She would be able to slip away and see Diana and not have to worry about rushing home to take care of Geraldine and Mina.
The tightness in her chest and sour feeling in her stomach disappeared as she thought about escaping the confines of the house and the distressing confrontation with her stepmother. Hopefully Geraldine would drink too much wine, as was the case whenever she dined with the countess and her brother, and end up staying in bed for most of the day tomorrow. But then Geraldine would rant and complain, which had grown worse right around the time Papa got sick.
Oh Papa, why did you die and leave me here to suffer?
She shook her head in misery. Why would her papa fight to stay alive for her when he didn’t care about her when he had been healthy and sound?
There was no use harping on the past and why she had been lacking in her father’s eyes. It didn’t do her any good and would lead to more tears and bleak thoughts.
She rotated her shoulders to relieve the stiffness there. She needed to change out of her current dress and into something more suitable, perhaps even fix her hair with a ribbon she could borrow from Mina. She smiled, thinking back to the way Diana had complimented her on her hair.
She turned to go to her bedroom when there was a knock on the door and an envelope was slipped underneath it. She picked it up and scanned Geraldine’s and Mina’s names. There was no mention of her name; not that she expected there to be. She turned the envelope around and noticed the Perrault crest on the back.
Curiosity ate away at her. But she would be punished if she even dared to open it. She would find out soon enough what it was when Geraldine read and shared the news with Mina while she listened in.
She dropped the envelope on the side table and hurried to her room to look presentable for her tutor.
* * * *
“They’re all mad as hatters,” Noah muttered and straightened his glasses.
Women of all ages had taken over the main showroom in order to get fitted for the Perrault masked ball. Invitations had been sent out, and once they were opened, the female population of Aulnory went into a tizzy. Rumors persisted this ball was for Simon to search for a suitable bride. He knew all about the dynamics of the dreaded ball. Simon had told him during one of their trysts. While he lay under Simon panting after being buggered within an inch of his life, he told him how ridiculous the entire thing was and how he had no interest in marriage.
That gave Noah hope he and Simon could continue on as they were. He didn’t mind being secretive and overly cautious when it came to their affair. They didn’t have a future together anyway, so he would live in the moment with Simon. When the time came for Simon to marry, he would break things off and wish him well. He also wouldn’t stay in Aulnory and would strike out on his own. His heart could only take so much. Watching Simon with someone, a woman he could proudly claim as his wife, was too painful to bear.
When a customer came over to the counter with a few bundles, Noah rang up her order, remaining cordial when all he wanted to do was go up to his bedroom and take a nap.
The bell over the door rang. In walked the de Saltin ladies, both of whom had dumbfounded expressions on their faces at the throngs of women picking and choosing fabric and dresses.
“What in the world is going on?” the baroness asked above the ramble and marched over to Clement, who stood in the middle of the room giving directions.
Noah finished ringing up the woman’s order and waved the next one in line ahead when Mina popped up behind the counter and came over to his side.
“Excuse me, I have an appointment with Mr. Lyons now,” Mina announced in a pleasant voice and dragged him into the back. Angry female voices rose up in an earsplitting chorus.
He yanked his arm away, not amused in the slightest by Mina’s audacity. “What’s wrong with you? I need to get back out there before there’s a riot.”
“I’ve never seen it like this. Is there a discount you failed to tell me about?” Mina gave him a pout and twirled her hair around a finger.
He snorted. “You’re wasting your time flirting with me. I’ve known you too long to fall for your feminine wiles.”
Mina tapped her foot and crossed her arms. “You’re so queer when it comes to women. Most men would fall over backward to do whatever I ask.”
“Don’t I know it,” he mumbled and squeezed the back of his neck. Before Mina could interrogate him, two seamstresses walked out from one of the work rooms. He asked them to handle the customers’ payments. Satisfied when he and Mina were alone once again, he motioned for her to accompany him down the hall and near a door leading to the back.
“You don’t have to worry there’s a discount you’re missing out on.” He patted her arm to put her concerns to rest. “An hour ago a rush of women barreled in waving invitations about from the Perraults. They were sent out to any family with a single daughter of marriageable age. The duke and the duchess will host a masked ball in seven days. They have invited any single woman over the age of sixteen within a fifty-mile radius to attend, in the hopes Lord Simon will marry one lucky lady.”
“Sounds like a desperate measure on the duke’s and duchess’s part.” Mina frowned. “Simon must be less than thrilled that his parents would go through such lengths. And how in the world can he choose the right woman when he won’t have any clue what she looks like?”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose and released a weak laugh. “He’s amused by the whole thing.”
“And how would you know?” Mina examined him with fire in her eyes.
She’s jealous! He sighed and dropped his hands on Mina’s shoulders, staring down at her in humor. “It’s an assumption. It’s not like I move in the same social circles as his grace. I’m just a lowly tailor’s assistant.”
He didn’t mean to sound cross, especially with Mina, who he usually got along with and liked for some strange reason even if she didn’t always treat Ellie with respect. With a mother like the baroness, he couldn’t help but have compassion for her.
Mina’s indignation vanished. “I’m being obnoxious, aren’t I? I hate to think some other woman could steal Simon from me.”
A sputtering laugh left Noah. She slapped him against his side and he took her hand, giving her knuckles a light kiss. “You’re too precious for words. You’re claiming Lord Simon? Is he aware of this?” For some reason he wasn’t out of sorts or resentful of Mina’s statement. If anything, Simon could benefit with someone like Mina as his wife.
“He has to know I have a deep regard for him. I’ve wanted him ever since I was twelve years old.” A faraway look came over Mina’s face. “He goes out of his way to speak to me at parties and events. During Mass, our eyes will meet and we’ll communicate without words.”
He coughed to stop from erupting in laughter. “You really are far gone over the man.”
Mina blinked, coming out of her daze. “Yes, I am. I’ve loved him for so long. If he married another woman, I…”
He hooked an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. He hated to think she was destined for failure where Simon was concerned. Simon would aim high and choose the ideal woman to impress his peers and, most importantly, his parents.
“Why don’t you bat your pretty eyes at my father so he can take care of you personally? He’ll make you the best-dressed woman at this ball. His grace will be struck with passion over your succulent figure and won’t be able to keep his hands to himself.”
Mina giggled and gave him a hug. “You shouldn’t say such things about a lady’s body.”
“You love it when I say such things.” He nudged her away. “Now off you go to get measured. You don’t want all those women out there stealing the best fabric.”
Mina lifted her chin and thrust out her chest. She acted like she was going into battle. “Wish me luck!”
“Luck.” He saluted her as she rushed away and out to the front. Noah landed back against the door and rubbed hi
s face. His eyes were dry and his feet ached from standing. I need a break before I’m thrown back to the wolves. He opened the door and walked down the back steps. Searching for a spot he could sit and rest his weary feet, he spotted a group of empty wooden crates near the side of the building. He would hide there and take a short snooze before he had to go back in.
Slipping off his glasses, he deposited them inside his jacket pocket and blinked away the grit in his eyes. He stretched and yawned, lifting up on his toes. As he dropped back down on his heels, an arm curved around his waist and a hand clapped over his mouth.
He struggled as he was dragged next to the side of the house near the crates. It wasn’t until he jabbed his elbow into the gut of his assailant that he was released. He spun away and clenched his fists, ready to fight, when he recognized the voice whispering his name.
“Simon. What were you thinking?” he asked, out of breath, and put his glasses back on.
Simon hunched over, wheezing. He flipped back the hair falling in front of his eyes and rubbed his stomach. “Apparently, I wasn’t thinking. I never thought you would be so sensitive.”
“Sensitive?” He shook his head. “How did you expect me to act when someone sneaks up behind me and drags me away? I thought I was being robbed.”
Simon gave him a guilty grin. “I was being playful. Shouldn’t you know the touch of your lover by now?”
“Keep that thought.” Noah walked a few feet away to stick his head out. Sometimes the employees liked to catch some air or sit out in the back for their break. He couldn’t take a chance they would be caught.
He jumped when Simon tapped him on the shoulder. He seized Simon by the arm to stand behind the crates.
“No one will think to look here.” The boxes blocked the pathway to the sidewalk and street, hiding them from view.
“Good. Then no one can see me do this.” Simon fisted his hands into the lapels of Noah’s jacket and gave him a hungry kiss.
