“I suppose. If you’ll excuse me.”
The earl bowed to her as she left. His attention was gratifying. Violet only wished she wasn’t too concerned about her niece to enjoy it.
Chapter Fifteen
Lillian stood on the front step of the small house shifting from one foot to the other. There was no response to her multiple, loud knocks. She had even done the unthinkable and looked through the window. There was no sign of life within the dwelling. And all was quiet out of doors as well. She would have to go knock on her old home to ask about the residents.
After suiting her thoughts to actions, Lillian was no further ahead. No one there had any knowledge of the whereabouts of her old friend.
“I think she said something about going to visit her sister,” was the vague response from the ragged woman who had opened the door. Lillian had been obliged to stifle her dismay over the disarray she could see had been made of her old home.
Checking with others in the small hamlet hadn’t helped her much either. Many of her family’s old friends were ill or away. Lillian was disappointed in herself for not having kept in better touch with their former neighbours. But they had really been friends of her parents. She had been a child; she shouldn’t blame herself. But it now left her in a predicament.
She could, of course, make her way back to Ashburn Place. The grooms’ apparent search for her let her know that she was welcome there, at least by the viscountess. But then what would she do? Shepley still wouldn’t want her there. And even if Violet had been able to convince him to sponsor their Season, Lillian wasn’t sure if she wanted one. An aristocratic marriage wasn’t the ultimate solution her aunt seemed to think, in Lillian’s opinion.
Lillian gazed down the road once more, indecision warring in her thoughts. She needed a position. Her eyes alighted on the sign of an inn just visible at the bend in the road. She was relieved there was more than one in the village. There was no way she could have returned to the first one where she had spoken of Ashburn Place and borrowed the innkeeper’s stationery. She only hoped the other one needed help and would be willing to hire her without references. It wasn’t the kind of position she had been hoping for, but she didn’t have much choice.
Thirty minutes later, Lillian was once again standing on the street. The innkeeper wouldn’t hire her. She couldn’t say part of her wasn’t relieved. It was a low place, and she would have been terrified. But a roof over her head would have been better than the barn she would have to make use of if she couldn’t figure something out soon. The day was fast approaching its end.
Resolutely she turned her feet toward the big house of Sherton. Lillian had been hoping to approach the countess for her patronage for her bakery, not solicit a position as maid or kitchen help. With relief, Lillian remembered that she wouldn’t actually have to speak with the countess about a position; she could approach the cook if she wanted a place in the kitchen, or the housekeeper if she was going to try her hand as maid. As she walked toward the House, she debated which position would be less onerous.
By the time she had arrived, she realized that the kitchens were the place for her. It would give her all the more experience for when she would gain her dowry and open her bakery. If she could practice baking, and if the countess enjoyed her work, she might be all the more willing to support her venture. And the kitchens would keep her away from any of the wellborn members of the household and provide fewer opportunities for awkwardness for anyone, herself included. The last thing she wanted was to run into someone she knew from her days at Ashburn Place.
Thus decided, her steps were not hesitant as she walked up the long driveway and went around back to the servants’ entrance.
It was with much relief that Lillian was quickly welcomed into the household. She didn’t want to rejoice over someone’s misfortune, but it just so happened that several people had recently had to leave the earl’s employ due to various familial tragedies, and the staff was relieved to add her to their number. They didn’t ask too many questions, accepting at face value that she had been working at Ashburn Place and had wanted to return closer to home, not asking too much about where home was. Since Ashburn wasn’t too very far away it was an acceptable story and she was hired on the spot and shown to her room. She would start first thing in the morning.
Lillian hadn’t quite expected the day to end up like this. She had been hoping for a higher paid position, but at least she was to be the cook’s assistant rather than a scullery maid. It paid slightly more, and from what she knew, the work was a little lighter. Lighter in weight only, but would also provide her much more training. All in all, she was reasonably happy with the outcome.
She was a little less happy about it when she was shaken awake a few hours later. It was still dark, and Lillian was momentarily confused.
“You’d best get a move on girl. Cook will turn you off if you’re late.”
“What?” Lillian asked groggily before it all rushed back to her. She quickly swung her feet over the side of the small bed she had slept in. Her sleep had been deep, even if it wasn’t as long as she might have liked. The long walk and lack of sleep the night before meant she could have used a few more hours today, but that was a luxury she could not afford. She reminded herself to be grateful that she had been indoors and in a reasonably comfortable bed for the night. And she would be paid for whatever labours she did that day, she also reminded herself with a grin. It might not be much, but it would be all hers.
She had been provided a uniform of sorts the night before. After quickly donning it, she splashed water on her face from the cold water sitting on a table in the hallway and ran a comb through her hair before hurrying down to the kitchens just as the cook entered the room.
Lillian was relieved not to be yelled at first thing and whispered a prayer of thanks for the girl who had thought to wake her. She hadn’t even given her name. Lillian would have to seek her out later.
The day flew by as she chopped, sliced, stirred, and tasted each dish as she followed the cook’s bellowed directions. He might be a drill sergeant, but he was an excellent cook. Lillian was satisfied that the experience would be of benefit to her. Even though the pay would be lower, she would be better off here than following the whims of some crotchety old woman as her aunt had said.
The kitchen staff was allowed to end their day earlier than some of the other servants, much to Lillian’s relief. As the cook’s assistant, she could quit when he did, since they per force had to start early, as well. She climbed the many floors up to the servants’ quarters feeling every muscle in her body protesting the experiences of the day. But there was a smile on her face despite her many aches. It had been a good day.
Lillian reminded herself that she ought to write to let her aunt know she had found a position, but she wasn’t sure how she would be able to accomplish that. She would have a day off at the end of the week. Perhaps she could return to the inn where she had written her first letter. But there was no groom waiting to take her note. She would have to pay for postage.
But it could not be helped. She couldn’t leave her aunt to fret. It was also not something she had to worry about at this moment. Lillian made quick work of wiping away the sweat from the day and climbing into bed. She didn’t have the energy for anything else. It would be morning before she knew it.
The days soon melded into a routine and passed quickly. Before she knew it, her half-day off had arrived. She only had to help with the breakfast preparations and then had the rest of the day to herself. Of course, since she had to rise so early, Lillian knew she couldn’t spend too much time dithering, but she was delighted to be out of doors and in the sunshine. That was the worst drawback of her position. She almost never saw the sun. She arose before the sun did and spent the entire day in the kitchen, rarely setting foot out of doors before returning to her bed in the attics just as the sun was setting.
Chapter Sixteen
“Still nothing?” Violet couldn’t believe her niec
e had just disappeared off the face of the earth. “She must have been abducted. There is no other possibility.”
“Now, my lady, you must calm yourself. It will do nothing good to find yourself in a taking.”
“Do not tell me to calm myself.” Even as she said it, Violet could hear how shrill her tone was. She tried to soften it by smiling at the housekeeper. “I know you are only trying to help, Mrs. Parker, but I cannot find it in me to be calm. My only living relative is missing, and it’s all my fault.”
“Now, my lady, you certainly must know that isn’t entirely true. Yes, perhaps you could have helped the girl find a position, but she’s the one who took it into her mind to walk through the night in an attempt to look after herself. You never asked the girl to be so ridiculously independent.”
“But I let her become that way.”
“Were her parents nothing like that, my lady?”
Violet hesitated. The housekeeper wasn’t wrong. Violet’s darling brother, Lillian’s father, had been independent to a fault, as well. He had insisted, as soon as he was able, to get a position as the blacksmith’s apprentice. It had not been what was expected of a gently born young man, but as he had said, “Being gently born will not put food on the family’s table, as far as I can see.” Lillian had the very same attitude. She couldn’t bear to wait around hoping someone else would provide for her. She was determined to provide for herself. Violet supposed it was an admirable quality. But right at this moment she wanted to wring that quality right out of her dear niece.
“Why hasn’t she sent word?”
“Perhaps she is too busy?”
“It isn’t like her to leave me to worry,” Violet insisted. “Something dreadful has surely befallen the girl.”
“Perhaps she considers that she did send word, my lady. With the groom. She told you she was going to find a position and for you not to fret.”
“But she also said she would let me know where she ended up.”
“If she found a position, she might not have the time or circumstances to write to you. I can’t even imagine where I’d look if one of the maids asked me to frank a letter for them in their first week of employment.”
Violet looked at the housekeeper with dismay. “But surely, if she is the companion to some gentlewoman, she could just tell the butler to add it to the household post.”
“How was the girl to find a gentlewoman to be companion to, my lady?” It was apparent to Violet that the housekeeper had tried to be gentle as she said it, but Violet felt as though she had been slapped nonetheless.
“So, what kind of a position do you think my niece has found?” Violet could hear the horror in her voice and hoped the housekeeper didn’t take offence, but with her head filling with images of her niece working herself to flinders, she couldn’t find it in herself to think of other’s feelings.
“Miss Lillian is the most capable young woman I have ever had the pleasure to meet. She will be successful in whatever position she could possibly land. And she has the sense to find one that won’t be too far outside of her realm.”
“So, you don’t think she’s cleaning out someone’s latrine as we speak?”
The housekeeper chuckled. “I do not, and you shouldn’t either, my lady. You will hear from her in good time. I am certain of it.”
Violet wasn’t so certain, but she couldn’t stand around wringing her hands much longer. The skin was already going to be raw from her lamenting thus far. The earl was awaiting her upon his estate after having stayed the extra day with her, as he had offered. She knew he had wanted to relieve her mind and stay even longer, but he hadn’t wanted to remain there with his impressionable, young daughter. Violet couldn’t blame him. She hadn’t been in any frame of mind to entertain anyway, certainly not the sweet, young girl that could potentially be a stepdaughter.
With her heart twisting as she thought of that sweet, young woman, Violet couldn’t help comparing her with her niece and wasn’t sure which was better. While she was currently nearly out of her mind with worry over her niece because of her stubborn independence, she wouldn’t trade her in for anything. And the earl’s daughter’s sweet passivity made it a little challenging to keep a conversation going. But the young woman was no trouble at all.
Violet immediately felt disloyal for the thought. Her niece had been nothing but supportive toward her since the viscount died. She was only causing her trouble because Violet loved her so much and was worried. It wasn’t Lillian’s fault she had been banished. Well, perhaps it was a little bit. Violet had never gotten a firm explanation as to why the girl was in the steward’s office in the first place. Lester hadn’t known, nor cared, why she was there, merely seeing it as the excuse he had been looking for to get rid of the girl. It was the first thing she would ask her niece as soon as she was located.
Pacing was doing her no good. Violet was just thinking of ringing for a carriage to be prepared for her so she could go to Sherton herself and look around for the girl. She used to live there herself; surely she could find some old friends who might know something. Suddenly, her attention was drawn to the sounds of a bit of commotion at the front of the house.
“My lord, I would ask that you wait here while I see if her ladyship is receiving.”
At the sound of the butler addressing someone as ‘my lord,’ Violet’s heartbeat sped up, thinking it might be her Leopold, but the next words made her frown. It was clearly not Lord Avery.
“Be quick about it, man.”
How rude, Violet thought as she waited for a servant to appear.
“My lady, I’m sorry to disturb you, but the Earl of Sedgwick is here to see you.”
“The Earl of Sedgwick?” she repeated, as though to ascertain if she had heard correctly. “How very strange. Very well, you may show him in.”
The butler must not have been able to return all the way to the front of the house because it was only seconds later that the earl burst into the room.
“My lady, a pleasure to see you.”
Violet felt her eyes widen. The somewhat distracted young man she remembered from the house party was gone. In his place, he was just as handsome, perhaps even more so, as he watched her with an alert, intelligent gaze. If Lillian had ever seen him like this, Violet was no longer surprised that she had been distracted by the man. She felt her lips tip up into a wide smile.
“The pleasure is mine, my lord. To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from you? I don’t think we’re so very near Sedgwick, here at Ashburn, are we, my lord?”
“No, my lady, I came specifically to see you. Or rather, your niece.”
Violet felt equal portions of dismay and delight well up in her chest. She could not produce her niece, but she was thrilled that an eligible young man was asking for her.
“I’m sorry to say that my niece is unavailable to visit today.”
“So, Shepley followed through on his threat to evict her, did he? I knew it. I should never have left here without making sure she was going to be all right.”
Violet stiffened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, my lord.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “Then I will wait until Miss Shaw is available.”
“You cannot wait here. That would be highly irregular.”
“Why not? I was Shepley’s guest just last week.”
Violet blinked at the earl. While what he was doing was, as she had said, irregular, he wasn’t wrong about the fact that Lester probably wouldn’t mind him being there. But her stepson would be sure to tell him that he had, in fact, banished the girl. Lillian was going to be ruined. Her doting aunt didn’t know what to do. Helpless tears threatened, and she blinked to hold them back.
She must not have hidden them well, though, as the earl’s gaze sharpened noticeably. But his face also softened.
“I apologize, my lady, I have no wish to make you uncomfortable. I just need to be reassured that Lillian has not fared badly from her association with me.”
“Wi
th you? What do you have to do with anything?”
She was fascinated by the colour that splashed along his cheeks. “I would rather not say, my lady, but I need to know that she is all right.”
Now it was Violet’s turn to sharpen her gaze on her guest. “What have you done to my niece, my lord?”
“I haven’t done anything to her, I promise you. Could you not, please, tell me where she is so that I might speak with her, even briefly?”
“It is not possible at the moment, my lord.”
“What is not possible? I cannot speak with her or you cannot tell me where she is?”
Violet bit her lip, indecision warring within her. “What are your intentions toward my niece, my lord? It is most unusual for a nobleman to be quite so insistent upon seeing a young woman.”
The colour returned to the earl’s cheeks, but he didn’t back down. “I promise you, my intentions are acceptable. Well, I would hope they are acceptable to her. I would like to pay her my addresses.”
Violet wanted to do a little dance to express her delight but restrained herself to clapping her hands. She quickly sobered though. Eyeing him with as serious an expression as she could muster upon her face, Violet asked, “Can I trust you, my lord?”
“Of course,” he sounded offended.
“Do not take offence. I barely know you. And my niece’s future hangs in the balance.”
The earl took a deep breath before offering her a sweet smile. “I can assure you, my lady, that I would like nothing better than to ensure a beautiful future for your niece.”
Violet blinked at him. “Is this not a very sudden change, my lord? I know nothing of you developing feelings for my niece while you were here. And she is not someone who would typically be pursued by an earl, since she is neither a noble, nor a great heiress.”
“I don’t need either. And yes, I can see that it may appear sudden, but I can assure you it is not.” He paused for a moment. “Well, perhaps it is when you consider that we actually met less than a month ago. If not for the fact that I am aware of the threats Shepley made a week ago, I would probably not be here making a declaration at this time, but I could not rest easy worrying about her.”
Courting Intrigue: A Sweet, Regency Romance (The Bequest Series Book 2) Page 13
