Page 55 of A Housekeeper for the Earl of Drinkwater
She cried until she was exhausted, until there were no more tears left to cry. Then, she pulled her hanky from her apron pocket and used it to dry her eyes. It would not return to Mrs. Chantry looking as if she had just cried her eyes out. The woman would surely send her to bed for the evening. And, despite her sadness, Serena was enjoying working at the ball that night.
After she’d ceased her tears, Serena was surprised to hear sobbing nearby. She held her breath, listening hard, wondering if she was imagining it. When she heard it again, she wiped at her face once more, hurriedly stuffed the hanky back into her pocket as she stood up, and then crept toward the sound.
It did not take long to find the source of it. Just over a rose hedge, not far from where she had been sitting, sat a beautiful young woman in a gold silk dress. Her blond ringlets hung down around her face, which was covered completely by her slender hands. Serena’s heart ached for the woman, and for a moment, she forgot she was a mere servant. She walked around the hedge and approached the woman slowly.
“Hello. Are you all right?” she asked, digging in her dress pocket for a clean hanky and holding it out to the young woman.
The woman looked up, startled, regarding Serena with wary surprise.
“Yes,” she said, plucking her own handkerchief from her lap. “I am fine, thank you.”
Serena bit her lip. She did not want to press the young lady or make her angry by asking further questions. But clearly, she was not fine, and Serena wanted to help.
“The gardens seem to be a good place for crying today,” she said, pulling her damp hanky out once more. Then, she stepped into a beam of moonlight, so that it shone down on her face, and met the young woman’s eyes with her own, which she knew would be red and puffy.
The woman uttered a bitter chuckle, which was cut off by another sob. She raised her hanky to her lovely blue eyes and wiped at them, only for them to fill afresh with tears.
“Really, you needn’t worry about me,” she said, giving Serena a wan smile. “Though it is very kind of you to come and check on me, especially when you seem to have troubles of your own.”
Serena smiled warmly, cautiously taking a seat beside the woman on the ground.
“Mine are of loss and grief,” she said, hoping that sharing the information might encourage the young lady to say something about her own troubles. “My pain will heal with time. And it brings me joy to help other people in need. So, if you wish to talk, I am happy to listen.”
The woman regarded her carefully for a minute. Then, she must have decided that she could trust Serena because she nodded.
“I am Lady Alice Carteret,” she said. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
Serena smiled.
“And I am Serena White,” she said, with a respectful nod. “The pleasure is mine, my lady.”
Lady Alice nodded again, but her lip began to tremble. Serena put a hand on her arm and patted it gently. After a minute, Lady Alice sighed.
“I am being forced to marry,” she said, sniffling. “My parents are pressuring me to agree to the match. But I simply do not want to marry the earl.”
Serena’s heart fell into her stomach. Surely, she had misheard the young woman!
“The earl?” she echoed.
Lady Alice nodded, sobbing again.
“Lord Drinkwater is very handsome and charming,” she said. “And his aunts want us to marry just as much as my parents do. But he is not the man I wish to marry,” she moaned, breaking out into fresh sobs.
Serena was grateful to be sitting down then because the world began to spin as her heart shattered into pieces. The earl was planning to marry Lady Alice. Why had he never made any mention of it? Why had he invited her for a walk in the gardens, alone with him, just a few weeks ago?
How foolish I have been,she berated herself silently.I never should have entertained such childish notions as marrying the earl myself. That could never be, and I have always known that.
Tears stung her eyes, but she forced them away. It would be silly to cry for a loss that was never hers in the first place. Besides, it would lead to Lady Alice asking questions, and Serena had no answers. Or rather, she did not want to give the answers.
“Lady Alice,” she said, trying to smile. “I can imagine you must be nervous and afraid, facing a marriage with a man you barely know. But I can assure you that Lord Drinkwater is a good man, and he will make a wonderful, kind husband.”
The woman nodded, wiping at her eyes again.
“I have no doubt,” she said. “And he is very handsome. But I am in love with another.”
Serena’s heart rose again and began beating wildly. She could not imagine any woman not wanting to marry the earl. But it gave her foolish hope that Lady Alice did not want to, though she could not deny the jealousy she felt when the blonde woman had called the earl handsome.
“Do your parents disapprove of the man you love?” she asked gently.
