She approached Albert and put a hand on his shoulder. There was one more matter for her to settle before she married the viscount.
“Can I speak with you for one more moment?” she asked.
Albert looked puzzled, but he nodded immediately.
“Of course, darling,” he said. He turned back to her parents and dipped his head. “Please, excuse me.”
Her parents stepped back, allowing Martha to lead her fiancé to the other side of the room. She made a point of not looking at Lily; not to hide her conversation from her maid, but to keep from embarrassing her. She took a deep breath and stood straight.
“I need to know something,” she said. “I was told that you used to be aggressive and offensive with your employees. I will not get into specifics, as I do not believe rumours. But I must know, Albert. Is there any truth to that?”
Martha held her breath. She knew that she easily could have offended her fiancé just minutes after they got engaged. But instead of getting angry, Albert looked almost relieved.
“I’m actually glad that you asked,” he said. “I’d hate to think that my servants could say something later to upset you. And to answer your question, that is absolutely not true. The truth is that I used to have servants who were out to fuel the fires of gossip. People would come to work for me for the sole purpose of quitting and spreading more rumors. And some even did things that were so inappropriate that I was forced to fire them. As was their intention when they started working for me, since it seemingly proved all the other rumors when I had to terminate someone’s employment. I even had a small group of servants, one time, frighten a very good, albeit new, maid, so badly that she came into my study in tears, unable to quit her job and flee the manor fast enough.”
The story of Lily’s cousin entered her mind as he spoke, and all the pieces fell into place for Martha. She nodded, putting her hand on her fiancé’s scarred cheek and smiling at him warmly.
“I knew there had to be an explanation,” she whispered. “I just needed to put to rest the mind of a dear friend of mine.”
Albert’s brow furrowed, but only for a moment before understanding dawned on his face. But he didn’t say a word. He simply took Martha’s hand and kissed her palm gently.
“Thank you for believing in me, Martha,” he said. “It’s one reason why I love you so much.”
Martha beamed at her fiancé.
“You taught me to never give up on love,” she said. “And that is one reason why I loveyouso much.”
The elder viscount approached, putting his hand on Albert’s shoulder.
“Would you still like to complete your courtship with Martha?” he asked. “Or will you be getting a special license for you to be wed?”
Martha looked at Albert. She could have married him the following day and been delighted. But she read his eyes just as she had the thoughts herself. There had been enough scandal around their names lately. There was no reason to add anymore.
“I would like to wait the rest of the month,” he said, looking hopefully at Martha. “If that’s all right with you, darling.”
Martha nodded eagerly.
“That is perfect,” she said, grinning.
After Albert left, Martha summoned Lily to her chambers. Lily still looked displeased, but her face was filled with concern.
“Miss Elwood, are you all right?” she asked.
Martha searched her face for any signs of deception or betrayal. But all she saw was concern and fatigue. Martha hoped that her intuition was correct.
“There’s something you need to know, Lily,” she said. Briefly, she told the maid everything that Albert had said. Sure enough, Lily’s face went from doubt to disbelief, to terrible guilt and remorse.
“Oh, dear,” she breathed, putting her hand to her cheek. “I feel so terrible. I really believed that my cousin would never lie to me. How could she do such a thing?”
Martha embraced her maid tightly, feeling her own guilt for having had to tell her dear friend something so awful.
“I’m terribly sorry, Lily,” she said.
Lily pulled away, smiling.
“No, Miss Elwood,” she said. “My cousin and I haven’t been close in years. Now, I suppose I know why. Besides, this is wonderful news. That means that you truly are marrying a good, upstanding gentleman. I won’t have to worry about him hurting you, like I had feared.”
Martha nodded, grinning.
