Page 28 of Indecently Employed
“It’s true,” Charlotte said dreamily. “He told me.”
Mr. Sedley’s eyes darted to Susanna, and she took her cue to step in.
“Charlotte. It’s not a good idea to spread gossip about. However, if Mr. Sedley did ask you to pass a message to your father, I doubt he meant for me to be privy to it.” There. She hoped that was the appropriate assistance he so clearly sought.
“Perhaps,” the girl said, now appearing as uninterested in this conversation as she did in almost any other.
Susanna told herself not to worry. It was early days yet, and Charlotte had experienced so much change in such a short time that any child would close in upon themselves. Susanna would figure her out, find what things brought her subdued personality to life.
She glanced back at Mr. Sedley, who glowered out the window, deep in thought as the train pulled into the station. She folded her hands and turned to her charge, who was watching her intently. She gave her a small smile and prayed that these troublesome feelings would subside, so that she might focus on Charlotte and on doing a proper job.
For if she couldn’t, she would have to return home. And Susanna was certain that no one in her family missed her. Her elder sister least of all. The thought stung. She forced back the hurt, trying to think only of how to best instruct Charlotte on basic manners.
The railway station in Kingston-upon-Hull was all a bustle, albeit much less harried and desperate than the one they haddeparted from in London. Susanna drank it in, her curiosity brimming over.
Mr. Sedley muttered something under his breath, his eyes searching the crowds. “Drat it, Faine’s not here. Why don’t you take Charlotte to the refreshment room while I seek him out?”
“I’m not hungry,” Charlotte said.
“Go on, then.” Roundly ignoring his daughter, he placed a firm hand on Susanna’s lower back, ushering her in the direction of the aforementioned room. The touch sent ripples through her body, so much so that she nearly jumped. Instead she sped forward, her head up, eyes trained on the clean, tidy sign nailed to the door in front of her, praying her color wasn’t heightened. She was barely aware of Charlotte trailing just behind her.
Just as she reached the refreshment room door, an elegantly dressed woman with pale, perfectly arranged hair appeared out of nowhere, and Susanna, in her haste to enter, crashed straight into her.
Chapter Nine
“Heavens, forgive me,” Susannagasped as she backpedaled, appalled at her own lack of awareness. What kind of careless person was she becoming? If only he hadn’t touched her. She willed her heart to slow, but it was no use.
The woman she had collided with studied her for a moment, and though she appeared hardly shaken at all, Susanna braced for the tongue-lashing she was sure was imminent, and deservedly so.
Instead, the lady smiled and turned her appraising eyes to Charlotte.
“Of course. You’re likely in a rush. Catching a train?” Her voice was lower than Susanna had expected, and imparted a soothing effect.
She took a deep breath and opened the door for the finer, wealthier stranger, but the lady was still looking at Charlotte with interest.
“No. We’ve just arrived,” Charlotte said, staring boldly at her.
The lady smiled, unruffled by the girl’s cheek. “Well, you must be visitors, new up here. Let me buy you a cup of tea.”
Before Susanna could politely demure, Charlotte had already spoken.
“Alright.”
They would need to have a conversation about imposing oneself on strangers. For now, though, the three of them took a seat together at an empty, white-clothed table.
The first class refreshment room was small but modern, with ornate tiling and an elegant Italianate style. Towering pedestal lamps lit the room, and a small fire crackled in the black fireplace, its gentle warmth combating the autumn chill. Unlike the clanging, shouting cacophony of the platform outside, the noise in here was gentler—the murmur of several conversations lacing together, of utensils clinking against tableware. The ringing of the train’s bell was muffled, as were its other machinations, rendering them almost pleasant sounding. The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the musky scent of rain and fog that hung about inside as well as out. Tea was brought before they had even settled into their chairs, and they set to it reflexively.
“You ought to have something to eat,” the woman said to Charlotte, “for you have a long ride ahead of you, do you not?”
“I beg your pardon?” Susanna paused, little jug of cream in hand, perplexed.
“Forgive me, but you’re for Gallox Castle?” The elder woman tilted her head, still focused on Charlotte, with a small smile on her lips. She had faint lines about her eyes, which only enhanced her overall look of a charming, mature woman who’d lived an easy, happy life thus far.
“You’ve been there,” Charlotte stated matter-of-factly, her brightly glazed blue teacup empty and untouched before her.
The woman laughed, a warm, pleasing sound. “I suppose you’ve caught me. Yes, I have.”
A strange wariness came over Susanna. “How wonderful,” she said, as sweetly as she could. “But I’m afraid we haven’t introduced ourselves. I am Miss Susanna Abbotts, and this is my charge, Miss Charlotte Sedley.”
