Page 14 of The Marquis' Game of Seduction
Rose resolved to find Judith once more and explain what had happened the night before. She’d been far too frightened and unsure when she’d seen Judith in the night, and hadn’t been able to explain. Besides, she knew that Judith had been in a rough position, unable to listen completely due to her allegiance to the Marquees. But Judith was a sensible woman, a woman who seemed to genuinely care for the well-being of Duncan and Colin and even Rose herself.
Rose splashed water on her face, braided her hair, and donned a light yellow frock. Quickly, she stabbed her feet into shoes and padded down the hall. Her eyes flashed around her, hunting for any sign of the young girl. But she passed only two handy workers on the way, one of whom carried a ladder beneath his arm. The other nodded to her and greeted her, “Good morning, Miss. I trust you’re the new governess. Welcome to the Kensington Estate.”
Startled, yet pleased, Rose flooded him with an enormous smile. Just before she could pass them both by, she stopped short and said, “Gentlemen. I don’t suppose that either of you have seen hide nor hair of a young girl? Perhaps nine or ten years old? I can’t seem to find her again anywhere.”
The men exchanged glances. The one without the ladder shrugged and said, “I haven’t seen much of anyone since waking, Miss.”
“But we’ll keep our eyes peeled,” the other affirmed.
“That’s all I wish for, gentlemen. Thank you,” Rose said.
She continued down the hallway, then swam down the staircase, toward the familiar smell of baking breads and sizzling eggs. The maids had begun their morning choreography, swirling in and out of the various downstairs room, dusting everything that had already been dusted the day before, and generally frowning as they worked. Some gave Rose light smiles as she passed, but most others were lost in their work.
Finally, Rose reached the kitchen. One of the bread bakers nearly burst into her, and clung to the freshly baked bread just in the nick of time, ensuring it didn’t fall to the floor. She gave Rose a stern expression as Rose burst to the side, apologising.
“Please, be careful!” she demanded.
“Terribly sorry,” Rose murmured.
As the baker burned past her, she revealed Judith seated at the little kitchen table, her back arched over a little notepad. The woman murmured to herself as she wrote out notes, something she’d obviously done since she was a girl, yet which nobody had ever told her. Carrie was like that, too.
As Rose approached, she caught Judith’s eye. She turned her head quickly and widened her eyes in greeting. “Good morning,” she said. Her voice was stern and deep. “I didn’t imagine you awake so early, after all the night gallivanting you did last night. I expected I’d have to come rap on your door sometime in the middle of the morning and demand that you come out to play.”
Rose ensured that her own smile remained pure and strong and docile. “I’m terribly sorry about that, Judith. It’s only that, what I said to both of you last night was the truth. I know that I saw a young girl, scampering about in the corridors. I’m terribly worried about her. And I only went to bed because I wasn’t sure what else to do. The Marquees’ demands were quite frightening, and…”
“You did j just as you were told, and you can do nothing else,” Judith affirmed. She stood quickly and folded the piece of paper on which she’d been writing, before slipping it into her pocket with a firm jab of her hand. “As far as the young girl goes, I imagine that it was all in your head. The Marquees informed me that you and Duncan already have quite a rapport, the likes of which can incite imaginative tales and things. One must be very careful about what one tells the mind, as the mind can create dirty and untrustworthy things in all of us.”
Judith swept past Rose, walking primly toward the hall. Rose frowned for a moment before following close behind, then scampering to walk directly beside the older woman.
“I’m terribly sorry to insist this, Judith, but it’s really necessary that I do. I saw this girl, absolutely. I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life. And I really believe we must start a proper search of the house. The girl could be in trouble. She must be hungry. As a young orphan myself, I remember daydreaming about doing just this—breaking into mansions and…”
Judith stopped short, just before they reached the hallway. The expression that played out over her face was difficult to read, yet it seemed to build a divide between Rose and Judith—one Rose wasn’t entirely sure she could break down again. Her heart dipped low in her chest. She suddenly found it difficult to breathe.
“Rose. If you’re going to go on and on about this make-believe girl, I must insist that you go outside and speak to the bushes. I have far too much to do this morning to listen to your imaginative drivel. Now. We hired you here at the Kensington Estate for a single purpose, did we not? Can you tell me what that purpose is?”
Rose hesitated. She felt the idea of the girl slipping further into the darkness, away from her. Yet she felt completely helpless once more.
“You hired me to work as the governess for the children in this household,” she responded. She drew her nose upward.
“No. We hired you to be the governess for the one CHILD in this household. One Duncan. Who, I believe, deserves a wake-up call. I imagine he’ll be grateful to see you this morning. Why don’t you cook up an even better story on your way to his bedroom? Something about… a witch and a warlock and a young girl. Or better yet, nothing too scary. We don’t want him to lose sleep, as well.”
Judith whirled around before Rose could say another thing or protest again. Rose lifted her hand, felt words stuttering around on her tongue. But already, Judith was gone, fleeing the scene. And Rose could do nothing but gape at her, soundlessly, and ache for some kind of understanding.
Why on earth did neither Judith nor Colin wish to sit with the actual FACT that Rose had seen a young girl? Why didn’t they wish to hear her out? It was strange. It felt like Rose knew the sky was blue, yet was being told, over and over again, that the sky was purple. Perhaps, if she was told enough times, she would actually believe it.
“Perhaps it was just my imagination,” Rose tried saying to herself, as she bounded up the steps yet again. “Just my weird, orphan mind cooking up delicious new stories to tell itself…”
But as she rapped on the door of Duncan’s bedroom, there remained a kernel of truth in the back of her mind. She could never un-see what she’d seen. And she couldn’t get away with lying to herself. Not for long.
Still, with the first murmurs of a still-sleeping Duncan, Rose reminded herself that she had to remain within the confines of the rules of this house. She couldn’t very well be fired. This was the only position available to her, and she had to uphold what they needed from her. She made up her mind to arrange a private conversation with Colin later that day—if only to apologise and find proper footing once more.
Chapter 8
Colin liked to spend his mornings on horseback. The crisp autumn wind ripping over his ears; the taste of the air; his breath coming in spurts and then easing out like smoke. He loved the adrenaline and the rush of it. But he especially loved the feeling of the return, of latching his horse back into his stable and yanking his tender feet from their boots and retreating to his study for the morning, grateful for hours of nothing and no one to look ahead to—only his thoughts, swirling about in the back of his mind.
The rap at the door was a familiar one. Judith appeared within his study moments later, carrying a slice of buttered bread, a little tub of jam, along with a steaming cup of tea. She dotted the items atop his desk and then pressed her palms together to say, “The new governess would like a private word with you today. I imagine that would be the proper thing, don’t you? I believe you frightened her last night.”
Colin considered this. He drew his nose over the top of the tea and inhaled slowly. “That should be fine. Please tell her she can come this morning. I won’t have as much time in the afternoon.”
