Cosette felt her lips twitch. “He was rather confident of himself, wasn’t he?”
Charlotte’s green eyes were firm as they regarded her. “Now dinna be gettin’ all upset fer no good reason. I shouldna hate t’ have t’ quit on my first day here.”
“You and I both know that you’re not going anywhere.” Cosette laughed.
“Aye, probably not,” Charlotte agreed with a grin. “Now I’ll just go down an’ see that a bath is made ready fer ye an’ get ye a change o’ clothes.” She gathered up the discarded items on the floor. She lifted a brow at the ruined shift, causing Cosette’s face to burn once more, before she headed for the door.
It was only when she was about to leave did Cosette find her voice. “Wait. I don’t have any extra clothes. Everything I had was at Shadowlawn.”
“That was before th’ duke ordered ye a new trousseau.” Cosette couldn’t help but think that the duke was almost arrogant at this point. Charlotte must have read her thoughts, for her parting words were, “Dinna even say it.”
~ ~ ~
Two hours later, Cosette’s stomach was content, she was bathed, and dressed in an elegant silk sackback dress in a striking, pearlescent satin. She sat in front of the dressing table mirror as Charlotte brushed out her hair.
Even though she’d told her friend that she was more than capable of doing so, the Scottish woman’s only reply was, “It’s my job, so let me do it.”
Cosette had reluctantly let the matter drop, for her main concern was on Davien. He’d been conspicuously absent all morning, and when she’d dared ask Charlotte about his whereabouts, she’d only shrugged and said that he would return shortly, and that was it.
Once Cosette’s hair was styled into a fashionable mass of curls and pinned about her head, Charlotte brought forth a pair of dangling, pearl earrings and held them up to Cosette’s ears. “I think these shall do nicely.” Next came a pair of white-heeled shoes with a diamond buckle. “An’ these.”
“What’s the point of all this fuss?” Cosette said as she allowed herself to be pinned and stuffed.
“Just stop yer fussin’ an’ let me enjoy this,” Charlotte scolded lightly.
With a sigh, Cosette did as she was told.
Once Charlotte was finished with her, Cosette went downstairs to see if she might be able to gain any more information from some of the other servants. At first, she was hesitant to approach the housekeeper, Mrs. Sundry, but the woman was bright and cheerful. Quite different from other women she’d met in a similar position. Most thought rather highly of themselves, as if they were the mistress of the house. The butler, Mr. Green, was the same. They treated her with nothing but the upmost respect, which only aroused Cosette’s curiosity, especially when they evaded her questions about Davien as well.
Left to her own silent contemplation, Cosette wandered about the house, before she finally made her way to the only sort of library that this place could claim. The shelves were lined with rows of leather-bound novels, but as she walked over to read the titles, most were about philosophy, science or history. Not a single one of them mentioned the names Calment, Dante Alighieri, or Solomon.
She thought of the collection that had been at Shadowlawn. She was sad to think that they were all nothing more than dust on the wind now.
Cosette shook her head. There was no use going back and reliving the past when nothing could be changed. Shadowlawn was gone, but it had taken Lilin with it. In that aspect, it was a rather fitting demise.
In the end, Cosette selectedThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundlingby Henry Fielding. Not only was it time to leave elapsed events behind, but perhaps she should delve into some new reading material, lose herself in novels that didn’t dwell on the supernatural, but rather on the aspects of human nature.
She curled up in a red velvet chair by the fireplace and started to read.
It didn’t take long before Cosette was fully immersed in the story, most particularly the drama unfolding between the Blifil brothers, although the romantic aspect was quite a nice change as well. She’d already read more than half of it by the time Davien made an appearance. She didn’t even know he was there until he spoke, and nearly scared her out of her wits.
“Good book?”
The novel fell to the floor with a solid thud. “It was. Now, thanks to you, I’ve lost my place.”
He grinned, totally unrepentant, and she felt a little breathless as she bent down and picked up the book. When she straightened, he was standing right before her.
The action was so reminiscent of when the beast had control of his movements that she asked, “Are you feeling well?”
“Never better,” he replied, his grin widening. It was then that she noticed his attire. He was breathtakingly handsome as usual, immaculately dressed in his usual black attire—trousers, boots, and jacket—but he had donned a white shirt and cravat, as well as a blood red waistcoat. He also wore a ruby signet ring, the one item she hadn’t seen on his pinkie finger since the first night they’d met.
In truth, he looked eerily similar to that time, other than the slight change in his clothing. And the flat, soulless gaze was gone, the obsidian eyes almost sparkling with good humor.
She paused. “Is there something that I’m missing?”
“Not at all.” He extended his arm to her. “Come. I’ll escort you into dinner.”
Cosette continued to eye him curiously, but she accepted his offering.
