A man appeared in the doorway wearing the same exact outfitas the bad guy in theAristocatsand lookingmore than mildly miffed.
But he’d lost his officiousness as he stared in shock at me.
“Lady Maxine?”he breathed.
“No, Lady Satrine,” I stated, like he should know better(fake it ’til you make it, girl).“And you are?”
“Wishing to know whoyouare,” he retorted.
“Edgar Dawes’s other daughter,” I replied, like I wasreminding him.
Total confusion, unsurprisingly.“His other—?”
“I answered.Your turn,” I cut him off.
“Carling.”He squared his shoulders.“I run this house.”
“Then you’ll see to it that my mother and sister havesomething suitable to wear after their baths, but more importantly, a heartymeal,” I ordered.
His face paled.“Your mother…”
“Father faked her death.I’m sorry, I know this is a shock.But I must ask you to get over it and take care of them.Father imprisoned themdownstairs and—”
He looked away and hissed to himself, “I knew there wassomeone down there.He’s always got something going on down there.”
That didn’t sound good.
“Well, yes, you were right,” I declared imperiously.
“And you, you were in her rooms,” he went on.
“Yes again,” I confirmed.
“We thought it was one of his mistresses,” he shared.
Ick.
Moving on!
“It wasn’t.It was his daughter.Me.Now, they’ve beenpoorly handled.We must see to them.”
Something else swept his face.
Something awestruck.
Hopeful.
“Lady Corliss is…here?”
“Yes,” I said softly.“And Maxine.”
“She’s with her Maxine,” he whispered solemnly.
My stomach clutched.
Something was not right here, something tragic and awful.
Carling pulled me out of these thoughts as he snapped toattention to the point I heard the heels of his shiny shoes click together, andhe stated, “They are of a late fashion, but we never disposed of the lady ofthis house’s wardrobe.We will see it unearthed.We will see it freshened.Andimmediately, I shall call the modiste and tell her to attend the lady urgently.We will outfit the countess as she is—”
