“You are not just a servant! You were my mama’s dearest friend and are a part of my family.”
“To your mama, I was family. But to Mrs. Leonard, I belong in the basement and have no business upstairs unless it involves service.”
Annabel sighed. “I do believe she’s spiteful toward you because you were so dear to my mama. She’s jealous of the love my parents shared because her marriage is one of convenience.”
Stella patted Annabel’s arm, still linked with her own. “Mrs. Leonard comes from a different world than me and your mama. I doubt she sees anything wrong with a marriage of convenience. She likes everything in its proper place; messy doesn’t suit her. And love is sometimes messy. I am messy in her eyes because I love you and because you love me. I do not fit neatly into her servant box, and that is unacceptable in her world. So, she sets more and more rules for me to follow each year. I believe she’d like to be rid of me altogether, but your papa won’t allow it.”
“Don’t say such a thing, Stella! Don’t even think it. You shall always be with me, even after I marry. I shall insist upon it.”
“I would not leave you of my own free will, but a man like Lord Craventhorp surely will not allow me to stay with you. He will want his wife friendless and fully under his cruel thumb. That is why we must do all we can to make sure you get free of him.”
Annabel shivered. “I suspect he took pleasure in brutalizing small animals when he was a boy.”
“It breaks my heart to think your papa has been so careless with your safety and your future. Offering your hand in marriage to a brute like Lord Craventhorp!.” Stella gazed at Annabel. “I remember his joy when your mama told him she was with child. He cherished you before you were born. How times have changed.”
“Those days you speak of were long ago—before Mama died birthing me. I am almost one-and-twenty, and I’ve never seen Papa overjoyed—not even when Florence and Flora were born. The only Papa I know is the one who is either distant or thunderous, and neither of those is welcoming. This doting and joyful Papa you speak of is foreign to me.”
They turned and made their way back through the park toward Mayfair. “I only wish he would remember what it feels like to be in love. Perhaps then he’d give me the same chance for happiness.”
“You will find love and be happy,” Stella said vehemently. “It was your mama’s dying wish, and she is protecting you from above, steering your life right when it goes in the wrong direction.” A breeze stirred the trees. “There she is now,” Stella said, “making her presence known.”
“I like to think she is still with me.” Annabel gazed up at the rustling leaves.
She is. All you have to do is pay attention to her whispers,” Stella said as they exited the park, and made their way to the magnificent, red-bricked mansion Papa had rented on Park Lane for the London Season.
“I’m not ready to go inside. Shall we have a cup of hot chocolate in the kitchen, like we used to do when I was a little girl?”
Annabel pushed open the iron gate at the top of the stairs to the servants’ entrance and held it open for Stella.
“Are you trying to provoke Mrs. Leonard at a time when you need her help the most?” Stella took hold of the gate and shut it. “You know how she hates it when you fraternize with the servants.”
Annabel groaned. “You’re right, as always.” She linked her arm with Stella’s and together they ascended the stairs that led to the front door. “I am growing so tired of Mrs. Leonard’s silly rules. She’s become tyrannical in her quest to marry me to the right person. All she thinks about is reentering high society and readying my sisters to become future duchesses. If she only knew what little minxes they are when her back is turned—”
The words sat on Annabel’s lips as she stepped indoors. A heavy weight tugged at the atmosphere in the house. The footman paled visibly upon greeting her at the door, and two housemaids arranging flowers in the hallway glanced up and then at each other before lowering their gazes and continuing their work in hushed silence. Annabel exchanged a worried look with Stella, who moved to help her out of her coat.
Just as Stella handed Annabel’s coat, hat, and gloves to the footman, the butler entered the hallway, looking somber. “You are wanted upstairs in the drawing room, Miss Annabel,” he said before clearing his throat and turning to Stella. “And you are to come with me, Mrs. Bruno.”
“Has something happened?” Annabel asked.
“I’m not at liberty to say, miss.”
“Has one of my sisters fallen ill? Or Papa?”
“Not to my knowledge,” the butler said. “All I know is that your parents have requested your presence in the drawing room.”
Annabel bit her lip. The awkward atmosphere could only mean one thing. Mrs. Leonard must have spoken to Papa, and he must have thrown enough vases to alert the household of an impending storm. As long as he kept his anger directed at Lord Craventhorp, Annabel would welcome it. But what if he didn’t believe her story? She swallowed.
“Go on.” Stella gave Annabel an encouraging prod. “All will be well. You’ll see.”
Annabel forced a smile and breathed shakily as she headed for the stairs.
All will be well.She told herself as she climbed the stairs to the first floor.All will be well. It simply must be.
*
Annabel was sodeep in thought as she stepped onto the first-floor landing that she almost collided with a footman, carrying a heavy load.
“I’m sorry,” Annabel said.
