My cheeks flushed, though not from the cold. After all my time living at Father’s abbey, I had only caught brief glimpses of the gardeners. Certain spots of the garden had seen drastic improvement, but not this corner.
Of course they were avoiding me. Who wouldn’t after hearing the rumors?
Nearly every servant in the household knew that Lady Narcissa was a snobbish, ill-tempered girl who had assisted her mother in her scheme to assassinate Queen Cordelia. Such a shame she hadn’t been locked up too, instead of becoming a burden to Captain Greenwood.
Misty pawed my hand.Don’t listen to her. Birds are ridiculously stupid creatures.
Why I never!The chickadee chirruped in indignation and fluttered back into the maple tree, muttering profanities.
“It’s getting dark.” I set Misty aside and stood, leaving the book. “Let’s go back.”
She twitched her tail and walked the length of the bench, making a point to leave a dirty paw print on the cover of the anthology.
This is because your brother bad-mouthed you all over the abbey,she said.
My mood dampened at the mention of my half-brother, Maddox. I would have to see his sour face again this evening. But even without his bad-mouthing, I was sure nothing would change. I was, after all, Mother’s daughter. My reputation preceded me.
Misty landed noiselessly on a patch of grass.Well. It’s nearing dinner time. Save me a morsel, will you, darling?
I sighed.
Meals were always tense. Tonight would be no different.
***
IWAS SUMMONED FORdinner shortly after I returned. I didn’t bother to dress for the evening and instead headed straight for the dining room where Father, Lady Vanessa, and Maddox were already seated. A late entrance was better than an early one. At least I would not have to engage in small talk.
A serving maid placed a slice of chicken breast on my plate as I settled. A steaming bowl of cheddar pear soup sat on the side.
“Thank you,” I said.
She darted her eyes away and proceeded down the table to serve Lady Vanessa.
I sipped the wine from my goblet, focusing on the taste of watery raisins instead of the humiliation blooming over my cheeks. Social interaction was easier when I hid behind sharp words and a condescending air. No one questioned me when I acted superior. Now, everything I did felt fraudulent.
“The weather is getting warmer,” Father said from the head of the table, jovially ignorant to the tension. He shoveled a spoonful of soup into his mouth. “I daresay winter is coming to a close.”
“Nonsense, Maverick. The winter solstice has not yet passed,” Lady Vanessa said, her voice barely audible over the clinking silverware.
Proper ladies never raise their voice, Mother once said.Others must quiet to hear her.
Lady Vanessa was the epitome of a proper lady, from her neat, straw-colored hair down to her oval fingernails. She was everything I imagined Father’s wife should be: soft-spoken, gentle, and refined. Nothing like Mother. Perhaps that was why I found her so unapproachable.
“I swear it. Last night I fancied the fireplace a little too hot. Wasn’t it, Cissa?” Father turned to me with an earnest look.
“I wasn’t near the fireplace,” I mumbled. As much as I hated speaking, I couldn’t bear to upset him by keeping silent—not when he called me by my pet name. It reminded me of happier times.
“Because you were in the dungeons visiting that woman last night.”
I turned to the contemptuous face of my half-brother. Misty said the kitchen maids found him handsome—something about his blond hair and “storm cloud eyes”—but I couldn’t fathom what they saw in him. He had grown from the stocky, loud-mouthed boy I saw glimpses of as a child to a stocky, loud-mouthed man.
“Maddox,” Father and Lady Vanessa said in unison. They exchanged a glance before Lady Vanessa touched her son’s arm.
“There is no reason why Narcissa cannot visit her own mother,” she said.
Maddox's eyes flashed. “The former duchess is a traitor. If the woman who bore me were a traitor, I would have turned her in the moment I knew it.”
Lady Vanessa jerked her hand away.
