Page 12 of Maid for the Marquess

“Mrs. Wells has warned me repeatedly that you are slothful.”

The housekeeper’s hatred of me was not new. I had learned that I could not change it. No matter how diligently I worked, she was never satisfied. Still, I knew better than to argue with my father.

I kept my head lowered. “Yes, my lord.”

“Mrs. Wells has also reported that your appearance is never that befitting a maid in a grand household such as Cliffwood. She says that you have invited sinful gazes from the footmen.”

I lifted my chin, daring to meet my father’s irate glare. “I have never behaved in an indecorous fashion, my lord.”

“Silence!” he bit out, rapping on the table again, sending the wine yet in his goblet sloshing violently. “Have I given you leave to speak?”

I bit my lip.

“Hold your tongue, girl. You have disgraced me, burdened me, and taken advantage of my generosity for long enough. As of this evening, you will no longer be a millstone around my neck.”

I inhaled sharply at his cutting revelation.

It was over, then. My father had lost me in a game of cards. I was to be sent away with the marquess.

“Father,” I entreated. “Please, you cannot mean to send me from Cliffwood.”

His nostrils flared. “I haven’t a choice in the matter. Wheaton defeated me. The bastard cheated, I’ve no doubt of it. But as a gentleman of honor, I have no recourse other than to acknowledge him as the victor.”

Panic seized me in its relentless hold. I wouldn’t miss my father. But I would mourn Lydia and Geraldine. I didn’t want to go with Lord Wheaton. I couldn’t. I had to find a way to remain.

“If he cheated,” I began, “then surely there is something that can be done.”

“Do you dare to gainsay me?” my father snarled. “Nothing can be done, and Cliffwood will be the better for your absence.”

“No,” I whispered. “I beg of you, please don’t send me from here.”

“It is done,” he said with cold finality. “You belong to the marquess. Now be gone from my sight. I never want to see you again.”

Trying to stifle a sob, I rose from the chair and curtsied again. As I retreated, a string of vile curses followed me. I had no doubt that my father would spend the rest of the evening getting thoroughly soused.

But there would be no such oblivion for me.

My life had just been forever altered, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

ALEXANDER

“The preparations have been made for departing Cliffwood in the morning before dawn,” Edward reported as we reconvened in my chamber.

I nodded. “Excellent.”

“The cards have been changed. It took me a while, as the old fool obviously had a fit of anger and tossed them all about. I had to be sure to find all ours and replace them with the ones we switched out. But it is done, and there is nothing he can do to prove he was not too in his cups to read his own fake cards correctly.”

“That is good news indeed, my friend.”

“We will be gone soon.”

Relief settled over me. It was nigh to midnight. Nearly two hours had passed since my victory in the drawing room, and I itched with the need to leave this place.

A soft knock startled us, and Edward went to the door, opening it, then admitting an older servant.

She dipped into a curtsy. “Forgive the intrusion, my lord.”

“The hour is late. What is it that could not wait until morning?”