Chapter Six
“Colly says the man brutalized her,” Lady Currie said. “She has a bruise on her buttocks to prove it.”
Lilia knew this moment would come.
In Lady Currie’s fine bedchamber, she was facing off against Lady Currie and Colly, who was feigning great injury.
Ever since Brody had fled earlier in the day, the woman had been pretending he’d beat her, infuriating Lilia greatly.
But it was her word against Colly’s and, as she knew, Colly would always be believed.
It was nearing the twilight hour and Lady Currie was already heavily into her wine, as evidenced by her semi-slurred words.
It wasn’t an ideal situation.
“May I tell ye what really happened, m’lady?” she said steadily. “I fear ye’ve gotten yer information from a woman who lies tae ye constantly. She lies about everyone and everything, and every servant here can tell ye that.”
“Ye little toad!” Colly exploded, bolting up from the chair she had been sitting on and exhibiting signs of a woman who wasn’t as ill as she wanted everyone to believe.
Quickly realizing that, she suddenly put a hand to her head in a feeble gesture.
“She is guilty, m’lady, guilty. She is trying tae cast the blame on me! ”
Lady Currie put her hand up to ease Colly, who shuffled back to her chair, nearly doubled over. It was a good act, one she’d used on her mistress many times when things didn’t go her way.
It usually worked.
But Lilia wasn’t going to let the woman bully her or lie about her.
“Yer nurse has been trying tae sully me in yer eyes since I arrived at Hawkhill, m’lady,” she said.
“She doesna like it when anyone gets too close tae ye. I know she raised ye, but surely ye can see that she tries tae control ye. She shames ye and lies tae ye. I know ye’re a bright woman. I know ye can see what she does.”
“Enough,” Lady Currie snapped softly. “I will not hear you speak ill of Colly, Lilia. The unfortunate relationship you two share is becoming a burden upon me. I cannot do without her and I do not want to do without you, so what am I to do? And who is this man she speaks of?”
Lilia eyed the old woman who was sitting in the chair, doubled over with contrived agony.
“He is the man who saved me from harm when the sausages were stolen last week,” she said.
“He was kind tae me and helped me, so I brought him back tae Hawkhill and put him tae work with Angus. We were speaking and nothing more when Colly came across us in the stable yard. She tried tae attack me like she always does and he stepped in between us. She hit him and then fell back on her own fat arse and that is the truth. I will swear upon the bible that he never touched her.”
Colly started to wail, as was usual with the woman when things weren’t going her way.
Lady Currie passed a concerned glance at her nurse before collecting her cup of wine and going to Lilia, taking her by the arm and leading her away so the nurse couldn’t overhear their conversation.
Whether to keep the details from her, or whether not to cause the woman any further stress, was anyone’s guess.
“Lilia, you know I want to believe you, but Colly said she saw you fornicating with this man,” she said quietly. “What were you doing?”
Lilia sighed heavily. “I’m not so foolish that I’d be fornicating with a man for all to see, m’lady,” she said.
“We were in the hay shelter next tae the stables when Colly came upon us and started screaming at me. She called me names and tried tae hit me. Ye have seen her do this before, many times, so ye know I’m telling ye the truth. ”
Lady Currie listened closely. It was clear from her expression that there was some doubt, but the way she kept glancing at Colly told Lilia that the doubt was in Colly’s story and not he own. She took another swig of her wine, too weak to make a decision.
“Colly raised me,” she said after a moment. “When my mother would not, it was Colly who raised me.”
“I know, m’lady.”
“I cannot and will not send her away.”
“I know, m’lady. But she is not a good woman.”
Lady Currie looked at her with pain in her expression.
She knows, Lilia thought. It made her feel sorry for Lady Currie, who was in a strange land with a man who was old and crusty and diseased.
She was young and beautiful and smart. Keeping Colly with her was the only thing she had to remind her of where she’d come from, her only measure of comfort.
The lovers, the lavish spending… that was simply to forget the situation she found herself in.
Even Lilia could see that.
“Lilia, if you could just try to get on with her, I would be grateful,” she finally whispered. “But I must punish you for this.”
Lilia tried not to show her surprise and fear. “If you feel you must, m’lady,” she said, lowering her gaze. “But I swear tae ye, I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Lady Currie took another drink of wine. So much of her existence involved the bottom of a wine jug, especially in moments like this.
“I will think of a punishment,” she said. “Meanwhile, make sure the carriage is prepared. We are going to The Cal tonight.”
That wasn’t what Lilia wanted to hear, but it was better than immediate punishment.
Or, in her mind, that was the punishment given how she felt about the place.
Still, she couldn’t quite let the subject go because Brody had been wrongly accused by Colly and Lilia was genuinely worried about him.
He’d come such a long way in the week he’d been at Hawkhill and she didn’t want to see him revert to that ale-smelling pile of filth she’d first met.
“M’lady, may I first speak of the man I was with?
” she said. “As I told ye, he saved me from being assaulted by those who stole the sausages and he was doing good work with Angus. I sent him away when Colly fell because I was afraid for him, but he dinna do anything wrong. Could I please bring him back?”
Lady Currie eyed her. “A reward for him, is it?”
“Aye, m’lady. He was very brave.”
“And you like this man, do you? No need to deny it because I can see it in your face. You are more concerned for him than you are for yourself.”
Lilia lowered her gaze, trying desperately not to flush. “I… I feel a responsibility towards him because he protected me, m’lady.”
“Is he handsome?”
There was something in the woman’s questions that seemed rather pointed, beyond the usual inquiry, that gave Lilia pause.
Lady Currie was known to be a purveyor of male flesh the way some people were experts on prized horses or sheep.
If she told Lady Currie that Brody was handsome, undoubtedly she would allow him to come back.
… but more than likely for her own purposes.
The thought turned Lilia’s stomach.
“Nay,” she finally said. “I would not call him that, m’lady. He is a man who saved me and nothing more.”
Lady Currie’s gaze lingered on her, possibly to determine if she was lying or not, but she didn’t press. Finally, she shook her head.
“He will not come back,” she said. “That is your punishment, Lilia. Your friend is not permitted at Hawkhill and you are not permitted to see him again. This will be the end of it. Now, go and make sure the carriage is prepared. I want to leave soon.”
Lilia didn’t argue with her. If it was a punishment, it wasn’t much of one, nor was it one she planned to obey.
As she moved to quit the chamber, she happened to see Colly as the woman sat up in her chair, surprisingly healthy-looking now that she thought Lilia was being punished.
Even if she didn’t know what form that punishment was to take because she hadn’t heard the conversation, she still knew that her nemesis would see some retribution from Lady Currie.
When their eyes met, a sinister smile spread across Colly’s lips. In response, Lilia drew a finger across her throat, indicating what she’d do to the old woman if given the chance. As Colly began to wail again, Lilia fled the chamber. She wasn’t going to let that old woman get the better of her.
But it wasn’t the last volley in the battle of wills.
That came later in the evening.
As Lilia headed up a darkened stairwell to tell Lady Currie that her carriage awaited her, Colly was waiting for her in the shadows.
Just as Lilia reached the top of the stairs, a blow to the face sent her tumbling all the way back down to the bottom.
As she shook off the stars in her vision, she happened to see Colly’s dark form at the top of the stairs, moving away before any words were spoken.
That told Lilia that the battle between them had just turned into a war.