Chapter 14 #2
Mrs. Rawlings’s mouth only tightened more. “Come along. We’ve work to do.” She half turned, waiting at the door. I sighed and started toward her, but Mr. Rawlings caught my elbow.
“You needn’t if you do not wish to,” he said in a low voice. “We can find some reason.”
I could not look away from where his hand held my arm—firmly, confidently, as he did everything. “It is fine,” I managed. “I can survive a few hours.”
He nodded and let me go. I strode across the room and past the watching Mrs. Rawlings, and even though I knew she would likely make my day even more miserable because of how she’d found us, I could not bring myself to care.
Later that afternoon, Mrs. Rawlings and I had just finished a very stilted, tense tea when a knock came at the parlor door, and a footman stepped inside. “Mrs. Millard to see you, ma’am.”
Mrs. Rawlings looked up in surprise, and I saw immediately the gladness in her eyes. I felt a sudden jolt of . . . Was it jealousy? She certainly never looked at me like that. In fact, I’d never seen anything close to approval from her.
“Send her in,” Mrs. Rawlings said.
Helen swept into the room, smiling brightly. “Good day, Aunt. Good day, Miss Albright.”
I stood and curtsied, impossibly pleased to see her. “Mrs. Millard.”
She went to kiss Mrs. Rawlings on the cheek, then sat beside her, directly across from me.
“Where is Elijah this afternoon?” Mrs. Rawlings asked.
“Playing with the vicar’s sons,” Helen replied, straightening her skirts. “We passed them on our walk here, and he begged so very much.”
Mrs. Rawlings gave a slight frown, clearly missing the boy. “Will you take any tea?”
“No, thank you,” Helen said. “I only mean to stay a minute.”
“Oh?” Mrs. Rawlings stirred her tea. “Why is that?”
The parlor door opened again, and Mr. Rawlings stepped inside. He must have heard Helen’s arrival. My stomach dipped as his eyes met mine, and he closed the door behind him.
“Helen,” he said. “To what do we owe this pleasure?”
“I come begging for a fight, I’m afraid,” she said quite cheerfully.
“What sort of fight?” Mr. Rawlings crossed his arms.
Helen turned to me, mischief in her smile. “I came to convince Miss Albright to attend the assembly with me tonight.”
I perked up. “You did?”
“Oh yes,” she said. “The more I thought on it, the sillier it seemed that you should not attend. It will be such a jolly time, and there are a great many people anxious to make your acquaintance.”
“People?” Mr. Rawlings asked, perhaps a touch sharply. “What people?”
“Everyone in town knows Miss Albright is here,” she said. “She is the object of much speculation.”
Mr. Rawlings stiffened, and I knew why immediately. My presence was not supposed to be noticed.
“Why should that be?” Mrs. Rawlings demanded. “What business is it of anyone’s?”
Helen laughed. “People make it their business, Aunt. You know that. And we can hardly blame them for talking. A beautiful and mysterious woman come to Briarstone House?”
I laughed. “Beautiful and mysterious? I’m afraid I shall quite disappoint.”
“Nonsense.” She waved me off. “You’re a stunning creature, and far too lively to be cooped up in this house. No, you are coming with me, and that is that.”
Mr. Rawlings’s arms were still crossed, his expression stern. What was he thinking?
“You know they will only talk more if she does not come,” Helen pointed out. “You might as well face it full-on. People will grow tired of the topic soon enough.”
Mr. Rawlings considered that, his brow furrowed. Then he met my gaze, his dark eyes intent. “Do you wish to go, Miss Albright?” he asked.
My chin pulled back. “I . . . well . . . yes. I suppose I should like to.” In truth, I would do nearly anything to escape this prison of a house for a few hours.
“Very well.” He dropped his arms. “Helen, we will come fetch you at a quarter to eight o’clock.”
“We will?” I stood, unable to stop the surge of excitement in my veins.
“You will?” Mrs. Rawlings’s reaction was less than pleased.
Mr. Rawlings set his shoulders. “Yes, I daresay an hour or two won’t do any harm.”
“You are coming as well?” Helen sat straight. “What has brought this on, Alexander?”
He gazed at her, narrow-eyed. “Did you not wish me to come?”
“Of course I do,” she said. “I simply thought I’d have to drag you behind the carriage.”
“I’m only attempting to be neighborly,” he said.
Helen arched a brow but turned to Mrs. Rawlings. “And what of you, Aunt? Will you join us as well?”
Mrs. Rawlings snorted in derision. “No, I am quite content without any neighborliness in my life. I shall remain at home and enjoy my hard-earned solitude.”
Solitude indeed. I’d been here almost a week, yet I hadn’t realized until now that Mrs. Rawlings hadn’t had any visits aside from Helen.
No friends, no neighbors, no acquaintances.
It was little wonder Mr. Rawlings might have assumed no one but the household would notice my presence at Briarstone.
But I was quite certain it was the household itself who had spread the news to the town.
I couldn’t help but wonder what they’d said about me.
Helen stood, grinning widely. “Do dress your best, Miss Albright. I shall have a mountain of introductions.”
With a curtsy and a farewell, she left the room.
The second the door closed behind Helen, Mrs. Rawlings turned to face her son. “Are you sure this is wise?” Her voice was harsh, critical. “Miss Lacey will not be staying here much longer. Why should we ingratiate her with the local society? Why would you wish to?”
He waved her off. “It is one night. They will see her and gossip and move on, just as Helen said. It is better for them to see there is nothing strange about Miss Lacey being here.”
He spoke logically, as if he’d planned the entire affair himself. Yet I knew that logic was not why he’d agreed to take me. I was fairly certain he would be perfectly happy never leaving this house for our entire stay.
No, he’d agreed because I’d wanted to go.
Perhaps he still felt guilty for abandoning me. But I found I did not care. My excitement was already building. An assembly! With dancing and food and laughter and people. What a treat it would be after the last week of bitter boredom.
Still, I hesitated. “Will it be safe, do you think?”
He exhaled. “As safe as anywhere at the moment. If the murderer has tracked us down somehow, I doubt he will choose a ball as his moment to strike.” He straightened the lapels of his jacket. “Besides, I will be keeping watch.”
I nodded, a small smile blooming on my lips. “Thank you.”
His eyes roamed across my face. “You’re welcome.”
Mrs. Rawlings stood abruptly. Her expression could have frozen over a lake in summer. “Well, I do not like it,” she said. “But it appears I have no say about anything in my own house anymore.”
She shot me one last icy glare before stalking from the room, her skirts rustling in her wake.
I sighed, folding my arms over my stomach. “I do not think she will ever like me.”
“Possibly,” Mr. Rawlings said without an ounce of sympathy.
I sent him a mock scowl. “You are not supposed to say that. You are supposed to assure me that she will soon realize what a delightful person I am, and then we shall be thick as thieves.”
“That would be a lie,” he said. “Should you like me to lie to you?”
“Every now and again,” I replied. “For morale.”
He chuckled, a low rumble in his chest that caught me off guard. When he smiled, it changed the structure of his face so drastically that he almost seemed a different man entirely. It lightened his darkness and smoothed his sharp edges.
And sent a soft flutter through me, as if I’d swallowed sunlight.
Had I truly thought he wasn’t handsome? Because that seemed like foolish denial now.
“My mother will come around in her own time, and only her own time,” he said. “There is little point in rushing it.”
“Quite easy for you to say,” I replied tartly. “You can hide away in your study.”
“Work in my study,” he amended.
I waved a hand. “One and the same.”
He started for the door. “I’ll have the maid sent up to assist you in dressing. The townsfolk would have far too much to talk about if you missed your buttons again.”
“You are not so amusing as you think,” I called after him, and I swore I saw him smile again as he disappeared down the corridor.