Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
“Rachel!”
Usually, Rachel loved hearing the sound of her own name, but it grated when it came from someone whom she disliked.
“What an awful start to the day,” she muttered to herself as she slowly sat up. Usually, Rachel would be awake at dawn each morning as she had to get a head start on her responsibilities for the day.
But this morning, she had allowed herself to sleep in for a tad longer. Yesterday had been a long day, and she felt as though she deserved that at least. It was a rare luxury.
In this house, however, luxury was not something that was available to Rachel. Moments after the screech, a most unpleasant figure entered the room—not bothering to knock as usual.
Letitia Montrose. The two shared a last name, but that was the only similarity.
Speak of the devil.
“Rachel! Rachel? Do you even hear me?”
Her tone was grating, and Rachel placed her hands against her ears to stop the noise. But it was not enough to shield her.
“Stop that,” Letitia chided. “Are you trying to tune me out?”
“I should be trying harder,” Rachel muttered under her breath and then added a little bit louder, “What do you want?”
Letitia rolled her eyes and looked around the room, turning up her nose in disgust. The room was spotless, of course, but Letitia just had to make a show of how it was not up to the standard of the rest of the house, just to make Rachel feel bad about herself.
It was a tactic that she employed to make Rachel feel smaller. It did not faze her anymore, for she had grown accustomed to it.
“Will you stop being lazy?” Letitia groaned. “You should be awake by now, not lounging in bed like this. What makes you think that you deserve that? Tell me, do you think you deserve to rest like this?”
“Rest is an essential need,” Rachel said, though it was taking everything in her not to snap.
“For people like us, yes,” Letitia nodded. “But not for people like you.”
That was another thing that Letitia loved to do. In her eyes, there was a marked distinction between the two of them, and she loved to remind her of it at every moment.
“What do you need, Letitia?” Rachel pushed herself upright, blinking sleepily. “Why have you bestowed upon me the honor of your company so early this morning?”
Letitia ignored the sarcasm entirely and instead made a dramatic gesture towards herself.
“You have eyes, do you not?” she taunted. “Then can you not see that I am gravely sick?”
“You look the same as you always do to me,” Rachel muttered under her breath, but Letitia was too absorbed in her own theatrics to catch on.
“I have been afflicted by some dreadful malady,” she continued.
Rachel could only regard her sister with suspicion. She was plump, as she usually was. Her cheeks were rosy, and her complexion seemed normal. In comparison, Rachel probably looked sicker.
“I am not sure if I see it,” she muttered.
“That does not matter,” Letitia said impatiently. Rachel had long since learned the futility of contradicting her half-sister and did not argue.
“Well, I am really sorry to hear that you are poorly.” Rachel got herself out of bed. “Did you come here only to tell me this?”
Letitia waited patiently.
Rachel sighed. “What would you like me to do?”
If she were to get rid of her, then she was going to have to ask her this. It was a tactic that Letitia used whenever she wanted to get something done, which was often.
“Well, since you ask so graciously…” Letitia smirked. “I have prepared a list of tasks for you. They require your full and urgent attention.”
Even though they had staff working in the house, Letitia made it a point to make Rachel do most of her work. It was her way to assert her dominance in the relationship.
“Go on.”
“My room needs to be freshened up,” Letitia said. “You should write these down.”
“I will remember.” Rachel rolled her eyes. There was no limit to her absurd requests.
“Fine. Then I also need you to make sure the sheets are changed,” she said. “I cannot sleep unless there is fresh linen on the bed.”
“Sure.”
“And then also make sure to fold my clothes,” Letitia said, oblivious to how awful she sounded. “You know that I like them to be a particular way, so make sure you do not cut any corners.”
Rachel was about to rise when Letitia added with a casual wave of her hand, “Oh, and my tea! How could I forget? I’ll need a fresh pot, none of that dreadful blend Cook prepared yesterday.”
The nerve of her.
“Is that all?” Rachel asked, irked.
“Hmm…” Letitia trailed. “Oh, just one more thing. My slippers! They must be polished. I noticed a dreadful scuff on the left one yesterday. It’s simply mortifying.”
“Of course, Letitia.”
Rachel had to hold herself back from shooting a snide remark. It was clear to her that the sickness was nothing more than a ruse to order Rachel around.
“Very good,” Letitia was smirking now. “See, isn’t it so nice when you are being agreeable to everything I say? Father always said your talents were wasted, but I disagree. You’re perfectly suited to tasks like these. Like mother, like daughter.”
The comment stung, but Rachel did not let it show. She had endured far worse from Letitia and would endure this too. Arguing had only ever made her situation worse. She had simply learnt to deal with it.
“I shall get to it,” Rachel gestured towards the door. The sooner Letitia would leave her sights, the sooner she could get on with the responsibilities she had been tasked with and the sooner she would be free of them.
Letitia gave her one last smile. Except that it was not a smile in the ordinary, well-meaning sense. It was rather evil, donned by someone who was trying to prove, Ha, I have gotten what I want.
Rachel tried her best to ignore the annoyance that flared inside of her and simply waited for her to exit the room, which she did.
“Finally,” she muttered under her breath as the door closed behind Letitia. She glanced over back to her bed, and a part of her wanted nothing more than to snuggle up inside her covers yet again and go back to sleep.
But she knew that doing so would only cause her more problems.
It was best to start the day now.
Rachel did not expend too much time getting dressed for the day.
She donned whatever she found fresh and available.
It was a simple and plain dress. When it came to staying at home, Rachel often did not bother to dress up much.
It might as well have been no different from a maid’s uniform because that was how she was made to act around the house.
She caught sight of herself in the mirror as she left her room.
For a moment, she was struck by the difference in her own appearance.
What a difference there was between how she presented herself now and how she had done so at the ball. The latter was a match befitting a duke, while her simple self at home… well, she was not sure if she would ever find a match.
Their father had always been clear that the only person who deserved a good match was Letitia.
Rachel and Marina were just a passing afterthought, and it did not matter who they ended up with.
A part of her even believed that he actively discouraged them from making a good match for themselves, lest that set off another one of Letitia’s never-ending insecurities.
Funny how that works, Rachel thought to herself, and then tried to imagine what would happen if her father were to hear about the event from the ball. She was certain that he would nearly have a heart attack if the rumors of her engagement made their way back to him.
“Might as well,” she muttered to herself. It would at least end the reign he had over them both. It was a morbid thought to have, but perhaps one could not be blamed for having it after being discriminated against for most of their lives.
A while later, Rachel returned with a tray and made her way to Letitia’s room. It was nearly thrice the size of Rachel’s quarters, which meant it took nearly thrice as long to clean.
She checked one last time if all the items that Letitia usually requested were present. And that the china was of the right kind. Letitia had a particular preference for everything, and if things were not exactly to her liking, she would throw a childish fit.
Immediately, she was met with the scent of overpowering perfume. Gaudy. Just like Letitia.
“Finally,” Letitia said as she entered. “You were taking so long that I thought you had died on your way here, which would be quite inconvenient.”
Rachel rolled her eyes and set the tray down on a small table in front of her spoiled sibling.
“Here is your tea.”
“You need to be faster if you are to win my favor,” Letitia replied. “You should be happy that Father has given you a place to stay.”
Rachel really did not want to engage in this conversation.
“Enjoy your tea,” she said and made a move to leave.
But Letitia was not done.
“Did I ask you to leave yet?”
“I have other tasks to attend to,” Rachel replied.
“Have you forgotten that the curtains need to be opened?” she said, condescendingly.
Can you not do it yourself? That is what Rachel wished to say. But instead, with gritted teeth, Rachel stomped over to the windows and yanked the curtains open with more force than needed.
The light entered the room.
“Ow,” Letitia snapped, shielding her face. “Are you insane? Do you want to blind me?”
“Oh, I cannot be so lucky,” she muttered under her breath.
“Save me the snark,” Letitia warned. “And do as you are told.”
Like a slave or a maid. That was how she was treated in this household.
“Pour my tea for me,” Letitia ordered, “but pour it carefully. I won’t have you slopping it all over my table.”
Rachel wanted to splash it over her sister’s dress, but restrained herself. She was about to leave again when she was stopped by Christopher at the door.
“Father!” Letitia exclaimed, her voice suddenly sweet and bright. “I am so happy to see you here, for I was growing quite tired of looking at Rachel here. She is so clumsy, I tell you.”