“I see. Is he to remain here for a while?”
Charlotte shrugged as she tied the bonnet under Ruth’s chin.
“I suppose. He was injured, which is why he was brought here. I saw the physician leave this morning, but I do not know the details.”
Ruth nodded at this. She chided herself for being so curious. She didn’t usually engage in tittle-tattle, but the man’s arrival had been so sudden that she could not help and wonder.
“There. You look smashing, Lady Ruth,” Charlotte said with such sincerity in her voice Ruth had to believe her. So often, people would pay her compliments that were nothing but Spanish coin – flattery intended to make her feel better. Or worse, said only to favor her father’s goodwill by being kind to his daughter.
“Thank you, Charlotte. You are very kind.”
The maid curtsied and looked up. “Is there anything else you require before breakfast?”
Ruth shook her head and the young woman departed, leaving Ruth alone in the room. After the door to her chamber closed, Ruth walked over to the adjoining door and knocked gently.
She poked her head into her sister’s chamber, sure she would still be asleep. Sophia was a deep sleeper who did not rise early unless forced to, while Ruth always rose with the sun.
To her surprise, she found her sister’s large four-poster bed empty, and the bed-curtains were already tied back around the posts with large loops and the room was tidy. She was about to turn back to her chamber when she spotted Molly, the older maid, stepping out of her sister’s dressing room with a ceramic bowl adorned with painted flowers in hand, and a wash ball dangling on a rope around her neck.
The woman’s eyes widened when she spotted Ruth and she curtsied.
“My lady.”
Ruth forced herself to smile even though she knew exactly what this woman’s opinion of her was.
A monster. She is looking at me and despite my delicate dress, my lovely bonnet, and my carefully arranged hair, all she sees is a monster.
The woman stared at her; her mouth slightly open while Ruth shifted from one foot onto the other.
“Has my sister departed for the garden already?”
The maid frowned and shook her head. “No. Her Grace fetched her bright and early to take her into the sculpture garden. Since Lord Rotham is detained with Lord Cragshade, he is not able to take her as planned, thus the Duchess is going with her. They are to have breakfast with his lordship afterward.”
It was Ruth’s turn to stand without saying anything. She swallowed, once again attempting to not show the disappointment. It seemed plans had changed again and as had happened so often in the past; she’d been excluded. Left out.
This was one of the many reasons she did not wish to come on excursions such as these. This was why she preferred the solitude of her uncle’s vineyard. In Shropshire, she was never cast aside. Her uncle and aunt included her in everything and the townspeople, who’d always been so fond of her mother, treated her as though she were a person, just a person.
“Very well. I will find my father in the garden. Thank you, Molly.”
The maid said nothing but stared at her as she turned and made her way back to her chamber and out the door leading into the hall.
The sun had fully risen now and the windows in the hall were open, allowing the warmth of the sun and the freshness of the morning air to fill the old space.
She was about to make her way down to the great hall when the sound of laughter drifted to her ears. She stopped and stepped toward the window, finding herself looking into the courtyard.
The Duchess, dressed in a very bright, canary yellow gown, was walking beside Sophia who looked up at the woman with an expression of delight on her face. The Duchess was animated, chatting along while Sophia smiled and giggled at whatever the older woman was saying.
A sudden sense of woe overcame Ruth. This was what their life might have been, had their mother lived. No matter how hard their father tried and no matter how many kind governesses he employed, nobody could replace their mother.
Seeing her sister with the Duchess filled Ruth with both happiness for her sister and disappointment – because she already knew the Duchess would never look at her the way she did Sophia, and she’d never take her under her wing.
She sighed and turned to meet up with their father downstairs when suddenly, she froze in place.
Standing a few steps before her was none other than the Marquess – and he stared at her as though he’d seen a ghost. Again.
Chapter 10
Stop staring. Stop making a cake of yourself and making her feel uncomfortable, you mighty fool.
