I often wondered if in the absence of Louise and Elizabeth, whether Charlotte and I might have become friends. The last time I was punished, I thought I saw sadness in her eyes, whereas the other two laughed as the switch fell. When we were alone she treated me as an equal, but her persona changed around her mother and sister. Only when the beating was over and they had left the room, would she offer to paint my back red with Mercurochrome and help the shirt over my shoulders before she ran off to find Alice.A sigh escaped my chest. She will always be influenced by her mother, just as I am. Like marionettes, we are meant to dance to different tunes."What are you sighing about over there?" Alice asked from across the table. Or it looked more like a shimmering ocean, as the delicate fabric we stitched spilled over the distance between us.I shook my head, scattering thoughts of what could have been. "Nothing." Well, slightly more than nothing. There was the little fact that today wa
Stewart drove the motorcar along the graceful sweep of the driveway. Tonight was a private affair; there was only a small number of people expected, and our motor sat alone at the front portico."Do keep out of the way, Eleanor," Elizabeth said under her breath as the butler opened the side door and offered his hand. Louise pushed Charlotte out of the way to go next.As they disappeared up the wide steps, I saluted. "Yes, ma'am." I waved my hand into the dark. "Around the back my good man, before any respectable person claps eyes on me."Stewart chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."In the rear yard of the sprawling Serenity House, nine other motors were all lined up. Chauffeurs gathered in the dim light of the stables and smoked cigarettes, rolled dice, and chatted.I slung the shotgun over my back and joined the edges of the group. I didn't want to dampen the men's conversation, and I still longed for time to myself. Frank broke away from the game and walked toward me. He wore an uneven smi
I sat in the darkened maze for several minutes and wrapped the night around me. I wanted to inscribe every second of what had just happened into my memory. The way his hand inched up my back and traced over each vertebra and sent a shiver racing over my limbs. The heady scent of the jasmine as lassitude seeped through my body. The taste of his lips and tongue as he urged me to play a new game. Every teeny tiny detail had to be etched into recollection before I could rise from the seat, so that I might carry it with me always.Besides, I needed time for my bones to knit back together and support my weight.By the time I returned to the car, Stewart was looking for me."We've been summoned," he said and we walked back to our gleaming motorcar.Frank waved us off, and I swear he knew something had happened with the way he winked conspiratorially at me.The excited chatter on the way home hurt my ears. I tried to block them out, letting my gaze drift over the passing countryside. Than
Somehow, Alice had managed to cajole me into a skirt. Again. However, I did put up only token resistance, and if I admitted it deep down, I didn't really mind.Seth had said he would look for me. I desperately wanted to see him, if I could do so without triggering Louise's predatory suspicions. The notion of it was like a mission behind enemy lines, with a high probability of being executed if captured. Well, Seth wouldn't execute me, but he could hold me prisoner.Alice punched my shoulder. "Stop daydreaming, you great lump of pudding, and let's go."We headed down the stairs. The katana lay across my back, and I found its weight a comfort. I imagined it like father's hand, guiding me.Louise spied us as we passed the parlour door. She reclined on the chaise, a magazine open in her lap. "What great event are you two abandoning us for? Tea at Buckingham Palace, or lunch with the Tsar?"Charlotte giggled, then cast her gaze downward at the letter she was writing. It was a beautiful
I sat in the gorgeous Rolls Royce and ran a finger along the polished wood of the door panel. Smoke rose up from behind the trees as, back at the green, men threw the bodies on a pyre. The f腎e usually closed with a large bonfire; they just didn't normally use it to dispose of slain vermin.The motor roared into life and we shot along the road. We killed her. A child. A small bundle of hope and promise, and my sword had only moments ago separated her body from her head. I frowned when five minutes later, Seth pulled off the road in the shades of the trees. He jumped out and came to my side."Come here." He took my hand and pulled me from the motor.Before I could say a word he wrapped his arms around me. I pressed my face to his shirt. Clever man, he knew exactly what my soul needed. He stroked my back with a large hand."Let it out, Ella, no one will see here," he whispered."She was just a child," I whispered before the tears began to fall. First I had turned my back on a vermin,
We rode back in silence and then Frank drove me home. I managed to bury my feelings under the herculean list of tasks Step-mother expected us to complete every day. My gut was more twisted than a pair of bloomers going through the wringer on washing day. The sheer horror the Linton family suffered, when they should have been safe in their beds, hit me hardest. Over the last few months I had become inured to what I had to do, but sobbing in Seth's arms broke the ice holding together my internal dam, and now I couldn't stem the flow.I continued to struggle with my growing attraction to the Duke of Leithfield. He kissed me as though I were the only woman in the world, and at the same time he never pushed me to the back or tried to protect me. He held me at his side, like an equal. What game was he playing?After a restless night, the next day I still walked in a daze. Even Magda scolded me for being underfoot. My mind seemed disconnected from my body, and I relied on Alice to push me i
The next morning, I ate my toast in quiet contemplation. There was something that had been tapping away in the back of my head for several days now."Are you going to spit it out, or just keep us all in suspense?" Magda said, the corners of her eyes crinkling with suppressed humour.I sighed and finished the last buttered corner, licking my fingers. "Frank Mercer looks an awful lot like Seth deMage."Alice nearly spat her tea. The poor girl inhaled it, and started coughing instead. Magda leaned over and thumped her back."Seth said he arrived one day to be his playmate. Isn't that unusual?" I racked my brain, but the war overrode all previous local rumours and gossip. Who had time for petty history when we were busy fighting for our lives?Magda smiled and shook her head. "It happened before you were born. I'm not surprised you don't remember." She tapped her chin and closed her eyes. "Yes, just before you were born. The young heir must have only been around five years old? The du
In the midst of death, life never stopped. Or rather, the jobs that needed doing never stopped. I wondered if Heaven employed domestics to keep everything running smoothly. Or was that Hell, where you found yourself a housemaid for all of eternity to the toffs residing upstairs?For one day, at least, Alice and I had managed to escape outside, enjoying the sunshine and gentle breezes. With our skin protected by thick gauze and gloves, we tackled the beehives. I wielded the smoker and kept the bees dreaming while Alice removed the frames and used a scraper to pry the honey free.Alice kept up a steady chatter about her intensifying romance with Frank. I could see the appeal. Tall and handsome like Seth, but Frank seemed quicker to laugh and more comfortable in his skin. From Alice's waffling, it seemed he was handy in all manner of things. There were even scandalously delicious details she would need to confess under cover of dark, once the rest of the house was asleep. I had to know