Deceived by a Lord by Summer Hanford

Author:Summer Hanford
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: 0
Published: 2017-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

The following afternoon, Tilly didn’t even pretend to enjoy tea. She sat across from her mother, Prudence and Missus Clarke and stared over their heads. Her whole body ached. Her gown, one of Prudence’s hand-me-downs, hid several small bruises.

She’d hardly slept that night; in turns, horrified and elated by her foray into Lord James’s office, and agonized by her ruined dress. Midway through the night, she’d decided her only recourse was to burn the garment, but had instead stuffed it beneath her mattress. Her only solace was the impossibility that Lord James would reveal her actions.

“Matilda, you haven’t had a bite to eat,” Prudence said.

Pulled from her thoughts, Tilly turned slowly to face her sister. In a cold, deliberate voice she asked, “What did you say?”

“I said, you look as if you’re thinking hard about the sort of thing you would never want anyone to know.” Prudence rolled her eyes toward their mother. “Matilda.”

Jaw clenched, Tilly glared hatred at Prudence. So much for her sister’s moment of sympathy the evening before.

“How is that, Prudence?” Their mother looked back and forth between them. “What could Tilly possibly be thinking of that she wouldn’t want anyone to know?”

“I can’t imagine what Matilda is thinking, Mama.” Prudence shrugged. “It’s simply the way I read her expression.”

“I don’t believe a look can say so much,” Missus Clarke temporized. “I have noticed you haven’t eaten anything, dear. Are you feeling unwell?”

Three sets of eyes turned toward Tilly, two concerned and one spiteful. “I—” The words caught in her throat. She started to cough. Heaven above, Lord James was standing in the garden window behind the ladies.

“Tilly?” her mother asked, her voice worried.

He wore his spectacles and held two pages against the glass, his expression pleading. Her mother made to rise, her face concerned. Tilly stifled her coughing and gestured for her mother to sit.

“Uh, I—” Tilly fumbled. “I’m well, Mother, really I am.” One page was the letter she’d left, she could see that from where she sat. What the other, crumpled paper was, she had no idea.

“Whatever is the matter?” her mother asked. “Are you ill? Should I send for the doctor?”

Prudence started to turn. Lord James stepped out of sight. Tilly sagged in relief. Prudence studied the view for a moment before leveling a suspicious look on Tilly.

Tilly mustered a watery smile for her mother. “I don’t need a doctor.”

“But you weren’t well enough to have dinner last night, and I saw how you picked at your breakfast.” A frown pulled at her mother’s narrow lips. “Now, you haven’t touched your tea.”

“Yes, Matilda, whatever is the matter?” Prudence asked with false concern.

Lord James reappeared, waving the pages at her.

Tilly stood so abruptly, Missus Clarke gasped. Her muscles screamed in protest, but she said, “I’m perfectly well, Mother. I simply need a moment to collect myself.”

Ignoring her mother’s call to return, Tilly ran from the room. She sped through the halls of her family’s home. She rounded a corner and nearly collided with a maid, who screamed and dropped the broom and bin she carried.

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