Ella, The Slayer by A. W. Exley

Author:A. W. Exley [Exley, A. W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Cinderella retelling
Publisher: A. W. Exley
Published: 2015-06-05T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

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 giving me a push in the right direction.

"Go grab their laundry," Alice said, nudging me toward the stairs. "We may as well get the whites on to soak now."

I came up from the closeted servants' stairs and headed for the main stairwell. The house wasn't flash enough to have servants' stairs and access halls hidden throughout. Only traffic to and from the kitchens below was concealed from view. They had to cope with knowing we all trod the same floorboards on the first and second floor.

"Eleanor?" Elizabeth called my name from the parlour.

I froze mid-step, like a rabbit when it hears the dogs. I didn't have my wits about me to parry with her, not that I ever truly pushed back.

"Yes, ma'am?" I curtseyed from the doorway.

Step-mother was seated at the Devonport by the window. Lilies climbed up the writing desk's legs and bloomed to support the open top. She laid down her pen to glare at me.

"I hear a rumour that you disappeared from the fete yesterday with the duke. Apart from the fact he is all but announced to be engaged to Louise, I find it preposterous he would be seen with a scullery maid. Do tell me people were deceived."

Engaged? He didn't kiss me like a man who was engaged elsewhere. Not that I had an enormous amount of experience, but surely a girl would be able to tell if a fellow's feelings were elsewhere occupied?

"Speak, Eleanor, if you are capable of saying anything in your defence."

Her words dripped venom, she always assumed me to be a lack wit simply because I chose to keep quiet. My back heated under my dress, already I imagined the fall of the switch over my bare skin. If she knew even a fraction of the truth, she would flail me to the bone.

"I went with his man, ma'am, Frank Mercer. We rode out with some of the duke's staff to investigate the cottage.

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