Gray Places by Julia Byrd

Author:Julia Byrd
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romantic suspense, confessions, historical romance, yorkshire, family secrets, gothic romance, gothic fiction, gothic historical romance, deathbed confession, gothic suspense
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing

Chapter 10

I awoke in my usual chamber early on Saturday morning feeling like the worst drunk in London had nothing on me last night. I groaned, pushing my sticky hair off my face. Rolling over, I saw a bucket next to the bedside, thankfully empty, presumably for vomit. What had happened in the library last night? Had Martha and I been exceedingly drunk?

Mrs. Greene trundled in, looking anxious. “Oh, my dear, you’re awake!” She pushed open the curtain, but my eyes objected strongly.

“Please, Mrs. Greene, for the love of God, close that bloody curtain,” I ground out churlishly. She hurriedly obeyed. “How is Martha?”

“She’s much the same as you, miss. She’ll live.”

“Did you put me to bed?” I lifted the quilt and saw that I was wearing my night shift. Someone had undressed me.

Mrs. Greene shook her head, wringing a damp towel and placing it on my forehead. My head was pounding abominably. “Mr. Norcliffe found you both on the floor. He carried you up to bed one by one, but Justine undressed you while I tended to Martha.”

“Oh, bloody hell,” I cursed again.

“Justine held your hair while you were sick, too, just so you know. Above-and-beyond type of service, I would say.” She handed me a glass of water, which I accepted eagerly. My mouth was totally parched.

“Thank you. I’m so sorry for the trouble. I really have no idea what happened. I promise you we did not engage in a massive bout of drunkenness. Or at least I don’t think so. I cannot explain anything.” I flopped my head back onto my pillow, the better to regret my entire existence.

“No need to apologize to me.” Mrs. Greene looked away. “Mr. Norcliffe stated that he wants to see you in his study at your earliest convenience.”

I pulled the quilt over my head. “Of course he does.”

Justine came in after Mrs. Greene left to help me dress. She also had no explanation for what had happened. “When I saw you, everyone was fine. You all had glasses of claret but no one was drunk, surely.”

I had forgotten that she had stopped by the library. She had dropped off the muffins and…that was all. Was that the only reason she came to the library?

After a truly heroic effort, Justine had me upright, clean, and dressed. I was a good approximation of a functioning human, almost strong enough to respond to the summons from Thomas.

The door to the study was open, so I leaned on the frame and waited until he noticed me. He looked up almost at once from his desk. The surface was large and mostly neat, with only a stack of account books on the corner and some loose papers in front of him. He had been scratching with quill and ink on a page, but laid it aside when I entered.

I wanted to start on the offensive, so I spoke first. “Do you enjoy your work here at Wainforth?” I asked him, sitting in the chair he indicated.

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