My Lord and Master by Whitlock Victoria

Author:Whitlock, Victoria [Whitlock, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-12-06T08:00:00+00:00

The day seemed to take forever to pass. In between bouts of indolence, Angelica would occasionally push herself up from her bed and go to her window, to see if the woman’s carriage was still there.

Of course it was. And each time Angelica laid eyes upon it, her mind filled with images of Lord Sutherland and that pretty, emerald-eyed woman doing all kinds of things: strolling around the grounds hand-in-hand, perhaps taking a boat out onto the lake that Angelica had glimpsed at the very back of the house, or maybe they were lunching together beneath a parasol on the lawn?

And each time she thought of these images, she felt a little more wretched than before, as her lowly place within the house was confirmed to her, over and over again.

At around six that evening, there came a hurried knock at the door, and in came Mary carrying Angelica’s supper on a tray.

“Now remember what I told you and make sure to prepare yourself this evening, Miss Angelica,” Mary stated coldly as she set Angelica’s food out on the table for her. “For the Lord will no doubt want to pay you a visit later tonight.”

“And why is that?” Angelica replied, for she suspected the answer, and knew that Mary would never confirm her fears aloud.

Perhaps Angelica’s little indolences of the day were not over. For why else would she want to tease poor, prudish Mary so?

“Why, have you not seen the carriage?” Mary asked, blushing, and once more, her eyes were fixed firmly on the floor.

“Yes, of course I have,” said Angelica sweetly. “Such a beautiful carriage. Who does it belong to?”

“Why,” Mary said quietly, “that carriage belongs to Lady Reedsdale. She is a particular friend of Lord Sutherland.”

And as Mary spoke of the Lady, her face brightened. She was clearly a particular favourite of Mary’s too.

“Lady Reedsdale,” Mary continued, “is the eldest daughter of one of the most prominent land owners in all of the country. She’s a great beauty, and so accomplished! Yes, it would be a great match ...”

At this, Mary tailed off, lost in thought, clearly imagining the beautiful Lady Reedsdale as her mistress. And the pangs of jealousy that had been rising in Angelica’s bosom all afternoon, now boiled over.

Angelica cursed her foolishness. She had wanted to punish Mary – to punish her for catching her outside of her room this morning, to punish her for her prudishness, to punish her simply for no reason the way a child might destroy its favourite toy – and now she was the one who was hurt. Hurt by her own stupid jealousies.

Mary busied herself around the room, collecting laundry, while this time Angelica’s face was turned away from Mary, for she did not want the maid to see that this time it were her cheeks that were burning scarlet.

“I shall leave you now,” Mary said. She gestured towards the untouched dinner tray. “If I were you, I would make sure I ate something. For I suspect that after this visit from Lady Reedsdale, our master may wish to summon you.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.