The Dark Lord by M.A. Lee

Author:M.A. Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gothic, romance, mystery, suspense, paranormal, ghost, moor
Publisher: M.A. Lee
Published: 2022-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

~7~

Elizabeth gladly let Hicks pursue his list. She chose to wander along the Market Street.

At one end, before a rough wall, clustered a few men and women. Their clothes were tattered and patched, their skin sallow and marked with sores, their bones looked raw at their open collars and their wrists. Several scratched at hidden vermin. None were young. Their former employment either didn’t suit them or they didn’t suit it.

Off to one side, a little apart as if she feared leaping vermin, stood a white-haired woman. Her clothes looked clean and had no obvious tatters. She looked hearty but pale, yet her crossed arms and fierce scowl would turn away many.

Elizabeth approached. “We need an additional maid at the Grange. What is your name?”

The woman made no attempt to smile winningly. “Meg Tilney. Who are you to be offering that work?”

“Miss Fortescue. I am the new housekeeper.” One of the men made a vulgar comment that she ignored. “Do you wish a position?”

“I used to work at the Grange. Left, years back. Old Lady Harcourt wanted rid of me.”

“Have you worked here in the village or nearby since then?”

“No. I was over t’Growky ways. Took a turn to come back, see what’s for.”

“What work have you done?”

“Maid. Laundress. In a dyeworks for a while, but that don’t put a roof over your head.”

“You would be Least Maid and must be willing to help as needed in the laundry.”

“I ain’t says as I’m int’rested. Heard the old baron cracked it up a few years back. Heard his grandson’s a right sight. His woman cast `im off and married elsewise.”

“You would be required to behave with proper respect to your betters.”

“Who do I answer to? You or that raw bones Hicks?”

“You are familiar with Mr. Hicks?”

“Familiar?” Meg Tilney laughed, and the merry and sly change to her face and eyes was wondrous. “We used to walk out, afore the old lady showed me the door.”

From that, Elizabeth divined the dowager Harcourt had run a strict household. Perhaps this woman had slowed down with her age. “Behavior must be circumspect,” she repeated.

“Whatever that means.”

“It means that you must be modest in behavior and speech. Can you manage that, Meg Tilney?”

The woman’s scowl returned. Those flat eyes surveyed Elizabeth. “I can be, for room and board.”

“Re-introduce yourself to Hicks. If he is amenable to your re-hiring, then head for the Grange.” That set two tests for Meg Tilney. If she passed both, the woman would do for Least Maid.

“I don’t want to talk to him.”

“He is butler at the Grange. Speaking to him now is a condition of your employment. You will answer to me, but he can also give your orders.”

The woman looked at the stained sack at her feet. Then she sighed and picked it up. “He better not think I’m the same Meg Tilney.”

“I will see you this afternoon on our return to the Grange. You will receive a meal and a bed. Tomorrow we will discuss your duties.” Elizabeth turned away without waiting to see what Meg did.

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