Beulah Lodge by Cathy Dunnell

Author:Cathy Dunnell [Dunnell, Cathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781636790084
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2021-11-01T20:05:06+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

When I awoke, the sunlight was streaming through the window, and Eliza had gone. I lay in bed listening to the birdsong outside and searched within myself for feelings of regret or shame. But there were none. When I thought of Daniel, I thought only of the years of service he would have from me as his wife. I thought of the years of duties faithfully performed that I had already given to him, to my father, to everyone who had asked it of me. And then I thought of Eliza and the feel of her body beneath my hands, and all other thoughts were burnt away.

After breakfast, I sat in the library as usual until Eliza came to tell me Beatrice was ready to receive me. This routine had been unchanged for weeks, yet now, as soon as Eliza entered the room, I jumped up and went straight to her. I put my arms about her and pulled her into a kiss, my lips moving urgently against hers. I could feel her surprise, but she kissed me back, and a white-hot heat flared in my core.

Eliza pushed gently against my shoulders, and the kiss broke. “The mistress,” she said, smiling. It was all I could do not to hold her hand as she led me upstairs.

I fidgeted impatiently all through my interview with Beatrice, unable to concentrate on anything she said to me. She attempted to bait me in her usual way, but I gave distracted, incoherent answers. She became irritable that I was depriving her of her sport and dismissed me.

The day passed in a kind of delicious agony as I roamed restlessly from the library, my room, and the garden. I knew that Eliza would be about her work, and I could hardly go and seek her out for stolen kisses. But the only purpose of my day was to see her and touch her again.

Lunch, served by Martha, came and went, and I ate hardly anything because of the tight knot in my stomach. Then I sat outside in the sunshine underneath one of the apple trees that clung to the sloping grass above the back of the house. I settled with my needlework, darting glances up at the windows. I recalled the time that Beatrice had seen Eliza and I, although her window faced the front of the house. That must mean that she roamed the house occasionally, though I had never seen her outside the confines of her room. The thought was unsettling.

I saw Martha and Tripp emerge from the back door, both carrying wicker baskets. I raised my hand to them as they passed below me and headed off in the direction of the overgrown fruit cage that eked out survival at the base of the slope.

A few minutes later, I saw Eliza come into the yard and empty a bucket of dark, soapy water. She did not look up but hefted the bucket back through the door. I waited a few minutes, then rose, thrusting the handkerchief I was half-heartedly embroidering into my pocket.

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