Manor of Secrets by Katherine Longshore

Author:Katherine Longshore
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2013-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

At dinner, Charlotte sat between her youngest brother, Stephen, and Andrew Broadhurst, feeling trapped. Her jaw hurt from clenching it. Far up the table, at the place of precedence on Lord Edmonds’s right, Aunt Beatrice didn’t look any less miserable. She was dressed in a deep burgundy gown covered in red and gold seed beads in a pattern that swirled like flames. She didn’t sit rigidly and austerely like Lady Diane, but almost seemed to slouch into herself.

Charlotte’s father didn’t notice Aunt Beatrice’s reticence. He just talked, and kept saying things like “Isn’t that so, Beatrice?” without waiting for a reply.

No one in her family ever waited for a reply.

Charlotte wondered if her aunt really was just at The Manor to steal Mrs. Seward away. Poor Janie.

Lawrence entered with the final course — cheese and fruit and biscuits — and Charlotte felt relief lift her shoulders slightly. She watched him the entire time, but he didn’t even look at her. Not once.

His gloved hands carefully laid the plates of cheese on the table, and deftly served the strawberries and plums from another tray to each diner’s plate. Charlotte watched his hands, unable to look him in the face for fear everything she felt would be broadcast to the entire table.

“Diane.”

Aunt Beatrice’s voice was clear and musical. Like a bell.

“Why are you not hosting the servants’ ball this year?” Aunt Beatrice asked, suddenly as vibrant as her gown. “Didn’t you always have it the night before the first shoot of the season?”

Charlotte stared at her mother. Unlike other great houses, The Manor never had a servants’ ball, where the household staff came above stairs and crossed social boundaries to dance with the family.

She imagined herself in Lawrence’s arms. In a gown. Almost as if she were at the Season in London. She could see the two of them shocking the entire company with the hesitation waltz.

“We haven’t had a servants’ ball in years.” Lady Diane’s tone implied the end of the conversation.

“Why, Mother?” Charlotte heard herself asking.

“Because.” Lady Diane flicked a glance at her sister. “The timing is infelicitous.”

“But we never have a servants’ ball,” Charlotte persisted, causing her brothers to shift and prompting David to cough into his sleeve. She knew she shouldn’t be speaking. But she couldn’t stop. “It can’t always be the timing.”

“It is timing and it is planning, Charlotte,” Lady Diane said.

The more her mother argued, the more Charlotte knew it had to happen. It was better than her imagination. It was kismet.

“But the ball is already planned,” she argued. “And it’s just for the houseguests and neighbors, anyway. It doesn’t have to be elaborate.”

Elation swept through her, followed by a hot rush of fear and doubt. Her mother would kill her. Right there on the spot.

“We cannot inconvenience our guests in such a way.” Lady Diane was so stiff her lips hardly moved when she spoke.

“It would be no inconvenience,” Andrew interjected, leaning forward. “I, for one, would be delighted to include your staff.”

Lady Diane stared. Charlotte tried not to.

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.