Page 14 of One Last Smile

He grins at me. “Ain’t you seen how pretty their gardens are?”

“And you expect me to believe that you’re responsible for all of that?”

“Not meself, no. I have a team of people that work for me.”

“That work for you?”

He laughs. “Surprised? My speech might be coarse, and my look rough, but I have a master’s degree from Oxford, and I own a landscaping company that makes twelve million a year. That might pale in comparison to the wealth of a tech mogul like Sebastian Carlton, but it’s nothing to sneer at.”

“I… I see.” My cheeks burn again. “I apologize.”

“No need to be sorry,” he says easily. “No one would look at me and think that in any other part of England, I’d be the one putting on airs and getting a French chef to cook me suppers. But in the Cotswolds, I am what you see before you. Just a lowly gardener. And that’s how I like it.”

I should let the conversation end there, but I’m close enough to the house that if I were to scream, Eliza and Lucas would hear it. It’s foolish to ask what I ask next, but I suppose it’s time to stop pretending that understanding the foolishness of my actions will stop me.

“What do you know of the missing girl? Minerva Montclair?”

His smile fades. A thrill of fear runs down my spine. I glance toward the house and prepare to run, but he makes no move toward me. After a moment, he says, “I’m going to say this once more, Miss Wilcox. It’s best to stay in the Carltons’ good graces. They’re the type of family that can make people disappear when they want, and it don’t matter if they were your friends before. This is the Cotswolds. People live different lives here. The politicians would like you to believe that the aristocracy is dead, but it ain’t. Best to think of the Carltons as royalty and yourself as a common serf. It ain’t good for your pride, but it’s good for your health.”

“Are you saying that the Carltons had something to do with Minerva’s disappearance?”

“I ain’t saying anything but what I’ve said,” he replies.

I’ve spent the past ten minutes prepared to run at a moment’s notice, but in the end, he’s the one who flees. He turns around and walks off without looking back.

I watch him until he disappears into the south woods, then head back to the house. The bright white paint and pristine lines of the manor glitter like glass in the sun.

***

Dinner is a more reserved affair tonight than it was the night before. The family still shows signs of the distraction they showed in the morning. Most of the conversation is about their various tasks tomorrow, and I am not included in that.

The only exception is when Veronica asks Lucas, “So how was your first day of instruction with Mary?”

He nods and says, “It was good. She’s very intelligent. I think I’ll learn a lot.”

I notice he mentions nothing about the photography or the project I’ve given him. I heard him mention it in front of Eliza earlier, but she doesn’t say anything either. In fact, she shows no sign of interest at all.

“That’s wonderful! I’m so happy to hear that.” She turns to me. “And isn’t Lucas such a bright child?”

I smile at her. “He’s very bright. I think I’ll learn as much from him as he does from me.”

Veronica laughs and turns to Sebastian. “See? I told you she was the right choice.”

Sebastian gives me a dazzling smile. This time, my heart doesn’t flutter. “I’m pleased to welcome you to the family, Mary.”

“I’m pleased to be here.”

Veronica beams at Lucas and hugs him tight. Her knuckles are white around his shoulder, and her teeth are bared like a lioness’s. Lucas seems to shrink in her grasp, not really a movement so much as a sense of diminishing. I am reminded uncomfortably of my own mother. She made no pretense of affection, but she diminished Annie in much the same way Veronica appears to diminish Lucas.

Veronica looks around at all of us and dares any of us to challenge her behavior. Eliza looks down at her plate. Oliver looks at his father. Sebastian takes a bite of his roasted lamb and calmly says, “Henri’s outdone himself this time. We’ll have to talk about a bonus for him.”

I am the only one to meet Veronica’s gaze, but what am I to do? I am, after all, only a servant.

So, after a moment, I lower my head to my own plate and say, “It really is quite delicious.”

The forlorn look on Lucas’s face breaks my heart.

CHAPTER SEVEN

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