Page 30 of His Perfect Bride
“I hope you know me well enough by now to understand that I would never let class stand in the way of love.”
Sage opened her mouth to respond but then closed it. What could she possibly say to that? Augusta had shown herself to be fair-minded, always trying to make her feel like a friend and less like a servant.
But the fact was, Sage was a lady’s maid. There was no changing the fact.
“I won’t tolerate a dalliance,” Augusta said firmly. “But a real relationship…?”
No matter how fair Augusta was and no matter what she might be insinuating, Sage had already made up her mind about marriage. “I’m not interested in having a relationship with any fellow.”
Not with the shopkeepers who flirted with her whenever she went out with Augusta. Not with any of the miners who swarmed the town and tried to talk to her. Not with fishermen or stevedores or other locals who stared at her when she passed by. Most certainly not with an aristocrat who was from a different world and way of life altogether.
“As I told you, you’re not meant to be a spinster.” Augusta started toward the door. “So put the idea from your mind.”
“You like being a spinster?—”
Augusta halted so abruptly that Sage didn’t finish her thought, especially because Augusta turned with one of her most severe gazes. “Let me be clear about one thing. I have made peace with being a spinster, but I would gladly give up my independence and traveling to be with a man who loves me.”
Was there more to Augusta’s story than she’d told Sage? Maybe Augusta had once been in a passionate and loving relationship that hadn’t worked out. Maybe she was filled with regrets. Or maybe she’d lost the love of her life and never found anyone else who could compare.
A glint formed in Augusta’s eyes. “Perhaps you need to be put into a situation where you can give love a chance to grow.”
“What does that mean?” Sage didn’t like the glint. It meant Augusta was planning something.
Augusta shrugged, then with a small smile, she turned to go.
“Please, Augusta. Please don’t meddle in my love life.”
Augusta swung open the door. “What love life?”
Now who was toying with whom? Augusta knew what Sage meant, but clearly she had to spell it out. “I’m not interested in Jackson in that way.” Even as Sage said the words, they rang hollow. She couldn’t deny the strange reactions she’d been having to him that were now growing in strength. But even if she couldn’t deny the reactions, she could put a stop to them, or at least make sure they didn’t develop into more.
Augusta stepped into the hallway and began to close the door. She paused with the door only a few inches wide. “Someday you’ll thank me.”
Before Sage could respond, Augusta closed the door.
Sage stared at the door for at least a full minute, unsure what to think or feel. With her thoughts in a jumble, she finished tidying Augusta’s chamber. Then she went down the servants’ back stairway to the kitchen to be of assistance to Gustave. Augusta had hired two more men for the evening to help serve the meal. But Gustave still had a great deal to do on his own and Sage offered to help him.
Several hours later, when the meal was over, the dishes washed, and the kitchen in order, Sage retrieved her shawl then made her way to the backyard.
The house was brightly lit, every window aglow, providing enough light for Sage to meander through the trees and shrubs with the cup of coffee and pastry Gustave had given her to show his appreciation.
Lovely strains of piano music filtered through one of the open side windows. The dinner party was still ongoing with drinks and desserts being served, which meant Augusta wouldn’t need her for a while longer, not until after the guests left.
For now, Sage could take a rare break. With all that Augusta had spoken earlier, Sage needed a quiet moment to try to make sense of all her thoughts.
She wandered back until she found the smooth-topped boulder where she’d sat at other times over the past few weeks. Sipping the coffee and nibbling on the delicate Danish, she peered up at the clear sky filled with countless stars. Every time she viewed the stars, both awe and sadness filled her—awe that she was able to witness the beauty of the endless array of twinkling lights, but sadness that her sisters and Dad were stuck in Manchester with its dirty, polluted sky.
Tomorrow, though, she’d finally get to see Willow, and together they’d work out a plan for bringing their family to Vancouver Island just as soon as possible. Thankfully, Augusta hadn’t forgotten about the plans to travel with Sage to Salt Spring Island the day after the party and had offered to help find a private transport, perhaps a fisherman, to row them there.
Sage smiled. Willow would be surprised to see her. No doubt her sister would shriek, rush at her, and squeeze her until she couldn’t breathe. The reunion would be wonderful, even if it would be a little humiliating to share the details of David’s rejection.
Sage shivered and took another sip of her coffee. At a clinking somewhere nearby, she halted. A soft grunt was followed by the clank of metal, and it was coming from the Firths’ yard just beyond the shrubs.
Was someone in trouble?
She slid off her perch on the stone and tiptoed through the grass until she reached a spot in the shrubs where she could view the neighbors’ yard. The darkness kept her from seeing much at first. But after a moment as her eyes adjusted, she glimpsed a young woman in a maid’s uniform with a small garden trowel digging in the earth.
Was it Juliet?
