Page 53 of The Scottish Duke
“Everyone is talking. All the staff. She has to leave Blackhall.”
“The only people I know who are talking are you and your maid,” Louise said.
Mary stopped in the middle of the corridor. “What are you saying, Louise? That I’m spreading tales?”
She really didn’t want to continue this conversation, but she’d already erred by making that comment. She turned to face Mary. If any of the maids were in the corridor, they would certainly have a tale to carry back to the servants’ quarters, wouldn’t they?
“You’re always the first to tell me what’s going on, Mary. What someone has said or done. Who has had an affair, what maid has been disciplined, who has dissolved into tears about which slight. I’ve never known anyone so interested in other people’s lives as you are. It’s an indication, don’t you think, that you need to find more to interest you.”
Mary’s face was becoming florid, her eyes narrowed. No doubt she was going to launch into a tirade at any moment, insulting Louise’s antecedents or her taste in clothing, furnishings, or food. The woman was a canker and a boil in her otherwise pleasant life.
“I never knew you had such disdain for me, Louise. Or for what goes on in your own home.”
Truly, must she endure this woman? Why couldn’t Mary have an appreciation for Edinburgh like her sister? Or even Inverness? For that matter, why couldn’t Mary be as licentious as Ruth? At least an affair would keep her occupied.
“She’s brought scandal to Blackhall,” Mary said.
“I’m afraid Ruth already did that, Mary,” she said, starting to walk again.
When Ruth was alive, Mary had been eager to bring her tales of her sister’s infidelity. Had Mary forgotten that?
She reached the family dining room finally. The presence of the others didn’t guarantee Mary’s silence, however. The younger woman had been known to talk a subject to death.
She wondered what Mary would say if she learned that Lorna had the same concerns as she did. In Lorna’s case, however, she didn’t want to bring scandal to the family. Mary was desperate not to be coated with it.
Was Mary’s concern about the opinions of other people so strong because of her own penchant for gossip? How odd that she should not want to be tarred by the same brush she wielded with such passion.
“Let me be more direct,” she said, turning to the younger woman. “I quite like MissGordon. I don’t want to hear any words against her. Not from you, Barbara, or any of your confederates. Is that understood?”
She smiled pleasantly, but there was a firmness to her expression.
Life had delivered several lessons to her. She had to remain strong and fight for what she wanted, even as the Duchess of Kinross. She’d taken those lessons to heart and had no intention of being thwarted by the likes of Mary Taylor.
The woman was not going to interfere with her plans.
“What were you thinking, Alex?”
He turned to find Mary standing in the door to his office. She wasn’t allowed in here. No one was unless he specifically invited them, which he’d never done.
She’d broken his rule, which was irritating enough. The look on her face was another annoyance. Mary was angry and he didn’t have any doubt why.
He’d managed to avoid her for the last week, but only by being a hermit and having his meals either here or in his sitting room. She was here now and they might as well have this conversation.
Standing, he rounded his desk, glancing at Jason. The young man interpreted his wishes correctly and got up, brushed past Mary with a smile and left the room.
“Yes?” Alex said, stopping in front of her.
He’d address her trespass at another time, when she wasn’t about to have a tantrum.
“That woman has lost no time ingratiating herself with your mother. She’s a nobody, a maid, Alex. You shouldn’t have brought her here. If you wanted to make her your mistress, you should have installed her in Inverness. You go there often enough.”
He hadn’t hesitated giving Mary a home when Ruth had asked it of him. That didn’t give her the right to criticize the choices he made. She didn’t seem to realize that, however, since she was still discussing Lorna.
“Does she need her own private footman, Alex?”
“She might need something. I felt it necessary.”
Why the hell was he explaining anything to Mary?
