Page 48 of A Maid's Fateful Courtship
“Oh, I understand that she is not able to work at present,” Lady Cynthia replied. She glanced up from her embroidery work. “Yes, I know, I must visit with her for I hear that she has been quite ill."
“Ill?” Ethan asked, staring at his sister accusingly as if it were her fault.
“I heard Ronald telling Father about it,” she explained. “It was not my business, the butler reporting that the housekeeper was unwell. But seeing as old Doreen is no longer in that position, I can only assume he was referring to poor Josephine.”
“Did you ask what ailed her?”
“I could not, I was not mean to be listening in on Father’s conversation with the butler in our drawing-room,” Lady Cynthia replied. “It so happened that I was in there writing a letter.”
“And you have not visited her yet, to see how she fairs?”
“I have been so busy entertaining Lady Matilda, seeing as they decided to stay on here longer. She has been quite distressed with the whole affair, if I am honest with you,” Lady Cynthia admitted.
“And pray tell, what has she to be distressed over?” Ethan snapped. “Father has already arranged for the common license from the village parish. There will be no scandal over the event in the library. What more does she want of me?”
“It is hard to tell what distresses her,” Lady Cynthia replied. The comment caused her mind to wander off in deep thought as she recalled Lady Matilda’s fretting over the last few days.
“Hmmm… I suppose she must be nervous about getting married if you know of no other reason. Although, you should know, seeing as you are both betrothed to one another.”
“Why should she be worried about anything?" Ethan said rather sharply. "She is stepping up in the world, is she not?” He could not help himself; he loathed the thought of how she had lied to force his hand.
“Perhaps that is why she is so nervous, I do not really know,” Lady Cynthia pondered as she stopped her sewing to think on it. “Something is bothering her, for she does not act like the happy wife-to-be.”
“This is not a happy betrothal, Cynthia, that is why,” Ethan confessed.
“I do not understand,” his sister said, looking at him in surprise.
“We were not in the library to profess our love for one another that day,” Ethan admitted. He felt a sense of relief to finally be admitting the truth.
“But Father?”
“Father presumed that I bungled my proposal to her," Ethan said, unburdening himself. "That was not the truth of the matter.”
“Then why were you alone with a lady?”
“She wandered into the library seeking a book. I recommended one to her, and then she started to act strangely,” Ethan told his sister. If he could trust anyone it would be his sister, for he knew that she would betray his confession.
“It does not make any sense, Ethan,” Lady Cynthia now paid her brother her full attention, placing her sewing on a side table.
“I was there to tell Father of my love for Josephine,” Ethan announced. He then turned to look at his sister for her response, which he expected to be one of shock.
“You mean to tell me that the relationship with your childhood playmate has blossomed into love?” she asked. “A servant?” she added.
“Yes. And I contend the fact that she is a servant," Ethan continued, going as he took a seat opposite his sister. It meant he could have the conversation with a hushed voice.
"Partly, I was meeting with Father to tell him that Josephine should not be a servant. She was educated by your side, Cynthia. Brought up as an equal. Taught all the things that you, as a lady of standing, had to learn. It is cruel to believe that you can then discard that education, otherwise what was the point of it in the first place?”
Cynthia stared over at her brother, she could not believe what she was hearing, but Ethan did have a point, in a way.
“But she is the daughter of a farmer, Ethan, and not of noble background,” she pointed out. “I suppose one could argue that it would have been better had Father sent her to live with one of the tenant’s families instead of ours.”
“Yes, it would, because she has been educated as a Lady and no doubt finds that she does not fit into the life of a servant. Not with the airs and graces that she has learned,” Ethan implied.
“She has never complained—”
“Nor will she,” Ethan cut in.
“And you truly in love with her?” his sister asked.
