Page 6 of The Marquess' Disguised Heiress
“To hell with it,” Lara snickered. “You will always be Lady Eliza to me no matter what that uncle of yours says.”
Eliza looked guiltily at the cooks and the maids, but they were completely oblivious to their conversation. Eliza herself did not wish to cross anyone from the house and cause trouble for herself and Lara since even Lara had been asked to start addressing her as Beth only.
She had learned very early on that acceptance was always the easiest thing, and the sooner you accepted things, the better it was for you.
“Let’s not begin any unnecessary arguments this early in the day,” Eliza joked, hoping for Lara to stay calm. Progressing age and the worsening condition of the house had turned her sour, and Eliza could not blame her. Most of the servants hated the conditions here since everyone in the house was absurdly cruel and harsh.
“You are right.” Lara nodded, standing beside her, “Did you have any breakfast yourself?”
“Not yet.”
“And you are standing here preparing tea for them instead,” Lara said disapprovingly.
“I will eat once I have served this. I would rather have some peace while eating and not have to hurry.”
Lara nodded as Eliza poured everyone’s beverage into separate cups and balanced them meticulously on a tray before leaving the kitchen.
Without wasting a single second, she quickly made her way towards the living room where, just as she had expected, her Uncle Edgar was already seated with his back towards Eliza as she entered.
She silently walked in front of him, picking up his sugarless cup of tea and placing it on the table. He looked away from the piece of parchment in his hand to pin Eliza with a look, but she did not say anything.
“Have you forgotten all your manners, girl?” he asked, his voice thundering unnecessarily. Eliza knew he only raised his voice to achieve dominance over those below him, but it had stopped affecting her quite some time ago. She could hardly care any longer.
“Pardon?”
“I do not remember you wishing me a good morning.”
If she could roll her eyes right now, she would. However, she refrained for the sake of avoiding unnecessary drama and only angering him for no reason at this early hour.
“You were busy reading your letter, and I did not wish to be the reason your focus was broken. I do apologize. Good morning, Uncle Edgar.”
He nodded, not replying to her greeting.
“About the letter, it’s from Beatrice.”
Eliza hoped with all her heart for the letter not to say that she was returning soon because out of everyone, she was the absolute worst person to be present in the house. She had been away in London for three weeks now, and everything had been much more peaceful.
“I hope she is doing well.”
“She is.” Uncle Edgar nodded, “She wishes us all to head to London at once because she is planning to co-host a masquerade ball with her friends.”
Eliza kept her expression neutral, already knowing what followed this revelation.
“I want you to make sure everyone is ready for travelling in two days’ time and their luggage is packed. If anyone requires or needs anything, you will look into it personally, and you will be coming too, of course.”
Oh God. Why me?
“I will make sure everything is right. You mustn’t worry.”
He nodded at her, his eyes returning to the letter, and Eliza took it as her sign to leave. She slipped out of the livingroom and went upstairs towards Henry’s bedchamber, already wanting to puke at the thought of seeing his face. It was true she did not like any of her cousins, but her hatred for Henry was due to the terrible person he was.
On top of being dishonest and immoral, he was also a rake who had no respect for her or any woman at all. He had never been kind to her and only brought her extended misery. Despite that, he had demanded only Eliza be the one to bring him his morning coffee, getting extremely angry if someone else dared to step into his bedchamber.
She knocked softly, and Henry’s valet opened the door for her. He was standing in front of the looking glass, staring into his reflection, but upon seeing Eliza, he turned around, a leering smile on his lips.
He had never been conventionally handsome, but to Eliza, he always only appeared ugly. She hated that he, too, had blond hair and blue eyes like her own, even if the shades were vastly different, but the mere fact that she was related to him was almost disgusting.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
