Page 21 of The Baron Without Blame
Lolly’s first reaction was relief: they didn’t know she had snuck into Martin’s room the night before. But then her stomach twisted. It was obvious as day they were discussing the Chows. Although discuss was hardly the right term. It was hateful, what Mama said. And the worst part was that when Lolly had first spied Mr. Chow standing silently behind Martin’s secretary, her own heart had leapt in fear.
But the Chows were no more criminals than they were a set of porcelain smuggled in on the wrong ship. Poor Mr. Chow was merely a husband trying to find his wife somewhere to sleep for the night. And Martin was the kind of man who offered help, not judgment.
Lolly tightened her hands into fists around the edge of the coverlet. He offered help when he saw the need for it. When he deemed the recipient to be on the wrong end of Society’s judgment.
When she asked for that help, he scorned her. He had shut his eyes to her last night. Turned her away even though his member pulsed in her palm. Lolly didn’t know much about bedroom activities, but she knew his body had been just as excited as hers.
And yet she had not been enough for him to throw off Societal expectations. Not even in private.
“I will put a stop to it,” Papa said from the other room. “You have my word.”
Lolly threw off her covers. Her nether regions were still a little wet, a little sensitive, from the way Martin had maneuvered them. Oh, for that glimpse of time, Lolly had felt so good. Blind, bound, captive to his fingers and tongue. She had lost all touch with intellect.
It only made his refusal that much worse.
She pushed off the thoughts. Her matters with Martin were secondary when Papa was currently putting a stop to Mr. and Mrs. Chow. Whatever that meant.
Since Northfield Hall hadn’t been home to a lady for years, Lolly had been sharing her mother’s personal abigail, Norton, while her sisters made do with one of the Preston housemaids. Norton rushed in at Lolly’s call, a storm upon her face. “It’s a bad start to the morning, I can tell you that, Lady Rosalind. Her ladyship woke up to see two foreigners among the household. It is enough to give a person a fright.”
Lolly frowned at Norton’s reflection in the mirror. “I don’t see why my mother should feel surprise one way or another. It is not her household.”
Norton tucked her chin and focused on pinning Lolly’s hair.
“The fact of the matter is that Lord Preston hired Mr. and Mrs. Chow for their skills. Why, they were at Viscount Folkestone’s household before this. It is a coup to have them at Northfield Hall instead.”
“Begging your pardon, but they were let go from the viscount’s household, so that is not a claim in their favor.” Norton stuck a pin so that it scraped against Lolly’s scalp. “My lady.”
Lolly stood and held herself stiff as Norton settled the corset about her waist. “I thought you above gossip, Norton.”
“It’s not gossip if it is true. I’d say I heard it directly from them, except I doubt they can speak a word of English. Her ladyship has the right of it, Lady Rosalind, and you’d do well to follow her lead. Those people have no business being here. They are nothing but trouble.”
She emphasized this with a pull so fierce that for a moment, Lolly thought she would never breathe again. Then the corset returned to its normal shape. Norton’s rough hands reached around to tug her breasts upwards. They left white imprints on Lolly’s skin.
Lolly tried not to compare it to how Martin had worshipped her breasts. She fixed her mind firmly on the image of poor, pregnant Mrs. Chow, nearly falling over in her husband’s arms last night. Whatever happened next with Martin, Lolly’s one goal must be to protect the Chows from her family.
It was a few more minutes as Norton piled on Lolly’s petticoats, then her stomacher, and finally the yellow morning gown itself. All the while, Lolly turned words about in her mind, searching for the argument that would make Norton see. An appeal to sympathy would do nothing, she knew from experience. Neither would a simple rebuke, since Norton’s loyalties lay with Mama. Finally, when Norton turned to leave, lips still pursed in disapproval, Lolly said, “That will be all, Norton. I must thank you for all your help this week. I’m sure it won’t be necessary anymore, as Lord Preston hired Mrs. Chow as my maid.”
Norton gaped. “She will burn you dead with the curling tongs!”
“I will thank you not to say such disparaging things of my fiancé’s household. You may go.”
Lolly did not move so much as an eyebrow until Norton – still ashen with shock – backed out of the room. Straight to Mama, no doubt, to report that Lolly had been claimed by Satan.
Still, Lolly had won that exchange. In a small way, but not inconsequential.
No matter that she had no plans to actually marry Martin.
Louisa and Charlotte were the only ones in the breakfast room, bickering over whether it was proper to serve kedgeree on the same plate as toast. Lolly thought they didn’t even notice her enter the room until Charlotte asked, “Do you know what has upset everyone this morning, Lolly?”
It was always a question how much to share with her sisters. On the one hand, Lolly liked an opportunity to gain them on her side. On the other, between the two of them, they could take an unpleasant topic the size of a thimble and talk it into the size of a soup tureen.
She compromised with a vague answer. “Prejudice, Lotte, and perhaps a little pride.”
Louisa rolled her eyes.
Lolly served a slice of spice cake onto a tea saucer. She was halfway towards the corridor when Louisa called, “You are sitting down, aren’t you, Rosalind?”
As if she were their mother. Lolly didn’t even turn around to reply, “I’ve simply too much to do. Ta!”
