Cinderella and the Lady (11 page)

“You forget one important fact. You were with me that day and tampered with Angelica’s saddle to play a joke on her, or so you had alleged,” she said softly.

Yvonne rubbed a finger across her mouth, eyeing Geraldine with resentment.

Geraldine continued sipping her tea although her stomach twisted. Yvonne suddenly rose up from the settee and wandered over to stand behind her. When Yvonne’s hands landed on her shoulders, she jerked, causing her tea to spill and scald her hand.

“We’ve been through thick and thin together, supported one another through the rough patches. That’s why I pay your bills and allow you to live in the lifestyle you’re accustomed to. I could have left you to rot, but my reputation and title, thanks to my dear departed husband, gives me a great deal of power. Imagine if I cut you off.” Yvonne lowered her head and her mouth grazed Geraldine’s cheek. “Or what if our friendship came to an end? Then where would you be?”

Geraldine gripped her cup tighter as Yvonne ran her fingers through her hair. She dipped her head forward in defeat.

“I apologize for my harsh words. I have bad days where I speak before I think and this was one of them. Can you forgive me?” She glanced up at Yvonne.

Yvonne’s smile didn’t reach her eyes, but her touch remained gentle. “Of course. Sometimes I need to remind you were we stand with one another.”

She gave her a stilted nod. “I’m grateful for all you have done for me and Mina.”

Yvonne kissed Geraldine’s cheek and walked around until she stood in front of her. “Then you shouldn’t have any problem giving Eleanor to me.”

“Hand her over? She’s terrified of you and how you slobber—”

Yvonne lifted her finger. “She’s confused about her feelings toward me. I’m not a monster, as you may think me to be. I want to help the misguided girl. You’ve abused her because of your hate for Angelica. You wanted Louis’s love all for yourself and none for Eleanor. You won in so many ways, because by ending Angelica’s life, Louis became yours and lavished all his love and praise on you, and none for his own flesh and blood.”

Geraldine didn’t have a response. Everything Yvonne said was fact. She covered her mouth as bitter tears threatened to fall from her eyes.

Yvonne sat back down, selecting a strawberry and taking a bite. She chewed slowly and eased back against the cushions. “As my reward for being such a good friend, I expect you to talk with Eleanor and explain why she should live with me from now on. To be a good sport, I’ll hire a maid and a cook for you.”

“When would you want this exchange to take place?” she replied in a tired tone.

“You act like Eleanor is a puppy or a horse I’m going to purchase.” Yvonne wiped off her hands. “I would like the
exchange
to happen soon.”

“This weekend is the Perrault ball. Mina and I need Eleanor to dress us and do our hair,” she said weakly.

“Robbie and I are planning on leaving for London in two weeks. I want to be back before the season begins and train Eleanor in decorum and manners. She’s lacking in those two areas and it will take time for her to become accustomed to her new life with me.”
And training in the bedroom, you cold, heartless bitch?
She rolled back her shoulders and met Yvonne’s sardonic gaze with one of her own. “Eleanor will go with you after I tell her she’s no longer needed here.”
“With the possibility of Lord Simon marrying Mina, she’ll believe it. She’ll have no choice but to accept.”

Geraldine nodded in agreement. She went over to the table in the corner where the bottles of liquor were. Opening a bottle of whiskey, she poured a generous amount into a glass and chugged it down, not caring if Yvonne noticed. She was shaken to the core. The only way she could appease Yvonne was to sacrifice another innocent like she did all those years ago.

When they stopped in front of the clothing emporium, Mina didn’t rush inside right away. For the majority of their walk, Ellie hadn’t been paying attention to a word she had said. She wasn’t too worried, given Ellie acted peculiar most of the time, but she was very pale and looked like she was going to faint.

“Are you all right? You’re acting strange.” she asked, wishing she was tall enough to look Ellie straight in the eye.

Ellie wiped a palm over her face. “Maybe I am coming down with something.”

Mina backed away with her hands up in the air. If Ellie got her sick and she couldn’t go to the ball, she would kill her. “I cannot fall ill. I need to look my best for Simon this weekend.”

“I know. It’s probably nothing.” Ellie looked down at her feet. Her ugly shoes poked out from under her equally horrendous mourning dress. “Would you mind if I visited my parents’ grave while you wait for your gown?”

For once, Ellie had an excellent idea. This would give her ample opportunity to corner Noah like she’d wanted to do for days. Remaining calm when all she wanted to do was run inside, she shooed Ellie away. “Go pay your respects, but a half-hour at the most. I don’t want stay here longer than I have to.”

A warm smile appeared on Ellie’s face. “I’ll be back soon.” She waved and hurried down the road.

Mina rubbed her palms together. Instead of walking through the front door, she looped around the side, hoping to find Noah in the back where they could have a friendly chat about Simon.

* * * *

The walk to the cemetery had calmed Ellie down. The last time she had visited there was her father’s funeral. Had it been less than a month since her Papa had died? It seemed much longer. She entered through the open iron gates and wandered past the huge stone vaults. Further in the back were the unadorned graves of those who couldn’t afford ostentatious statues of angels to mark their final resting place.

She found her father’s headstone and gave the simplistic stone a pat. Whispering a prayer, she then turned to her mother’s grave.
I wonder if mother and father are happy together in heaven?

She knelt down, overcome with emotion over her personal loss. Everything the countess had said came rushing back. She didn’t want to leave Aulnory and live in London among strangers. This was her home, even with Geraldine’s contempt and Mina’s pity and condescension. Then there was Diana—

“Oh Diana, what am I going to do with you?”

The dong of the bell in the church tower rang and she rose to her feet. She gave her mother’s tombstone one last stroke and walked toward the double doors of the church. As she passed the huge oak tree on her right, an arm shot out. She was hauled around the other side and pitched back against the rough bark.

Diana!
She opened her mouth to speak, but she didn’t have the chance to say anything, for Diana stole a kiss. She wrapped her hands into Diana’s lustrous hair. Her lips moved in tandem with Diana’s searching mouth, overcome with bliss. Diana’s mouth moved to her cheek and down her throat to nibble on her skin.

“You taste so clean and wonderful,” she whispered and cupped Ellie’s breast.

“I bathed this morning.” She rubbed her cheek over the top of Diana’s head. “You smell nice.”

“I also took a bath this morning. I swiped a sponge over my chest and in between my legs while I thought of you. I made myself climax while calling out your name.”

Ellie inhaled, the idea of Diana pleasuring herself making her knees shake. When a bird cackled above and the sound of a branch cracked, she glanced around for any observers.

“Whatever are you doing?” Diana asked, amusement filling her voice. She ran her fingers through Ellie’s curls and moved in for another kiss.

She clapped a hand over Diana’s mouth and shook her head. “Anyone could come across us. We shouldn’t engage in such improper acts on holy ground.”

“Improper?” Diana raised an eyebrow and linked her fingers with Ellie’s. “You mean those naughty things I do with my fingers and mouth that make you moan in satisfaction?”

Heat rose on Ellie’s cheeks. Diana giggled and swung their combined hands in the air. “I’ll behave for now. Do you have time to sit and chat? When do you have to get back?”

“I have less than an hour. That should give us enough time to catch up and—”

“And schedule our next rendezvous?” Diana asked, grabbing a bag sitting under the tree and pulling her onto the stone path.

Elle led the way up the stairs to the church. “I know a place where we can talk without anyone interrupting us.” She opened the double doors and stepped inside the foyer. The pews were empty. Pleased by this, she took Diana’s hand and opened a side door, walking up a flight of stairs and onto the balcony. They walked toward the back and sat in the far corner.

Ellie kept an eye on the lower level and listened for any strange noises. Diana sat next to her, holding her hands that were clenched tightly on her lap.

“You’re tense. Is it because we’re in a church thinking of the sinful things we want to do with one another?” Diana asked in a teasing tone.

Her face grew flush. “You say whatever comes to your mind.”

Diana nodded. “I was taught to speak my mind and not allow anyone to tell me otherwise.”

She sighed woefully, wishing she was brave as Diana. When Diana touched her cheek, she looked back at her in question.

“Something is bothering you. I can sense it. Care to tell me what’s wrong? I’m a great listener and will only interrupt to give advice.”

She sighed and rested her cheek against Diana’s palm.

“Ah, that’s what I like seeing on my lovely girl’s face.”

Ellie settled back against the pew, basking in Diana’s praise. “I had a typical morning until my mistress’s good friend stopped in for a visit. This woman wants to hire me away and join her in London for the season, perhaps for longer.”

Diana’s hand twitched against her face and slid down to curve an arm around her shoulder. “You would leave Aulnory and all those you cared about?” she asked, her voice curt.

She shrugged. “There’s nothing really keeping me here. I never wanted to leave before, but now I just don’t know. London would be exciting and new, but—”

“But what?” Diana asked in a hushed whisper.

She gave Diana’s hand a squeeze. “This woman is very respected and has always been kind to me, but sometimes she makes me uncomfortable. She can be too…friendly.”

“She wants you.”

Ellie nodded, confused by the sudden harshness in Diana’s voice. “Yes, she wants me—”

“You’re misunderstanding. She wants you the same way I do.”

Her eyes widened when she figured out what Diana meant.

“I can offer you protection from this woman if you’ll let me.”

She closed her eyes, wishing she could say yes. The protection Diana was offering wasn’t so different from what the countess proposed. But if she accepted Diana’s offer, then where would she be? Eventually, Diana would become tired of her and eventually leave for her home after her visit came to an end.

“That’s kind of you, but I can’t.” She rushed on before Diana could argue. “I’m still needed by my mistress and her family. I must make the single ladies in the house look perfect for the duke’s masquerade ball this Saturday.”

“But, what if—”

Ellie lifted her hand in front of Diana’s mouth. “Please, let’s talk of something else. What are you wearing to the ball?”

Diana pressed a kiss into Ellie’s palm before she dropped their hands in her lap. Her eyes lit up again in joy. “I’ll be wearing a black and white Grecian-style gown with a domino mask and matching ribbons braided throughout my hair.”

“You’ll be the most beautiful woman there. You’ll even outshine Lady Kristina.”

Diana shifted in her seat. “You’ve heard of Kristina’s beauty? Have you ever seen her?”

“I saw her once a long time ago. I think I was around ten or eleven at the time. She was riding a pony down the main street beside her father and brother. She had the most gorgeous hair, much like your own.” She reached out to touch Diana’s hair, but then stopped and hid her hand in the fabric of her dress. She kept forgetting to ask for permission, to touch Diana the way she longed to.

“You may touch my hair, or anywhere else on my person, whenever you like.” Diana stroked Ellie’s curls. “Kristina would be jealous of you. She always wanted curly and thick hair like yours.” Her fingers drifted down and caressed Ellie’s cheek. “And snow white skin a poet would recite passionate lyrics about.”

She giggled and a snort left her mouth.

Diana tipped her chin back toward her. “You’re so precious.” She nipped Ellie’s bottom lip.

Ellie tilted her head to the side and welcomed the kiss. Her bodice grew tight across her chest and she held onto Diana as her head spun.

“Hmm, you’re sweet also. I wish we could engage in another lesson together but this isn’t the right place. If I keep kissing you, I’ll forget to give you your surprise.”

“Surprise?” she asked.

Diana produced a square piece of paper from her dress. Ellie took it and scanned the page, reading the scripted words slowly. Her jaw dropped. “This is an invitation to the ball.”

“Now you can attend, like everyone else.”

Ellie chewed her bottom lip. “But I don’t have a dress or a mask to wear. I’m only a servant and not—”

Diana ran her fingers down Ellie’s cheek. “I have a mask in my satchel you can wear. As for a dress, I can let you borrow one of my own when you arrive for the ball. We’re of the same height and body.” Diana eyed her bosom. “You may have a problem filling out the bodice area, but we can fix that easily by tightening your stays and adding some sort of stuffing to that area.”

She glanced down at her chest. “I’m too flat, aren’t I?”

Diana rolled her eyes and swiped the back of her hand across Ellie’s breast. “You’re a perfect handful for me.”

She went to smack Diana across the arm, but stopped when she was given another kiss.

“Say you’ll come for a few hours at least. The ball will go late into the evening and won’t end until the early morning hours,” Diana said in between slow pulls of her mouth.

She arched against Diana when cool air brushed over her throat and chest. Diana had unbuttoned the front of her dress and had loosened her corset and chemise to her waist.

“We shouldn’t here…ah…” She bit down on her lip when Diana rubbed her puckered nipple.

“Just for a little while longer, until I can convince you to attend the ball,” Diana whispered and dipped her face down to latch onto her breast.

The next time the church bell rang out, Ellie gave Diana the answer she wanted.

* * * *

Ellie waited for her stepmother’s opinion on her hair and makeup. Geraldine looked graceful and poised in her off-the-shoulder, midnight blue ball gown, but her lips were still pinched and her eyes dull as if she hadn’t gotten enough sleep.

“This style suits me.” Geraldine nodded in approval, curling a ringlet around her finger.

“The gentlemen in attendance will be fighting to write their names on your dance card,” she said, and organized Geraldine’s undergarments left on the bed.

Geraldine lips lifted in a small smile. “It has been years since I’ve danced. I’m not sure if I can remember how.”

“But surely you danced with Papa.” Ellie winced and fisted her hands in the material she held. In the past when she mentioned her father to Geraldine, she ended up being scolded.

Geraldine grabbed a fan off her bedside table and sauntered over. Ellie braced herself and waited for the outburst to come. Instead, Geraldine tapped the top of her head with her closed fan. “We danced once together, at our wedding. You should know. You were there.”

She dipped her head in acknowledgement. “Yes, I remember.”
How could I forget? Your marriage to my father was barely a year after my mother’s death.

Geraldine tipped Ellie’s chin up with her fan and her eyes roamed across her face and down her body. “Each day you look more like your mother. This pains me. I’ve decided it’s for the best for you to go with Yvonne to London.”

Her entire body went numb. “But, you need me here—”

“Need you?” Geraldine laughed and jabbed her fan against Ellie’s chest. She backed up as Geraldine advanced on her. “You’ve never been needed. You were a charity case kept here because of your father.”

Ellie landed back against the wall and shook her head. “That’s not true! I belong here. This was my home before you came along and took over and erased my mother’s memory.”

Geraldine’s nostrils flared, and before Ellie could block her move or cover her face, Geraldine slapped her hard against her cheek. She slumped to the floor, cupping her stinging cheek and bringing her knees into her chest.

“Insolent girl! I never wanted Louis’s brat! But he couldn’t send you away to his relatives. They disowned him for marrying your common trollop of a mother. The only reason I haven’t thrown you out on the street is because of my generosity, which ends tonight.” She tapped the top of Ellie’s head, harder this time, with her fan. Ellie held back a whimper, but couldn’t stop the tears flowing down her cheeks.

“This coming Friday you will pack your meager belongings and leave with Yvonne and Robert. You should be thanking me. Yvonne wants to take care of you and show you the world.”

“But, the countess—”

“Silence!” Geraldine yelled, and as she turned, her flowing skirt hit Ellie in the face. “I don’t care what Yvonne does with you. As long as you’re gone and out of my sight, my life will be better for it. Things are on the up and up with Mina and Lord Simon. This time next month they could be engaged. I won’t have you ruin it for us.”

“Mama? The carriage is here!” Mina’s voice called from downstairs.

Geraldine lifted a shaking hand to her brow and gazed into the tall oval mirror near her bed. She wiped her palms down the front of her dress. Ellie hid her face against her knees and sniffled.

“Much better.” Geraldine pinched her cheeks. “This dress makes me look younger, don’t you think, Eleanor?”

She lifted her face and wiped away her tears. She gave Geraldine a stiff nod.