Maid to Be Mine: A Regency Cinderella Story (3 page)

“
What do you mean?” Cynthia asked, her lips quivering. She cast another glance at Edith, whose face was pinched with worry.

“
What we mean is, my beautiful cousin...” Rolly cleared his throat before continuing. His hands were back on his stomach, stroking the robust mound. “As of tomorrow, you're going to work with the servants!”

Chapter Three

“
The servants?! What?!”

“
You heard us correctly, Cynthia. And we are quite serious,” her stepmother went on. “Either you can work with the servants, or you can live on the streets. It's your decision.”

“
Mama!” Edith shouted. “Mama, this is an outrage!”

All of a sudden, Cynthia was a bit unsteady on her feet. The room was spinning, and she was seeing stars. It was as if she had been dealt a verbal slap to the face. “You can't do this!”

“
Oh, but we can,” Jemima insisted. “We can, and we shall!”

“
I'll live on the streets first!” Cynthia declared. “I won't let you insult me like this!”

Rolly reached for her arm, but she quickly pulled away. With a sigh, Rolly said, “I don't think that's such a good idea, cousin. The streets can be very... harsh. If you didn't have a place to stay, where would you go? You might be robbed. Or kidnapped. Or worse!” Roland grinned as he recited her potential fates.

Georgiana, who looked terribly amused by the turn of events, chimed in, “She would probably end up in prostitution! Can you not see it, Mama? Our Cynthia as some gentleman's doxy?”

“
Mother, I will not stand for this!” Edith asserted. “What would people think if they found out you had your stepdaughter working as a servant? How would that reflect on you?”

Jemima faced her eldest daughter and exasperatedly rolled her eyes. “Edith... nothing you say could possibly change my mind. Either you assist Cynthia in accepting her fate, or you can join her!”

“
Mama!”

“
I mean it, Edith. Do not test my patience, or you might find yourself working in the kitchen!”

Edith turned to Cynthia, who shook her head in protest. If she was going to suffer, there was no reason Edith should suffer with her. With her head held high, Cynthia took a step toward Rolly. “Roland...
you
have the power here. You're really going to make me do this?”

“
You're really not going to marry me?” Rolly fired back at her.

“
No!”

“
Then yes, Cynthia. You're going to be one of the servants, or I will cast you out!” Rolly resolutely crossed his arms. “And it is uncommonly cold tonight. I don't think you want to be tossed out if you haven't a place to stay!”

“
Very well...” Cynthia capsized. “You win, Lady Montforth. My fate is in your hands.”

“
Ooooo!” Georgiana clapped her hands together and let out a coo of delight. “This will be so amusing! I'll have you wash my linens, iron my clothes, brush my hair. You can be my personal maidservant!”

“
Come.” Jemima swept forward, grabbing Cynthia's arm. As they passed through the doorway, the mother cast a cautionary glance at Edith, warning her not to speak out of turn. Jemima's fingernails plunged into Cynthia's skin as she dragged her to the servants' quarters. When they were officially below stairs, they found three servants sitting around a dusty table.

The servants sprang to their feet as soon as they saw the ladies of the house enter their little hideaway. There were two men and one woman. The woman was about fifty, short and stocky, with wiry brown hair and masculine forearms. One of the men looked like he was in his late sixties, while the other one was quite young.

“
How can we help you, my lady?” asked the stocky woman. Her gaze was firmly fixed on the floor as she spoke.

“
Who is the one in charge here?!” Jemima barked.

“
I-I am,” said the maid. She flinched a bit, as if she expected to be admonished.

“
I have an announcement to make!” As Jemima made her declaration, she shoved her stepdaughter in the direction of the servants. “From this day forward, Cynthia Lockhart will be working with you. She will be a maid, a cook, a groom... she is whatever you need her to be. She is not to be addressed as
my lady
, or
Lady Cynthia
or even
Miss Lockhart
. When you are speaking to her, you will call her
Cynthia
, or you will call her nothing at all!”

With a gasp, the stocky maid asked, “
Really
, Lady Montforth?!”

“
Absolutely. If you have any questions, ask them now. And make it quick, for I have other business that requires my attention.”

Cynthia's head drooped between her shoulders. She couldn't bring herself to look at the servants, whose faces were pinched with confusion. This had to be the most humiliating day of her life, and it would only get worse.

“
Papa
...” she whispered to herself, “
oh,
how I wish you were here
.”

The younger man's arm shot up. “I have a question!”

“
Yes?”

“
Where is she supposed to sleep?”

“
She will sleep down here with all of you,” Jemima said. “I trust you won't mind sharing a room with her, umm...” Jemima stared at the lady maid, trying to dig her name from the depths of her memory. As the servants' names were hardly worthy of note, she did not bother to retain them.

“
Tess,” the woman said. “My name's Tess, and no... I certainly won't mind if the lady stays with me.”

“
Call her
Cynthia
,” Jemima reminded her. “She is not a lady anymore, you understand? Any more questions?”

“
What will she wear, my lady?” Tess asked.

“
She will wear something a maid would wear, something drab and gray. As of now, her worldly possessions belong to me, and her dresses belong to Georgiana.”

“
Lady Montforth!” Cynthia shouted. “I'm in mourning! You can't take everything away from me!”

Jemima seized the sleeve of Cynthia's black dress and shook her, wildly and madly, until they heard the sleeve rip. “And
you
, being a
servant
, will
not
talk back to me! Do you understand?!”

“
I don't—”

“
Do you understand
?!”

Cynthia looked down at her sleeve, where the threads had been pulled away from her shoulder. There was now a significant hole in her mourning dress. “Yes...”

“
Very good. Any more questions from you lot?” Jemima asked the servants. When they were silent for several seconds, she cheered, “Good! Then I'll be off. I trust you will make my stepdaughter comfortable? Although... I'm sure it isn't necessary for me to call her my
stepdaughter
anymore. The man is dead, after all!” Jemima chuckled as she hurried out of the room, leaving Cynthia alone with the three servants.

When Cynthia looked up at them, she realized, to her horror, that she did not even know their names. She lived under the same roof with these people and had never bothered to know more about them. One thing was certain: it was going to be an awkward introduction for everyone involved.

“
I am... Cynthia.” She bobbed a curtsy as she uttered her name. “Although, I am sure you know that already.” She ended her sentence with a nervous chuckle.

“
And I'm Tess, although I'm sure you gathered as much,” said the maid. “Is it alright for me to ask... what on earth is going on?!”

“
I... I'm not sure myself,” Cynthia said with a shrug. “I always knew she hated me, and I wouldn't agree to marry Rolly. I suppose this is my punishment?”

“
And it is
definitely
a punishment, working here,” said the younger man: a statement that earned him a slap on the arm from the brawny lady at his side. “Ow! What was that for, Tess?!”

“
Don't frighten the lady!” Tess shouted at him.

“
I'm not trying to frighten her. It's the truth!” The young man was still rubbing his arm and pouting. “We're so under-staffed, and there's so much work to be done! Did your stepmother tell you about that?”

“
Tell me about what?” Cynthia asked.

“
That there's just the t'ree of us! So we're expected to do all sorts of odd jobs. This week alone, I've had to be the footman, the cook,
and
the butler!”

Cynthia thought she detected a hint of an Irish accent, particularly in the way he said the word
three
.

“
Oh... hush up and stop scarin' the girl!” Tess chided him. “Why don't the two of youse introduce yourselves?”

The younger man held out his hand, which was a bit dirty, especially around his fingernails. “The name's Robert,” he said.

“
Um...” Cynthia had to study his hand for several seconds before she was finally brave enough to take it. “It is... a pleasure to meet you?”

“
Never thought I'd see you down here, Princess,” Robert said. “I've seen some strange things in my lifetime, but I'll be damned if this don't beat all!” Tess whacked the side of his head, and he shrieked, “Ow! Why'd I get slapped again?!”

“
Language
!” Tess cautioned him. “Watch your language around the lady. I swear, it's as if you have no manners at all!”

“
I have no matters attal!” Robert agreed, grinning. However, when he saw the tears wavering in Cynthia's eyes, his demeanor immediately softened. “Oi... I'm sorry to hear about your father. Lord Montforth wasn't a bad sort of man. He'll be missed, and, well... you have my condolences.”

Cynthia appreciated his attempt at compassion, so she flashed a weak smile.

“
And you, you great lummox!” Tess pointed a sausage-like finger at the other man in the room. “Say something to the lady!”

“
Something to the lady,” the older man grumbled. He was a very broad man, with a weathered face, white hair, tremendous bags under his eyes, and a mouth that looked like it had never smiled.

“
Pay him no mind, dear. He's always like this,” Tess said. “His name's Soloman, and he's not much for talkin'.”

There was a long period of silence, during which Cynthia's stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten anything all day, aside from a few bites of breakfast. Now that she was one of the servants, she wondered what she would eat.

“
Am I really supposed to call you
Cynthia
?” Robert asked, his voice finally breaking the silence. “It's hard to imagine being so informal with a lord's daughter!”

“
You may call me whatever you wish,” Cynthia said with a sigh. “I do not think it matters anymore.”

“
Whatever I wish?” Robert teased her, his green eyes dancing with amusement. He had a very boyish face, but he was incredibly tall, so it was impossible to guess his age. “So I can call you Cynny? Thia? Or my personal favorite: Princess?”

Tess reached up as far as she could and pinched Robert's ear. “I swear to God, if you weren't such a large boy, I would turn you over my knee!”

“
I'm not so large. I'm quite skinny!” Robert protested.

“
I mean you're too old for that!”

“
Well... thank goodness for that!”

As she listened to the servants bicker, Cynthia stared at the floor and battled the tears that were forming in her eyes.