I was the captain on this sinking vessel as the first wave crashed over the bow. I glanced from Louise to Elizabeth, not sure which would strike first. Louise was more unstable, but Elizabeth had years of practice at beating me down. Charlotte drew in on herself, trying to disappear from the argument.
"A mistake, surely—" What had I done? I should never have let his misconception linger for this long. I never intentionally deceived Seth. I thought we enjoyed a summer romance, and that his feelings would turn just as the trees did with the coming autumn. I thought to cherish his kisses as memories, like a flower pressed in a book long after winter has taken hold and the warmth of the sun has long cooled.
Elizabeth rose and walked behind me, each step measured and deliberate. "I heard talk that your father never married your servant mother, but fooled the imbecile by waving a piece of paper at her, so I can understand you using her surname. But really, to deceive the duke into thinking you had more breeding than the pigs wallowing in mud? How could he mistake you for anything but a cheap whore?"
There was at least some of her statement I could rebut. "I assure you, I made no such assertion to him about my origins. It is only in the course of protecting our district from vermin, that I have had need to talk to Seth."
From across the table, Louise spluttered. She leaned on her knuckles. "His name should never pass your common lips."
"Quite, dearest." Elizabeth said. "You would dare call his grace by his given name? You, a mere scullery maid?"
In that singular moment, I was the gazelle surrounded by hyenas. I dared not turn my head to face step-mother and leave myself exposed to Louise and Charlotte.
Elizabeth pointed a finger at Magda. "Get out."
The cook froze, her gaze darted to my face. I had forgotten she was even there until now. "
Go
," I mouthed. I would not endanger my friends through my folly. She nodded and rushed out the door. I only hoped she would bring back the others, and Elizabeth would stay her hand, or would an audience provoke her further?
"Hold her," Elizabeth said to her daughters.
Charlotte looked up. "I really don't think this is necessary."
Elizabeth glared at her youngest child. "Excuse me? Am I sadly mistaken? Did I harbour a traitorous viper to my bosom all these years?"
"No," Charlotte spluttered. "I just think—"
"Family or the serving girl?” Elizabeth asked. Her voice dropped to a low tone. "Choose your side Charlotte, and think very carefully,"
A tear trickled from Charlotte's tightly closed eyes. She shook her head, opened her eyes, and stared at me. I read the apology she could never speak in her large eyes. There was no escape for her from her mother's tight grasp. If only I could think of a way to free us all from Elizabeth's reign, and revisit her foul deeds upon her.
"Enough. She needs to be punished for touching my fiancé," Louise said. She lunged, grabbed my hands, and pulled me across the table.
Louise caught me as I still stared at Charlotte, throwing me off balance. I slammed into the wood before I could catch my footing and escape. Charlotte threw in her lot with the enemy and seized my other hand. I fought and struggled, but they were standing, and I was stretched over the expanse of timber, my toes off the ground.
"He is mine," Louise said, her face low to glare at me. "And he will propose tonight and forget you ever existed."
I heard the switch the moment before it fell. It made an audible woosh as it cut through the air, seconds before it struck my back. I jerked, but kept my lips sealed. For once I was grateful for my rough linen shirt and waistcoat. Step-mother was in too much of a hurry to strip me bare, and the clothing offered a small measure of protection from the blows.
"Slattern," Elizabeth said, dashing another blow to my body. Each strike was punctuated with an insult, either to me or my mother. Over and over, the physical blow struck laced with a verbal one.
After ten, I lost count. Not long after that, I stopped struggling. My skin sensitised as my nerves screamed with each hit. My mind couldn't hold in the whimpers and count at the same time. I refused to cry out, but tears welled in my eyes. Never had I seen step-mother this angry. Never had a beating lasted this long. I braced for the next strike, but it didn't come.
"Bring her to the stables."
I nearly sobbed in relief that it was over. I lay still; my back burned as though she had taken the iron resting on the range and pressed it to my naked skin. Louise and Charlotte pulled me to my feet, and I cried out as muscles flexed and pain flared over me. I stumbled for a step or two, my legs were wobbly and refused to be a party to whatever else she planned.
Fight, Ella, fight.
I commanded myself. I would not be her willing victim. We emerged into the early dusk, and I drew a deep lungful of fresh air.
Then I struck.
My arm came free of Charlotte's grip, flew in an arc, and connected with Louise's face. There was a most satisfying smack as I punched her square in the nose. It was almost like Charlotte knew what was coming, and had deliberately let me go. Louise went down screaming, and Elizabeth turned on me.
"See to your sister," she ordered as she grabbed my hair and twisted, throwing me to the ground.
I had the satisfaction of seeing blood bloom between Louise's fingers as she clutched at her face. Please let her nose be broken. Elizabeth raised the switch and added an extra blow to my already wounded back while I lay in the compacted dirt.
I swallowed the cry, but couldn't hide the wince.
Elizabeth breathed hard as she pointed the switch at me. "You come with me, or Alice will take your place."
No. Not Alice. I would do anything to protect my family, and in that moment, I made a vow to do anything to bring Elizabeth down. I would be the instrument of her destruction, I just needed to figure out how.
I pushed off onto unsteady feet, and managed to follow her lead. Step by step, she pulled me to the stables and thrust me into an empty stall. Against one wall, from the tie up ring, dangled chains and shackles. She had prepared in advance for my return.
She snapped the cuffs around my wrists and stood back.
"You will stay here while we attend the ball. I will deal with you in the morning." Her eyes narrowed and gleamed like a rodent's in the half light. "But wouldn't it be most unfortunate if a vermin found you while you are chained to the wall."
The ice crashed through my body. God, no. Please don't tell me she planned to leave me vulnerable and open to attack? Was her core so rotten that she could commit such evil?
I pulled at the chain, but it slid through the ring and wouldn't come free. The shackles were too tight to wiggle my wrists from their prison. I was stuck. Pain and despair flowed over my limbs, and tears finally ran down my face.
Chapter Eighteen
Night fell and wrapped me in its embrace. I stopped crying, and the pain across my shoulder blades eased to a dull ache. My joints hurt more as the position forced my arms up, and I couldn't relieve the pressure. At least the soft breathing of the horses kept me company and reassured me I wasn't alone. They munched hay with a steady grind, occasionally whickering to each other.
Then my ears pricked at something not equine in origin — a tread more foot than hoof. Fear gripped my heart and gave a squeeze. "Who is it?" I called out.
No reply.
The feet shuffled closer. Oh God, a vermin was in the stalls. Had she laid a trail of vermin breadcrumbs, so one would find me helpless in the barn? Had she planned to use an undead creature to do her work and dispose of me? I renewed my effort to pull the ring from its home embedded in the wall. I leaned my weight against the chain, as a moan came from the aisle.
I jumped and pulled, but still it wouldn't budge. The metal only rubbed against my wrists, abrading my skin. A sob rose in my throat. I didn't want to die like this, chained in a stall while a vermin chewed my face off.
"Hen—," it hissed, "—ry."
The fear squeezing my heart loosened its grip a little. I took a breath. "Henry? Is that you?"
"Es." Light flared, he must have lit a lantern.
The sobs of terror turned to ones of relief as his face appeared between the rails. I drew air into my lungs in ragged gulps. He slid the door open and set the lantern on the floor.
"You spoke." Now that I knew he wasn't a creature intent on chewing my limbs and tearing my flesh, I realised the miracle of hearing his voice for the first time since his return from war.
He nodded. Maybe it was a one-time only thing. He pointed to me and screwed his face up. "You, scared."
"Scared?" I wasn't even going to attempt a lie. "If you hadn't spoken I would have wet myself, I've never been so terrified. I thought you were a vermin come to eat my nose."
He huffed a soft laugh.
"It's not funny." I pulled on my chains. "Can you get me out?"
He nodded again, pulling a small hacksaw from his jacket. Over the next few minutes, with great care, he sawed through the bolts holding the shackles around my wrists until they fell away.
Alice ran down the aisle as he helped me to my feet. "Oh, thank God you're all right." She hurtled into the stall and wrapped her arms around me. I cried out as she pounded my back.
My friend's voice shook with unshed tears and outrage. "They wouldn't let us come out to you. Magda and I had to help them dress for the ball, and she sent Henry off on a fool's errand to town for hat pins."
Alice released me and slung my arm over her shoulders. Henry shook his head, his speaking role over, but he took my other arm. Our little group headed back across the yard to the house. My two friends lifted my every step, so I did not bear my weight alone.
"We need to get you changed. Henry will drive you over to Serenity House," Alice said.
My feet rooted themselves to the spot, and we all came to a halt. I thought I was going to go mad chained to that wall, but it seemed Alice already had. "Get me changed? For what?"
"The ball, silly."
"Are you stark raving mad? Elizabeth knows I've been seeing the Duke of Leithfield. She whipped me for it. And now you want me to waltz on over there?"
Alice blinked. "Seth is waiting to dance with you, or will you let her and Louise win?"
That put the steel back in my spine. I knew things were over with Seth. I never thought it would end any other way, but I desperately wanted that last dance with him. I needed to say goodbye. Besides, there would be an enormous amount of satisfaction in giving a rude gesture to Louise from the duke's embrace. There was a second reason as well: step-mother had sunk to a new low and I could not let her win. Wasn't this why our boys fought and died in Europe? For freedom and justice? I had to face my greatest enemy and overcome her.
I blew out a sigh. "All right."
Alice squealed and gave me another quick hug. "Wait until you see what we have."
While I languished in jail, they had been busy. The tin bath sat in front of the range, and a gentle curl of steam rose from the surface. Lavender drifted on the air, there must be a few drops in the water.
Alice pointed to Henry. "You, out. Get that horrid motorcycle ready." Then she turned to me. "Let's get you out of these, you need a quick scrub so Seth doesn't smell manure all night."
I looked down. For me, I wasn't that dirty at all, and the stalls were regularly mucked out. Yet a determined Alice was a force of nature. Everything came off. I held in the cry when my shirt and chemise grazed over my back. Alice stared at my naked form, but remained silent.
"How bad is it?" I asked as I climbed into the bath. It was only short, so I hugged my knees close to my chest as the heat soaked through my bones.
"Welts mostly, only two have broken the skin. I'm so sorry, Ella."
"It doesn't matter." I rested my head on my knees. I would do it all over again for the same stolen moments in Seth's arms. They could never take that away from me.
"How can you say that? She's a horrid, evil witch." Alice picked up a sponge and dribbled water over my injured back.
"Louise will marry Seth and they will move to Serenity House — that will leave us here. We can look after father and run the estate without her meddling."
A lump settled in my gut as I said the words. I was truly sorry for Seth, but aristocratic marriages were rarely happy, and often more about a meeting of vested interests than hearts. Louise would be the perfect ornament at his table, I just hoped he found something for himself before she ate his heart and left him a hollow shell.
Another name drifted through my memory — Hubert Jeffrey. Over the last six months, he had penned many letters to Charlotte. Hubert would one day inherit the farm from father. It could not be a co-incidence. What did Elizabeth plan?
The kitchen door swung open and Magda entered with a waterfall in her arms, or so it appeared. Strands of blue and silver poured from her hands. As the light caught the sheath, they spun and sparkled like captured stars.
I arched an eyebrow. "What do you have there?"