Page 51 of An Unwanted Widow for the Duke (The Unwanted Sisters #3)
Chapter One
“ O h! Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was here.”
Georgina wasn’t expecting anyone to be in the kitchens at such an early hour. The maid sat alone with her back to the door, her shoulders jerking up and down, high-pitched sobs emanating from her.
She froze, ready to turn tail, but the weeping sounds echoed what she held in her heart, so she hesitated long enough for the maid to turn and look over her shoulder, who then shrieked in surprise.
The scream startled Georgina immensely.
“I’m so sorry,” the maid gasped as though she’d done something horribly wrong. She quickly wiped her eyes and then her nose with the back of her sleeve before standing and brushing down her apron. “Oh, my lady, it’s you. I mean… I’m sorry; I’m being terribly rude.”
Georgina held up her hand. “Please, think nothing of it. You didn’t expect anyone to be wandering around at this hour.”
“No, I didn’t.” Tears returned to the maid’s eyes, but she didn’t wipe them away, as if by ignoring them they would disappear.
Her shoulders heaved as though they were following music.
“Why don’t you sit?” Georgina suggested. She was carrying her own significant problems, but the maid’s sadness broke her heart. She walked over to her and took her by the arm. “Come, sit down and rest.”
Georgina Walford was the daughter of the late Earl of Ridgewell and was now in the company of her uncle, the current Lord Ridgewell, at his townhouse residence in London.
“I’m not sure what came over me,” the maid said as she sat. “I will pull myself together and then see to your needs. Did you come down here for some food? What can I make you, my lady?”
“It is my order that you sit and don’t move.” Georgina smiled. “Now, I didn’t expect anyone to be here, but I did expect to make myself some bread with butter and jam, and I have a craving for warm milk with honey. Can I make you some, too?”
The maid started giggling through her sobbing. “Oh, my goodness, what is happening to me? I can make all of that, my lady, I’m just being a silly goose!”
“You will not, and you are not. I ordered you to sit, and I’m ordering you to eat and drink what I make for you, and I won’t hear another word about it. Do you understand me?” She spoke firmly but kindly, as she didn’t want to scare the poor girl.
The maid nodded, but her eyes immediately widened. She froze for a moment before her head snapped to the side as if on instinct, and she stared wide-eyed at Georgina.
“My goodness, it’s your wedding day today, isn’t it, my lady?”
Georgina laughed because it was much more pleasant than joining the maid in her sobbing.
She poured milk from the bottle into the pot, adding more wood to the embers in the center of the range.
“Yes, it is indeed my wedding day. Everyone knows that a lady should get what she wants on her wedding day; what I want is to ensure no one is sad on mine.”
“I didn’t mean to?—”
Georgina held up a finger as she added ground nutmeg with her free hand. “Your name is Dottie, isn’t it?”
The maid smiled and nodded.
“Dottie, I want to help you with whatever you are going through. Please, will you share with me what’s troubling you?”
Dottie lost her smile and looked down at the floor.
“My lady, I couldn’t possibly burden you…”
“Please, Dottie. Consider it a wedding gift,” Georgina pressed.
The maid pursed her lips, “It’ll be one of the worst gifts you’ll receive today, my lady.”
“A gift all the same.”
Dottie sighed, a torrent of emotions and thoughts flickering in her eyes. Finally, she exhaled once again, and her hand moved from her leg to her stomach, telling Georgina everything she needed to know.
“You’re with child,” Georgina noted.
Dottie nodded, tears flowing silently down her cheeks.
Georgina stirred the milk as it began to warm. “I gather those are not happy tears, so… this wasn’t planned, was it?”
Dottie shook her head, unable to look at Georgina.
“Was it one of our footmen?” Georgina asked.
The girl shook her head again, chewing the inside of her cheek. The shameful expression on her face made Georgina frown.
“Was it someone in society?” Georgina asked. “Did he force you?”
“No, it wasn’t like that,” Dottie sobbed. “H-He was charming and good to me, and I thought he might even… when I told him I was with child, he… he threatened me, told me I had to disappear.”
Georgina gasped. “That’s awful.”
Some of the milk spilled from the pan as she stirred it vigorously.
“Such men have no decency,” she added, “I don’t need to know his name, but if you do wish to share, I will do my utmost to bring him to justice.”
Dottie smiled, and her shoulders bobbed with her laughter.
But her laughter soured quickly, and she descended into weeping again.
“I would… n-never have… it was before you were courting… I promise!”
Georgina leaned on the spoon, which toppled from the pan, sending a ribbon of white milk into the air before it left her hand and clattered to the stone floor.
For a moment, her heart skipped a beat. Then it swiftly began to pound, each beat like a dagger in her chest. She ignored the spoon and placed one hand on her chest.
“Lord Abbington,” Georgina whispered.
The man I’m to marry today.
Dottie hunched over where she sat, crying like she had when Georgina first entered the kitchens.
“I didn’t want anything,” Dottie said darkly, still facing the cold wall.
The tears had stopped momentarily. “I know he can’t be a father to the child, but perhaps a small amount of money…
to look after the child, not a significant amount by any means!
I barely have enough for myself. But the Earl…
he turned me away. He told me I was a liar, and that if I told anyone, he would… ”
She paused, breaking into harder sobs, and Georgina patted her back gently.
Once she’d calmed a little, Dottie continued, “When I heard he was courting you, I promised myself that I would tell no one, that I wouldn’t ruin anything for you, and I shouldn’t have said anything this morning. I should have kept my mouth shut, but now, I’ve ruined it all! This is all my fault!”
“No,” Georgina managed. The anger inside was rising like the flames licking the dry wood she’d added to the embers, and soon it would bubble over like the milk in the pan if left unattended. “This is not your fault. This is his fault, and he will not get away with it.”
Dottie suddenly spun around. “No, please! Please don’t say anything; I’m begging you, my lady!”
“I’m going to make this right,” Georgina told her, “I promise.”
As the milk began to bubble, her cheeks reddened. Her appetite had disappeared.
“Please, my lady,” Dottie implored, “If the Earl finds out… I-I don’t want anything to happen to the child.”
“Nothing will happen to your child, you have my word.” She removed the pan from the heat.
“I want you to stay here and drink some milk. Drink enough for both of us—or rather, for both of you. I want you to put it out of your mind for now and go about your day as if it were any other. Can you do that for me?”
“But—”
“For me, Dottie. For my wedding gift.”
Dottie’s lower lip trembled just as much as her hands did. Still, she managed to wipe her eyes again.
“I’ll try,” she mumbled.
“Good,” Georgina said.
There was a lot more she wanted to say, but it would not help the poor young woman, so she left the kitchens and headed back to her room. She had to get ready to ride.
Georgina rode with the dawn and the wind. The sun rose on the horizon, and the wind whipped her hair, pulling it back, floating in the air like chocolate waves. The morning was chilly, but she was warmed by the horse she rode.
And the anger that was bubbling inside.
That warmed her more than the horse could, fueled the fire within, and confirmed to her that the Earl was not the man she should spend the rest of her life with.
How can I marry a man like him? After what he did to Dottie, how could I ever trust him? How long until he does the same again to some other poor girl?
As she rode, she knew she shouldn’t jump to conclusions without hearing his side of the story, but Dottie’s emotion had been so raw and real that it was hard for Georgina not to accept it as truth.
She urged her mount to gallop faster until she saw the Earl of Abbington’s townhouse rise in the distance.
Hesitation replaced her ire, but she pushed it aside and focused on her mission.
As she approached the townhouse, her eyes spotted the Earl through the window of his breakfast room.
So, he’s awake .
He was enjoying his meal, reading the newspaper as he forced smoked fish into his mouth.
Her body trembled at the thought of him with his hands all over Dottie, forcing her to do his bidding. She shook her head as she approached the door. That was not what had happened. It was only after he got what he wanted that he’d treated her rottenly.
She rode to the back of the townhouse and dismounted, tethering the horse to the railing. She kept the hood of her cloak up to ensure that even if she were spotted at such an odd hour, no one would see her face.
She knocked at the servant’s entrance, and a footman soon answered, blinking at her in surprise.
“Lady Georgina,” he greeted. “Pardon me, I didn’t?—”
“I must speak with Lord Abbington. Alone.”
“Of course. Please come in,” the footman said. “The drawing room is just?—”
“I’ll find it myself, thank you.”
She left the footman and strode down the hallway to the drawing room. When she got there, she paced back and forth, trying to formulate what she might say to him, but her mind was swirling with too many emotions to form a coherent thought.
“My dear fiancée,” the Earl said teasingly when he laid eyes upon her. “I am so surprised to see you. But I admit, it is a pleasant surprise. Tell me, what is the reason for your visit? Do you wish to start the wedding night festivities early?”