Page 1 of The Baron’s Perfect Match (Twist of Fate #1)

M iss Audrey Parker peeked around the corner while rubbing her sweaty palms on her dress. She’d just run up the main staircase, even though it wasn’t allowed for servants to use them. Servants were relegated to using the back stairs.

She peeked around the corner again, her nerves on edge.

Should she chance it? No one was in the darkened hallway, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Everyone should have retired to their beds by now, and she should be able to make her way to her small room in the attic without interference.

A tiny voice in the back of her mind warned her to go back down to the kitchen and use the servants’ stairs to the attic, but she was so tired and just wanted to lay her head down and sleep.

Using the main staircase would save her time and energy, which she didn’t possess overmuch of at the moment.

I’ll be fine. Just this once. No one is about.

She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and stepped into the hallway. So far, so good , she thought as she crept along on silent feet. She quickened her pace. The stairs to the attic were almost within reach when she felt cruel fingers clamp down on her wrist.

She gasped in surprise, and icy terror crawled up her throat, as she hadn’t seen her assailant hiding in the small alcove.

“Where are you going, sweet thing?” an inebriated voice said. “Let’s have a little fun together. Shall we?”

How could she have been so foolish? She should have known better, but she’d thought that, just this once, she could save her poor, tired feet from all the extra steps it would take to go back down to the kitchen, then all the way up to the attic using the servants’ stairs at the back of the house.

“Please release me, sir,” Audrey begged, trying to pull her wrist out of his grasp as she struggled to get free. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest, fearing what he would do to her. “Please—”

The bruising slap across her face nearly sent Audrey to her knees. “Shut up! I’m warning you.”

It was only because Edwin still had hold of her wrist that she didn’t fall to the floor.

No one had ever abused her so. Getting caught by Edwin was her worst nightmare.

She’d hoped she’d be able to finish out the month in this position, but it didn’t look like that would be possible any longer.

Once a maid was within Edwin’s sight, he never gave up until he got what he wanted.

Now all was lost, and all because she was too tired to use the back stairs.

The son of her employer was a brute who thought it was his right to grab and harass the maids.

Of course no one ever complained—everyone needed their positions to survive.

Audrey had heard the horror stories about Edwin from the other servants, particularly some of the other maids in the household, but she’d been fortunate enough to keep out of Edwin’s way before this night.

His eyes were glassy, his breath smelled foul, and even though he was drunk, he was incredibly strong. She braced herself to fight. There was no way she’d let him take her innocence.

During the past year, Beckwith, her family’s butler, had taught her some moves to defend herself in case she was ever attacked.

After her family hit upon hard times, he was the only servant who hadn’t left them when money became scarce.

Audrey was so grateful for his loyalty, although she couldn’t really blame the staff who’d left.

They had to feed themselves, and for that, they needed paying positions.

After the initial wave of fear of being caught, she remembered what Beckwith had taught her. She clamped down on the panic, took a deep breath, and let her training kick in, spinning around and punching Edwin in the throat before stomping on his instep.

It had the desired effect.

Edwin released her and stumbled back against the wall, clawing at his throat and gasping for air.

Finally free, she didn’t wait for him to regain his feet. She raced down the hallway and around the corner to the servants’ back stairs. Behind her, she heard Edwin finally find his voice. “You bitch! You’ll pay for that.”

There was no time to waste. She had to leave immediately. She hoped Edwin was too drunk to climb the narrow stairs to the attic. It didn’t stop her mind from worrying about what horror awaited her if he did come after her.

Not wanting to find out the answer to that, she pulled her worn valise out from under the bed and began throwing her meager belongings into the bag.

She retrieved her coin purse from under the mattress and stuffed it into her bodice.

With only a few items to her name, the packing took less than a minute.

She looked around the small room, knowing the only thing she’d miss about this position was her wages. They weren’t stellar wages, but the position was the best she could find, given her limited options.

Grabbing her cloak from the peg, she threw it on, picked up the valise, and made her way silently down the back stairs that led to the kitchen and freedom.

Stopping halfway down the stairs on the level where she’d been attacked, she listened for footsteps.

She wasn’t safe yet—she had to make it to the kitchen.

Did Edwin even know where the kitchen was located?

She highly doubted it, but after her scare tonight, she wasn’t taking any more chances.

When she heard no sound, she hurried down the rest of the stairs.

Once in the safety of the kitchen, she paused for a moment to catch her breath and ready herself for the long walk home.

She was so tempted to take some bread and cheese home to her younger sisters, but the last thing she wanted was to be accused of being a thief.

Losing her position was bad enough. She wouldn’t tarnish the family name any more than her wastrel father, Baron Fletcher, had already done.

With one last look around to make sure Edwin wasn’t anywhere near, she slipped out the back door and into the dark night.

It had been foolish to seek a maid’s position, she knew, but she had tried to find a more respectable position to no avail.

This position was the best she could find at the moment.

Audrey wasn’t accustomed to being out on the streets of London so late. She should have been safely tucked into bed. However, after the incident with Edwin, she had no choice but to make her way home to Gracechurch Street immediately.

She pulled her hood up against the biting February wind and walked as quickly as she could, tucking her valise under her arm.

Keeping an eye open for any other surprises, she’d never been so happy as when she finally saw her street come into view.

Luck had been with her tonight, and she was ever so grateful when she inserted her key into the lock of the kitchen door.

A huge sigh of relief escaped her lips, and her rapidly beating heart began to slow.

Using the back entrance had allowed her to sneak into the house without disturbing Beckwith, who would have long since retired for the evening. The house was dark and quiet, and she was beyond grateful to be finally safe.

“Miss Parker?” came a sleepy voice.

Audrey whirled around to see Beckwith standing in the doorway of the small bedroom off the kitchen. “Oh, Beckwith, you scared me.”

“I’m terribly sorry, miss, but what are you doing coming home so late at night?”

“That’s a story for another time. All I can say is that I’m ever so grateful that you’ve never left our employ.”

“Miss Parker, I would never leave your family,” he said.

“Thank you, but I don’t know how much longer we can pay you. Papa seems to be either gambling or drinking away everything.”

Beckwith nodded. “I know, miss. It’s a sad state of affairs.”

A silent tear rolled down Audrey’s cheek. “Thank you for not abandoning us. It’s a shame, but Papa hasn’t been the same since Mama passed away.”

“Yes. That was indeed tragic. Do you need anything, Miss Parker?”

“No, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern. Goodnight, Beckwith.”

“Goodnight, Miss Parker.”

Audrey left the kitchen, shaking her head to dispel the memories of that awful day when Mama took her last breath. She couldn’t change anything, and it wouldn’t do her any good to dwell on the past. She walked through the silent house, pausing to check in the parlor .

Her father had taken to sleeping in there lately. Perhaps he was too drunk to climb the stairs to his bedchamber. She didn’t know, and it really didn’t matter, except it meant she and her sisters couldn’t be in the room until he awoke or they would face dire consequences. No one wanted that.

She was at her wits’ end over what to do about her father these days.

No amount of cajoling or pleading stopped him from drinking away the meager funds they had left from their quarterly allowance.

It didn’t seem to matter to him that, between his drinking and incessant gambling, he was putting his three daughters at grave risk of becoming paupers.

She had no idea what he was thinking these days, and he refused to even discuss the situation with her.

Their circumstances should have been so different.

If her mother were still alive, Audrey would be attending balls and teas and enjoying musicales, not dodging the grabby hands of a spoiled young man who would never know a single day of hunger.

But her mother was gone too soon, and Audrey never got to have a Season.

Taking care of her father as much as he allowed and looking after her younger sisters was her lot in life now.

Not that she minded. She loved her family and would do anything for them, even demeaning herself by taking a maid’s position.