Page 95 of The Maid's Secret

He looked at me, reading the meaning in my eyes.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “Really?”

“Yes,” I said. “I don’t know what to do. I’m so ashamed.”

I expected him to rage and fume, to call me loose and blame me for our indiscretions, but of course, I was confusing him with other men I’d known.

“There is no reason for shame,” he said. “I’m overjoyed, Flora! I can’t believe my luck.” He picked me up and spun me around in his arms. He held me tight, spilling tears of joy on my shoulders. I felt fortunate and doomed at the same time.

We visited a doctor, who confirmed what I already knew. And next, we told Uncle Willy. He took it stoically, his feelings clearly mixed, but he, too, spilled tears of joy for us all.

He held my hand and John’s on Mrs.Mead’s kitchen table. “If only she’d lived to see the day. It was her biggest dream, you know, that the two of you would find each other one day, a hope lodged in her heart, one that I dashed regularly, thinking it too preposterous to imagine. And now, here it is, as though she willed it into being.” He went quiet for a moment. “But what about university, John?”

“I’ll defer. I’ll go some other year. I’ll find us all a place to live. I’ll get a job. We’ll get away from this cursed manor, all of us. Life will finally begin.”

Life will end,I thought to myself, and I wonder if Uncle Willy had the same thought but was too good to voice it.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he said. “That’s what my sister used to say. We’ll figure everything out in good time.”

The next day, Uncle Willy found me in Papa’s library and told me to go to the cottage right away. “John’s waiting for you,” he said.

When I sneaked out the back and made my way to the cottage, John wasn’t there, but a trail of wild rose petals plucked from their blooms marked a path to the old oak tree. Standing beside it was thelove of my life. He got down on one knee and proposed to me right there. I said yes, and he took the Claddagh ring from his pinkie and put it on my ring finger—a perfect fit.

There was only one thing to do after that—tell my parents. I begged them for a moment of their time, and we assembled in Papa’s office. His desk and Capital Throne were gone, sold to the highest bidder and replaced with an old folding card table and chair from the basement.

“I am with child,” I said simply, expecting to be disowned on the spot.

Mama looked at Papa, her face filled with an emotion I could hardly comprehend given what I’d just said. Her eyes were bright with hope. “But this is a miracle,” she said. “This is fate ordained!”

“My dear girl,” said Papa as he rose to his full height and gently placed his hands on my cheeks. “This is wonderful news.”

“He’ll have to marry you now,” said Mama.

Only then did I realize what they’d both assumed. “It’s John,” I said. “John is the father.”

A storm cloud came over Papa, a great darkness enveloping him. He grabbed both of my arms. “That’s a lie. Tell me it’s a lie!” he growled.

“It’s the truth,” I said, as I tried in vain to pull away.

“The butler’s boy had his way with you? Under my roof?” Papa boomed.

“He won’t get away with this!” said Mama.

“John is not to blame,” I explained. “I love him, and we’re engaged.”

Papa looked down at the ring on my finger, and for a minute I thought he would spit on it, but he unhanded me then and stormed out of his office.

“Where are you going?” I asked as I rushed down the stairs after him.

He marched all the way to the front of the manor, where Uncle Willy stood vigil by the door.

“You’re fired,” he said. “Leave the manor immediately—you and your wretched son. He raped my daughter. If you don’t leave now, I’ll skin him alive.”

Uncle Willy merely bowed his head, as though he’d been expecting this and only this. He strode past my father and took my hand in his, about to march out the stately front door with me in tow.

“Leave her,” my father snarled as he broke our connected hands. “Be gone!” he roared; then he pushed Uncle Willy out, slamming and locking the door behind him.

Papa turned to me, gripping my jaw in his viselike hands. “You’re a disgraced woman. You’re good for nothing now. Go!” he yelled. Then he landed a strong and sudden blow to my face.