Her flat tone caused those around the table to look at each other. The only time Mrs Kempton used that particular tone was when she was angry. If the rose-tinted flush on her cheeks was any indication, she was coldly furious with Edwards. Nobody moved or said a word as they waited to see whether the nurse would have a full-blown tantrum.
After several moments of glaring at Mrs Kempton, who proceeded to eat her meal in stony silence, she huffed and stomped her foot. Spinning on her heel, she stormed out of the kitchen and slammed the door behind her.
“She is going to be trouble that one, I can feel it,” Rollo murmured.
“She isn’t going to be trouble,” Mrs Kempton corrected. “She is trouble.”
Rollo nodded. “She has delusions of grandeur, and it has no place in this house.”
“Try telling her that. I have no doubt there are to be more run-ins of that kind before she leaves.”
“I will forewarn the master,” Rollo replied. He threw Petal a warning look.
“You watch yourself, young lady. Do not start to ferry anything around for that woman unless the master tells you to. Remember that you are here as the master’s servant, not the nurse’s. I have no doubt she will try to use you to get her things delivered, but you are not to give that woman an inch.”
Petal looked doubtful. “I am just the upstairs maid.”
“If she gives you any trouble, Petal, you tell me,” Mrs Kempton ordered. “I shall have a word with the master myself.”
That said, everyone turned their attention back to their meals, but the conversation was muted. Half an hour later, with the tension failing to lift, everyone left the table and returned to their duties. It was evident to everybody that Edwards had no intention of joining them, but Petal had to ask herself why the woman needed to be in the house at all. With everybody having their assigned duties, having a nurse just seemed unnecessary.
Shaking her head at the strangeness of the aristocracy, Petal turned over in bed and sighed deeply when Aggie rolled over the other way taking the covers with her. Tugging them back, Petal rolled her eyes and closed them with a yawn. While she tried hard not to ponder on it, she had to wonder what tomorrow would bring.
The following morning, she was still yawning when she opened the door to Sir Aidan’s bedroom. Sleep had been a long time coming last night. When it had arrived it had been fitful to the point that an hour ago she had surrendered and started her day early. Her exhaustion now made her rather wish she had remained in bed instead. It was still dark outside, but she had already worked her way through most of her upstairs chores by candlelight. Now that she had done the bulk of her work, she was exhausted and smothered another yawn as she crept quietly into the room to light the master’s fire.
As familiar as she was with the layout of the upper floor, she didn’t bother to light a candle as she tiptoed toward the fire with a bucket of wood in her hand.
“You are here early.”
The deep rumble coming unexpectedly from the bed made her squeak. She spun around so quickly that several pieces of wood flew out of the top of her bucket. Dropping to her knees, she quickly picked them up, aware that he was still waiting for her to answer. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, and she waited for him to chastise her for waking him up.
“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” She stammered and mentally winced when she realised she shouldn’t have spoken to him. “I am sorry.”
“There is no reason to be sorry,” he replied smoothly, seemingly unperturbed at the intrusion.
She couldn’t see him, but his husky baritone of his voice coming from the shadows sent shivers down her spine, and it had nothing to do with fear or trepidation. Rather than break any more house rules, Petal turned her attention to lighting the fire and dropped to her knees before the hearth. She quickly lit the candle beside her knees and brushed up the wood dust, all the while trying desperately to ignore the fact that she could feel him watching her.
“Are you always up and about this early?” Aidan asked with a frown.
He knew from the last chimes of the clock that it was barely half past four. Surely Rollo didn’t have the staff up and about before dawn?
“No, sir,” Petal replied. She was unable to explain for fear of breaking the strict house rules again.
“Why are you here then?”
“To do the fire, sir.”
Aidan sighed and wondered if she had limited intelligence.
“Yes, I know that,” he snapped. “But surely your duties don’t start until six. It is early yet, so why are you working in the middle of the night?”
Petal frowned. She could hardly tell him that she hadn’t been able to sleep because she had been thinking about him, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him either.
“I couldn’t get back to sleep, sir. Because you haven’t been well, I thought I should light the fire in case you were cold, sir,” she replied quietly, aware of the crackle and pop of the flames beside her.
“But I heard you sweeping the hallway outside,” Aidan frowned.
Something was going on, he just knew it.