High Society novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: Rosamund's Secret

Lord Marchbank took Hugh into the library to discuss the weather.

That is what he said, and the door shut on it with a click.

The Dowager took the Earl's footman to see her roses, which is to say she took him out of earshot.

That left me in the morning room with Lady Rosamund Selby and a plate of cold toast.

"Would you like to see the garden?" she asked the tablecloth.

"I would love to see the garden," I said.

Tilly followed us out with a tray, and then sat on the terrace step and ate the toast.

The garden at Denholm House was walled and green and very quiet.

There was a gravel walk and a stone bench, and a fountain with a fish on it that spat very little water.

Rosamund walked three steps along the gravel and then stopped.

She turned around and looked at my hands.

"You have the worst gloves I have ever seen on a lady," she said.

My stomach dropped through my slippers.

"They were my nurse's," I said.

"Your nurse had very large hands."

"She was a large woman."

"Lady Charlotte."

"Yes?"

"You have lye burns across all four knuckles."

"They come out through the cotton when you move your fingers."

"I know because my father's laundry maid has them, and she wept when I asked about them."

She said it very fast.

I stood on the gravel and thought about running.

"Are you going to tell him?" I asked.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I do not want to marry your brother."

She sat down on the bench in a heap of muslin.

Keep reading free with an account. Start High Society from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.