Fascination -and- Charmed Read Online Free PDF

night.”
    “Verra sensible, don’t ye think, Mr. Shanks?” Mrs. Moggach said.
    “Indeed,” Shanks agreed.
    “My God!” Mr. Innes said.
    Very suddenly Mr. McWallop swept up a handheld gong and sent a resounding bong echoing from stone walls.
    Grace’s hand went to her heart and she heard her mother gasp.
    “I’ll attend to this, Mr. Innes,” the steward said. His face became even redder. “I’ll thank ye to keep your opinions to yoursel’, Shanks. Mrs. Moggach, Mrs. Wren will do well enough in the Serpent Bedroom.”
    “Serpent?” Mama echoed faintly.
    “The girl can be put in Delilah.”
    “But that was—”
    “It’s the only other room suitable at short notice,” Mr. McWallop interrupted Mrs. Moggach. “Make certain everything is made as comfortable as possible for the ladies’ stay—including a good breakfast before they leave in the mornin’.”
    Four untidily liveried men appeared, each one showing signs of having hastily donned his white wig. A few short commands from Mr. McWallop sent them rushing in different directions.
    “The ladies will not be leaving in the morning,” Mr. Innes said. “Be prepared for a discussion, McWallop; you, too, Shanks. Mrs. Moggach, your presence will also be required. I’ll speak to the marquess and let you all know when you’ll be called.”
    “The marquess is not interested in—”
    Mr. Innes waved McWallop to silence. “He will be now.”
    “I dinna see why he—”
    “I’ll take Mrs. and Miss Wren to the old marquess’s drawing room.”
    “Ye’ll do no such thing!” Mrs. Moggach’s voice rose. “It’s not been used since—”
    “It will be used
now.
And it will be used a great deal in the near future. I’ve no doubt your new mistress will wish to reopen many rooms.”
    Grace attempted a smile but failed miserably.
    The three servants stood quite still. “New mistress?” Shanks said clearly.
    Mama bustled forward. “Yes. New mistress. And not a moment too soon from the look of this place.” She wrinkled her nose. “Cobwebs. Dust!” One white-clad finger made a trail over the breastplate of the nearest suit of armor.
    “Well!” Mrs. Moggach said, rolling in her lips. “And who are you?”
    “I’m the mother—”
    “Please, Mama. This is all quite outrageous.”
    “Mrs. Wren is the mother of your new mistress,” Mr. Innes said calmly.
    The woman looked from Mama to Grace, and her eyes made a disbelieving journey from the top of Grace’s “too-thoughtful blue” bonnet to the matching slippers that peeped from the hem of her velvet pelisse. “I don’t understand a word o’ this.”
    Grace recognized a petty adversary and rallied. Rudeness was one thing she could not abide. She raised a hand, signaling for silence. “That will do, Mrs. Moggach.” Her own sharp voice startled her, but only for an instant. “If you wish to keep your position, you will follow the instructions you’ve been given. At once! Do I make myself clear?”
    “And who is it that gives me orders?”
    “I do,” Grace said firmly, taking pleasure from the look of surprised glee that transformed Mr. Innes’s serious face. “If I hear even the smallest complaint, I shall inform the marquess that you are to be discharged at once.”
    “He’ll not listen, ye wee upstart.”
    “He most certainly will. As his fiancée and soon to be wife, he will listen to whatever I have to say.”
    McWallop dropped the gong.
     
    Why purple? Grace wondered. Purple draperies, purple counterpane and canopy, small purple armchairs; even the silk carpet that completely covered the bedroom floor was purple.
    No matter. At last she was alone. Mama was taken with the opulence of the extraordinary Serpent Room and had already retired, exhausted, for the night.
    Grace decided she would probably never sleep again. She went to hold her cold hands over the fire that had been lighted in the bulbous, black metal fireplace—surrounded by purple and white plaster depicting grape