Her Master's Touch Read Online Free PDF

snapped to attention. The
library and master study? Locked when not in use? Why? Because one
of the rooms guarded something valuable...?
    "…and with the eight-thirty gong," Mrs.
Throckmorton continued, "you will go to the bed chambers where you
will dust, sweep and scrub floors. At noon you will take tiffin
with the servants, after which you will gather laundry, mend sheets
and mark linens. The six o'clock gong will announce porridge, after
which you will retire to your room. At nine-o'clock, lamps are
extinguished. You will enter through the servant's entrance, have
no male visitors, attend church on Sunday, and if you find yourself
in his lordship's presence, you will curtsy, lower your eyes, and
address him as 'My Lord.' Have I made myself clear?"
    The woman's condescending attitude was
degrading, and before she could check herself, Eliza said, with an
air of erudition, "I shall endeavor to follow the rules and conduct
myself in the precise manner of which you have outlined."
    Mrs. Throckmorton's eyes narrowed into
scornful slits. "Watch your tongue girl. Don't be talking with
high-flown ways, patterning yourself after your betters, or you'll
find yourself working in the laundry. Now, I shall show you to your
quarters."
    Eliza followed the woman up three flights of
stairs and down a hallway to a stifling, inferno of a room tucked
beneath a hot tile roof. The headboards of two narrow beds butted
up to one wall, and at the foot of each stood a scuffed, wooden
chest. On the opposite wall, with barely enough room to pass, were
two small tables, each bearing a pitcher and a wash basin. In the
corner stood the thunderbox—a stark wooden commode with arms and a
lid that closed over an enameled chamber pot. Eliza stepped to the
window and peered out. Below stretched the veranda roof. If she
were cautious, she could crawl out the window at night and sit on
the roof and wait for the moon and coolness...
    "Girl! Do you think you have been employed to
dawdle the day away?"
    Eliza sighed. "No, Mrs. Throckmorton."
    "One more thing." She leveled stern eyes on
Eliza. "There will be no prowling about the house after the
lanterns are extinguished. And, I pray you will not disgrace us as
Alice did, sneaking out and engaging in a tryst. And see where it
got her. Unwed and with child. Why his lordship employed the
wretched girl remains a mystery. And why he enlisted your services
is also a mystery. It's obvious, you are willful and
untrained."
    "I beg to differ with you, Mrs.
Throckmorton," Eliza said. "I was a ladies maid for—" she paused on
the verge of announcing her fictitious Lord Hall, then shut her
mouth.
    "You cannot remember the name. I thought so.
And a liar you be also. Well, you'll not be lying to me." Mrs.
Throckmorton slapped Eliza 's cheek. "You are flippant and impudent
and I will not tolerate such insolence."
    Eliza balled her fist to keep from striking
back. If there were not so much at stake, she would. The tedious,
despicable old termagant certainly gave her reason.
    "Change your clothes," Mrs. Throckmorton
snapped, "and meet me in the sitting room where I shall acquaint
you with your duties before his lordship's… lady arrives."
    Eliza looked at the woman with a start. "I
thought there was no Lady Ravencroft."
    Mrs. Throckmorton's nostrils flared. "There
is no Lady Ravencroft. Now, you shall not discuss his lordship or
his lordship's lady. Gossip among the servants is not tolerated."
Turning abruptly, she marched off, the jangling of keys accompanied
by her brisk steps echoing down the hallway.
    Eliza stared after her. So, there was a lady
in Lord Ravencroft's life. But then there would be. The man was
breathtakingly handsome, she begrudgingly acknowledged, even if he
was a pompous jackass. Naturally he'd be pursued by women.
    What was the future Lady Ravencroft like?
Poised? Genteel? Exquisite? Which was of no concern to her...
Unless, of course, the lady was the intended recipient of the opal
and it were to leave