The Lost And Found Girl Read Online Free PDF

Mrs Collins walked in, fully dressed and carrying a lighted lamp. Beth’s eyelids closed with embarrassment. Had she no concept of what her son might be doing on his wedding night? What on earth could she want of him at such a late hour?
    ‘That is enough, Edgar,’ Mrs Collins said.
    He stopped his fruitless thrusting and twisted his head sideways and groaned.
    ‘I said that is enough. I heard you with her earlier and once is sufficient.’
    Beth saw his flushed angry face in the lamplight. ‘Go away, Mama,’ he growled.
    ‘Remember to whom you are speaking!’ she snapped and marched across the chamber. ‘Remember also that you are a gentleman and she is nothing. Already, she seeks to rob you of your strength.’
    It is not I who rob him, Beth thought. I know it is my duty to serve my husband’s needs, but surely he must have a care for my comfort in return! If anyone was robbed in this bed, it was her. She felt he had taken her against her will in a most cruel and callous manner without the slightest regard for her sensibilities. He had not treated her as his wife; rather,she felt as though she were nothing more to him than a common street woman, paid to relieve his urges. She realised, with increasing unease, that his past life must have included such activity.
    But Beth’s feelings were not the concern of either mother or son. Mrs Collins threw back the covers exposing their naked bodies and legs. To her surprise, Edgar obeyed his mother and rolled away from her. Cold air rushed into the fetid space between them and riffled over Beth’s naked skin. She felt a blush rise to her cheeks as she struggled to push down the folds of her nightgown. In the lamplight she noticed smudges of blood on the white cotton and more on the linen bed-sheets. Her embarrassment turned to anger as Mrs Collins stared at her dishevelled appearance with an expression of pure disgust. Beth clenched her jaw and demanded, ‘Am I not allowed my privacy, madam?’
    Her answer was a cold accusing glare as though the whole of this incident were her fault. ‘You, girl, go back to your chamber now.’
    Beth considered disobeying her and held her eyes for as long as she dare. What kind of mother was she to invade her son’s bedchamber on his wedding night and then insult his wife?
    Edgar sat on the edge of the bed and pushed his feet into carpet shoes. ‘Go on, then. Do as Mama says,’ he muttered, taking the robe his mother handed to him. He added, as though making an excuse, ‘I’m tired.’
    Mrs Collins’s face grew even sourer. ‘Do not develop a taste for fornication with servant girls until your position with his lordship is secured.’
    Beth was astounded. She was not a servant girl and as far as she was concerned, Edgar already had a taste for excess.
    ‘The girl will not be with you,’ Mrs Collins continued, ‘and your behaviour must be impeccable at all times.’
    He responded to his mother with a nod and half turned. ‘Do as Mama says.’
    This time Beth was thankful to obey and escape to her small, sparsely furnished chamber.

Chapter 3
    The sound of someone raking a fire roused her the following morning. Her chamber was over the kitchen and she lay awake in the darkness thinking that this used to be her task at the Bardens’. She washed in cold water, applied salve to her sore areas and dressed quickly, knotting a woollen shawl firmly around her shoulders. Her candle had burned down so she pulled on a cap as best she could and went downstairs. A fire was already drawing in the cavernous hall and a lamp glowed through the open door to the kitchen.
    ‘Good morning, Mrs Roberts.’
    ‘At last. Put the porridge on and set a skillet to heat then see if there are any eggs.’
    Beth obeyed silently and escaped to find the hen coop as soon as she found a bowl. Dark grey streaks were lightening the eastern sky and contrasting starkly with the menacing dark outcrops of rock. She searched everywhere but it wastoo early in the