Discovering the Devil

S i x t e e n

XVI

PENELOPE woke up one morning to an empty castle. It was eerie. The maids were not in their stations, the cook was not in the kitchen, and even the stableboy was not in the stables. What on earth was going on? All sorts of terrible thoughts were cooking in her brain as Penelope walked the grounds. Had the Earl changed his mind about her service? Was this some sort of demented stunt to get her to leave? He might have regretted their moment the other night. He was out of sorts. Perhaps he figured this was the best way to get rid of her. By the time she had gotten to his door, her nerves had reached their boiling point. She rapped her knuckles against his door hard.

"You better be in there," she said.

Lord Hawthorne quickly opened the door. He looked just as confused as she. "Miss Redwood. What are you still doing here?"

"What am I still doing here?" she yelled. "You think that you can just get rid of me by making sure none of the staff are here?"

"Get rid of you?" Lord Hawthorne's brows furrowed before his face split in a smile. "Oh, that's right. There's been so much drama it slipped my mind to tell you."

"You forgot to tell me that I was fired again?"

"No, Miss Redwood, I'm not terminating you," he laughed. "Every couple of weeks, I spend the weekend with my friends at the Capitol. The entire Hawthorne staff gets the entire weekend off. That is why no one is here."

Penelope's erratic heart slowed. "Oh."

"Yes," the Earl went on. "I'm so sorry, I never told you. I can give you extra on top of your earnings for the inconvenience."

She was still trying to understand everything. "So...everyone is gone for the next three days. Can I...could I stay?"

"Of course you can. Although..." The Earl's features clouded in consternation. "You can't cook and there isn't a soul here. I could try and find someone in the village but..." He broke off in thought before giving her a careful smile. "Why don't you come with me?"

"I...you don't have to, Sir. I'm sure I could find an inn—"

"---It's my fault, so it's no trouble. And you've worked so hard for so long. You deserve to put your feet up." He paused. "That is if you want to."

Penelope didn't want to intrude, but she also didn't want to stay in an inn with nothing to do for three whole days. Her mother was not an option and neither were friends. Besides, he sort of owed her. She ignored the voice that told her the reason she really wanted to go was that spending the weekend with the Earl sounded like paradise. "I would."

Lord Hawthorne smiled. Penelope told herself the thought of him being excited she was coming as well was vain and slightly delusional. "Alright. I'm leaving in about two hours. You have other clothes besides your uniform, right?"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "Of course, I have other clothes besides my uniform." She turned on her heel to get ready and then thought the better of it. "And could we leave in two hours? I'll have to freshen up."

The first thing Penelope did was have a proper bath. Of course, she bathed every day since she took her post as a housekeeper, but it was a simple, perfunctory scrub and soak. Now, she could have a properly frivolous bath. Penelope unloaded all her expensive soaps, shampoos, and hair oils and got to work. The past several weeks her hair had been smoothed into the sort of stern, imposing bun that a housekeeper would wear. Now, she could finally wear it up in her signature spill of curls. Penelope admired her handiwork once it was finished. It was nothing like Geraldine's masterpieces, but it would do. Penelope felt like a child picking their favorite treat as she sorted through her various frocks. She could scarcely believe she had so many greens, blues, oranges, pinks or silks, muslin, velvets, and tulles. How had she ever taken these things for granted? Penelope settled on a low-cut deep green gown with teardrop earrings and an oval-cut diamond necklace to match. Oh, diamonds, how she'd missed them! When she descended Hawthorne's grand staircase, she felt properly like herself.