The Secret Sins of Lizzy Barton

Chapter Three-1

CHAPTER THREE

An Unexpected Kindness

The rutted road to Harkin Manor was particularly rough this time of year. The spring rain created knee-deep gullies that were difficult to miss. Even so, a steady stream of carriages moved up the drive to the grand estate, a dozen already falling into place in the messy yard, where women in their best dresses carefully stepped their way to the door avoiding the puddles and mud, or in some cases were gallantly carried by their escorts.

Lights gleamed from every window of the manor and festive music drifted on the air. Guests were greeted at the door by the gracious Nathanial Harkin and his daughter Louisa, who thought this a particularly special occasion. The beautiful sixteen-year-old wore pale blue silk with a daring décolleté, perhaps too risqué for a girl so young, but she insisted that she was woman enough. When the headstrong blonde was so unrelenting she got her way. Her hair was swept up with the finest ribbons, her cheeks rosy as sweet peaches, her smile demure, displaying just the right mix of effervescence and modesty. She had her heart set on dancing with her brother’s good friend Mr. Addison. Of course, he was too old for her; every one agreed on that, but the headstrong Louisa remained undaunted in her efforts to pursue the handsome bachelor. Regardless of her motives, she created a fine picture standing beside her statuesque father.

Louisa’s mother, Nellie Harkin, should have been standing in her place greeting guests, but was instead pacing about the kitchen, growing more agitated by the minute.

“Where is Lizzy!” She’d swept into the kitchen minutes before, demanding an answer of her staff. All were instantly at attention as the bold woman in all her finery surveyed the assembly.

No one seemed to know where the missing girl was. The lady of the manor quizzed each maid and cook and butler, receiving nothing but blank expressions in answer to her queries.

“I can’t believe the girl would simply slip away on a night like this. She knows how important events like this are to me. Inconsiderate! Selfish! Thoughtless! I’ll have her—”

That very moment, the kitchen door opened and a bedraggled Lizzy Barton moved inside. As rainwater dripped from her face and clothes to a puddle on the floor, the girl’s eyes opened wide, seeing the number of imperious eyes that were staring back at her. She stood up straight as an arrow, biting her lip and wincing when she saw her mistress’s expression.

The once distraught Nellie Harkin immediately stiffened, casting off her agitated stew, and spoke: “What have you to say for yourself?”

“Ma’am, I’m sorry. I truly am…”

“NO! Don’t even start,” Nellie interrupted, “I have no time for your lame excuses. I should dismiss you outright, except that your dear sister, who seems to know her proper place, is accompanying Louisa and Emma on the piano tonight. I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. You continue to be a disappointment, one that I’m having great difficulty abiding.”

“Please, ma’am, I—” Lizzy tried again, although she stopped before she finished. Those eyes. That hateful glare. What could she say when faced with that? Her mistress could be the sweetest woman on earth, and usually very forgiving, except when there were guests, a party, or any sort of public gathering involved, when she immediately turned into a harping tyrant.

“Say no more!” she snapped. “I have guests to attend to. Get to work, girl, and I’ll see to your failings in the morning.” She swept from the room with the silk and satin of her fine skirt softly swishing like a distant wind.

Alone now with her peers, Lizzy’s eyes moved from the cook to the upstairs maid to the butler, Mr. Crowley, to the serving girl, Anne, all as if she were looking for a way out of the embarrassing moment. She held her hands behind her back, her breath was short, and she appeared unusually nervous for the normally self-assured Lizzy Barton. At the moment, she was unaware that Mr. William Addison had stepped into the kitchen from the door to her left, slightly behind where she stood now. He’d appeared just before Nellie had made her last remarks. With all at a standstill, and Lizzy not moving, it took his precipitous intervention to set things aright.

“I think you all have things to do?” he queried the group. The room suddenly scattered as if they were his to command, meanwhile, he moved in close to the shocked Lizzy and grabbed her hand still poised behind her back. His voice quieted, “I think this needs some attending to.”

She turned about, revealing her hand wrapped in a bloody cloth, which thanks to his quick thinking, no one noticed. Later she’d come back and wipe the small dribbles of blood from the floor.

Acting like an efficient doctor, Mr. Addison moved her into the laundry adjacent to the kitchen, where he unwrapped the hand and dowsed it in a tub of fresh water. The cold stung and had the effect of waking Lizzy from her shocked stupor.

Mr. Addison was close enough to feel his beating heart and smell his breath. Her body drank the sensations while for those moments her beleaguered mind reeled out of control. Mr. Addison was one of the finest looking men she’d ever met, although he was so haughty and cool in his demeanor that the kitchen girls referred to the young master’s best friend as an iceberg. They also giggled and blushed when he was near. But not Lizzy. She despised his arrogance, the terse stare, the way he could be so dismissive of women—she’d overheard a few conversations with James Harkin and had grown to despise the young man for his uncharitable comments. Now this kindness? Why on earth would he care about her cut hand? The warmth of his hand on hers, and the way his close proximity raised unexpected sensations in her physical body only complicated her feelings.

“Really, sir, I can take care of this myself,” she said, trying to wrest herself from the man’s strong grasp.

“Or you can let me take care of it,” he countered her immediately. From his coat pocket he pulled out a flask that contained a strong liquor he used to wash the blood from the wound.

She immediately winced.

“Humph. More superficial than I thought. That is good. I imagine it will heal without having to stitch it up. You have bandages nearby?” He held the wound tightly, pressing his fancy lace-edged handkerchief in place of the bloody piece of cloth Lizzy had torn from her slip.

“Yes, in the pantry, sir. Through that door.” She pointed to the storeroom. “On the far wall.”

By then, she’d given herself over to his care, finding herself increasingly amazed by his unexpected thoughtfulness. He returned moments later with cotton and cloth to dress the wound, and made a neat bandage that wound securely around her palm. It would be readily noticed, but there was no other choice. Eying the clean white cloth, she could just imagine Nellie Harkin grilling her about it in the morning.

“There, I think that should hold,” he announced.

“Thank you, sir.”

“You’re welcome, it seemed to me you needed rescuing.” He chuckled under his breath.

“I don’t see that I needed rescuing, sir. I could have done this myself. And so you know, there was a perfectly logical reason for my absence, and I’m sure that once Mrs. Harkin hears it in the morning, she will forgive me.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” he quipped right back. “Your absence caused quite a to do. Maids scurrying all over to find you. Speculation turning a bit lurid, I might add. I had to raise my estimation of you in the process, a scullery maid causing that much of a stir. I was impressed.”

“You are an impertinent man,” Lizzy recoiled.

“Am I?” he laughed.

“Yes, and despite your momentary kindness, what I’ve heard about you seems perfectly true. Now I must get to work. If you’ll please excuse me.”

His face was blank, thoughtful, not a bit of amusement there, and impossible to read, affecting Lizzy so strangely that she nearly ran off in a panic. Instead, she took a deep breath, pretended to smile, and swept passed him quickly, going directly into the kitchen where she put on her apron and started to work.

From the banquet room, Lizzy heard the sounds of her sister Julia playing the pianoforte. As always, the girl’s fingers danced over the keys with great ease, in an obbligato that was enough to stir any woman’s heart. Lizzy stopped to listen as the sweet, though immature, voices of Louisa and her sister Emma joined in. All the room was hushed as the lovely notes filled the festive air. Lizzy and the maid Mary took turns peeking through the kitchen door, each straining to see the scene that captured so much attention. Maybe it was just jealousy, but Lizzy hated these moments when her sister was dressed up like the gentry and put on stage for a room full of houseguests to see. It could be dangerous, she reasoned. To be seen by so many—had Julia any idea what she was doing? What precarious position she created with such behavior?

On the other hand, there was no dissuading Nellie Harkin when she had her mind set on something. Her girls’ previous accompanist could not compare with the talent of Julia Barton. Strange. She hadn’t lost her gift at all; disaster and misfortune only seemed to increase her ability to move an audience. The two Harkin girls had nowhere near her talent and were no match for Julia’s expert playing. However, if their singing took away from the piano performance, that was all the better in Lizzy’s eyes. The less her sister drew the attention of the Harkin’s friends the better for them both.

“What a lovely girl!” This was the voice of Jonathan Pierce speaking. He stood back near the salon door admiring the comely brunette from afar. Julia’s vivacious animation was so emotive when she played that it was hard to see her as anything but radiant. She was not the beauty her sister was, and yet her effervescent spirit seemed to have charmed Jonathan Pierce enough that Lizzy took notice.

Anyone looking at Mr. Pierce could see that he was a rash, impulsive, even reckless man. Handsome, yes. Feral, yes. But too restive to be good company. Maybe it was the shock of his dark hair that untidily hung over his forehead, perhaps the way his thick brows narrowed, or the luminously hooded eyes beneath those brows. Perhaps the roiling agitation. He’d hardly moved an inch, but Lizzy could feel his nervousness clear to her bones. She knew that she did not like the man, though it was difficult to explain why.

Mr. Pierce looked at Julia now with some untoward energy that Lizzy could only describe as lust. Up until this moment, there had been no reason for concern, however, now that he was looking at her impressionable sister with such a salacious mien, Lizzy had reason to worry. Her often imprudent sister had mentioned his name to her more than once as being the kind of man who made her ‘tremble.’ Batting her eyes flirtatiously, she would bashfully bow her head like a wealthy debutante—which she certainly could never be. Hopefully Mr. Pierce had mistaken Julia for a gracious lady of his station, not the poor serving girl she was. When he knew the truth, his interest in her would certainly vanish, wouldn’t it?

While in the midst of her current quandary, Lizzy was abruptly yanked back into the kitchen by the cook. “The mistress is already in a foul mood with you, girl. Get back to those trays.” She pointed to the trays of tiny cakes that the cook’s assistant Marta was carefully arranging for dessert.

Toward the end of the long evening, Mr. James Harkin rose to speak, toasting his parents for the fine party they’d all enjoyed, then he announced with some lengthy preamble that he and Mr. William Addison would be parting company with their fair community for some time. They had just arranged a lengthy tour of the continent: Paris, Rome, Venice and Vienna. Something that was long overdue in their estimation. Lizzy had heard the announcement, straining to hear through the kitchen door—in fact, all the staff was gathered at the door to listen in on the young man’s speech.

Oh! Louisa would be distraught, Lizzy giddily smiled to herself. She’d never particularly cared for the elder Harkin daughter and her cunning methods to woo a man too old for her seemed silly. Still, there’d been many a man who’d been taken in by the adoring worship of a young woman as pretty and coy as Louisa Harkin. Now the poor girl’s plans would be foiled and nothing could have pleased Lizzy more. Mr. Addison’s absence would suit her as well. With him gone, she would not have to worry about his strange overtures on stormy nights. Lizzy’s wounded hand suddenly began to throb hotly, as she remembered how her evening began, with that haughty Mr. Addison so carefully dressing her bleeding wound.

Yes, better he was on his way that be around to rile her. Maybe he could find a woman to suit his temperament while he was on his tour.