Chapter 9

"Do you really have to go back to that house?" Ben asked as Maggie put her bag in the cart. "You can always say that you're not going back after all that disrespect. You have every right to."

Maggie sighed.

"We've been over this several times, Ben, and my answer is going to stay the same. No, I'm going back, and I'm going to continue working for the Atterbury family."

"Even if the golden girl treats you like you're something she's stepped in?"

"She's just one person. Everyone else is nice, and the baron and baroness are pleasant towards me."

It was just Lady Phoebe, and while she was a headache and called Maggie names, it didn't take away from the household she enjoyed working with. Mrs Crawford, especially, would be upset about not seeing Maggie again. They had a good bond, and Maggie appreciated being around the housekeeper. She needed that in her life.

Ben scowled and folded his arms. While their parents had bid Maggie farewell and gone about their business, he had hovered around while she prepared to leave. Their mother and father understood everything and were very practical about Maggie going back, yet Ben was behaving like a little boy.

"I still think you should not go back. Those people don't know how to treat regular people properly, and they don't deserve you. That girl certainly doesn't deserve you."

Maggie turned to her brother. He looked like a sullen child.

"Ben, would you stop? Things are going to be fine."

"Even with whatever is going on between you and the Duke of Banbury?"

"What are you talking about?"

Ben rolled his eyes.

"Maggie, I'm not blind. I can see what's going on in front of me. Why else would a gentleman, a duke no less, come all the way out here to see you after you were attacked? That speaks volumes to me."

Maggie frowned.

"I really don't know …"

"He has a fancy for you."

"What?"

"And I think he's looking to make you his mistress or something. All this concern about your attack and checking up on you. He came searching for you specifically." Ben tapped the side of his nose. "I can tell these things, Maggie. He desires you."

Maggie couldn't believe what she was hearing. Had Ben noticed all this? She cleared her throat.

"That … that's not what's happened at all. Things are going on, and …"

"I'm sure that's the case, Maggie."

"You're just seeing something that isn't there, Ben! You don't need to worry about me because it's not going to happen."

"But you can see why I'm worried, don't you?" Ben approached her and put his hands on her shoulders. His expression softened, although he looked slightly pained. "You're around this man, around these people, and they're either abusing you or eyeing you up for something else, and I'm scared that you could get hurt."

"And I appreciate your concern, brother." Maggie hugged him. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"You'd better. Otherwise, my lessons will have been for nothing."

Smiling, Maggie kissed his cheek and stepped back, squeezing his hands before releasing.

"I'll be fine. If anything happens where I'm concerned, I'll let you know."

"I'll be there as soon as you tell me you need me, Maggie. I promise."

Maggie believed that. Ben was a grumpy pain who had issues, but he was a loyal brother and was always there when she needed him. When she suffered from her first loving heartbreak at the age of thirteen, Ben had been there within hours of getting her letter about what happened.

She had managed to stop him from throwing the junior footman who had led her on against the wall, but the fact that she knew her brother would do that if someone hurt her in any way was surprisingly comforting. She loved her brother, but there were moments when they didn't talk to each other because Ben closed himself off. It could make her feel like she didn't know how to behave around him.

At least she knew someone was on her side regarding Lady Phoebe. It was probably a good thing that Ben had some manners; Maggie didn't want to see her brother physically attack a woman, no matter how problematic they were.

As the cart she was using as transport made its way to the Atterbury estate, Maggie wondered how things would be when she got back. She hadn't been told to leave; the baron said it would be best if she took a few days after a shocking event to recover, although Maggie knew she was being sent away as punishment. Baron Atterbury might have said otherwise, but Maggie saw the smirk on Lady Phoebe's face. She was pulling the strings.

It was shocking and embarrassing how much power the girl had when her father was meant to keep her in line. The baron would lose more than just his servants if he and his wife kept pandering to their daughter, but Maggie knew that she wouldn't be the one to say that; she would get into serious trouble if she tried.

"There we are, Miss Maggie," the cart driver said as he pulled up at the bottom of the driveway to the Atterbury house. "This is as far as I go. I remember the last time I went up the drive to drop you outside the side door."

"That's fine, Preston." Maggie jumped down from the back of the cart and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Thank you for bringing me."

"No problem, miss. I was on my way to the market, so you were lucky." The red-faced, bald-headed farmer who was Maggie's family neighbor gave her a wink and touched his fingers to his forehead. "I'll see you another time, Miss Maggie, and please be careful. We all know how volatile Lady Phoebe Cavendish is, and I don't want to be coming back because you've been kicked out."

"I don't think that's going to happen." Maggie tried to keep her tone light. "She's just a child throwing a tantrum, nothing more."

"Even a child's tantrum will have a knock-on effect, and eventually, someone will listen because they're fed up with it." Preston shrugged. "In my experience, we always give in so we don't have to deal with it anymore."

Giving her another nod and a smile, he got the cart moving again; the horse's hooves clattered on the path as they trotted away. Maggie watched them go, wondering if Preston had a point there. When children threw tantrums, their parents would often discipline them and make sure they didn't do it again. But when the child was grown …

Maggie didn't want to go there. She believed that she could weather the storm. Lady Phoebe would grow up eventually. She would just need to bite her tongue and get on with it.

Mrs Crawford was coming out of the laundry room when Maggie entered through the side door. She sighed with relief when she saw the younger woman.

"Thank God you're back, Maggie! It's been positively manic around here."

"What's going on?" Maggie frowned. "I wasn't expecting anything to be different, seeing as it's just me who's not been present."

"Ever since the visit to the Duke of Banbury's estate, Lady Phoebe has been demanding a lot more from everyone. She wants the finest dresses and better food, and she gets upset if we don't know how to read her mind. It's like she's turned things up a notch." Mrs Crawford sighed. "I don't like to speak ill of her – she is still a child, after all – but she's getting to everyone."

Maggie wasn't surprised. Now Lady Phoebe had set her sights on Banbury, she was going to make sure she got what she wanted. Even to the detriment of everyone else around her.

"I don't know how one extra person being present is going to help," she mused. "Especially when she's the rudest to me, and I've just been sent away because of what happened."

"Just an extra person is enough. Especially when you're her personal maid, and we know that you can weather her tantrums."

"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. She does target me a lot."

Mrs Crawford squeezed her shoulder.

"I know. But you can handle her better than anyone else. I've not seen any other maid temper the girl better than you. And that is a good thing."

Maggie wasn't sure about that. Even her patience could wear thin. She adjusted the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

"Shall I go to her once I've put my things in my room? Or shall I keep out of the way for now?"

"I think you should go to her once you're ready. I've got a lot of things to handle down here, and I know Beatrice is getting flustered over her." Mrs Crawford shook her head. "She's going to lose her temper if she has to deal with Lady Phoebe today."

"Beatrice or Lady Phoebe?"

"At this rate, probably both. Lady Phoebe has been complaining a lot more about Beatrice, and she's reducing the girl to tears."

Maggie didn't like hearing that. Beatrice was a sweet girl. She was a hard worker and could handle practically anything, but she was far too sensitive to be around Lady Phoebe. The baron's daughter probably knew that and was taking advantage of that to bully her.

Maybe resigning and going back to the farm and helping her parents wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Heading towards the stairs, Maggie made her way up to the top of the house and entered her room, which she shared with another maid. She sagged onto her bed, looking out of the tiny window by her bedside table. It had a perfect view of the rose garden below and a lot of the main garden.

She could see the gardeners working, pruning the roses while another was making his way towards the greenhouse just out of view. Maggie liked being next to the window; there was something soothing about seeing the garden.

She needed that soothing before she faced Lady Phoebe. The girl was still not going to be happy with how the duke paid Maggie more attention, even if it had been for a good reason, and she wasn't going to let being sent away for a few days be enough of a punishment.

Maggie would need a lot of patience for this.

#

"Come on, Maggie!" Lady Phoebe snapped as she turned away from the washstand, tossing the towelling cloth onto the floor. "You're supposed to be helping me get dressed, not standing there staring at me."

Maggie hadn't been doing that. She had been making the bed, which had somehow ended up with all the bedding in the middle of the mattress, including the bottom sheet. It was a surprise that Lady Phoebe hadn't also taken a knife to the mattress; she was petty enough to do that and blame it on Maggie.

This was the third morning in a row that this had happened. Maggie was one step away from asking if Lady Phoebe had been an Egyptian mummy in another life.

Maggie knew this was the girl's way of making things harder for her, and she was waiting for Maggie to snap and shout at her. Maggie knew her game, and she wasn't about to play.

Sure, it was the hardest thing ever to work like this without reacting as Lady Phoebe wanted – and Maggie really wanted to scream at the other girl for her behaviour – but she had done this before. It would be more frustrating to make it clear that Lady Phoebe wasn't getting the reaction she wanted.

She could be petty as well.

Not for the first time, Maggie wondered if the baron had promoted her to his daughter's personal maid because she was just as stubborn and could hold her own.

"Maggie!" Lady Phoebe clicked her fingers. "Come on, hurry up! I swear you're getting slower every day!"

"Yes, My Lady."

Maggie stopped making the bed and approached the dresser, only for Lady Phoebe to stop her.

"Are you going to leave the bed like that?"

"You said …"

"My bed is not made! Are you just going to be lazy and leave it as it is?" Lady Phoebe pointed to the bed. "That is atrocious."

Maggie met the girl's glare with a cool stare of her own.

"You wanted me to help you get dressed, and you wanted that to happen now. I'm merely following what you want."

"Then why didn't you finish making the bed?"

"What is more important to my mistress? Making the bed or getting you dressed?"

"Getting me dressed, of course!"

"Then that takes priority, My Lady. I'll finish making the bed once I've helped you out."

Lady Phoebe scowled. She was hoping for Maggie to shout back at her actions, and then she would have a reason to give Maggie a dressing down or an excuse to dismiss her. Maggie didn't give her that reaction; she merely watched her with a blank expression. She silently thanked Ben for showing her how to play cards when they were younger, and he taught her how to play her hand without giving anything away; it was helping her a lot here.

They looked at each other. Well, Lady Phoebe glared while Maggie just watched her blankly. Finally, Lady Phoebe shook her head and turned away, breaking the stare first.

"Just help me get dressed," she muttered. "In my best clothes. I'm going for a walk in the park today."

"Yes, My Lady."

As Maggie went to the wardrobe to select another gown to the one she had already laid out, she was aware of Lady Phoebe watching her with beady eyes.

"Aren't you going to ask who I'm walking with?" she asked with a sneer.

"I'm sure you're going to tell me, My Lady," Maggie replied, picking out two of the girl's nicer gowns. "You have a lot of new friends, so I'm sure you have plenty of admirers."

"I only want one admirer, and he's the one who's walking me out. Care to guess?"

It was the Duke of Banbury. Maggie felt a knot form in her gut, but she kept her back to Lady Phoebe as she made sure the discomfort wasn't on her face. She turned and held up both gowns.

"Which one would you like, My Lady? Both of them would be suitable."

"The yellow one. That's my favourite." Lady Phoebe went over to the huge mirror and leaned over to inspect her face. "I'm going to need to put some rouge on my face. My cheeks are looking very pale."

Maggie was about to suggest that it would be healthier to go outside and let the fresh air do that for her, but she stopped herself. Lady Phoebe didn't need more reason to shout at her for unsolicited advice. She put the other dress back and brought the yellow dress over.

"I'm glad that the Duke of Banbury is taking a genuine interest in you, My Lady," she said carefully.

"You should be glad. Because I'm going to be a duchess very soon." Lady Phoebe turned and tossed her loose braid over her shoulder, one hand on her hip. "I'd make a very good duchess, wouldn't I?"

"I believe you can make any title work to your advantage, My Lady."

"Well, it's going to happen. I'm going to become a duchess." Lady Phoebe started to take off her nightgown. "I've made up my mind. It certainly helps when he's very handsome as well. I would prefer to have someone good-looking and wealthy as my husband."

Maggie caught the nightgown as it flew through the air at her without batting an eye and laid it on the bed. Then she helped Lady Phoebe dress, silently noting that the dress was beginning to look a little snug on the girl. It did need to be let out at some point, sooner rather than later. But Maggie kept that to herself; she didn't want to be shouted at for calling Lady Phoebe fat.

"Do you have yourself a backup, My Lady?" Maggie asked as she dusted down the girl's skirts.

"A backup? Whatever for?"

"Because there's a chance that the Duke of Banbury might not feel the same way about you. If that happens and you haven't got anyone else who would be willing to court you …"

Lady Phoebe turned and scowled at her.

"Are you trying to tell me that the duke isn't going to fall in love with me? Is that it, Maggie?"

"I'm merely saying that if you put all your eggs into one basket, then you might find that you'll be worse off if it doesn't happen the way you want it to."

"What on earth are you talking about? Is that something farmers say?"

"No, it's from the novel Don Quixote." Maggie went to the bed and continued to make it. "It's basically saying that you shouldn't focus completely on one plan or idea, just in case something happens and there isn't something in the wings to pick up should you fail."

Lady Phoebe scoffed.

"A novel? I didn't know you could read."

"It's very interesting. I believe it's in your library."

"Well, I'm not going to read something like that. And that reasoning sounds stupid." Lady Phoebe went over to the dresser and sat on the stool. "I'm going to be getting married to the duke, and I'm going to become a duchess. I know what I want, and that is what I'm going to get."

Maggie didn't respond. She was sure Banbury wouldn't turn his attention to Lady Phoebe that way. The fact that he was doing it at all was shocking to her; her interactions with Banbury were far different, and Maggie didn't think he would be compatible with Lady Phoebe at all.

They were different in personality, and Banbury didn't seem the type to put up with Lady Phoebe's childish attitude. But it wasn't her place to think about that; she was just the maid, after all.

Someone who would have no chance of having anything innocent or romantic with a man like Banbury.

Then she remembered how Banbury had come to her home to see if she was alright, how he had made tea for her in her own family kitchen without batting an eye, and how he confided in her about what was going on with his family. Maggie had been shocked to know that his family was being targeted, and there was no reason for it.

She had to admit to being intrigued with the mystery and wanted to discover what was happening. From how he spoke about it, it seemed Banbury wanted her to be involved as well. Did that mean she could find out who was doing this? Would she capture a criminal?

That had been exciting to think about, especially when she thought about doing it alongside the duke. She could spend time with him and not feel guilty about it.

"Maggie!" Lady Phoebe's exclamation made her jump. "What are you doing?"

"Forgive me, My Lady." Maggie finished smoothing the bed, adjusted the sheets, and walked to the dresser. "Would you like me to fix your hair?"

"I would rather you not be here at all, but I suppose that will do." Lady Phoebe's gaze was sharp as she watched Maggie in the reflection. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You're jealous that I've got the Duke of Banbury's attention and not you." Lady Phoebe's smirk didn't reach her eyes. "You might have got his attention when you claimed you were attacked, but it's not going to happen again. He's going to be paying attention to me."

Maggie tried not to let the annoyance build as she began to unbraid the girl's hair.

"I didn't claim to be attacked, My Lady. I did get paint thrown on me, and I was pushed over."

"How do we know that you didn't do that yourself?"

"Why would I do that, My Lady?"

"Because you're a jealous little harpy who wants what I want." Lady Phoebe shrugged. "It's what I would do if I were in your pitiful position."

"But that's not in my nature." Maggie picked up the hairbrush. "My dress still has red paint on it."

"That doesn't mean anything. Not to me." Lady Phoebe sniffed. "You might have managed it one time, but I know what you're up to. You do it again, and I'll know you're a fraud."

"Why would I do that when I know I'm not permitted to even be in the same room as the Duke of Banbury, My Lady? I know my place."

"And you'd better keep to that; otherwise, you're going to be in serious trouble." Lady Phoebe scratched the side of her nose. "You don't want to be left without a position, do you?"

Maggie said nothing. She didn't want to talk to her mistress anymore; she just wanted to get her hair done and get her to leave for breakfast.

Unfortunately, only for a short time, seeing as she would have to escort Lady Phoebe while she went for her walk with the duke. And then Maggie would have to deal with the sly remarks again.

She longed for the day when Lady Phoebe would finally grow up. But that day was a long way off.