The Garden's End (MLM)

CHAPTER TWO.

Instead, she dressed in an amber dress that looked marvellous against her dark skin and auburn hair. "I gave her the morning off. Poor thing was run to the ground after the funeral yesterday. Jane, come here."

Mrs. Mary put a hand on her hip. "Really, Miss Bradley, you shouldn't have to do that. That's the nanny's job!"

"It's no trouble," said Miss Bradley, her brows furrowed in concentration as she attempted to straighten the ribbon on Jane's dress. "It wouldn't have been such a problem in the first place if Andrew hadn't insisted on forcing so few of you to work the funeral. What an idiot."

"Miss Bradley!" Mrs. Mary scolded as Pip scratched the back of his head, attempting to hide his smile.

"Oh, he's not here, is he?" Miss Bradley said with a roll of her eyes. "What can he possibly do—hold still, Jane!"

"But I'm hungry!" she whined. "And you do it a lot harder than Amelia does—ow!"

"I told you to stop moving."

"Pip," Mrs. Mary turned to him as Chef Blackwood barked more orders at the others. "Make yourself useful, go help Charles clean up the drawing room." She huffed. "Wealthy or not, these people ought to refrain from making a mess in another's home, no?"

Miss Bradley scoffed, yanking on Jane's braid a bit too roughly. "Not that Andrew minds the mess. It's not him who has to clean up afterwards, is it?"

"Ow! It's not you who has to clean up either!" Jane retorted angrily.

"Yes, but I actually want to be useful," Miss Bradley scolded. "Not just run off and demand food when everyone's clearly so overworked."

Jane stuck her lower lip out.

Pip sighed. He wondered what Miss Westcott was doing if she couldn't be bothered with Jane.

"I'll just go help Charles now," said Pip, and with a weary Yes, yes, shoo shoo waving motion from Mrs. Mary, Pip turned and quietly left the loud scene of the kitchens.

He had only set his fingers on the handle of the drawing room when he felt someone's hand on his lower back. He inhaled sharply. The touch lasted only half a second, but he recognized it.

Oliver winked as he strode past, making Pip's heart leap in his chest and a smile tug at his lips despite himself, and he followed him only a step into the drawing room before he spotted Charles pulling back the curtains from the windows.

Pip felt guilt lurch in his stomach, for he had not had the chance to properly speak to his friend after he'd been told off the previous day.

He caught Charles just as he was glaring at Oliver's back.

"Stop it," muttered Pip, nudging his arm. "You'll burn a hole through him."

"Prat," muttered Charles.

"You mustn't say such things!"

"I know you don't mind forgiving his faults," Charles said as he finished tying the curtains. "But I don't like him, Pip, you won't change that."

"You simply don't understand him as I do," said Pip, watching as Oliver spoke to Miss Westcott in a corner of the room. His scowl deepened more and more as she talked. Pip wondered if it was anything to do with Lord Westcott.