A Lady's Delights

Chapter 4

She was right about one thing, Cassandra realized in the weeks that followed: there was no going back from what she’d done the night she intruded upon Estelle.

The other woman hardly spoke a word to her since that night. The silence in the manor was as stifling as the humid summer air outside, and just as impossible to escape. Any attempt she made to speak to Estelle was met with a swift turn and a hasty, wordless retreat by the servant from whatever room the two both occupied. With each day that passed without a word, Cassandra felt a little bit of sense slip away from her.

Anymore, her evenings were spent locked in her library, her chair pulled up close to the fire as she plunged her way into novel after novel lined up upon the shelves. The finished volumes were accumulating in a pile to one side of her seat, and the upholstery was already starting to smell of her sweat from night after night of falling asleep in front of the slowly smoldering fireplace. She was slowly forgetting the feel of her bed, which she assured herself was for the better. Laying on it only made her dream her twisted fantasies of Estelle, made it easier to imagine laying on her servant’s tongue, staring ahead at her throat opening up before her. Sleeping in the chair at least left her too uncomfortable, too knotted up on herself to fall into a deep sleep.

Which was hardly a state to be in, most especially with her first appointments approaching. Cassandra leaned her head against one of the plaster walls in the library and groaned. It was Violette that would be coming in a matter of days. Why did it have to be her? She was in no state to receive her in her home, either physically or mentally. Why did that stuck-up, peacock of a woman have to insist on having her appointment first? It wasn’t as though she’d sell out of tins before Violette could have her chance to order. The bulk of her income came from that woman’s purse, so what point would there be to denying Violette a share of her product?

She ran a hand back through her hair and frowned as it tangled and knotted around itself. Nothing would be accomplished if she couldn’t at least bring herself into a physically decent state. Hopefully, she told herself, an improvement in her mental state would follow soon after.

Estelle was at the foot of the steps, dusting the foyer, when Cassandra finally came downstairs. Her servant looked up for a moment, watching as she descended, then turned back to her work without a word spoken.

“Estelle,” Cassandra said, pausing just before reaching the bottom of the staircase, “have you finished preparing the guest rooms for our visitors?”

The dark-haired woman turned around. Good, Cassandra thought to herself. At least she’ll look me in eye, even if we’re only speaking about professional matters. “I have, my Lady,” Estelle said, holding her feather-duster careful to keep the dirt clinging to it from sticking to her dress. “All three rooms have been cleaned, as has the living space in the servant’s quarters for their staff.”

Cassandra nodded, and descended the remainder of the stairs. “And the arboretum, as well?”

“And the arboretum, naturally. You’ve been holding your presentations there for the past several years,” Estelle frowned for a moment before her face could resume the stony, blank expression it had worn almost continuously in front of her for the past several weeks. “Why wouldn’t I see to it that it was ready for tomorrow?”

Tomorrow? Cassandra blinked and rubbed her eyes. Was the appointment already that soon? “What day even is it, Estelle? I feel like I am losing track of the time.”

“Of course.”

Estelle sighed and turned her back on Cassandra, starting down the hallway. She wrung her collected dust out into a waste bin she carried with her before dusting the woodwork beside her. “I do not have time for idle chatter, my Lady,” she said, her voice snapping against the walls and ceiling around her. “There is too much work to finish before tomorrow morning and there is only one of me to attend to all of it. Unless you wish to pick up a rag and polish the tables, or take the time to prepare the ingredients for tomorrow’s dinner, then go back to sulking in your library and leave me in peace!”