A Lady's Fate

Chapter Nine

No, not Miss Thorpe, Helena corrected herself. Her blood boiled at the thought of having been deceived all this time; at having been taken for a fool as she graciously welcomed Mary into her home.

"If you are here – then where is the real Miss Thorpe?" demanded Helena.

The maid hesitated a moment before replying.

"London," she replied eventually.

"And why, pray tell, is your mistress in London, while you are masquerading as a guest in my home?" snapped Helena, eyes flashing.

Mary visibly flinched at the sharpness in Helena's tone. Shrinking into the elegant gown which had been gifted to her by Helena for Christmas, Mary looked as though she wished to disappear from view entirely.

"It is the only way," she murmured, almost inaudibly. "It is the only way to ensure Margaret's safety."

"Her safety?" echoed Helena, unable to take the dramatic declaration seriously.

Mary nodded.

"Well, Mary," sighed Helena reluctantly. "I think you had better start at the beginning, and explain just what is going on."

This, at least, was familiar territory for Helena. She had lost count of the times she and Dorothy had occupied these very chairs as Helena coaxed one woe or another out of her lady's maid. Whatever Mary told her, Helena felt confident she would be able to offer some assistance. There was not one problem of Dorothy's she had not been able to alleviate in some way – a record Helena was very proud of.

But what came next was far beyond the realms of anything Helena had ever experienced before.

"Last summer – when the late Mr and Mrs Thorpe were still alive – Mr Laurence Roach, the future heir of Lanmeth House, came to visit," began Mary.

"This gentleman took an immediate interest in Margaret; too much of an interest for my liking," continued Mary. "They spent almost all their time together, and I knew they were kissing and such things a lady ought not to do with a man other than her husband. But even I could not believe the true extent of their dalliance – not until the following month, when Margaret discovered she was with child.

"Thankfully my late master and mistress, God rest their souls, never learnt of their daughter's mistake. That is the only blessing – for I fear they would never have recovered from the shock and shame of their only child's demise. As it was, they were never to hear of the news, for they were tragically killed in a carriage accident as they returned north to Yorkshire following a summer in Brighton.

"At the time of Mr and Mrs Thorpe's passing, I alone knew of Margaret's condition. We had been planning on how best to conceal it from the other staff at Lanmeth House, when one morning a letter arrived from Mr Roach, who was now, of course, the owner of Lanmeth House and the late Mr Thorpe's entire estate. He claimed, however, that the value of the estate was insufficient to meet his needs – for over the past few months, he had run up a large amount of gambling debts which now required urgent repayment.

"He wrote to demand payment of an additional fund which he had known Mr Thorpe to have – Margaret's dowry. He informed us that he would be journeying to Lanmeth House directly, in order to begin his role as master of the house, taking Margaret as his bride.

"This in itself was terrifying enough – yet still worse was the realisation that there was no dowry. Well, there had been a dowry, but Mr Roach had inherited it upon Mr Thorpe's death – therefore there was no additional money to be found at Lanmeth Hall that he did not already own. We were terrified of what Mr Roach would do upon discovering that there was no money – especially once he discovered Margaret was carrying his child – and so, when the letter came from Lord Alverton inviting Margaret to stay, we decided that I should come in her place, while she fled to London. If Mr Roach does somehow discover that Margaret was asked to stay here, he will find only me, while Margaret remains safe in London."