A Daughter's Duty

Chapter Two

     She felt her ears heat up with embarrassment as if they were on fire as she bowed to the amused guests that still got to enjoy their dinner. She looked to her cousin, who was smiling at Cordelia, obviously very pleased with herself. She then locked eyes with Lord Charles, who wore the only concerned face at the table, look almost apologetic, but why? She shook it off, and turned to Lord and Lady Heyworth, "good evening," she attempted to say as gracefully as she could, not waiting for their response before she walked out the door.

     Instead of heading upstairs to her rooms, she quietly crept downstairs as to not alert her father in the dining room to her detour. She wandered into the bustling kitchens to find their head cook, Mrs. Beadle, shouting orders in her thick, Scottish accent to other servants scrambling around the grand kitchen. They were placing the finishing touches on the rest of the evening's courses, and Cordelia got to see the meals she wouldn't have a chance to eat later tonight as she should.

     "And what the devil are ya doing down here?" Mrs. Beadle inquired as Cordelia found herself a seat by an abandoned vegetable-cutting station. She helped herself to some celery, regretting being thrown out of the dining room before she could finish the rest of her roast.

     "I was dismissed from dinner...again..." Cordelia admitted, slightly embarrassed to have to tell the intimidating Mrs. Beadle. Since she was a child, Cordelia had escaped to the off-limits rooms downstairs, and of every member of staff she'd met, Mrs. Agatha Beadle was her favorite. She was a small woman, with fiery red hair that seemed to poke out from beneath her cap when she became extra-excited. Beadle had always given Cordelia a spoon to lick or a plate to sample when she visited the kitchens, and never neglected to provide a shoulder to cry on or sage advice for the girl from early on in her youth.

     "Now missy, ya best take care. This is the third time in two months your father has bid you from that table up there." Cordelia nodded, knowing that the woman was right. Mrs. Beadle's bright green eyes looked deep at Cordelia,  and Cordelia waited for her to give in. "...Oh...alright then, stay there." Cordelia smiled as Mrs. Beadle prepared several plates for her of the meals she should be enjoying upstairs.

     "I'm starting to think you're just enjoying eating down here more than upstairs, and I canna' say I blame ya. I've heard from a few o' the maids that these new guests are a handful an' a half. Not to mention your cousin's back in town" Cordelia bit into the shepherd's pie, the flaky crust melting in her mouth as she chewed. 

     "The eldest son and his father are unbearable, the mother is okay," Cordelia added, taking another bite of the pie in front of her.

     "And the youngest son?" Mrs. Beadle asked, flexing an eyebrow at the young lady in front of her.

     "I'm not sure what I make of him yet, but he is a man, so I'm keeping him at arm's length regardless." Mrs. Beadle nodded her head with a smile, knowing quite well what the maids and footmen were saying about the youngest son, how handsome and charming he seemed.

     "Oh, I ken what ya mean, but I have it on good authority he's also quite handsome..." She responded cheekily. Cordelia rolled her eyes as she poured herself a glass of wine. 

     "It doesn't matter if he's handsome, he could be the King for all I care. I'd bet everything that Papa is trying to set me up with the unbearable eldest, Malcolm." Mrs. Beadle gave her a knowing smile as she stole a bit of her pie.

     "You ken your da loves ya, he just wants what he thinks is best for ya." Cordelia rolled her eyes but nodded her head. As meddling and tiresome as her father is, she knew that he loved her and wanted her to have every opportunity available to her. She downed the rest of her wine, slowly beginning to feel the warmth it gave her spreading all over.

     "I know," she said, finishing her pie, "I'm going to sneak back upstairs now, goodnight ma'am," Cordelia said, piling a handful of grapes into her hands for dessert. Mrs. Beadle grabbed her and gave her a big squeeze, kissing the top of her head goodnight.

     "Goodnight lass," she said, getting back to barking orders at terrified staff.

     Heading upstairs, Cordelia assumed the party had removed itself from the dining room. The men were most likely in the parlor, smoking and playing cards or talking politics, while the ladies were in the salon, sipping tea and nibbling on dainty biscuits. Knowing her pious cousin, she was most likely lulling Lady Heyworth to sleep with a reading from Proverbs. 

     What Cordelia didn't expect, however, was to collide into Lord Charles on the landing of the stairs. The grapes in her hands fell out of her hands, rolling onto the stairs below. "Lord Charles," she choked out, sneaking a glance at the cascade of fruit going down the grand staircase. It was dark, but through the dim lamplight she could still make out those deep, dark eyes. 

     "Lady Cordelia, allow me to assist you," he said nervously, setting down the book in his hands to pick up Cordelia's now-soiled late night snack. She bent down to collect the fruit, noticing the cover of the book now sitting on the staircase.

     "Forgive me for staring, Lord Charles, but you read Dickens too?" Charles Dickens was one of her favorite authors, and she could recall many nights in which she stayed up to read his engrossing tales.

     "Please, you can call me Charlie if you'd like. As for Dickens, I hardly go anywhere without it. I was just on my way downstairs to rejoin the men in the parlor to read as they debated. Our fathers are on a tangent about politics, and I don't think anyone noticed I'd left." They had gathered all the grapes, and this time Cordelia forced them into her pockets. 

     "Right. Well, goodnight then, Charlie." She said, hiking up her skirts and preparing to ascend up the stairs to her suite when she felt a hand graze her arm.

     "I'm sorry about what happened at dinner. For what it's worth, I completely agree with what you were saying. I'm just sorry my father couldn't appreciate the truth in your words." Cordelia stood frozen there for a minute, staring into her acquaintance's eyes. She gave him a half smile and another nod of her head and ascended back up the stairs. Charlie stood there for another minute, watching Cordelia disappear like she was a dream. 

     Back in her own quarters finally, Cordelia realized it would be a lot harder to stay away from Lord "Charlie" Heyworth than she originally thought. She dusted off a grape and ate it, trying not to think about the floor or the hands that had touched it.