knock on the door.
Chapter 5
“Aunt Mary! Beatryce!”
Grace knew them by the sounds they made as the barged into the room. Besides, who else would it be? Bessie had just left and wouldn’t have knocked so soon after, nor so loudly.
“Please, just give me a quick minute and I shall be out…”
“Where have you been?” thundered her aunt, interrupting her. Grace barely had time to register her aunt’s obvious anger before Aunt Mary peered around the bathing screen. Actually, glared would be more precise.
Aunt Mary looked like the veritable shrew of old. Her face contorted and wrinkled as it scrunched up with ire. Her eyes were lost beneath her plumped-up cheeks.
“Don’t you know this is the most important week of Beatryce’s life? And yet you decide to embarrass us before we’ve even had a chance to formalize her engagement to the duke? Do you wish to ruin your cousin’s life with your selfishness?”
Obviously, the question was rhetorical. Aunt Mary’s voice faded away as she paced about the room before she returned to peer at Grace behind the bathing screen. Grace stayed put in the cooling water. Duly chastened.
“To think that we have clothed you. Spent our time and money to give you a home when your mother and father died. And this is how you repay us for our generosity? I was sure your mother had raised you better than this.” Aunt Mary attempted to portray sorrow and anguish over being treated so shabbily by her wayward niece, as if Grace’s clumsiness was all performed on purpose.
“I do apologize, Aunt Mary. You see, I didn’t see the mud and…”
“Mud???” Grace didn’t realize her aunt’s voice could trill quite that high. And the sudden purplish tint to her aunt’s complexion was most alarming.
“What mud? Do you mean to say that you have already demonstrated the common blood running through your veins by behaving with your usual graceless comportment? I only knew that you had not bothered to join us at the breakfast table where you should have been on hand to meet Beatryce’s future husband. Am I correct in saying that not only did you miss breakfast, but that you have further embarrassed this family with some sort of incident involving mud?”
Grace noticed Aunt Mary did not mention whether or not the duke had made it down to breakfast. Instead, Aunt Mary maintained her look of distaste and arrogance as Grace waited silently in the tub, trembling from the cooled water. Aunt Mary beheld Grace as if the mud were still present, tainting the room and the very air she breathed. Then, she proceeded to look about the room with determined eyes, as if additional mud might be lying in wait, ready to contaminate her when she least expected it.
Aunt Mary returned to the screen, refocused her gaze on Grace, and continued, “I can only be glad His Grace was not on hand to witness such unladylike behavior…”
Grace looked tellingly at the water, wishing she could hide beneath the surface. At Grace’s betraying blush, her aunt cut her own words short with a gasp followed by, “No!”
Aunt Mary stopped talking, and for a moment, her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as she struggled with what to say. It was quite comical, actually, to witness this unusual occurrence. Aunt Mary always knew what to say and had plenty to say. The entire situation must be inconceivable to put Aunt Mary at such a loss for words; Grace could never have predicted this scenario.
Aunt Mary turned to leave the room, her tolerance at an end. She spoke to the room at large as she headed toward the door, “I don’t think my constitution can handle any more abuse at the moment. Beatryce, my dear, I shall return to my room for a lie down until my nerves recover. Grace, you had better be back to rights and downstairs without a moment to spare or I shall not be responsible for my… Aieeee !”
Grace winced. Apparently a little patch of mud had managed to escape everyone’s notice after all, and
Chapter 5
“Aunt Mary! Beatryce!”
Grace knew them by the sounds they made as the barged into the room. Besides, who else would it be? Bessie had just left and wouldn’t have knocked so soon after, nor so loudly.
“Please, just give me a quick minute and I shall be out…”
“Where have you been?” thundered her aunt, interrupting her. Grace barely had time to register her aunt’s obvious anger before Aunt Mary peered around the bathing screen. Actually, glared would be more precise.
Aunt Mary looked like the veritable shrew of old. Her face contorted and wrinkled as it scrunched up with ire. Her eyes were lost beneath her plumped-up cheeks.
“Don’t you know this is the most important week of Beatryce’s life? And yet you decide to embarrass us before we’ve even had a chance to formalize her engagement to the duke? Do you wish to ruin your cousin’s life with your selfishness?”
Obviously, the question was rhetorical. Aunt Mary’s voice faded away as she paced about the room before she returned to peer at Grace behind the bathing screen. Grace stayed put in the cooling water. Duly chastened.
“To think that we have clothed you. Spent our time and money to give you a home when your mother and father died. And this is how you repay us for our generosity? I was sure your mother had raised you better than this.” Aunt Mary attempted to portray sorrow and anguish over being treated so shabbily by her wayward niece, as if Grace’s clumsiness was all performed on purpose.
“I do apologize, Aunt Mary. You see, I didn’t see the mud and…”
“Mud???” Grace didn’t realize her aunt’s voice could trill quite that high. And the sudden purplish tint to her aunt’s complexion was most alarming.
“What mud? Do you mean to say that you have already demonstrated the common blood running through your veins by behaving with your usual graceless comportment? I only knew that you had not bothered to join us at the breakfast table where you should have been on hand to meet Beatryce’s future husband. Am I correct in saying that not only did you miss breakfast, but that you have further embarrassed this family with some sort of incident involving mud?”
Grace noticed Aunt Mary did not mention whether or not the duke had made it down to breakfast. Instead, Aunt Mary maintained her look of distaste and arrogance as Grace waited silently in the tub, trembling from the cooled water. Aunt Mary beheld Grace as if the mud were still present, tainting the room and the very air she breathed. Then, she proceeded to look about the room with determined eyes, as if additional mud might be lying in wait, ready to contaminate her when she least expected it.
Aunt Mary returned to the screen, refocused her gaze on Grace, and continued, “I can only be glad His Grace was not on hand to witness such unladylike behavior…”
Grace looked tellingly at the water, wishing she could hide beneath the surface. At Grace’s betraying blush, her aunt cut her own words short with a gasp followed by, “No!”
Aunt Mary stopped talking, and for a moment, her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as she struggled with what to say. It was quite comical, actually, to witness this unusual occurrence. Aunt Mary always knew what to say and had plenty to say. The entire situation must be inconceivable to put Aunt Mary at such a loss for words; Grace could never have predicted this scenario.
Aunt Mary turned to leave the room, her tolerance at an end. She spoke to the room at large as she headed toward the door, “I don’t think my constitution can handle any more abuse at the moment. Beatryce, my dear, I shall return to my room for a lie down until my nerves recover. Grace, you had better be back to rights and downstairs without a moment to spare or I shall not be responsible for my… Aieeee !”
Grace winced. Apparently a little patch of mud had managed to escape everyone’s notice after all, and
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