Chapter Four

Disapproval and Dislike


Summary:

Marianne's secrets are not quite as secret as she would like them to be.


Yes.

Yes, it was.

Marianne regretted so much.

Why was she so utterly stupid at the least convenient times?

When she dragged herself out of bed her ribs were aching so badly breathing hurt. A lot. She was not looking forward to moving. Or the multiple flights of stairs all over the mansion.

Life might be difficult, but Marianne certainly hadn't helped herself the previous night.

Never again.

She swore she would never, ever keep a corset on that tightly overnight again.

Her father always said that there were some lessons you have to learn the hard way. And Marianne had definitely learned that one. Thoroughly.

Never. Ever. Again.

Fuck corsets anyway, she thought more than a little bitterly as she changed into a fresh uniform and set of underclothes. She was also wondering just how loosely she could get away with having her corset. The line between being proper and getting called a harlot was a slim one. On a normal day, Marianne would err on the side of caution. That morning she could not see that working out for her.

Still, uncomfortable as it was, she gave it a go. After all, she only had so many days she could get away with being 'ill'.

The instant Marianne entered the kitchen Mrs. Bell spotted her and the housekeeper's eyebrows flew toward her hairline. Mrs. Daly turned away from the porridge she was whipping up to see what had surprised her companion so. When she saw Marianne's pitiful attempts to look ordinary while walking to the table, she had a very similar reaction.

Marianne tried to ignore the attention and act as though nothing was the matter. Unfortunately, both of the older women wore expressions that wordlessly demanded an explanation. Looking at her like that, they reminded Marianne an unsettling amount of her old Commanding Officer. God rest old Colonel Maraxis, the crabby old bastard. Marianne missed the hell out of him.

Nostalgia aside, Marianne had to tell them something. And she was not inclined to let them know the extent of her stupidity.

"I just woke up a little stiff, is all," she tried to assure them with a casual wave of her hand, "I'll loosen up in a while."

All her response did was cause their looks to turn speculative. Another type of look Marianne was not very comfortable having directed at her.

"Old wound acting up?" Mrs. Daly inquired, her tone light, but her look conveying everything she did not say aloud.

Marianne sent a rather irritated look at Mrs. Bell. The housekeeper merely shrugged at her. As though Marianne should have expected her dark and potentially life ruining secrets would be shared with the cook. Who held no particular regard for her even before that revelation. Who now looked at Marianne with something that approximated a mix of abhorrence and pity.

"Something like that, yes," Marianne forced herself to reply.

Mrs. Bell sighed as it became apparent Marianne would not make any special effort to soothe Mrs. Daly's reservations about her. She decided to take it upon herself to smooth everything over between her two co-workers. Her two friends. Though she would never be so sentimental as to use the word aloud.

"Don't be like that, girl, Dora would never make her knowledge of you public. I made her aware of it because she's responsible for the girls' safety as I am."

"'S true child," Mrs. Daly agreed, "I don't approve, not even a little, but I know a girl can do worse things to survive."

That was all the reassurance Marianne received from Mrs. Daly. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the woman returned to preparing the vat of porridge that was to be the staff's breakfast.

It was far from the worst reaction Marianne could have expected. It was far better than most reactions Marianne had encountered or imagined. To be perfectly honest, it was probably the best reaction she had been on the receiving end of, bar Mrs. Bell's.

So, Marianne decided not to linger on the topic of her past disgrace any longer.

"I heard a commotion last night," she commented as she took a seat on one of the long benches that ran along either side of the kitchen table.

"Ah, there was indeed," Mrs. Bell confirmed, "Since you heard it I'm guessing you avoided us all deliberately."

"Yes, it all seemed a bit much for me. It wasn't important, was it?"

"Yes and no," Mrs. Bell replied, "The important news is that Lord Edward has returned and will once again be residing here for the foreseeable future."

"Well our Lord and Lady must be glad to have him home," Marianne said with her best affectation of mildly interested surprise.

It must have been convincing, because neither of the room's other occupants spared her an extra glance.

"Yes, they certainly are," Mrs. Bell agreed.

"Not half so much as the other maids and kitchen girls," Mrs. Daly added wryly.

"Why?" Marianne asked feigning ignorance, "Does his arrival mean a reduction in our workload?"

That caused both of the older women to laugh in a rather girlish manner. It was something Marianne was not used to seeing. But the easy smiles and light sounds of their chuckling suited both women immensely.

"Nothing of the sort," Mrs. Bell replied once she was finished laughing, "They're just over the moon because they get to ogle him. The poor boy."

"Aye, we can only hope they'll do it discretely, or our Lady might gouge one of their eyes out," Mrs. Daly commented as she stirred.

"You don't plan to warn them about that kind of disrespectful behaviour?" Marianne wondered, because that kind of complacency was very out of character for both of her superiors.

"We did all we could last night. I don't see the harm in letting it go, they'll be very soon distracted by actually eligible young men at the ball," Mrs. Bell confided, and Marianne could see her reasoning.

It would be very unlikely for the other girls to pine after Edward Laurent very long when there were plenty of men who would actually pay attention to them. Besides, that approach to the situation meant significantly less effort was needed from Mrs. Bell and Mrs. Daly. Marianne could understand their disinclination to play warden to their staff's hormonal impulses.

"I'm presuming you need no such warning," Mrs. Bell said to her.

Marianne gently shook her head with a short laugh.

"Nah, I'm quite determined to end an old maid," she informed them, and paid no mind to their obvious surprise.

"Truly?" Mrs. Bell wondered, "I merely meant I trusted you wouldn't allow such foolish things to rule you."

"I assumed you already had a man in mind," Mrs. Daly admitted with a raised eyebrow.

"No. It's been a while since I thought of such things."

"Well, all the better for our Lady's peace of mind," Mrs. Daly said, then turned back to dolloping out portions of porridge, done with the conversation.

One such portion was placed before Marianne, another before Mrs. Bell who sat across from her. Immediately followed by a brass dish filled with sticky, unrefined sugar which was placed between them. Marianne gave her sincere thanks to Mrs. Daly and stirred a very small amount of sugar into her porridge. A simple meal it may have been, but Marianne was used to having much, much worse.

"There is another favour I wanted to ask of you, before the others come down," Mrs. Bell admitted as she started in on her own breakfast.

"Compared to chaperoning my fellows around a never-ending series of dances, it should be a breeze," Marianne said to encourage Mrs. Bell to go on and ask her what she needed.

"I need someone to look after Lord Edward's rooms, who I can rely on to remain professional. Not just cleaning, but making sure the room is properly kept and stocked," Mrs. Bell explained,

"And Lord Edward and Lady Laurent requested that we prepare one of the larger guest rooms. A very close friend of Lord Edward is visiting his aunt, Lady Francesca, nearby. There is a high likelihood he will spend a lot of time here. So, a room is to be kept ready for him should he happen to require it."

"I can do that."

"It will be on top of your regular duties," Mrs. Bell warned.

"That's alright, I have little else I need to be doing."

"Thank you, it puts my mind at ease."

"Anything you need help with, Mrs. Bell, you can ask me and I'll see that it's done."

"Good to know, Marianne, and again, thank you."

Their discussion was then over. The other members of staff were beginning to trickle into the kitchen. All of them yawning, rubbing their eyes, and otherwise attempting to wake themselves up. The majority found that to be insufficient. So, the large coffee pot of coffee Mrs. Daly had prepared was quickly emptied. Another was put in its place. But it did not last very long either.

Once Marianne was finished eating she hurried off, leaving the others to their chatter. Mrs. Bell had unwittingly told her everything she needed to know. So, there was no need for her to subject herself to any more exaggerated gossip than she normally endured.

And she had to work that needed to be done before the family rose for the day.

The first fire she always saw to, was in the breakfast room. It was the first room the family would use every day, so it was the sensible option.

Scrubbing down and lighting the fires was a job that fell to Marianne for two reasons. She was really very good at cleaning them. They positively gleamed once she was through with them. Also, because she could get a fire going out in the open in the middle of a hurricane.

Yes, she had done exactly that before.

So, if she was the one performing the task they never had to deal with the young ladies complaining they would die of pneumonia. Purely because the fire had not been lit before they moved into the music room.

Honestly, it had barely even been chilly.

Marianne was sure they would die within an hour if left to find for themselves.

She was also slightly suspicious that Lord Laurent and his heir liked the change for less 'practical' reasons. Marianne caught them looking at her frequently if they were in a room while she cleaned the fire. It was nothing to worry her, really. Though their attention did tend to make her uncomfortable.

Nevertheless, Marianne kept her opinions to herself. The conversations she often overheard during those moments provided her with more than enough entertainment to be worth it.

When she had set all of the fires alight and ensured the blaze was strong, she moved onto her new assignment. Cleaning and setting up a room for Lord Edward's potential guest.

As she gathered everything she would need for the task Marianne was infanantly grateful for Adam's sense of duty. It was very unlikely he would stay in the Laurent's home while he was supposed to be visiting his relative.

That certainly was the only reason she was unbothered by her new task.

In fact, it turned out to be quite the guilty pleasure. Fitting up a room specifically for Adam. Tailoring it to what he would like. It gave her an opportunity to think of him, and lavish his surroundings with attention, without anyone else knowing what she was up to.


A/N - The next chapter will be about the ball, I swear. Actually the next two will probably happen at the ball. Yay, finally getting somewhere! Also, I'm not really liking the chapter title, so it's likely to change. Any suggestions would be really great.

A/N - Yes, I did end up changing the chapter title. Still not really happy with it, but it'll do.