Chapter 17: Camilla
Maria didn't speak to Georg again that morning. She only briefly saw him when he left the suite around half an hour later, merely giving her a kiss on the cheek in farewell as Hannah finished doing her hair.
All morning she pondered what went on the previous night. Even the children noticed that she was distracted and asked her several times what was wrong. Maria quickly dismissed their concerns and told them that she was only thinking about her plans for the concert they were going to perform for their grandparents in a few days time. Thankfully Georg had arranged the entire event with Lady Whitehead before he'd left the manor that morning so organising time alone with the children to practice without Nanny Jones was easy. And beginning rehearsals with the children was a welcomed distraction from all the things going around Maria's head.
But after lunch once the children had returned to the care of Nanny Jones, the thoughts of the previous night returned to Maria's mind. She thought about what had happened during their lovemaking, the name she heard him call and what he told her afterwards about what he wanted to speak with her about that night. "There are things I should have told you long before now, things I've been feeling… and these feelings I can't control…"
She had so many questions, questions without answers until she would speak with Georg later that night. What did he want to tell her? That he was in love with another woman? The only woman she knew of was Camilla. Georg had told Maria time and time again to trust him when it came to Camilla and her flirting, and part of her wanted to. But yet Maria also knew that Georg had withdrawn himself from her almost from the very moment they'd come to the Whitehead manor and met Camilla, so that coincidence was too great to ignore.
However, the more she thought about it, the more uncertain Maria felt that it was Camilla's name that Georg called. Perhaps she was jumping to conclusions and Georg had a perfectly reasonable explanation about what had happened the previous night and she should trust him more. She remembered his heartfelt apology and the words of love he whispered into her ear as he kissed her goodbye that morning. Would he be saying those things to her if he was about to break her heart? Maria was confused. She felt like a pendulum of emotions swinging from one extreme to the other, not knowing what to think or what to believe.
But by the time dusk fell and she returned to her room to dress for dinner, Maria had come to the conclusion that she trusted Georg. He had never given her any other reason to doubt him. She loved him and had made a lifelong commitment to him through their sacred wedding vows to each other. So she was going to listen to him, be understanding and fight for her marriage if necessary.
With all these thoughts racing around her head, as soon as Georg arrived back at the suite Maria impulsively threw her arms around Georg and hugged him tight to her chest. "Please tell me everything's going to be alright," she asked him in a half whisper.
Her gesture of affection surprised Georg at first as Maria had been so mad at him that morning. It gave him reason to hope that he would be able to explain and sort out everything between them. Georg held her gently as if she was going to break. He buried his face into her golden hair and kissed the top of her head softly. "It will be, darling. I promise," he replied.
His reassurance lifted Maria's spirits considerably as they made their way downstairs, however her enlightened mood quickly vanished as soon at they entered the dining room when Maria saw that Lord and Lady Addington and Camilla had been invited to dinner.
To Maria's disappointment, once again as they were seated for dinner Georg was placed next to Camilla while Maria was seated all the way down the other end of the table opposite Lady Whitehead. Dinner was long and tedious with course after course being served and Maria feeling more alone and isolated as the meal went on being apart from Georg. Thankfully Camilla was behaving herself and not leeching all over Georg. But she kept throwing Maria gleeful smiles of triumph every time Maria glanced over in Georg's direction. It was beginning to unsettle her, especially after the previous night and her worries about everything Georg was going to speak to her about later that evening.
"Is everything alright with your meal, dear?" Lady Whitehead's inquiry roused Maria from her thoughts. Maria glanced down to her near-full plate realising she'd barely eaten anything and had only been pushing the food around her plate.
"I, uh… y-yes Lady Whitehead," Maria stammered. "Perfectly fine. I'm just, ah… not feeling quite well tonight."
Lady Whitehead looked aghast. "My dear, I do hope it's not serious."
Maria gave a weak smile as she glanced in Camilla's direction. "No, no. I'm sure it's not, but perhaps you might excuse me for a few moments?" Lady Whitehead nodded as Maria rose from the table. Georg immediate left the table to see whether Maria was all right. After reassuring him that she would return as quickly as possible, Maria left the dining room for the ladies lounge.
Once Maria had gone, the normal dinner conversation resumed however several minutes later, Camilla made eye contact with Lady Whitehead. Without anyone else at the table seeing, Lady Whitehead gave a Camilla the faintest of nods at which Camilla rose from the table and excused herself before following Maria into the ladies lounge.
Maria finished in the bathroom before pausing for at moment at the basins to splash some water on her face. She squeezed her eyes shut and exhaled deeply, calming herself for a minute or so before she had to return to the dining room. When she opened her eyes and looked in the mirror, she saw Camilla standing right behind her. Maria jumped and spun around, her hand on her heart.
"Camilla, I didn't hear you come in," Maria exclaimed trying to catch her breath. "You gave me a fright!"
"My apologies Maria, not my intention at all." Camilla smiled sweetly but her cold, piercing eyes didn't match the smile on her face. There was an uncomfortable silence as Camilla scrutinized Maria.
"Was there something you wanted?" Maria asked nervously.
Camilla tilted her head slightly to the side almost in quiet contemplation while she decided what she was going to say to Maria. "Well… I suppose I could start with small talk, but let's skip that. I've come to talk to you about your husband..."
"Georg?"
"… and what he did to me."
Maria was stunned for a moment. "W-what he did to you?" she stammered. "I don't understand."
"No, of course you wouldn't. I can almost guarantee Georg said nothing to you about what happened between us yesterday."
"Yesterday?" Maria's mouth went dry as she remembered Georg had told her about offering Camilla a lift back to her estate the day before.
"Yes, when Georg gave me a lift back from town."
"He told me nothing had happened between the two of you," Maria defended at once.
Camilla gave a loud fake laugh as she waved her hand at Maria in dismissal. "Of course he would tell you that nothing happened. But in actual fact, he couldn't keep his hands off me. Your husband is quite amorous in his affections when he wants to be."
"Camilla, I hope you're joking."
Camilla shook her head sadly. "Not at all." Camilla put her hand gently on Maria's arm. "You know, there's nothing more irresistible to a woman than a man who continually opposes her advances, because you know once he finally gives in…. well, let's just say I've found Georg to be a very passionate man. The many kisses we've shared, the whispered words of love and adoration…" Camilla's voice trailed off as she paused to see Maria's reaction. "I thought you should know what type of man you're married to. One who's quite happy to ah… look for affection outside of the marriage bed, so to speak."
Maria's body began to tremble and she could feel the tears beginning to sting her eyes as it seemed that her worst fears coming true. But then seeing the look of triumph in Camilla's eyes, Maria knew Camilla was wrong. Georg was as frustrated by Camilla's eternal flirting as she was, and regardless of what was going on between her and Georg, Maria trusted him and she knew there was no way Georg would cheat on her.
Maria snatched her arm out of Camilla's grasp. "You're lying," Maria stated firmly, her voice quivering in anger.
"Am I?" Camilla raised her eyebrows, seemingly unperturbed by Maria's outburst.
"Yes. You're only saying these nasty, untrue things to create problems between Georg and myself," Maria's heart was thumping wildly in her chest and her entire body was shaking as she spoke. Maria remembered how Georg asked her not speak to Camilla about her constant flirting with him, but after Camilla had confronted her like she had, there was no way Maria was going say nothing to her now. "Camilla, I've seen the way you constantly flirt with Georg, and I don't like it. Georg doesn't like it. He's a married man, for goodness sake!" Maria voice rose as all the frustrations and emotions of putting up with Camilla's antics suddenly hit her. "Camilla, I would like it all to stop. Now. Stay away from my husband."
Camilla looked at Maria in surprise, not expecting Maria to oppose her like that. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "Are you threatening me?" she sneered at Maria.
Maria's face softened and she lowered her voice. "No," she replied as politely as possible, "I'm asking you nicely. Please."
Camilla threw she shoulders back and raised herself up to her full height. "Fine. Have it your way." Pointed her nose in the air, Camilla turned on her heel and sauntered out of the ladies lounge leaving Maria looking flabbergasted about what had just happened.
Camilla hurried back towards the dining room but paused outside of the door. Smiling to herself, Camilla knew it was time to put into place the next part of her plan. She took a small jar of ointment out of her purse and dabbed a tiny amount under each eye. Almost immediately tears formed in her eyes, and beginning to cry madly, Camilla opened the dining room door and ran inside.
XxXxXxXxXx
Meanwhile back in the ladies lounge, Maria was completely shaken after her confrontation with Camilla. She sank down into one of the lounge chairs stunned, trying to understand what had just happened. Feeling tears well up in her eyes, she blinked them back. Had Georg finally given in and responded to Camilla's advances? No, she felt in her heart that everything Camilla had told her about her car trip with Georg the previous day was a lie, yet Maria did have a niggling bit of doubt in the back of her mind. Maria had never quite understood why Georg wasn't firmer with Camilla about asking for her to stop her incessant flirting. Maybe there was some truth that Georg liked the attention? He was well known as a ladies man before his first marriage, but then Maria knew how committed Georg had been to Agathe, not to mention how he had, time and time again, pledged his undying love to Maria.
No, she knew Camilla was wrong about everything. Maria got up and walked purposefully from the lounge to find Georg and to tell him exactly what Camilla had said to her.
As soon as she opened the door, Maria saw Georg pacing the hallway waiting for her. He looked agitated. "Maria, what just happened?" he asked her urgently in hushed tones.
"W-what…?" Maria spluttered in confusion.
"Just then in the ladies lounge with Camilla." He motioned back to the lounge with his head. "Lord Addington is furious, and so is Elizabeth. Camilla came back to the dining room just now terribly upset and crying. She said you cornered her in the bathroom and even threatened her."
"Threatened her?" Maria's eyes were wide with astonishment. "What? Georg, no I didn't," Maria denied shaking her head wildly.
"You didn't warn her to stay away from me?" he questioned immediately.
"No! I mean yes I did. But it's not how it sounds…" Maria tried to explain.
"Maria, did I or did I not give you specific instructions not to speak to Camilla about all her flirting and to let me handle it?"
"You did but…"
"And do you or do you not have difficulty remembering such simple instructions?" he hissed sharply.
"Georg, listen to me!"
"No, I will not discuss this with you here." Georg stated fiercely. He knew enough about the comings and goings of servants in large manor houses to know that any conversation out in the open like that was likely to be overheard and turned into household gossip. "Maria, go upstairs now."
Maria couldn't believe that he wasn't willing to hear her side of the story and had just blatantly dismissed her. "Go upstairs?" she challenged, her eyes blazing with fury. "Is that an order, Captain?"
"Maria!" Georg hissed, stamping his foot in frustration. "Just go. I'll make our apologies and join you in a moment. Then we'll talk."
Maria opened her mouth to protest again, but instead turned on her heel and headed back to their suite, seething in anger.
A/N: Time is of the essence and I haven't had much time to write recently so I split (what I'd planned) to be a long chapter into two parts with the first part stopping here until I have the time to finish writing the rest of it!
Again, thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favoured and followed this story. It means so much! As my real life is just incredibly busy and stressful right now, receiving reviews would give me such a boost! So please review! Please!