To Love A Myth - Book 2: Mr. Higgs and the Lady 🎩✔️

30

Even though he had acted like things were going to go back to normal between them, immediately he started to go and see Elizabeth again. The strange whiplashing behavior that Higgs was starting to exhibit made Merida curious. She decided to keep her distance from him to observe what she could. It seemed as if Higgs was fighting against something that could only be overcome by drunken stupors. The fact that he couldn't get away from Elizabeth puzzled her because that's exactly what it felt like to her, that he was trying to go against something, as if something was blocking him. Merida decided to put her pride and knee-jerk reactions aside to try and get a better sense of what could be going on with her employer. The first thing she needed to do was get into the mind of Elizabeth to see how she was. The only way to do that, was to finally read those letters that Patrick had left with her.

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"What are you reading?" Marlow asked as she whisked in a bowl.

"Letters."

"Is there any way you could do that later?" Merida looked up at her. "This is the first time we've had more than one or two dinner guests here and as much as I worked in households with far more than this, I can't do it all myself."

"Sorry. Let me clean this up and I'll come and help ye."

"How can you be so invested in some letters? Who are they from anyway?"

"None of yer business and true, I'm not one for letter writing or receiving. I get one everra once in a while from Coinneach, I ken I got one from Fearghas and I'd never get one from Doughall."

"Why's that?"

"Doughall is a... verra private man. Always has been. Dinnae ken why, he pisses like everraone else. It's not like his tally is sacred..."

"Merida." Marlow said, blushing at the talk. "So then if you don't get that many letters from your brothers then..."

"As I said, none of yer business, but as to why I'm reading them, it has to do with emotional content."

"I see... I'm trying to make little sponge cakes; there's Lord and Lady Northumberly, Lord and Lady Graves, Mr. Higgs, and Lady Hinkley, correct?"

"Aye, and I'm sure Elizabeth will bring Gretchen."

"Is Ms. Gretchen going to be attending dinner?"

Merida blinked. "Ye arenae going to make sponge cakes for everraone?"

"What do you mean?"

"Marlow, unlike most houses that ye have been serviced to, when ye make dinner, ye dinnae make one thing for them and one thing for us. Ye make enough of it that we all can eat. If they get sponge cakes, we get sponge cakes."

"Oh."

"Have ye been making two different meals for all of us and then for Mr. Higgs and Lady Hinkley?"

"Yes..."

"No wonder ye always look so frazzled and we hardly ever have a clean kitchen."

"Well... that's how it was in my other jobs."

"Does this place look like it's the same as other households?" Marlow shook her head. "Larid's beard, ye are a tenacious woman. Imagine an I really had been fired!"

"I don't want to think about that... and obviously it looks like you dodged a bullet there. You two seem to fight all the time now. Before this year, it was constant flirting and giggles but now it's like a mad house. If someone isn't falling down the stairs or crying or drinking to oblivion, then there's not activity."