THE HEIRESS (Sample)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Emilia’s mind was clouded with series of thoughts as the carriage rode smoothly. Only the faint sound of the horses’ hooves on the cobbled road kept her aware of her surroundings.

She kept opening the curtain to peek through the window occasionally to see if they were at the house yet but they were not.
Sitting restlessly, she began to think about why Matilda had summoned her from school.

Several questions ran through her mind. Was all well? Was Lacy in trouble? Had Thomas eaten something bad and fallen ill? No good reason or answer seemed to settle on her mind or ease her anxiety.

She heard the gates being opened and the carriage rode up the flowered path towards the house.
The carriage had not fully halted when she flung the door open, not waiting for the door man to do his job. She leapt out of the carriage and ran up the steps to the house.

The door man and guard who was sprawling by the door on a chair, dozing under his hat which had shifted down over his eyes sprang to his feet at the sound of the hurrying approaching footsteps.

“Milady!” he stammered and quickly opened the door with a low bow.

Emilia acknowledged him with a nod, wondering why he didn’t greet her with his usual smile. Anxiously, she ran through the door and half walked ad ran through the hallway where she almost hurried into Festus as her heels echoed in the quiet hall.

“Milady!” he gave a low bow, his hands behind him. His face tensed as if he was trying to hide something.

“Festus!” she said breathlessly.

“You came just in time, milady.” He said.

She glanced around noticing there were hardly any maids or servants in sight. “Where is everyone? Why is the house so quiet?... Where is Matilda?”

“This way milady.” He gestured with his arms towards the doors opposite them. Holding her breath, Emilia waited as he opened the door to a small living room. she stepped in, her skirts riffling.

Matilda stood before a large window, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief while Lacy was seating on a sofa with a red nose and her swollen eyes.

Her face was streaked with tears, she kept sniffling and her shoulders shook as she sobbed, more tears flowing down her face. Even the ferret curled up in a corner didn’t look cheerful.

It raised its head to look at Emilia, hissed and made small whimpering noises then placed its head back on the soft frayed sofa pillow.

“What’s going on?” Emilia glanced from Festus to Matilda. When none made attempts to reply she almost yelled. “Matilda, tell me what is wrong!”

The old woman said in a teary voice. “I’m so sorry, dear.”

“Sorry?” she seemed more confused. “Would you all stop scaring me and tell me what’s going on this instant!”

Matilda picked a broken envelope from the table and presented it to Emilia who gently collected it, hesitating to pull the letter out.  “What’s this?”

“It came in this morning. It’s from Lord Williams.”

Quickly, Emilia pulled the letter out and unfolded it. She glanced at the people around her briefly, dreading a bad news. She sighed and began to read, her eyes going back and forth on the scribbled handwriting of Lord William.

Her lower lip quivered as she continued and soon the letter began to shake in her trembling hands. “...No...no... no” she cried out. The letter slowly floated to the floor from her hands. She staggered as tears spilled down her face, Festus caught her quickly.