-Two Days Later -
"Steady yourself!" the baroness barked.
Reluctantly, Estella straightened her arms, steadying the bucket of water on her head. She had been kneeling since two nights ago, yet her stepmother's anger had not waned. Her shoulders burned badly, and her arms trembled from the strain. So that if she were to drop them now, they would be too numb to lift again. She winced from the thought.
"Good for you," one sister said. "Insolent swine. Did you think you could pull off your little stunt at Lady Agatha's and not pay for it?"
Estella heaved a sigh of defeat at Geraldine's sharp tone.
"Mother, I think this punishment is too light for her. She deserves worse. Why not have Theodore give her a few strokes of the cane? The marks will remind her never to show such insolence again."
"I agree," Georgina said.
Estella shuddered as if a chill had run through her. When both sisters agreed on a punishment, it was all but certain. The baroness would give in before long.
"Where did you sneak off to that night? That is even what we should be discussing," Georgina said. "Where did you go? Answer me!" she thundered suddenly.
"Where else do you think? To be with her lover, of course," Geraldine said. "I don't know why you keep asking the same question, Gina, and making me repeat myself all over again. This brat is obviously scheming something. I am most certain of it.
"She must have thought that by driving the viscount away that night, her mystery lover would come to her rescue and whisk her away. What a dreamer." She laughed mockingly.
"Over my dead body will I allow this rat to thwart Father's plans and shame our family name," Georgina said spitefully, then turned to the baroness. "Mother, do you really see no sense in what we are saying? Estella will not say where she went that night because she has a lover. She is keeping silent to protect him. Believe us. She has started fraternizing with men.
"Think of what will happen if the viscount finds out she is no longer a virgin."
"Scandalous, Mother!" Geraldine cried dramatically.
By now, Estella was growing lightheaded from the endless accusations flying over her head. She had no strength to defend herself. As if that would do her any good or that her whiny sisters would even let her finish a sentence. Either way, she was done listening. The lack of sleep was taking its toll. Her eyelids felt heavier than the bucket of water balanced on her head. To think she was still wearing Georgina's dress from Lady Agatha's ball that night.
"It is true, Mother. Gina is right. Estella has been out and about with some man," Geraldine insisted. "Can't you see how bold she has become? Would she have dared to defy the viscount that night unless someone had been poisoning her mind against us?"
What Estella would give to have her older sisters married off. At nineteen, nearly twenty, they ought to be focused on finding husbands. She, at just seventeen, would turn eighteen in a few days if she lived to see it. Yet she was already being forced into a union with the Viscount.
She had always secretly longed for the day her sisters would have their own families to worry about and cease to be a burden in her life. Apart from the baroness's occasional temper, a little peace seemed like a luxury she could get used to. Without her sisters stirring trouble, perhaps life would be more bearable. But who in their right mind would be drawn to such wicked, conniving girls?
Estella let herself dwell on the thought.
For every punishment the baroness had ever meted out on her, the twins had been the masterminds, goading their mother into greater cruelty. Estella was almost surprised they had not suggested pressing a scalding iron to her skin. The scars on her back and thighs were proof enough of their mercilessness.
"If you think we are making this up, ask her yourself, Mother," Georgina said again. "She is right here before you. Ask her if she did not sneak off to be with a man, her lover, at Lady Agatha's Ball, no less. Ask her and watch her lie to your face that she did not. Geraldine and I even saw her kiss him."
"What!?"
The baroness's yell sent a jolt of panic through Estella, tightening her stomach. Dread settled deep in her bones at the thought of the baroness believing such a claim. She was so shaken that she did not even register when the bucket of water slipped from her head and crashed to the floor.
"It—It's not true!" Estella jumped to her feet, but her weak knees buckled, and she crashed back down. Not only that, but the wet hem of her dress slipped against the puddle she'd created, sending her sprawling. Her wrist twisted on impact, and a sharp pain shot up her arm. She cried out. "It's not true, Mother. I did not kiss anybody. Please, believe me." The tears came harder now.
"Who is your mother? And who asked you to speak?" Georgina snapped, striding toward her in a fury. "Did anyone ask for your opinion? Did I?"
Before Estella could make sense of her sister's rage, a shoe heel struck her forehead, slicing the skin just above her eye. She cried all the more.
"Foolish girl," Geraldine snarled. "You should have kept your mouth shut. Who will clean up this mess you've made, with water spilling everywhere?"
"She had better get me a new dress also!" Georgina cried bitterly.
"This will not do," the baroness said, rising abruptly. "Lovetta!"
No answer came the first time. But Estella's panic mounted up in her chest.
"Lovetta!" the baroness called again, louder this time.
A short, dark woman hurried out of the house, a napkin in hand. Estella was still sniffling and crying when Lovetta, the housemaid, stopped just inches from her.
"What were you doing when I called the first time?" the baroness demanded. "Why didn't you answer?"
Lovetta cast a pitying glance at Estella. "I… I was—"
"Go and fetch Theodore at once!" the baroness ordered.
Lovetta nodded shakily, stealing another glance at a shivering Estella before hurrying out.