章 21: What Things Are Better Left Unsaid (1)
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𝔚𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 𝔄𝔯𝔢 𝔅𝔢𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔏𝔢𝔣𝔱 𝔘𝔫𝔰𝔞𝔦𝔡
"Erina, mercy on the--!" Lady Sutherton recoiled as her daughter barreled through the halls, making various expensive décor topple from walls and shelves.
The moment she had stepped out of the room, her daughter was on a rampage, purposely destroying with every stomp of her march.
"Erina, stop this!" She pursued the storm of anger. "You are acting intolerable for a Sutherton lady, or the way any proper lady should! This type of behavior is unbecoming. What of Marigold's Academy for Proper ladies? Must you forget about that? Do you think of what your actions will lead to? You will surely upset your father if you keep on---."
She stopped when Erin whipped around to stare her down. "Enough of the mother goosing. Go guzzle down your wine to oblivion and leave me be." She tore the curtain draping from the hallway window and chucked it to the ground.
"I picked those out from a selection of imported--."
"But new is always better, isn't it?" She tossed the velvet red material to the ground knowing a maid wouldn't be far to clean and replace it. It would be done before her father would even see it, because if the service workers didn't, it would be their livelihoods and their lives, never hers.
"This one could use a change too, don't you agree mother?" Erin pushed on ahead, tugging the curtain from another window. "I think we could change out this entire floor! Oh yes and while I'm personally reorganizing here, perhaps I'd ought to have the servants reorganize whatever you have prepared for that butler's quarters."
"E-Erina, my dear, I don't think that will be required of you." She swallowed hard.
"What do you mean? Is it not customary that a lord and lady ensure fit their leader of staff?"
"Erina, you shouldn't! I have a good feeling about Mister Ezra being a good fit here but you must cease your attempts to run him off. I know you treat this as a little game of yours but I implore you to focus on marriage. You are of age now and it is only right that you truly sit down and consider your options and your future. I think we should talk properly now about Master Privy."
"Good fit?" Instead of listening to anything her mother had said, Erin focused her attention on the only thing she cared to respond to.
"How could you ever say a good fit, mother ! Did you even notice his prior display of offensive behavior? His borderline back lip to me? His attitude and tone? Or maybe his whole insubordination?! He pulled a chair out on me, and both of you were witnesses!" she barked, her voice bouncing up higher as the annoyance bubbled inside her.
"Truly, Erin? Are you really going to hanker and lie about a chair?"
"Yes. Yes, I absolutely am! That was a juvenile assault on my character and physical well-being. I am injured." She placed a melodramatic hand against her chest. "Look at my foot! Do you not see how I bled? It was his fault! He did it!"
"Please, not with the dramatics, Erin." She groaned.
"I am not being dramatic. I'm speaking the truth. You feel he's a good fit, and I feel he's a knotted twit."
"What did I say about that word," she sighed, agonizingly.
"What, twit?"
"Yes."
"No."
"Erina it sounds as if you are saying tit. You should not sound crude."
"Twit."
"Erina!"
"Mother, they say that the lower you go, the lowborn stock lack the mind to even develop basic sense and sensibility. They are boorish, uncouth, and incredibly without manner."
"Yes, but it would be silly to suggest our family hires anything less than the qualified well-bred."
"Silly? Absolutely not. I have no certainty about that. These days, your selection is of the very disappointing variety."
"You're insulting me."
"Oh, if only that could be helped," she sarcastically spat back.
"Darling, you fell from the chair, darling. And your foot injury? Let's not get into the habit of making things up now. Especially when you're moving fine enough to destroy half of the west wing."
"I only pulled a few curtains and displaced a few vases and statues."
"You are being generous with the word 'few'."
"Well, I am not a liar. You may be to me, but I am not to you."
Lady Sutherton grimaced. "Please, let's have enough of this." She pulled a long face. "I was right across from you. I would have seen if such a debacle had happened that you didn't cause."
"Hah," she scoffed with a fake smile. "Thank you for the support. It's unfortunate would have is not the same thing as should have."
"Then let me further, both your father and I saw nothing but you fumbling out of your chair," she pressed.
"I guess that leaves you two blind or death."
Lady Sutherton glowered, struggling to appeal to her daughter's sense. "Darling, listen to me. All I saw was a man who showed genuine concern for you, despite your behavior."
"Genuine concern? Is that what it looked like to you?"
"Yes." She sighed, rubbing circles in her temples. "Don't you recognize how rare it is to find service men who truly are dedicated to the act of servitude? I have never in my life seen such a thing."
"Somebody is quite the cheering advocate for him." She narrowed her eyes. "You seem to rather fancy him an awful lot. Should Lord Sutherton be worried?"
"Erina! How dare you suggest that?"
"How dare I?" Her eyes were cut into slits. "Perhaps it is you who should stop with the play pretend."
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