by
Jackie J
The
guest room that Lady Hogarth entered had been prepared to perfection with fresh
flowers and neatly folded towels. A filled bathtub, still lightly steaming, sat
at the foot of the bed on a soft mat.
Having
bathed Lady Hogarth smiled opening the closet to find her clothes neatly
arranged the drawers no different. The maid had been busy. The supper prepared
and served by Annie brought compliments that Martha gratefully received and
passed on to Annie.
Maud
had concluded that Constance’s motivation, for exploiting Annabella’s feeble
mind and supressed obsession with servility and her own subjugation, at the
hands of the housekeeper in being a maid, stemmed from inheritance. Annabella
stood to inherit everything, if Annabella disappeared, could not be traced,
became hidden away at Buckshire manor, one of the Countesses maids, which she
already was? Well who would inherit then? Annabella inheriting the family
fortune was not ideal and no doubt would soon be squandered but that women
getting her hands on the family’s wealth never.
Maud
had received word, that her brother the Earl, was currently unlikely to survive
a journey home from Switzerland and it could be some time before he returned if
at all, such was the seriousness of his condition. With his physical and mental
condition deteriorating by the week, the question of inheritance was becoming
more of an issue and prayed on Maud’s mind.