The Maid’s Secret by Anita Zara EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author: Anita Zara
- Language: English
- Genre: Paranormal Demons & Devils Romance
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Chemise, corset, blouse, skirt, apron. I tugged the long-sleeves of my
uniform and brushed my tangled hair into submission. I tucked the red
strands neatly into a bonnet lined with white lace. My armour for another
day.
Outside the opened window, a winter moon glowed. Trailing tentacles of
vapour seeped into my room, washing the slumber from my eyes. Five in
the morning, and my day had already begun.
I scuttled downstairs to light the fires and lay out the tableware for my
mistress’ breakfast. Today’s selection was a Royal Doulton tea set,
delicately adorned with intricate gold trim.
It had been a few weeks of working at the Voltaire manor, and I still hadn’t
gotten used to it. The labyrinth of passages in the manor, the mercurial
moods of my mistress, but most of all, the butler. He was a strange one.
Always poised, elegant in dress, refined in speech. Not a single dark hair
astray, never a misstep or tie out of place. He was as perfect as butlers
came. Too perfect.
The man never ate with the other staff, either. He was mysterious to them
even though they had worked at the manor for years. Florian was his name.
No family to speak of. Looked about thirty years of age. Unattached to
anyone, when I had asked the cook.
Sometimes I’d steal glances at him between my chores. To see if he ever
made a mistake. So far, none. I, however, made plenty of them. Like now.
My shivering fingers sloshed some hot cocoa over the rim of my mug. The
liquid spread on the kitchen floor.
“Bollocks.” I dropped to my hands and knees, scrubbing the stain when a
tall shadow loomed before me. I looked up and stilled.
The butler’s inky blue eyes travelled across my form. “Goodness, the day
has barely started,” he said. “The mistress will be down shortly.”
I rose to my feet and bowed my head. “Apologies.”
“Apologies, sir,” he said. “Mr. Florian will do too, though I prefer the
former.”
“I will make a note of that, sir.” My hands, tucked behind me, shook. The
fingernails dug into my palms. Piss off.
My mistress came downstairs for breakfast at half past seven. She wore a
cream and navy tea-gown with embroidered silk and serpentine floral
patterns. The collar was high, concealing most of her neck. Framed by
midnight hair, her face was doll-like. Inscrutable sea-blue eyes, shell-white
skin, lashes that needed no darkening. Pink lips that would be petal-soft to
the touch.
She seated herself at the table and raised a teacup to her lips. An odd
blemish marred her slender wrist. And when flicked her hair away from her
collar and bent over her bread pudding, another marked her neck. Dark as a
storm-cloud.
A good staff member does not ask questions.
My mistress did not preoccupy my thoughts for the rest of the day. She
couldn’t because I hadn’t the time for it. One by one, I attended to my daily
tasks. Sweep the floors, clean the grates, wash the dishes and marble hearth,
For More Read Download This Book
EPUB