Chapter 4
If she had said so earlier, he would have gone to the doctor to get her medication!
“I would have mentioned it, but Mr. Lestrade hasn’t given me the chance,” Lilian replied quietly, finally drawing her hands out of the marquise’s grasp.
That only left Rupert narrowing his eyes—she was already back, but she still refused to treat him like her brother.
His rage did not subside at all, and he demanded, “That begs the question—you were raised as the marquis heiress and trained to fight as a child. Is there some sort of elite warrior in that washhouse capable of doing that to you?”
While Lilian’s heart skipped a beat, she kept her eyes lowered as she pulled on her sleeve.
“I did fight back, and as you would expect, none of the other servants could win against me.”
Lilian spoke softly, but her voice sent chills down everyone’s spine. “But just because they can’t win a fight doesn’t mean they’re out of options—for example, when I’m sound asleep, I’d find myself doused in buckets of cold water.
“While others get soup, I’d only get swill. There were also times when the other servants would make me do their portion of the laundry after I was done with mine.”
Lilian finally looked up at Rupert then, her cold gaze devoid of emotion, but Rupert’s hands were shaking anyway.
Nonetheless, she continued, “I tried asking the madame for help, but all I got was a whipping for my troubles.
“In time, I learned to stop fighting it—if my bed was wet, I’d sleep on the floor. If I was given swill, I learned to swallow it.
“There was still one time that the madame went too far and almost killed me, but she was probably wary of the marquis and therefore stopped, even learning to hold back since.”
Seeing the disbelief in Rupert’s eyes then, Lilian’s lips curled into a sneer. “So, perhaps you believe that I deliberately suffered in exchange for your guilt and remorse?
“Please spare me—I know my position all too well, and even if you may feel guilt, you won’t feel remorse. If anything, now that you’ve heard my story, aren’t you all rejoicing that I was the one sent to the washhouse and not Evelyn?”
Lilian’s piercing glare left Rupert feeling as if a hand was clawing into his heart.
But this time, he could not manage a retort.
“Stop, Lily!”
It was the marquise who broke the silence instead, clutching her chest and heaving as she cried, “It’s all my fault… I’ve hurt you so much…”
“No you didn’t, Marquise.”
Lilian spoke in her gentle voice, but that gentleness was completely different from Evelyn’s. “You’ve raised me for fifteen years, and you get to do anything you like with me for that.”
After all, where Evelyn’s words invoked sympathy and offered comfort, Lilian’s words were a sword that sliced through hearts and made them bleed.
“But you’re holding a grudge!” Rupert finally bellowed after a long silence, furious from the heartrending ache he felt.
Glaring at Lilian and as if he had seen through her, he laughed coolly. “Everything you do is deliberate, whether it’s being distant or falling in front of Mother! You did the same to win Henry’s sympathy so that he’d give you a ride in his carriage too, didn’t you?!
“Know your place, Lilian Lestrade—Henry is no longer your fiance! He’ll marry Evelyn soon!”
His furious glare only left Lilian sighing inwardly.
He had certainly been her brother for fifteen years, and every word he breathed could hit her where it hurt with pinpoint precision.
But after three years of tempering, Lilian’s heart was impervious to anything!
Maintaining her composure, she said, “Mr. Lestrade, I’m sure you’re an important person and very busy, which is why you must’ve forgotten the fact that you pushed me off the stairs three years ago.
“I suffered a sprain then and was sent straight to the washhouse right after, so the pain often relapses over the years. When you kicked me earlier today, the sprain worsened, which was why I stumbled when you pushed me just now.
“As for General Stark… What makes you think he would feel sympathy for me? Are you giving me too much credit, or giving Ms. Lestrade not enough?”
Her words left Evelyn ashamed, and Rupert could not help glancing at her worriedly before snapping at Lilian again, “Don’t think you can drive a wedge between us! I know you too well—you’d be as petty as ever even after three years! I’m warning, don’t think you get to bully Eve while I’m around!”
“Stop it, Rupert…” Evelyn sobbed. “Lily’s never done anything to me!”
“You’re being too nice for your own good!”
Rupert kept pointing at Evelyn as he bellowed, “She’s not you—she’s as scheming as she is petty! Now that she got out of the washhouse, she wants revenge!
“She knows that Mother loves her but deliberately distanced herself and showed her all her wounds, and see?! Mother is crying herself silly!”
Though the marquise wanted to stop Rupert, she could only wave her hand, unable to say a word.
Evelyn then glanced at the marquise, and it was just as Rupert had put it—the woman even had to lean on a maid as she tried to catch her breath.
She had certainly never seen her mother like this, as she had at best shed some tears when Lilian was sent to the washhouse, even assuring Evelyn that everything was just fine!
But now…
Was it possible that everything was as Rupert said, that Lilian did so on purpose?
Was she really such a schemer?
As Evelyn could not help turning toward Lilian, she found Lilian staring at her with a cool glare that seemed to cut into her heart.
Afraid, Evelyn promptly turned away, while Lilian bowed at the marquise. “My lady, please forward my regrets to Madam Lestrade, as it appears that it’s ill advised for me to meet her today. I shall come again tomorrow.”
And with those words, she left without a look at any of the Lestrades, whereas the sight of her limping seemed to be burned into their mind.
That was especially the case for Henry.
It was only after Rupert escorted Evelyn away that he spotted the man standing by the hallway and likely having seen everything.
Frowning in annoyance, Rupert strode up regardless. “What brings you here?”
Henry remained unaffected, his tone calm as he replied, “His Majesty has bestowed upon me some precious potions, but I was thinking that I could give them to Madam Lestrade since I have no use for them.”
Even so, Rupert frowned as something else occurred to him.
Measuring Henry from head to toe, he eventually demanded, “Be honest. You came for Lily, didn’t you?”
