BEWARE SPOILERS! If you have not read The Hidden Gift, DO NOT PROCEED.
For those of you who have read it, you get another scene from Nico’s POV (point of view)! This one is a scene that does not include Annabelle, which means I was not able to rewrite it from her point of view and then include it.
It occurs just after Annabelle is thrown out and he runs out to tell her goodbye.
Nico
I watched her walk away, frustrated by her parting words. They’d been said with such weary resignation. And though I wanted to reassure myself that she could look after herself, her words felt sad instead of hopeful. Like she’d been taking care of herself and everyone else for so long that it was a weight instead of a strength.
I walked slowly back to the house. How had this happened? Had I truly been the cause of Annabelle losing her employment? I couldn’t make sense of the butler’s actions. The report I’d gotten from the previous steward was that every employee in Fowler House was steady and dependable, yet this situation with the butler, Annabelle, and her friend was so incongruous that I couldn’t force it to make sense.
I entered the house through my own office door, distracted, and was surprised to find the housekeeper standing in my office, looking out the window. “Mrs. Thornton—”
“He drove her off, didn’t he?” She didn’t look at me, but kept gazing out the window, looking guilty and frustrated.
“Yes.”
A disgusted scoff sounded in her throat. “That girl was exemplary. Never a complaint, always helping.” She shook her head as frustration radiated off of her. “Brunson and I used to understand one another. We were a team. He respected me.” Her lips pressed into a thin line. “I don’t know what happened.”
A disturbing thought hit me and I had to ask. “Did his change in behavior coincided with my arrival?”
She finally looked at me, her eyes narrowed as she thought, but then she shook her head. “No. No, it was before you came along.” She smoothed out her skirt and straightened her spine. “Well. Nothing to do but get on with it.” She gave me a nod and then left.
This was officially my business now. When I had the housekeeper herself up in arms over the butler’s decisions, something needed to be done.
I’d been building rapport with the other staff members, going to them, asking about their needs and concerns. Normally, I would have done the work to find Brunson if I wished to speak with him, but I decided it was time to make a show of the influence and status afforded me by my position and instead sent a footman to fetch Brunson to my office.
When he showed up a few minutes later, he had his butler’s mask firmly in place, his face devoid of emotion. “You called for me, Mr. Closs.”
“I did. I noticed that another maid has gone missing. Do you usually misplace your employees so often?” It was a jab and I hoped he felt it.
“Not at all. And the maids are the housekeepers purview, as you well know.”
“I’ve spoken to Mrs. Thornton.” I said, allowing that to sink in. I wasn’t going to let him blame this on the housekeeper.
For the first time, his mask cracked, but only for a moment. “The maid in question was let go just this morning.”
“Why? Do we have an overabundance of maids?”
“She has had a record of carelessness over the past several weeks. Her last show of clumsiness caused an injury which made it impossible for her to work.”
I knew that to be a blatant lie, but I had no intention of showing my hand and letting him know that Annabelle and I were on friendly terms. “You fire employees when they are injured? Do you also force them out when they fall ill?”
“It had little to do with her injury and everything to do with her carelessness. Mrs. Thornton might be willing to overlook such things, but I cannot.”
“Mrs. Thornton tells me that she was a hardworking, exemplary employee.”
“She was—before.” There was a mean glint in his eye.
“Before what?”
“It’s the usual story,” he continued in his mild tones. “Maids take up with a bloke and end up clumsy and tired from having a baby growing inside them.”
Red blurred my vision. “I beg your pardon?”
“Don’t act surprised.” His little smirk was smarmy and mean. “It’s probably the reason that other maid left in the middle of the night. They were both lowborn, low as they come. It’s no surprise they let some man—”
I stood from my chair, and was glad the desk was between us because it kept me from launching myself at him and taking his throat in my fist. “I did not ask your opinion on their character, and you are certainly not worthy to give it,” I spat, and he took a step back. “You speak of them being low, while you are the one wallowing in the mire, throwing mud on the reputation of innocent girls after you drove them away with your tyranny.”
His nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed, but other than that he kept his composure.
“Get out. I have no use for a man who lies.”
Fortunately for him, he left immediately. I kept my temper in check until the door closed behind him and then I hurled my brand new decanter at the fireplace.
Cutting this scene HURT. I love it so much. I love Nico’s tenacity and how he doesn’t put up with Brunson’s crap, but once I realized I had to write the whole book from only Annabelle’s POV, I didn’t have a choice. So into my deleted scenes folder it went. But luckily, I get to share it here!