Chapter 005: The First Spark

Maximilian

As I watch my sister rise from the table and head tired the maid who saved Sammy’s life, I have to admit that I feel anger stirring in my gut.

If someone were to ask me, I wouldn’t be able to explain why it is that I feel this way about her. Whenever I catch a glimpse of her face, I get annoyed. It’s not that I’m not grateful that my nephew’s life was spared; it’s something else entirely.

Something that runs deeper than logic and simple explanations.

Beside me, Edmund snickers, and as I turn my head to stare at him. He’s shaking his head as he watches me over the rim of his coffee cup and says, “Still bothered by the maid? Seriously, Max. What are you, twelve? You’re treating her like she’s your new rival at the school’s playground.”

His words worsen my irritation, and I sneer at him. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“Or is it that you’re annoyed that you find her so striking?” he muses.

“There’s nothing striking about her,” I retort dryly while picking up my own cup. But even as I respond this, I know he’s right and hate him for it. I do have a problem with her. I could never admit it, though. He’d never leave me alone about if I did.

However, it’s a lie that I find her pretty. I don’t.

There’s just something about her that irritates me. I wish he and Rebecca had more sense and they fired her. Going to her house to thank her personally? That was absurd. They’re putting her on a damn altar and don’t even know her.

She’s already proven to be an incompetent maid, and anyway, what kind of poor person doesn’t accept a reward when they’re offered one? Do I believe that she saved my nephew out of the goodness of her heart?

No, I don’t.

So, what’s her deal?

This is what makes me suspicious. And yeah, I’ve always been someone naturally suspicious and inquisitive. I’ve always questioned people’s motives and right now, I have a bad feeling about her. She has this way of looking at people that I haven’t seen in a subordinate person before. She meets my gaze steadily, and I swear that whenever I do, I see a spark of anger in her eyes. She tries to disguise it, but it’s there.

I’m rarely wrong about my first impression of people.

“Max,” he begins, jolting me out of my thoughts, “let’s be real here for a second, yeah? You rarely even notice people around you, particularly the staff. So, why her?”

“You mean apart from the fact that she dumped a whole pitcher of water on my lap?”

“Firing her hadn’t been all that necessary. Mistakes do happen.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up,” I tell him crudely. “You would’ve done the same thing in my position. Our employees are here to make our lives easier, not make them even more complicated.”

“But she’s redeemed herself, so why don’t you accept it?” he asks pointedly. “Why do you have to be so merciless? What about her brings this out in you?”

I don’t offer him an answer because I don’t know myself. He turns his attention to his breakfast, pleased that he has the last words and I suppress the urge to throw a punch at him. Ed has a way of crawling under my skin in a way nobody else has.

Rebecca returns to the table, and Edmund asks her, “How’d the talk go, honey?”

“She’s a very sweet person,” my sister replies, beaming. In a lower voice, she says, “I tried to insist her to ask for anything, but she refuses adamantly. She’s so honest and pure, and humble. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like that.”

I can feel the way Ed’s looking at me, but I ignore it because I don’t want to have to argue with him while Rebecca is here. She doesn’t like it when we fight. My sister has always been sensitive and sentimental, and she knows I don’t like Ed. He has a reputation, and ever since he married her, he’s been trying his best to be the man she needs him to be.

But everyone knows he’s a serial cheater. He used to date every young woman who was pretty enough to look at, and there’d been countless scandals of his in the papers and magazines back when he was younger and wanted by everyone. He still is, but now he claims he’s a changed man.

Well, he better be, because the day I find out he’s cheating on my sister, I’ll have him killed. Plain and simple.

“We’re lucky to have her here, under our employment,” Ed comments. “Maybe we can invite her to the Blackburn Masquerade? As a thank you? It’s a prestigious event, and a girl like her could be lucky enough to meet the right people.”

“I like that idea,” Rebecca replies, to my dismay. She agrees to every little thing Ed says and it gets on my nerves. “I’ll talk to her about it. I’m pretty sure I can get her an invitation. Salomé is my friend, after all.”

The subject is changed, thank fuck, and we finish breakfast in peace. I glance at my watch and realize it’s time to go, but as I try to stand up, I nearly bump into a maid. She steps back hurriedly, holding half-empty trays of food in her hands. “Oh, forgive me, Mr. Loxley! I was only clearing the table.”

I can almost feel Ed’s eyes on me, waiting to see what I’ll do. I wave her off dismissively, and turn to the table. “I’ll see you later.”

“A moment, Max,” Ed says, draining his coffee cup. “I’ll just grab my suitcase and I’ll come with you. Dad has asked me to grab some documents for him from his office. Can you wait?”

I don’t answer him because I know it’ll do no good. I’ll just have to wait. Plus, it’s my father who’s asking. I hate it that Edmund calls him Dad like we do.

I start toward the parlor. I’ll wait for him there. I’m putting my coat on when I see the damned maid walking toward me, a bucket filled with cleaning supplies in her right hand. When she notices me standing in the way, she looks up and her step falters.

Those dark, angry eyes meet mine before she says, “Good morning, Mr. Loxley.”

I don’t answer her, and she doesn’t seem to care, nor is she expecting a greeting from me. I stare at the back of her head as she walks past, and I can’t stop the words from tumbling from my lips. “Why didn’t you just take the reward my sister offered you? Don’t you think it’s rude to say no to your employers?”

She stops walking, and doesn’t look at me in the face as she says, “I don’t think it’s rude at all. Like I said, I don’t need the money. I didn’t do it for a reward.”

“Who do you think you’re fooling with that?” I ask, unable to mask my anger.

Calmly, she answers me, “I’m not trying to fool anyone. Maybe you’ve been at the top so long that you can’t begin to comprehend that people would act without expecting something in return. That’s hardly my fault.”

Her calmness grates on my nerves, and I step closer to her. “How dare you presume to know anything about me?”

“I’m not presuming anything,” she replies as she turns to face me fully. “I don’t know anything about you, Mr. Loxley, but I do know one thing; I don’t owe you an explanation for why I did what I did.”

The fire in her eyes catches me off guard, but not more than her choice of words. This woman. Is she insane? Does she think she has a pass to talk to me this way?

“I know from experience that everyone has a price. It might not be money, but there’s always something.” I only realize that I’m standing close to her when that scent of vanilla and pear reaches my nostrils.

“Maybe for some people,” she replies, unbothered. “But not me.”

I try to think of something else to throw at her. Now, I’m more convinced that something about her isn’t right. But instead of saying something to her, my eyes flicker down to her lips, which are naturally red and plump, and it’s a mistake because now, I can’t stop looking.

“If that’s all sir,” she begins, her voice giving away her amusement, “I’ll be on my way. I have floors to scrub, you know.”

She turns to leave slowly before walking away and leaving me with my fists clenched and my chest tight with nerves and anger, wondering what the hell just happened.

Ed shows up a few moments later, and cheerfully asks, “Ready?”

Without giving him an answer, I head toward the door, and as always, he laughs at my passive aggression before following me out.