Roderick

It’s a dull day without the prospect of meeting Thedra, and I’m anxious. I don’t know how many times I have to talk myself down from going to check on her in person. I remind myself Evelyn has everything in hand, and trust to the housekeeper’s judgment. But when the next morning dawns and there is still no sign of Thedra, I reach my limit.

I can’t pretend disinterest anymore. I have to see her.

“Master Bentham!” Evelyn is surprised to see me in the servants quarters. “What brings you here?”

“Take me to Thedra’s room. I’d like to see she’s being properly looked after.”

“Oh,” her eyes widen, and a brief but definite look of panic crosses her features. “Oh, Thedra isn’t here. I’ve just sent her into town on some errands.”

“She’s recovered then? Excellent. Have her sent up to my office the moment she returns.”

“Ah, that would be… difficult…”

I watch Evelyn through increasingly mistrusting eyes as she hems and haws over some excuse. I feel my patience running thin. Coldly, I interrupt her.

“Where is she?”

 “Her room is the forth on the right, Sir,” the fat cook interrupts us with a deliberate smirk for the head housekeeper. “Not that I’ve had time to check in on her, with as busy as things are around here…”

“Yes, thank you, Mrs. Agate,” I say, reserving a warning glare for Evelyn as I brush past her and make my way down the hall.

“Thedra?” I knock on her door perhaps a bit presumptuously, but at this point my worry is overriding my self-consciousness. “I’m coming in.”

The room is like an icebox, and there on the bed beneath a threadbare blanket a small white figure shivers uncontrollably. At once I feel conflicting emotions of fear for her wellbeing, and of absolute rage for the one responsible for her condition. Without stopping to think I lift her off of the bed carry her out of the frigid room.

“She was fine last night,” Evelyn follows me, making excuses. “I was going to check on her this morning, I just got distracted—”

“Shut up,” I cut her off. “Send for the doctor. Now.”

I wait outside the guestroom where I left Thedra alone with Doctor Della, a competent looking middle aged woman with short hair and thick glasses. While I awaited the doctor’s arrival I sat with the unconscious Thedra’s icy hand in mine, praying like I’d never prayed before that she would revive. In this manner an hour quickly flew by, but now that we are separated by a thick door, the time crawls. The clock on the wall tells me I’ve only been waiting seven minutes, but it feels more like a week.

At last Doctor Della reappears. I jump to meet her.

“How is she?”

“She has hypothermia. And a cold on top of it, I think. She’s exhausted and underfed, and,” she gives me a look of fierce disapproval, “her body is covered in bruises.”

“What?”

I see red. It’s my first instinct to find the ones responsible and rip into their throats, but right now Thedra’s health is my priority.

“Some are fresh, others are from a week or more ago. I must say the conditions in which you keep your staff are appalling. I’ve half a mind to report you to the police.”

“Make your report,” I say, uncaring for my own wellbeing. “Bring the whole station down to guard her if you want. But I assure you I shall find the ones responsible for this travesty, and meet out their punishment myself.”

“I will hold you to your word, Mr. Bentham. And I shall return first thing tomorrow to check on her progress. In the meantime, I’ll give the directions for her care to your head housekeeper.”

“No,” I say firmly. “Give them to the cook.”

Doctor Della leaves and I turn my fiery gaze on the figure that lurks in the shadow at the end of the hall.

“Care to explain yourself, Evelyn Murdock?”

Evelyn

How hard can it be to get rid of one little maid?!

When Thedra first came looking for a job I hired her on the spot. I could tell at a glance she’d be an honest, hard worker. Ordinarily I would have thought nothing of her at all, other than perhaps gratitude for her work ethic. Then the news got out that she was actually the daughter of Baroness Clyde, followed by a most intriguing letter addressed to head of housekeeping at Bentham estate.

Baroness Florence Clyde had learned her daughter’s whereabouts, and wanted her to return home. It must be of her own volition, she said, or there would be no point. Having challenged the world, Thedra must return the loser if she would be properly humbled, and consent to the marriage Lady Clyde had arranged for her.

To the one that could accomplish this task, the baroness promised the gift of a diamond necklace, the last treasure of that once great House Clyde.

Of course I accepted the offer. I’ve always coveted beautiful jewels, and this one would be earned for nothing. In a house this big, how hard could it be to give one maid so much work that she finally gave up and ran away in defeat?

But I had not understood then how stubborn this maid could be, nor how strong. She is perfectly obedient in every task given her, completing it to perfection with efficiency no other domestic has ever shown. It’s like she knows I’m trying to get rid of her, and with the completion of each trial set before her she elevates herself to an even more untouchable state. Meanwhile each time I blatantly bully her I look worse and worse, to the point that even some of the staff have begun to comment I’ve taken it too far.

And now, this.

“I was too harsh on her, Master,” I bow my head to the towering ogre in front of me, his awful scar purple with rage. “It’s true she is a clumsy and stupid child, but I needn’t have lost my temper like that. It shan’t happen again.”

“How many times have you beat her?”

“I…”

“How many?”

“…a few.”

“With this?” he asks, gesturing to my cane. I hesitate, then nod. In the next instant he rips it from me and snaps it across his powerful knee, tossing the pieces to the floor. I shiver; my whole body’s gone numb with fear.

“No more, you understand me? If I hear of this ever happening again I’ll fire you on the spot.”

“I understand, Master,” I bow. “You are most gracious to give me a second chance.”

He exhales sharply through his nostrils, and for half a moment I fear a blow is coming. In the end, though, he only speaks. “This happened because of my own oversight, otherwise I’d fire you on the spot. But since I did not specifically tell you not to use violence to discipline the staff, I cannot say you disobeyed my orders. But hear them now, Madam. If I find so much as a scratch on Thedra, on any of my staff, I will hold you personally responsible. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Sir,” I answer, still bowing, knees trembling.

I hear Roderick Bentham suck another sharp breath before striding from me abruptly to return to Thedra’s side. I raise my stiff body just in time to see the door slam behind him.

That little wretch, I think, bending to retrieve my broken cane. This is all her fault. Thedra Clyde will pay for this humiliation.

I don’t care about the diamond necklace anymore. Realistically, there was probably never any such treasure to begin with left in House Clyde, and the baroness only promised it in hopes of securing a fool’s assistance. But none of that matters now.

I’ll get rid of that bitch for free, once and for all.