Chapter 4 - the maid who returned
Rosa entered Vale House through the service entrance twelve days before the wedding.
She wore a gray uniform, sensible black shoes and a temporary staff badge displaying the surname Martin.
Lily held her hand.
The estate manager barely looked at them.
“We were told childcare had been arranged,” he said.
“It was canceled.”
“Children are not allowed in the ballroom.”
“She will remain in the staff quarters.”
The manager sighed and checked the list.
Victoria had hired more than seventy temporary employees for the wedding. Florists, caterers, cleaners and decorators moved through the mansion from dawn until midnight.
One maid and a quiet child attracted no attention.
That was the advantage of being ignored.
Arthur had arranged Rosa’s employment through an outside agency. His plan seemed simple: locate the duplicate key inside the piano, open Eleanor’s hidden room and recover the evidence before the ceremony.
But the piano had been moved from the east music room.
Victoria had ordered it placed in the ballroom.
Workers surrounded it constantly.
Rosa could not approach without being seen.
During her first morning, she carried fresh linens upstairs and nearly collided with Ethan.
He was standing outside his mother’s old bedroom.
For one terrifying moment, Rosa believed he recognized her.
His eyes moved over her face.
“Have we met?”
Rosa’s heart pounded.
“I worked at one of the foundation’s Madrid offices, sir.”
“Madrid.”
He repeated the word with a strange softness.
“What was your name?”
Before Rosa could answer, Victoria appeared at the end of the corridor.
She wore a cream suit and carried a tablet filled with wedding schedules.
“Ethan, the photographer is waiting.”
Her gaze settled on Rosa.
Recognition flashed immediately.
Victoria recovered so quickly that Ethan did not notice.
“This maid is needed downstairs,” she said.
“I was asking her a question.”
“And you can ask later. We are already behind.”
Ethan walked away reluctantly.
Victoria waited until he turned the corner.
Then she approached Rosa.
“You should have stayed gone.”
Rosa met her eyes.
“You should have delivered my letters.”
Victoria glanced toward Lily, who stood beside a linen cart holding her stuffed rabbit.
“So that is her.”
“You know who she is.”
“I know what you claim.”
“She has Ethan’s blood.”
“Blood is not enough to enter this family.”
“It was enough for you.”
Victoria’s expression hardened.
“You will leave tonight.”
“I have a contract.”
“I own the agency that issued it.”
“Arthur Bell chose the agency.”
For the first time, Victoria looked alarmed.
“Arthur is retired.”
“He still remembers Eleanor.”
Victoria stepped closer.
“What did that old man tell you?”
“That you are afraid of a three-year-old.”
Victoria’s eyes moved toward Lily again.
The child stared back.
Gray-green eyes beneath the corridor lights.
Eleanor’s eyes.
Victoria turned away first.
“You have no proof.”
“Then why did you spend three years destroying it?”
Victoria smiled, but her hands had begun to tremble.
“Be careful, Rosa. People will believe I removed a dishonest employee. They will not believe I built my life around hiding your child.”
“You didn’t hide Lily because of me.”
“No?”
“You hid her because of Eleanor’s trust.”
The smile vanished.
Rosa knew she had guessed correctly.
Victoria walked away without another word.
That afternoon, every temporary worker received a security notice.
No employee was permitted within ten feet of the grand piano.
Later, Rosa found her room searched.
The box containing her letters was gone.
Only Lily’s stuffed rabbit remained on the bed.
Pinned beneath it was a note.
Leave before the wedding, or Ethan will read what you wrote about him.
Rosa stared at the message.
The threat made no sense.
She had never written anything damaging about Ethan.
Then she remembered one letter she had not sent.
May you like
A letter written during the most frightened night of her pregnancy.
A letter in which she had recorded exactly what Eleanor told her before she died.
