Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord
Chapter 134: Awaited confession (1)

Chapter 134: Awaited confession (1)

"Welcome home, Milady. Shall I take your things?" Agnes asked as she walked out the front door to greet Selene.

Selene held the boxes tighter. "No. I will take these in myself. Is Xavier home?"

"I have not seen him or heard the servants speak of his return. Do you need me to send someone for him?" Agnes asked.

"No. It is good that he is not here yet. Come with me," Selene said, leading the way to her room.

Agnes glanced at Lucas before following Selene. What had the lady in such a rush? What was in the boxes she carried?

"I do not understand why we are rushing. Should he not see that you have bought many things?" Agnes asked, but it couldn’t be that. She had witnessed Xavier wanting to spoil Selene. "Lord Blackthorn would be delighted to see you have enjoyed yourself."

"I didn’t buy any of this. They were all gifts from Francesca," Selene replied.

Hearing this puzzled Agnes even more since there wasn’t a need to hide gifts from a friend. It made her curious about what was inside the box.

As they walked to the room, Selene wondered if it was a good idea to hide it in the very room Xavier would be in. There was another room she used when she wanted to be alone. It would be better to take what Francesca gave her there so they wouldn’t be troubled.

Selene switched directions for her private room.

"Lady Blackthorn," said Gertrude, the head maid. "I have heard you have been meaning to speak to me."

"I have," Selene replied, happy to see Gertrude. "It slips my mind all the time."

"I am free now to speak and there is something I would like to bring to your attention if I can," said Gertrude.

"You may. Oh," Selene turned to Agnes. "Please hide this for me in my room. I will come to you soon."

Agnes took the boxes from Selene’s hands. What was the issue with the boxes?

Despite not understanding Selene’s behaviour, Agnes took the boxes to Selene’s room. She wanted to be in and out quickly before Xavier returned. She could not handle being in his presence without Selene.

’Am I to hide these?’ Agnes wondered. Selene might not like it if they were placed in the open so Agnes had a wonderful hiding place.

When Agnes reached the room, she set the boxes down and opened the door so she could then pick up the boxes and enter the room.

Agnes went straight for the bed as she intended to hide everything under it. There shouldn’t be any reason for Xavier to look under the bed and since she helped Harold to tidy the room, then Agnes could stop Harold from going near it.

Agnes quickly slid the boxes under the bed and got up to find her way back to Selene. She found Selene and Gertrude on their way back down the stairs. She listened closely to the conversation.

"I know they must have been disappointed I did not pick anyone but I assure you, I intend to. I only needed some time to get used to the estate and to secretly watch them. I will soon be ready to pick a maid to join Agnes and then another if it goes well," Selene promised.

"My girls will not disappoint you," Gertrude spoke with confidence. "They have all been taught how to tend to the lady of the estate. We had plenty of time to practice."

Selene laughed at Gertrude’s joke. "I’m sure they will do well. I haven’t had any trouble with the maids. They all keep their heads down and focus on their work."

"They know how to behave and Lord Blackthorn’s warning was enough to have them think twice about troubling you. My girls know better," said Gertrude. She didn’t need Xavier to warn the maids since she had already done it.

Selene stopped walking. "His warning?"

Gertrude realised her mistake. "I thought you knew, Milady. It was the first night you came here Lord Blackthorn had gathered the servants working and advised us to treat you well or we would face his wrath. We have always been warned to treat you with respect."

"I did not know about this. I thought," Selene started but became lost in her thoughts. "Did it slip my mind that he did this?"

"It would not be surprising if Lord Blackthorn kept it from you. He made sure you had a warm welcome. Regardless of what the town says, he is a kind man. I have never regretted a day of working here."

"He is kind," Selene agreed with Gertrude. "He treats me quite well. Thank you, Gertrude."

This all helped with Selene’s final decision.

Gertrude didn’t know what she was being thanked for. Was it special for Selene to be told things that were done in secret? Whatever it was, Gertrude felt warm inside hearing Selene thank her.

"Oh, right. You spoke about the dining room. There are plenty of things in storage if you want to change around the dining room. We never had any use for them since Lord Blackthorn always had dinner alone in his quarters," said Gertrude.

"I enjoy having dinner at a table so I wish to make the dining room as comfortable as possible. Maybe one day we will have guests over to entertain. The estate seemed so different during our wedding though there weren’t many people. I noticed that you enjoyed the rush of having to serve guests," Selene said.

"Well, it is fun," Gertrude said, a little embarrassed. "It is fun to serve guests and I enjoy seeing ideas come to life. The estate doesn’t have many events so the wedding brought on something new."

"Since you and everyone enjoyed it, I will do my best to make more friends so that we might have a big dinner here or perhaps make use of the wonderful garden outside. You have my word," Selene promised Gertrude.

Selene also looked forward to experiencing the days her mother had as the host. She had awaited the time when she would be in her mother’s shoes. It might be possible should she find the right ladies to do it with.

Gertrude trusted that if there would be anyone to make the estate more lively, it would be Selene. "I can open the storage for you now to show what has been put away. There might even be a few decorations for the garden here."

"I will join you to see it now. I may need your help and plenty of the maids to decorate the estate in some places. It is beautiful as it is now but I will add a little of my touch. Would there be any portraits of Xavier when he was little?" Selene asked.

"There should be a few here but it is likely Lady Josephine has most of them," Gertrude replied, trying to think where last she saw one.

Selene was happy to hear some existed. She thought of Xavier as a child who would sit still for portraits "Please do me a favour to find one. I want to freshen up my memory of how I first met him."