Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess

letting her deep dimples show. “I’ve not had one of those since James walloped me a good one for callin’ him a put-her.”
    McKenna removed the cloth and stood back up. “You best lie down, dear, so I can wash the blood off your face and out of your hair.” She waited for Sassy to obey, sat down next to her, noticed the bleeding had not stopped and pressed the cloth against the cut again.
    “ Who saw what happened?” Hannish asked as he grabbed a spare blanket, walked to the other side of the bed, unfolded it and spread it over Sassy.
    “ I did,” Sarah said, pushing her way through the others standing just inside the doorway. “Sassy refused to call her ‘My Lady’ and the duchess hit her with her brush. She had a handful of Sassy’s hair too when I pulled the duchess off.”
    Hannish was not as concerned about her hair as he was about the way Sassy was holding her arm. “Is it broken?”
    “ Nay, just a little sore, is all,” Sassy answered.
    He gently took her hand, examined the red defensive marks on the underside of Sassy’s arms, and then felt the bones for lumps. “Is this the first time Olivia has done such a thing?” he asked the others.
    “ Nay, she threw hot tea on me on the ship,” Millie answered. “Another time she…”
    “ Millie,” McKenna interrupted, “My brother need not hear all the details. ‘Tis enough for him to know Olivia cannae control her anger.”
    “ Good heavens, why did no one tell me?” Hannish searching their faces, but none of them answered. He ran his fingers through his thick, wavy hair and tried to calm his rage before he did something he would regret. “How could I have been so mistaken about her?”
    Donnel tried to comfort him. “You could not have known, none of us did afore you married her, else we woulda said.”
    The idea that his wife had hurt Donnel or Blanka made him draw in a deep breath. “She’ll not hurt anyone again, of that I promise.”
    McKenna got up and went to rinse out the cloth in the basin. “Out everyone, let Sassy rest.”
    Sarah watched them leave and stayed anyway. “I will get some aspirin and a cup of tea.”
    “ Good idea, Sarah, she is sure to have a headache soon.” When McKenna glanced back, Sassy was sitting up, taking all the pins out of her disarrayed hair and letting it hang loose.

    Hannish was furious. As soon as they were all out of McKenna’s room he said, “I will see all the Scots in the parlor… Now !” His long legs quickly carried him away and the others practically had to run to keep up.
    Jessie paused just long enough to tug on Prescot’s jacket. “Best relieve Alistair. Mind you, keep her in; she often gets worse from here.”
    Prescot’s eyes widened. “Worse?” He nodded his understanding, went around the corner and headed for Olivia’s room.

    Impatiently, Hannish waited until all the Scots arrived, including Alistair. Then he paced for a moment more before he said, “Out with it. I will hear every detail.”
    Several of them exchanged glances, but the time for honesty had come and it was Jessie who finally spoke up, “She has not paid our wages.”
    He stopped pacing and stared at her. “For how long?”
    “ Two years.” Jessie answered.
    “ Two… years ? But I sent the money to my banker in Scotland and he… Why did you not just leave?”
    “ Some did, but the duchess said she would call us thieves if the rest left. Who was the constable to believe, us or her?”
    Alistair spoke next. “Mr. Hannish, you asked if the duchess sold the unused passages on the ship, and I told you true, but I dinna tell you all of it. She sold the ones to our compartments and bought cheaper ones. We were four to a room on the bottom level.”
    Hannish shook his head and again ran his fingers through his hair. “Tell me, did George Graham manage to make the repairs?”
    “ Mostly,” Dugan answered.
    “ Good.” Before he could get the next question formed in his mind, Donnel burst into tears. He quickly went to her, knelt down in front of her chair and put his hand on her shoulder. “What is it Donnel?”
    “ She killed two dogs, pups really, she kicked them to death. You won’t let her kill this one, will you?” Donnel lifted the puppy out of her lap.
    He gently rubbed the pup behind the ears and tried to smile. “Nay, she will not hurt anything or anyone else, I swear it.”
    “ What will you do?” Alistair asked.
    “ First, I will pay your wages. I hope you kept track of what