Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess

McKenna was, she wasn’t letting on either. It was near dinner time when they arrived and once inside, each went their separate ways.
    All through dinner, McKenna and Hannish talked about the prospects of attending their first Colorado ball together. She asked him several questions about the dancing and the refreshments, all the time feeling she should say something about Charlotte’s disclosure. In the end, she decided to let her brother have a good night’s rest, and tell him what happened in the morning.

    “ Our Charlotte is a teacher,” McKenna announced when she went to say goodnight to the servants in the kitchen.
    “ Are you?” Sarah asked.
    “ I am,” Charlotte admitted.
    “ Why are you not teaching?” Keith asked.
    “ They have no position for me just now, but I am hoping they will someday soon,” Charlotte answered.
    Sassy frowned. “If you be a teacher, why are you not correcting me instead of Keith?”
    Charlotte did not hide her contempt for Sassy. “If he gets it wrong, I will be happy to correct him.”
    “ But he does not get it wrong, does he,” Sassy moaned.
    Jessie finished towel drying the last washed cup and put it in the cupboard. “Perhaps the time will come when we need a teacher right here in the mansion.”
    “ Not much chance of that, now that Mr. Hannish has no wife,” Halen muttered.
    Charlotte said, “Unless he divorces her.”
    “ What does it matter to you?” asked Sarah. “A teacher cannot marry anyway.”
    Just then, Hannish walked through the door and glared at Charlotte. “No MacGreagor has ever set a wife aside and I do not intend to be the first.”
    “ But she committed adultery,” Charlotte dared to say.
    There was an intense, awkward moment during which no one spoke, but Sassy didn’t pay attention to it when she smiled at Prescot, “I told you he hears everything.” Seated across the table, Prescot did not return her smile and it confused her.
    Hannish took his annoyed eyes off Charlotte finally, and looked at the man serving as his valet for the night. “Prescot, I shall have a glass of milk before bed.” With that, he turned and left the kitchen.
    “ Very good, Sir,” Prescot frowned at Charlotte again, before he got up and began to prepare a tray.
    If Charlotte cared, she didn’t show it. “I only said what everyone suspects,” she muttered, as she too left the room.
    “ What is the matter?” Sassy asked.
    McKenna smiled to reassure Sassy. “A servant should never comment on her employer’s private affairs. Charlotte broke that rule just now. Come, it is time for bed and I am exhausted.”

    Sassy was getting pretty good at fixing McKenna’s hair in the mornings, with a little supervision still from Sarah. She had one side almost pinned up when she noticed how quiet McKenna was. She exchanged glances with Sarah and finally asked, “Are you ill, Miss McKenna?”
    “ Aye, Sassy, I am ill at heart. A dreadful thing has happened and I must tell my brother this morning, but I do not know how.”
    “ Just tell him, Miss McKenna, ‘tis the best way always.”
    At length, McKenna said, “You are right. Will you fetch him for me, Sassy?”
    Sassy handed the brush to Sarah and hurried away. A short time later, she came back and not long after that, Hannish knocked on the door and entered. “You wish to see me?” The puppy ran to Sarah and begged to be let up.
    “ Come in brother.” McKenna noticed Sarah was about to leave and stopped her. “Sarah, you will need to hear this too. Sassy, go to the kitchen and…” She couldn’t think of something fast enough and ended up saying, “ask Jessie how to make soup.”
    Incredulous, Sassy asked, “Cook soup? You wish me to cook soup for you?”
    “ You best scoot, Sassy,” Sarah warned.
    She did as she was told, muttering all the way down the hall. “Soup? ‘Tis something very grave, if the Miss wants to eat my soup.”
    “ Sister, what is it?” Hannish asked, not bothering to sit down.
    By the time McKenna finished telling Hannish and Sarah what had happened, Hannish decided to sit down and Sarah was shaking her head in disgust. “I fear Abigail has had time to tell everyone in town by now.”
    “ What precisely did Charlotte tell them?” Hannish asked.
    “ She told them you tricked Olivia into leaving by promising to join her in Scotland, and that you have no intention of going back.”
    “ Did she say why I tricked Olivia into going back?”
    “ Nay, but she would have,