The Serving Girl // Book 2 in the Rosie Grey series

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Pain flared up my right leg as I hit the floor. Mrs Ealing stood behind me with her arm raised and the wooden cane grasped tightly in her hand. She looked at me, anger rising behind her eyes as she flexed her fingers against the cane as though preparing to hit me with it again. She wouldn't get the chance.

The door handle jolted slightly before the door swung open, revealing Robert standing in the doorway with a confused look on his face. Mrs Ealing lowered the cane and rested it on the floor beside her, but she didn't take her eyes off me as Robert glanced around the room before he spotted me on the floor. Every slight movement of my leg would send a wave of pain up and down my leg, but it would always come back to my knee. Even if I wanted to, I knew I wouldn't be able to stand up. Whatever Mrs Ealing had done, she had done successfully.

"What on Earth happened in here?" Robert asked, kneeling down beside me as I tried to shuffle myself backwards to lean against the sofa cushions.

"Stupid girl walked into the table when I asked her to straighten the throw on the sofa. I've never known someone to be so clumsy," Mrs Ealing said.

"What are you planning on doing with that? Beat her with it?" Robert gestured to the walking stick in her head.

"I thought she might need it, though I expect she's being dramatic."

"I'll be the judge of that," he muttered.

I slumped back against the sofa, rolling my head to the side to watch Robert. He lightly took hold of my knee and pressed his fingers lightly around my knee. The moment he touched it, pain spread down my leg and it twitched slightly in Robert's grip in an attempt to stop him from pushing down on it again. He muttered an apology but kept my knee in his hand as he slowly twisted my leg to the side. It had hardly moved before another burst of pain originated from my knee and I almost ended up kicking Robert in the face, unintentionally. Slowly he lowered my leg to the ground and said nothing before looking to Mrs Ealing and placing his hand on his knees.

"She's not being dramatic, Mother. Whatever Rosie's done, it's caused some damage. I need to get Father."

Mrs Ealing looked at Robert but kept her lips tightly pursed together. I didn't want to be left alone in the room with her for a second time, but I could hardly tell Robert what had happened. The last thing I wanted to do was to cause their relationship to break down all because Mrs Ealing didn't like me. Even if I was lying to Robert, it would always be better than the truth in this situation. At least that's what I thought. In truth, I didn't know if keeping it a secret would end up causing more harm than good, but I didn't want to find out. I would keep the secret no matter what the outcome of the incident may have been.

Robert pushed himself into a standing position and left me sitting on the floor with Mrs Ealing standing in the same spot she had been in when the cane had come down on the back of my leg. Even as Robert left, she kept her eyes fixated on me as though I was about to do something stupid. I couldn't even stand up, let alone fight back or do anything against Mrs Ealing to get myself into more trouble. I hadn't done anything to deserve a cane to the back of the knee and I certainly didn't want to do anything that could end up putting me into more trouble.

"You breathe a word about any of this, and you'll be out of that door by midnight. Do you understand?" Mrs Ealing asked. She narrowed her eyes at me and took a small step forward, rising the cane slightly as she went. I knew she wouldn't hit me again, especially with Robert having only just left and the injury being new.

"Yes," I said through gritted teeth, my knee still sending waves of pain up and down my leg.

"Good. Not that anyone would believe you anyway."