Read Online Coulson's Wife (The Coulson Series) by Anna J. McIntyre - Free Book Online

Lily for her response when asked for the
key, while Mrs. Parker gave the very same one when she was asked.
    Lily frowned at the
request and dug her hand into her apron pocket, retrieving her set of keys. It
took her just a moment to locate the desired one and remove it from the ring.
    “Is anything wrong?” Lily
asked nervously as she handed the key to Mrs. Parker.
    “I don’t think so,”
Mrs. Parker took the key, stood up and then placed both keys on the table by
Mary Ellen’s plate. Lily silently watched.
    “Thank you,” Mary Ellen
said sweetly, then snatched up both keys.
    • • • •
     “What was that all
about? Why did she want the keys?” Lily asked Mrs. Parker later that morning,
when the two women were alone.
    “I don’t think Mrs.
Coulson trusts us. Yesterday she made it clear she doesn’t want anyone going
into her room uninvited, and today she asks for all the keys to her room.” Mrs.
Parker then narrowed her eyes and studied Lily’s face. The younger woman looked
guilty of something.
    “What did you do, Lily?”
Mrs. Parker demanded.
    Lily gulped nervously
before answering. “I thought she was asleep.”
    “What are you talking
about?”
    “This morning. I was
just curious. I wanted to see how her room looked.”
    “You went in there uninvited,
while she was sleeping?”
    “Well, I thought she
was sleeping. She didn’t say anything. I didn’t disturb anything, I promise. I
just had a look around. Oh, and you know, she actually put everything away. The
room looks good.”
    “Oh Lily, what a ninny
you are! That could cost you your job! What were you thinking?”
    “I just wanted to see.
Oh, do you think she’s going to let me go? Oh no…” Lily looked as if she was
about to get ill.
    “No, I don’t think she
is. Had she wanted me to let you go, I think she would have said something this
morning. She never mentioned you. In fact, she has never said anything about
you — nothing . Not
even when she was clearly upset with how you and Jane got too pushy with her that
first morning. The only reason I know about that — you told me .  
    “If you think about it,
Mrs. Coulson has been very nice about her displeasure with you. She hasn’t come
to me or to her husband about any complaints. Had she gone to Mr. Coulson, he
would have come to me. You’ve been very fortunate, Lily. But you are pushing it,
girl. The next time you do something this foolish, she may be asking for more
than room keys.”
    An hour later Mary
Ellen sat at the small desk in her bedchamber, penning a letter to her Aunt Rachael
when a knock came at the door.
    “Come in,” Mary Ellen
called out as she looked up toward the bedroom door. It opened slowly and in
walked a very nervous Lily.
    “Ma’am, may I have a
moment of your time?” the maid timidly asked.
    “Certainly, come it.”
Mary Ellen set the pen on the desk atop her stationery and turned around in the
chair to face the maid. Lily gave a little nod and then stepped closer, nervously
fidgeting with the edge of her apron.
    “I’ve come to
apologize, Mrs. Coulson.”
    “Apologize, what for?”
Several reasons for an apology sprung to Mary Ellen’s mind.
    “I’ve been doing a
great deal of thinking this past hour.”
    “And?”
    “When you first
arrived…well….I guess I was pretty pushy.”
    “Pushy?” Mary Ellen
raised one brow.
    “Yes, when you arrived
I…well….I treated you like I might my younger sister. That was inappropriate.”
    Mary Ellen was about to
respond when Lily continued on.
    “This morning, well, I
came into your room uninvited. I imagine you already know that. That’s probably
why you asked for the keys, because you felt you couldn’t trust the staff. But
please Mrs. Coulson, don’t judge the other girls by my behavior. I know Jane or
Mrs. Parker would never come into your room uninvited, not after you told them
not to.”
    “So why did you do it?”
Mary Ellen asked softly.
    “I…I guess I was
curious. I didn’t