Read Online Summerset Abbey by T. J. Brown - Free Book Online

her eyes almost the color of grass. Her jawline, nose, and cheekbones were delicately etched, while her mother’s face had been round and sweet.
    Prudence looked around and suddenly realized that hermother may have stayed in this sparse, cold chamber. She may have worked for Mrs. Harper, run up and down the servants’ stairs, and dreamed of the day when she might leave Summerset.
    Certainly, she had known the Earl and Sir Philip when they were all younger. Prudence frowned, wondering once again why Sir Philip had given her mother, a common housemaid, a position as governess. While her mother was well read and clever, she was hardly as educated as most governesses.
    Prudence felt a stirring of longing for her mother. If nothing else, perhaps she could find out more about her, a woman she loved dearly but whose past was shrouded in mystery. There was even the possibility she could find her real family.
    Because if she ever needed a family, that time was now.

CHAPTER
FIVE

    R owena paced across the floor of her bedroom in her wrap, barely noticing the new green and gold Morris carpet that had been recently installed. The entire room had been redone since she’d last been here: green ivy wallpaper had replaced the old cabbage roses and the new furniture was all polished white pine, rather than the fussy dark antique pieces that had been here before.
    But not even an elegant new room could hide the fact that she was as trapped as a fox in a hole—trapped by her responsibilities, trapped by her social status, trapped by being a woman. Her uncle possessed all of the power and she possessed none. She, Prudence, and Victoria were as helpless as Punch and Judy, completely at the whim of the puppeteer.
    Victoria had stopped by on her way back to her room while Rowena was bathing and, with eyes full of reproach, told Rowena exactly what Prudence’s sleeping quarters were like. As if she could do anything about it.
    As if she could do anything about anything.
    Frustrated, Rowena savagely pulled her trunk open to look for something suitable for dinner. Why wasn’t it unpacked already? Where was the maid?
    She stilled, a lump forming in her throat. Prudence was her maid.
    “Bloody hell,” she muttered, pulling out a black silk charmeuse dress with a matching lace overskirt.
    A tentative knock sounded at the door. She tossed the dress on the bed and strode to the door in her dressing gown. She wasn’t in the mood for visitors. Prudence stood on the other side, wearing a plain striped shirt that stretched across her breasts and a black skirt that hung on her slender hips. Both girls stood still for a moment. So much had changed since they’d parted from each other just that afternoon.
    “May I come in?” Prudence asked. She stood erect and dignified, but her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying.
    Rowena’s heart constricted and her uncertainty broke. “You goose. Get in here.” She pulled Prudence in and shut the door behind her. She wrapped her arms around Prudence. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it would be like this.”
    Prudence returned her hug for a moment, then pulled away. “It won’t be forever,” she said.
    Rowena nodded, even though Prudence’s voice rang false. “I’ll figure out something, I promise.” Even as she said the words, the trap tightened. “It’s just, right now, I don’t know what to do,” Rowena whispered, her arms wrapped over her chest.
    Prudence moved away and nodded and Rowena heard her take a deep breath. When she turned back around, a careful smile lit Prudence’s face. “Your things are a mess. I’d definitely have a serious discussion with your maid. Good help is so hard to find.” She took a stack of Rowena’s clothes out of the trunk and began hanging them up.
    Rowena smiled back, though the lump in her throat grew. “I don’t have a maid, I have a sister.”
    Prudence’s fingers fumbled with the sash she was tying, but when she smiled again it seemed more genuine.