The Rat Prince by Bridget Hodder Read Free Book Online

Pye is washing dishes in the scullery.” Someone also had to collect and dispose of the poisoned scraps of meat Cook had left lying temptingly about as rat bait.
    I put the scrub brush down for a moment to push the curls off my forehead where they’d escaped their clumsy topknot and looked up at Mrs. Grigson. Only then could I see the distress in her honest eyes.
    I was not the only one for whom Wilhemina’s arrival at Lancastyr Manor had spelled heartbreak.
    â€œDon’t worry about me,” I said, smiling with an effort. “Your task is harder than mine: trying to keep the manor running since … since—”
    â€œSince that creature bewitched your father!”
    â€œSssh, Mrs. Grigson! Cook is in her rooms, but she could be back at any time, and you know how sensitive she is about Wilhemina.”
    â€œSensitive? Ha! She’s a fine one, that Cook,” Mrs.Grigson said bitterly, her chin thrust forward. “Brought here by Lady Wilhemina from her home in the country to replace our good cook Mrs. Benjy without so much as a by-your-leave! Everyone says Cook spies for her high-and-mighty ladyship and tattles when we complain.”
    â€œThat’s why you shouldn’t be speaking to me. You know the only reason you haven’t been discharged yet is that you are willing to remain in spite of the fact that she has not paid you wages for months, and you put up with her evil temper.”
    Mrs. Grigson dabbed a shaking knuckle at the wrinkled corner of one eye. “You have the right of it. I tolerate her behavior because I must keep my place here. I’m too old to make my way afresh in the world. And you, child—I must look after you. But regardless of that, I had a reason to seek you out just now, my lady. Your stepmother has asked to see you in her chambers.”
    â€œOh!” Was the sudden shaking in my breast fear? Or anger? Whatever it was, it haunted me daily.
    I dropped the brush into the bucket, rose, and used my coarse skirt to dry my hands. “Very well. I shall go at once.”
    Mrs. Grigson stepped closer and extended her hands toward me as if to touch my shoulders, then let them fall. She took a deep breath. “My lady, you mustn’t give in to your stepmother any longer. You must find the courage to stand up to her.”
    â€œMrs. Grigson,” I said quietly, “do you believe I am a coward for not defying Wilhemina?”
    â€œOf course not!” she said, but her tone was unconvincing. “I understand that you’re a gentle thing, my lady, and not bred to deal with the likes of such a woman. But it is your right to be treated with honor, as the true daughter of the house. Will you reflect upon that, for my sake?”
    I nodded, unable to speak, though I longed to tell her the truth.
    She dropped a kiss on my forehead. “Blessings upon you, Lady Rose, and luck.”
    I suppose I ought to have been insulted by her familiarity, yet it was so long since anyone had handled me gently, with love, that I felt a sorrowful weakness wash through me.
    Mother, Mother. Why did you leave me here all alone?
    Oh, no. This would never do. One kiss from the kindly housekeeper, and I come apart at the seams like one of Eustacia’s overstuffed dresses? No. I had to be strong for my father, for Jessamyn, and for Mrs. Grigson herself.
    I squared my shoulders and went upstairs. I wondered what fresh torment Wilhemina had dreamed up for me. Nothing she could devise would surprise me now …
    Or so I thought.
    *   *   *
    Minutes later, I stumbled from Wilhemina’s chamber in confusion, closed the door, and leaned back against it. I tried to catch my breath and somehow make sense of what had just occurred. Then I heard someone whisper my name.
    â€œ Pssst. Rose!”
    I looked around.
    It was Jessamyn, of course. She peeked from behind the stiff brocade curtains of a nearby window seat, her brown locks twining