“No, of course not!” He looked at her with narrowed eyes. He knew exactly why Martha had asked Emily to come here. Knowing the old lady, she was most likely playing matchmaker, and this was just her way of setting him up with Emily.
“Then why do you look like you aren’t happy to see me?” Emily accused, biting down on her lip.
“I’m happy to see you. I was just thinking about something else, that’s all.” He had only just said this when a loud cry sounded from the second floor.
“Ow!”
The next second, Arthur rose from the couch and headed up the stairs with Emily in his wake. When they reached the guest room, they saw Sophia standing by the ironing board holding her hand, and the clothing iron was still hissing away.
“What’s wrong?” Arthur asked urgently. He reached out to grab her hand and immediately saw the red streak burn on her palm.
“Sorry, I accidentally burned myself earlier. I’ll be fine,” Sophia said. She had instinctively cried out in alarm when she made contact with the hot iron, but she didn’t think she would draw the couple upstairs.
She wanted to pull away from Arthur, but he tightened his grip on her and led her to the bathroom, then turned on the tap to run her red, angry palm under cold water. While doing so, he chided, “You should always pay attention when you’re ironing!”
Meanwhile, Emily’s heart leaped to her throat when she saw this scene. She
remembered how much Arthur hated physical contact, but here he was holding the maid’s hand with an unsettling familiarity.
Sophia leaned closer to him and whispered in retort, “It’s not my fault I’ve never been made to iron anything!”
Arthur knew that she had been raised as a young lady of nobility as well, so he did not continue berating her. After turning off the tap water and drying her hand, they walked out of the bathroom together. Then, he glanced at Emily and said, “Have your maids do the ironing, Emily. I’m afraid Sophia’s a little too clumsy for her own good.”
“If she’s so clumsy, why don’t you just fire her?” Emily assessed Sophia belittingly and added, “We can’t pay someone who doesn’t do their job well.”
Sophia would be lying to say she wasn’t insulted. Arthur, however, defended her, “It doesn’t matter. I’m used to having her around to bring me tea and stuff, so she can stay.”
Once again, Sophia was surprised by how determined he was to keep her here.
“Whatever. I’m worn out from the flight and the car ride here, so make me a cup of coffee,” she ordered Sophia furiously. “Prove yourself to be useful, why don’t you?”
