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go of my wrist. “To see if they were honest. The Chaumont women can sometimes do this. My great aunt could and so can I.”

      He jerked my arm again, and I couldn’t help crying out.

      “To see if they’re honest?” he pressed.

      At this point, the pain in my arm was nearly blinding, and I had no choice but to keep talking.

      “I can see the person’s intent and sometimes pick up flashes of images! How else do you think my father borrowed so much money with no one finding out? Before we ever mentioned money, Father would have me read a potential lender to make certain he was discreet.”

      Jarrod’s grip loosened slightly. He looked to Rolf and then back to me. “So . . . you’re telling me you can read Allemond at dinner and let me know later if the deal he offers is honest or not?”

      “Yes.”

      Without warning, his grip tightened again. “And what’s to stop you from using this on one of us?”

      “I would never! My father made me swear to only do readings under his direct orders.”

      “And you’ll swear the same thing here?”

      “Yes,” I answered and then added, “my lord.”

      He smiled without warmth. “I think it’s time you started calling me Father.”

      * * * *

      As soon as he let go, I fled from the hall and hurried down the passage toward the stairs to the tower. I wanted a few moments in my room. In addition to being unsettled by the scene in the hall—and having stupidly given away my secret—my wrist was turning purple, and I needed to change into a long-sleeved dress.

      Unfortunately, I made it only halfway to the entrance to the tower when Betty came trotting behind me. “My lady.”

      Holding back a sigh, I stopped. “Yes?”

      “Lavonia is asking for you in the kitchen. She says the fish has gone bad.”

      All other concerns vanished. By some miracle, Lavonia had actually volunteered to prepare and bake the salmon, leaving Ester free to focus on the sauces and other courses. But the salmon was to be the first, and therefore most important, course. I’d paid well for fish caught that very morning, and I’d checked them myself upon delivery.

      “Gone bad?”

      “That’s what she says, my lady.”

      Poor Betty appeared distraught, and I couldn’t help a rush of pity. She was a good servant and didn’t like being the bearer of bad news.

      “Don’t worry,” I told her. “I’ll go and see about it now. I’m sure she’s just being overcautious.”

      I wasn’t sure of any such thing, but I did an about-face and headed west toward the kitchen. Upon arriving, I found it a busy place, as it should be with a formal dinner planned for that night.

      Ester was rolling crusts for strawberry tarts, and two girls I’d hired for temporary help were scrubbing pots in a large washbasin. Cora sat peeling potatoes.

      Lavonia appeared to be supervising.

      Relations between Lavonia and myself had not improved, but so long as she followed orders, I had as little to do with her as possible.

      “Betty says there is a problem with the fish?” I asked, stepping through the archway.

      Lavonia turned with her usual poorly hidden sneer. “They’re spoilt. We can’t use them.”

      Ester stopped rolling, and everyone was listening to us.

      My nerves were already on edge, and I didn’t have time for this nonsense. “I checked them myself upon delivery. Those fish were caught this morning.”

      “They’re down in the cellar, in the coolest room,” Lavonia said. “You want to come down with me to check them?”

      Her eyes had narrowed and something in her voice caught my attention. My encounter with Jarrod had given away a part of myself that I would have preferred to leave behind. More, I had just promised him that I’d never read anyone without his orders, and all my instincts went against even considering such a thing.

      Reading someone else’s intentions tired me quickly, and I could only do one thorough reading a day before I was spent. Tonight, Jarrod would expect me to do a deep reading of Allemond, so I couldn’t do a deep reading of Lavonia now.

      Still, in this moment, I had little doubt that she was up to something.

      Reaching out, using minimal effort, I tried to pick up only her surface thoughts, hoping I would see something useful without expending myself too much.

      A nearly overwhelming flash of hatred hit me like a wall. I fought to keep my expression still. She hated me with a passion. Her life had been easy before my arrival, and she saw me as an overbearing taskmaster who had changed her life for the worse. Then I saw an image, a plan of her leading me alone to check the fish. They would be the same fresh salmon I’d already checked.

      But days ago, she’d charmed the son of a fish monger into selling her four salmon—for a low price—that she’d let spoil in the sun. I saw an image in her mind of her preparing and sending out the spoiled salmon for tonight’s dinner, and then in the aftermath, claiming she had warned me in front of all the kitchen staff, and that she’d shown me the spoiled fish, and I had insisted she serve it anyway.

      She was going to ruin Jarrod’s dinner party and blame me.

      I pulled from her thoughts and stared at her for a moment. She began to fidget.

      Looking to Ester, I said, “If I send you Matilda to help chop vegetables, can you manage the dinner with the girls you have here, but without Lavonia?”

      A flash of something nearly unreadable, possibly hope, crossed Ester’s eyes. “Yes, my lady. I can manage.”

      I turned back to Lavonia. “You are dismissed. I’ll make sure you have a month’s wages, but if you are not gone from this house within an hour, I will have a guard escort you out the gates.”

      Her mouth fell open, and her features twisted. “You can’t do that! I’ll tell Lord Jarrod!”

      I briefly wondered if the girl was sharing Jarrod’s bed on occasion, but it hardly mattered. “And what if I show him the spoiled fish you’ve hidden behind the hen house?” I countered, “And of your plan to ruin his dinner for Lord Allemond?”

      Ester’s face registered stark surprise but not disbelief.

      Cora’s shone with guilt. She knew.

      Lavonia went speechless.

      “You have an hour,” I told her. “I’ll make sure you receive your wages.”

      Going pale, Lavonia fled the kitchen, and my gaze drifted to Cora. “Do you wish to go with her?”

      She drew in a sharp breath. “No, my lady.”

      I looked about the room. “Ester is in charge here, and you will all address her as Miss Ester from now on. Anyone who cannot follow her instructions without complaint will follow the path of Lavonia.”

      I nodded once to Ester and left the kitchen.

      Even though I’d not probed Lavonia’s thoughts very deeply, I felt drained, knowing I should never put myself in a position to attempt two readings in a day. My head hurt. So did my wrist.

      * * * *

      That night, I sat at the dressing table in my room as Miriam curled my hair with her small heated iron. Instead of piling it up tonight, she let it hang loose but drew several strands in the front over my forehead and pinned them with a small jeweled clip. Finally she put touches of kohl at the corners of my eyes and beet juice on my lips.

      I stood.

      She’d

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