Free Web NovelChapter 97: Lady of the house (1)
"This has to be someone playing a trick on me," Regina muttered still looking at the old portrait of her great grandmother. She had never met the woman since Esmeralda died a long time ago. Her father had never met her and Minnie didn’t have many memories of her mother as Esmeralda died when Minnie was really young. Upon first glance, Regina wouldn’t have recognized the woman due to the fact that her family rarely talked about her. "Are you haunting me?"
"What are you doing in the hall dressed like that?" Minnie’s sudden question startled Regina.
Regina was unpleasantly greeted by the sight of Minnie and Duncan standing right behind her. ’Not suspicious at all,’ she thought while watching the duo. freёweɓnovel.com
"Are you going to answer my question or stand there with your mouth open unladylike? First your behavior last night and now this. Your mother doesn’t know how to take control of you," Minnie frowned, disappointed with how her granddaughter was turning out. She had so many expectations for the girl in the past and now that was all out the window.
"First is my behavior from last night? Weren’t you blaming me for Aurora getting away when come to find out, Duncan was the one tasked to keep her here. I don’t see your punishment for him. You were never shy when it came to scolding the workers," Regina folded her arms pushing aside the topic of Esmeralda. Duncan didn’t appear to have been scolded enough for his failed job. The perks of being Minnie’s lover.
"You have gotten more out of line day by day. I don’t know what will become of you if I don’t take over." Regina was turning into a smaller version of Rachel and Minnie couldn’t stand having one Rachel already.
"I’m just calling out your lack in punishing everyone. Why does Duncan remain untouched? Is there something the entire family should know about?" Regina waved the threat of her knowledge of Minnie and Duncan’s affair in their faces. "Since we own him isn’t it fair we strip him down and teach him a lesson or would that be too cruel for you grandmother? No offense Duncan," she apologized since the man hadn’t done anything to her yet.
"And since you are wishing for me to be respectful and change my attitude, I think it is only fitting to refer to me as grandmother and not Minnie. It’s time I return to my room before the servants can gossip any further about my appearance. Goodbye grandmother," Regina curtsied before walking away.
"Insolent child. Where on earth did I go wrong with her? She used to be right under my thumb and now she’s getting on my nerves. To think there was a time I liked her more than Samuel," Minnie said, reaching her breaking point with Regina. She had still been nice all this time while she suspected Regina of helping Aurora. Regina had taken her threat of having Gilbert being a marriage candidate as a joke. "Foolish child."
"I agree with your son that you shouldn’t have allowed Regina to grow up so close to Aurora. She’s going to pick Aurora over everyone each day. I believe she helped the girl but there is no evidence to confirm she did. For all we know, Samuel could be tricking us," Duncan hadn’t believed Samuel was innocent in all of this. He was just as close to Aurora as Regina was.
Minnie remained silent looking at the portrait of her mother she caught Regina staring at. She didn’t have many memories of her mother as the woman died too soon. Would her mother be proud of the way she was running the house? Probably not. Minnie knew deep down her mother had always hated her.
"Missing your mother?" Duncan asked after a moment of silence. Esmeralda Hamilton was always a sore topic around Minnie. He had never met the woman like everyone else in the home.
"Why was she staring at my mother? None of them have ever shown any interest in her portraits unless I bring her up. How did she look in your eyes when she was staring at my mother?" Questioned Minnie looking into the eyes of her mother’s cheerful face. Mother and daughter were far from alike.
"She looked surprised to see it but the portrait has always been there. Last night when I followed after her with a treat, I caught her in the hallways spooked by something. She asked me if we had female guests staying over. Regina saw something last night but she’s never going to tell you what."
"The girl is finally losing her mind. Good, it’s around the same age I lost mine. It was the best thing to ever happen to me. However, I don’t like the way she was staring at the portrait. If she wasn’t needed for when Aurora returns or we didn’t have to marry her off, I probably would’ve sacrificed her by now. Regina’s lucky she’s useful. Have you found any of them yet?"
Duncan already knew what she meant and replied, "Not yet. There were some in the town but they didn’t stay in one place for too long. I’ll keep the search out and have one before Aurora returns. Just in case, it might be best if you fix your relationship with Regina so that you can teach her what she needs to know. If she is strong enough, she should become the head of this house instead of Samuel."
"There’s still a chance it might be Samuel and not Regina. I’ve been told the girls in my family have always been stronger than the men but it seems that trait stopped with me. Nathaniel is normal no matter what I sacrificed and I could not make him stronger. There were no more children for me to use. Be a dear and collect some more of them off the streets. They have something I desperately need," she touched her face longing after her youth.
It pained her to hear Regina called her grandmother. She might be one but Minnie looked much younger for her age and she planned to keep it that way.
