Sighing softly, she crossed the room and settled on a matching gray sofa across from Henrietta. She folded her hands in her lap, her arms feeling empty because Ellie wasn't in them. She hadn't been comfortable with leaving Ellie in the care of a maid, but the child was learning to warm up to other maids, giving her the opportunity to leave her side for a few hours.

“I'm really sorry for being rude the last time you were here.” She said, trying to sound apologetic.

“Nonsense!” Henrietta waved her off. “I must say how pleased I was to hear of your engagement.” Henrietta smiled, her gaze fixed on her.

There was something about Henrietta's smile that Gretchen wasn't too comfortable with; it seemed forced and icy, almost as if she had something to hide behind her smile.

“Thank you.” She forced a smile to her lips.

“I'm not surprised he chose you; Lord Williams has always been attracted to your kind.”

Confused, a slight frown creased her face as she considered Henrietta's words, hoping she might elaborate on their meaning. But Henrietta didn't seem eager to explain as she reached for the bell that sat on the table standing between them, and rang it. Jacob appeared almost immediately, tiredness dimming his blue eyes. Gretchen thought he appeared to have aged tremendously in the past few weeks.

“Some tea, Jacob,” Henrietta said, waving him off.

Jacob stood there, as if oblivious to Henrietta's orders. Infuriated by his actions, Henrietta turned eyes of steel to Jacob.

“Are you deaf?” Henrietta clenched her teeth.

Gretchen would have smiled at the butler's insubordination, but she knew her actions would be considered uncivilized. So, she laughed within —why on earth would Henrietta think she could give orders to someone else's household staff?

“Miss Riverside?”

It was a mere whisper but Gretchen heard it and raised her gaze to the butler who stared back at her with inquiring eyes. It took a brief second for her to realize what was happening but she finally did; Jacob would not take orders from Henrietta but he'd take his orders from Gretchen.

Stunned, she simply nodded to his words and watched as he left the room. Turning to Henrietta, she noticed the scowl on Henrietta's face but Henrietta was quick to hide it behind her strange smile.

“You mentioned my kind, Lady Hall, do you mind elaborating on your point?”

“Oh, you see Ethan has always liked women of the lower class.” Henrietta laughed as if her announcement was meant to be funny. “Did he ever tell you how he met Juliet, his wife?”

She opened her mouth to speak —to tell Henrietta that she didn't care! She wanted to point out the fact that Ethan's marriage to Juliet was over and that she wasn't of the lower class; her father owned factories in San Francisco. It was true that her family had become bankrupt, but it didn't mean she qualifies to be called a low class woman!