Tidying Up

Mindy brought Jasper to Francessa's rooms, and Jasper could only sigh at the state of it.

Dreary dark curtains blocked out the sunlight, casting a gloomy pall over the bedroom. The room was lightly furnished, with a dressing table that collected dust and cupboards lining the side. A chest of drawers stood at the corner. In the middle was a huge canopied bed with a wooden bed frame.

How was this room fit for a Marquis' wife? He had snuck into the private chambers of ladies with a lot more to offer. This room looked like one an unwanted spinster would have!

Mindy stood behind her, twisting her fingers nervously behind her back.

"Open the curtains," Jasper instructed, crossing his arms, a frown on his face. Where was the initiative?

"Yes Madam," Mindy said and hurriedly did as she asked. The room was bathed in the warm afternoon sunshine, which made the dust flying around the room all the more visible.

"This place has gotten so much dustier than I remembered. I want this place scrubbed and dusted in an hour's time. I'll be here to supervise it." Jasper ordered, internally smirking at the way his housekeeper seemed to cry inside.

"Yes Madam…we'll work on it immediately." Mindy said, despairing at the huge amount of work.

The cleaners had done the bare minimum of caring for Lady Francessa's room, seeing that she wasn't favoured by the late lord. And when she fell progressively ill, she couldn't no longer order servants around, and they took this chance to skip out on their duties.

Now, they had to make up for months worth of work in an hour!

"Good. I'll be waiting right here." Jasper said imperiously, and he did. He watched as servants hurriedly entered Francessa's room with buckets of cold water and rags, and began scrubbing the floors and walls. Bedspreads, pillowcases and curtains were taken down for washing and replaced with newly laundered linens. Shelves were dusted and wiped, even around the hidden corners.

The buckets of water steadily grew darker along with the laboured breaths of his servants.

"Well done everyone, thank you for your hard work," Jasper said primly as he finally saw the room return to a serviceable state. "I hope this level of diligence continues without further prompting from me?"

He heard several half-hearted mumbles in response. That wouldn't do.

"I said, I hope this level of diligence continues without further prompting. Understood?" He repeated with a stronger warning.

"Yes Madam!" His household staff chimed together.

"Good. Now… bring me to my daughter's room. We shall clean it up the same way."

Jasper pretended not to notice the looks of dismay on their faces. Francessa might have been dead, and there was no guarantee how long his soul was going to hang around in her body, but he wasn't going to leave it until he had settled everything for her.

Hopefully, her soul in heaven would approve!

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Meanwhile, in a brothel, Francessa Lawrence woke with an aching head. It felt as though someone bludgeoned her with a sack of bricks and then kicked her all over - a new feeling. When she was ill, all she felt was her physical strength slowly slipping away, even as her mind tried to hold on. There shouldn't be this much pain!

Was this a side effect of the poison? She was sure there wouldn't be other symptoms, but mistakes have been made before… Perhaps mixing wolfsbane with arrowheads wasn't the best idea, but she had to come up with a way to get rid of her odious husband for good, before he got rid of her.

She opened her eyes weakly, blinking repeatedly at the maroon ceiling that greeted her eyes. The bed was soft, the pillows comfortable, which is why she knew this wasn't her bedroom at all.

"Oh you're awake! I must have worn you out last night," A woman chimed in delightedly while Francessa choked.

The woman was naked! She eyed her bosom hanging freely in the air, unsupported by a chemise or a corset, perky nipples available for anyone to see. Francessa flushed at the sudden nudity, turning away in shock as she tried to keep breathing.

Who invited such a loose woman into her estate and let her into her rooms? Her household staff had gotten bolder in their insolence when she was ill, but she never thought they would send a whore into her rooms to taunt her!

Was she one of her husband's old flings that wanted to see how low she had fallen? Francessa gritted her teeth as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Awww you poor baby," the woman cooed at her, as she touched her shoulder, turning her so that she was once again face to face with tanned skin and a beautiful smile. Along with her humongous bosom. "Told you not to drink so much the night before. Come, let me cure you from your hangover."

"My hangover?" Francessa croaked, and she was surprised by how low her voice had gotten. Did she scream so much that her voice grew hoarse?

"Yes, now drink this." The woman said, with a gleam in her eye as she held up a decanter. Francessa distrusted it on principle - she had seen many women give her husband similar looks before luring him into their beds.

"No thank you," she rejected her even as she tried to get up, but the woman firmly sat on her and tried to pry open her mouth with her hand. Francessa panicked, immediately shoving her aside with a thick muscled arm.

A thick muscled arm?

Her thick muscled arm?!

"What madness is this!" Francessa shrieked.