They spoke of little in the carriage on the way home, mostly because McKenna was livid. She tried not to let on and if Charlotte knew how upset McKenna was, she wasn't letting on either. It was near dinner time when they arrived, and once inside, each went their separate ways.
All through dinner, McKenna and Hannish talked about the prospects of attending their first Colorado ball together. She asked him several questions about the dancing and the refreshments, all the time feeling she should say something about Charlotte's disclosure. In the end, she decided to let her brother have a good night's rest, and tell him what happened in the morning.
*
"Our Charlotte is a teacher," McKenna announced when she went to say goodnight to the servants in the kitchen.
"Are you?" Sarah asked.
"I am," Charlotte admitted.
"Why are you not teaching?" Keith asked.
"They have no position for me just now, but I am hoping they will someday soon," Charlotte answered.
Sassy frowned. "If you be a teacher, why are you not correcting me instead of Keith?"
Charlotte did not hide her contempt for Sassy. "If he gets it wrong, I will be happy to correct him."
"But he does not get it wrong, does he," Sassy moaned.
Jessie finished towel drying the last washed cup and put it in the cupboard. "Perhaps the time will come when we need a teacher right here in the mansion."
"Not much chance of that, now that Mr. Hannish has no wife," Halen muttered.
Charlotte said, "Unless he divorces her."
"What does it matter to you?" asked Sarah. "A teacher cannot marry anyway."
Just then, Hannish walked through the door and glared at Charlotte. "No MacGreagor has ever set a wife aside and I do not intend to be the first."
"But she committed adultery," Charlotte dared to say.
There was an intense, awkward moment during which no one spoke, but Sassy didn't pay attention to it when she smiled at Prescot, "I told you he hears everything." Seated across the table, Prescot did not return her smile and it confused her.
Hannish took his annoyed eyes off Charlotte finally, and looked at the man serving as his valet for the night. "Prescot, I shall have a glass of milk before bed." With that, he turned and left the kitchen.
"Very good, Sir," Prescot frowned at Charlotte again, before he got up and began to prepare a tray.
If Charlotte cared, she didn't show it. "I only said what everyone suspects," she muttered, as she too left the room.
"What is the matter?" Sassy asked.
McKenna smiled to reassure Sassy. "A servant should never comment on her employer's private affairs. Charlotte broke that rule just now. Come, it is time for bed and I am exhausted."