Betrayed By The Hero, Loved By The Lord-Chapter 65: Help (1)

"Where is my wife, Harold?"

"I believe the lady is trying on some of the dresses your mother prepared for her. I overheard her maid speaking of wanting to go to the market tomorrow so they might leave the estate," Harold informed Xavier.

Xavier continued to look out the window at the land behind his estate. "You are quite good at listening to private conversations. If you were not loyal to me, I would be concerned. You might have all my personal matters spreading through the town. Who knew you would make such a good gossiper."

"I would never do such a thing, Milord. I do not gossip. I am simply telling you about your wife," said Harold.

"That is gossiping but it is far better than what the rest of the town does. Their mouths must be sore from speaking about my marriage. It is a curse to have good hearing. It gets so bad that you think of getting rid of your ears," Xavier said as he looked away from his land.

"I think you should keep your ears. It would be better to remove the tongues of those who speak too much," Harold suggested.

Xavier laughed at the lengths Harold would go to so he wouldn’t hurt himself. "And they say I am the cold one here. No need to worry since I won’t get rid of my ears. Selene might not be able to look at me if I do. I must see my wife now, so listen to some other gossip for me."

"I do not gossip," Harold corrected Xavier. "But there is something you should know. I know you do not care for the drama between the maids but it seems a few of them have been a little hard on Agnes."

"It is expected that some may be jealous that my wife only has one maid serving her and that maid is an outsider to them. I don’t care for it, Harold. Inform my wife about it since she will be better at dealing with it. If I must step in, someone will be sent away. Why hasn’t Gertrude dealt with it?" Xavier wondered since the head maid shouldn’t let it get out of hand.

It shouldn’t get so out of hand that it reaches Selene’s attention.

Rather than think about the maids, Xavier left in search of Selene to see what she thought of his mother’s gifts.

When Xavier entered his room, he came across an interesting sight. It started with Agnes trying to shield Selene from his gaze to Selene struggling with the dress she wore now.

"It is a tad bit big. I am afraid to know what your mother saw when she looked at me and then told the dressmaker. I am not this big," Selene said, pulling on the loose parts of the dress. "You are both playing with me. First, you with the shoes and now this. I know it."

"You’d be happy to know that I didn’t plot with my mother to buy what wouldn’t fit you. Leave us for a moment," Xavier told Agnes. "Let me see how I can help."

Agnes reluctantly left the room, leaving Selene in Xavier’s hands.

"It is loose around the top and your waist. I wouldn’t advise you to go running in it either. You might trip on this extra dress. Are you certain you did not try on two dresses?" Xavier asked since the dress was slowly engulfing Selene in it.

"I am certain that both Agnes and I are in our right minds to not have put on two dresses. And two dresses can’t look like this. It is not funny," Selene said but she found herself laughing along with Xavier.

It was a quite large and ugly dress. Selene wondered if this was some kind of test from Josephine.

"My mother is normally a stylish woman. Perhaps you tried on the one dress she sent as a joke or she was given the wrong dress. The others look more like you. Have you tried them on?" Xavier asked, looking at the dresses laid out on the bed.

"This one was the first. When Agnes held it up, I thought it didn’t look right but we then thought it might look different on me. I need her to come back. Even if the wrong dress was sent to your mother, I can have someone fix it- Xavier!’ Selene gasped, turning around to stop him from tearing the dress. "Why?"

"I tore off what was weighing you down. I will repay my mother for it," said Xavier.

"That is not the issue. At least ask before you tear it. I could have given the dress to someone else," Selene said.

Xavier let go of the dress. "Well, aren’t you a saint? How many things do you intend to give away?"

"As many as I don’t need. It is a waste of money in my eyes to just tear it. Do not do it again. How would you like it if I tore the shirt you are wearing? Never mind," Selene changed her mind.

His shirt would be no doubt worth too much and Xavier might enjoy it.

"Don’t fret, Selene. I only tore away the material you did not need at your arm. Look," Xavier showed his work. The dress did not need the ruffles on her arm in his opinion. "Now, don’t you feel better?"

"I will feel better when I get out of this dress. Can you go and allow Agnes to enter? You didn’t think I would let you stay to play some sort of game to bother me, did you?" Selene asked, eyeing Xavier since he remained beside her. "We are not that close."

"I promise not to bother you now. Do you not care about my opinion of the dresses? I can share what I think," Xavier replied, planning to stay.

"Hardly. I do not dress for you," Selene replied, carefully walking to the door to not let the tear reveal anything. Selene opened the door and said, "I do not like this one."

"Me neither. Did you tear it? It is a good place that I could mend it for you," Agnes said, imagining how she could make the dress better.

"I was not the one who tore it," Selene answered, looking over her shoulder at Xavier sitting comfortably on the bed. "It seems my husband plans to stay in the room so I will get dressed out of sight and then show him the others."

"I am also here to provide a helping hand when your maid needs someone. Don’t be shy and ask me. I will not turn you away," said Xavier.

"Thank you for offering your help but it won’t be needed. Just stay there," Selene instructed Xavier. "The last thing I need is you teasing me while I am getting dressed."

"I’m sure there will come a time when you will need my help and enjoy it. I look forward to it." Xavier said, watching as she tried not to trip on her way to get out of his sight. ’The other one was hideous. Do get rid of it if you care for your lady,’ he told Agnes.

Agnes didn’t respond to Xavier and followed Selene. She closed the door of the bathing chamber and pressed her back to it. "Was it the lord who tore it? I must say, I am not disappointed he did. I would not like for you to force yourself to wear it because his mother gifted it to you."

"I was not going to wear it again but rather give it away. And please, do not praise him since he can hear you. I know you are smiling," Selene said to Xavier though he wasn’t present.