𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔫'𝔰 𝔇𝔬𝔩𝔩

Part 16

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that these jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of-- throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself."

- C.S. Lewis

Kate and Fyodor were getting ready in her room for their nighttime festivities. It was determined that Fyodor and Kate would share a room for the remainder of their stay in America. This was all planned by Daisy, who adored Fyodor upon their first meeting. Despite her husband's reluctance to have him share a room with his youngest daughter, he gave in when his wife gave him a dangerous look. He was already in hot water with her for having his infidelity leaked to the public and he didn't want to face her wrath any worse.

Kate was putting on a dress that showed far more skin than anything she would normally wear. Fyodor wasn't complaining about this at all. When she exited her bathroom, his jaw nearly touched the floor. He remained in the same clothes, but she once again looked like an angel-- his angel. She wore a white dress that ended at her upper thighs. It was loose on the top, so her cleavage was on full display. The straps were silver chains. She also left her hair down.

"You're gorgeous, absolutely stunning." He showered her with compliments in his native language. Her cheeks flushed red at his words.

"Richard brought your bags here, so if you want you can get changed as well. Or would you prefer not to?" She asked, trying to get rid of her blush by changing the conversation.

"I thought I looked just fine in this, don't you think?" He asked, holding his arms out. She smiled softly at this gesture.

"It's perfect." She nodded her head.

When they were alone, they would switch to speaking in Russian. Fyodor was more comfortable with it and Kate enjoyed the opportunity to continue to improve her skills. Kate also did this because she didn't want anyone to know what they were talking about. Being both a spy and a Chopin, she was incredibly paranoid that someone was always listening in on her conversations whenever she was in that house. The butlers and maids always adored the children, but at the end of the day, they worked for the parents, whose fates were in their hands.

"I thought you were trying to get me to change?" He teased her, a smile pulling at his lips.

"No, I simply asked." She shrugged, fully aware he wasn't being serious.

"So, would you care to tell me why you were so upset earlier?" He asked, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"I don't wish to." She shook her head gently, her smile quickly dropping.

"Why? Is it something bad? Something about... me?" He interrogated, tilting his head to his left. Kate didn't answer directly but her silence told him that he had guessed correctly.

"What about me would get you so worked up? I did notice your father giving you a stern look. So, this leaves me to conclude that he's said something, most likely about me, that has caused you to keep your distance from me. This is all correct, isn't it?" He asked, leaning back slightly, confident in both his reasoning and his conclusion.

"Fyodor, I don't want to talk about this." She shook her head, a sad expression filling her face. Her eyes held a new type of sadness that he had never seen before. They were still dull, but they lacked life and were darker than they had ever been.