When The Rain Falls

Chapter Twenty

Despite having been gone for the entire day, Father made no comment about my absences, nor did he mention our supper plans with the Marlow's. It seemed that once again we had returned to our behaviour of ignoring each other until one of us finally gave in. This suited me perfectly well since it meant I no longer had to deal with him breathing down my neck when it came to studying or how I spent my time.

My conversation with Mrs Reed had given me a lot to think about, particularly when it came to my supposed match with Clara Marlow. If Mrs Reed had been right about the staff disliking her because of her attitude towards the staff, I wondered whether Clara behaved the same way. It was not in my best interest to be with someone who didn't offer the staff the courtesy that they deserved. It solidified my thoughts about the whole situation, at any rate.

The next day, I left the stack of books in my room and headed down the hall to Alice's bedroom to find out what had happened the previous day. George and I had been a little late in returning, having stopped at the Inn for something to eat, so I didn't have the opportunity to speak with her the way I wanted to.

I knocked lightly on her bedroom door, pushing the door open just a little before she replied.

"Are you decent?" I asked.

"Yes, although perhaps you should have waited until after I answered, or allowed me to open the door instead."

"Where is the fun in that?" I pushed the door open fully and stepped into the room.

Alice stood in the centre of her room, brushing her hands over the sleeves of her dress. "What can I help you with today? Or are you just here to annoy me, as per usual?"

"Well, that, but I wanted to see how yesterday went with Miss Edwards."

"Sit down. You make the room look untidy."

I frowned. "You're standing too."

"Yes, but I don't look like a walking mess. You do."

Alice laughed at her own joke, although I wasn't sure what was particularly funny about it. I shuffled into the room, attempting to touch as little as possible so I didn't make the room look untidy, as Alice put it. As always, her room didn't look as though anyone ever lived inside of it. The bed was pristine, with not a crease or pillow out of place. Her dresser had been cleaned with all her spare hairpins and ribbons, having been tucked away from view. It looked more like one of the spare rooms than a bedroom.

I took a seat on the very edge of the bed to make sure I didn't destroy the pristine nature of it all. Alice continued to play around with her dress for a few more moments. She pulled loose thread off the sleeves and smoothed down the bodice and the skirt several times before she was happy. After a few minutes, she turned to face me and stood in front of me, her arms folded over her chest and her eyebrow slightly raised.

"So, how did yesterday go?" I asked.

"Perfectly well. I can look after Miss Edwards, Nate. I don't need you holding my hand all the time."

"That's not why I'm asking." I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. "I just wanted to know if she said anything, told you anything."

"Not really. I showed her the horses again. We took Genisis out for a walk around the grounds, and then she went back to her room. That was about it." She shrugged. "What about your day? Did you uncover anything?"

"About Miss Edwards? No. I spoke to Joseph, and he said he was going to ask around the other stable hands to see if they knew of a horse called Abacus. Other than that, I went and spoke to Mrs Reed, the old housekeeper, under Mr Marlow."