A Lady Never Tells

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Lillian was sitting on a bench in front of the vanity that was in her room. It had been three days since William and Lillian kissed. Lillian was now getting ready to go to a speakeasy. She was of course, dressed in the appropriate clothing. It was planned that William would pick her up shortly.

She just sat on the bench, staring into the mirror. It hadn’t been that long since she arrived at her grandmother’s house, but Lillian felt as if she had changed. The person that Lillian saw in the mirror’s reflection hardly seemed like it was a complete foreign person.

Suddenly, there was a knock at Lillian’s door. “Come in,” she said.

“I’m sorry to disturb you Mistress, but there is a gentleman in the parlor waiting for you,” the maid said.

“Alright, I’m coming down,” said Lillian. She then stood from her bench and went down the stairs.

Upon arriving in the parlor, Lillian saw a man with dark brown hair sitting on the couch. The man wasn’t William. It was Joseph. When he heard her enter the parlor, he turned to face her.

“Lillian, I’ve missed you so much,” he announced. Lillian walked over and pecked him on the lips quickly. When she stepped back, Joseph seemed to notice that she was wearing her ivory dress from Kathleen. “Darling, what are you wearing?” Before Lillian could answer, the front door opened. William had arrived. “And what is he doing here?”

Now, William was in the parlor with Joseph and Lillian. “Hello Lillian. Are you ready to go?”

“Where are you going? You haven’t been home in so long. I came here to take you home with me. Your grandmother died a while ago. It’s time to move on and come back home.”

Lillian was about to make a retort to Joseph, but William started talking first. “Who says you have the right to order her around? Perhaps Lillian has a reason not to go home. Perhaps she doesn’t want to go home with you!”

“And why exactly wouldn’t she want to come home with me? Her husband,” Joseph seethed.

Lillian finally interjected. “Enough!” Both men stopped arguing. “I’m not coming home right now. I have a few things I need to do here before I do go home,” she said to Joseph and then turned to William. “I’ll deal with you later, but right now we need to go.” William nodded and then both of them turned to leave.

“Lillian, what are you doing,” Joseph asked, stunned.

Lillian hadn’t turned her back when she said, “I am going with William. He is helping me with something. I will be back here late tonight, and I expect you to be on your way home. I will return home once I am finished. But I expect you to be gone by the time I return tonight.” She hadn’t waited to hear his reply when she left the house.

William and Lillian were walking down the road where Grandmother’s estate was. The plan was to walk about a quarter of a mile and then to catch a carriage the rest of the way to the speakeasy.

“Whoa Lily, I didn’t think that you’d tell him off like that! Brava for you,” William exclaimed.

Lillian stopped in her footsteps. William turned to look at her. “You aren’t off the hook yet William! Why on earth would you speak for me? Do I seem incapable of speaking for myself?”

“No, of course not,” he said simply.

“Then why did you do it? Is it because I’m a woman and instead of being a human being, I’m a thing?”

“No, that’s how he treats you. I’d never treat you like that.” William stepped closer to Lillian and pushed a small strand of hair away from Lillian’s face. The touch of her skin for that moment seemed amazing to William.

Lillian offered a small smile. “Thank you for that. We should get going,” she said before setting off once more.

William stood in the same place for a moment, still remembering the touch of her flesh.