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Clockwork Heart Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Friday finally arrived and Millie, who had been preoccupied with many things - namely her father’s illness and preparing for the upcoming fair, had completely forgotten about the tickets that Sir Henry had promised the two women of the household. She had also almost forgotten about her plans to make her governess happy – hopefully with the floppy hair Lord with a liking for seductively sweet tobacco.

Thus it was with less ire than usual she got dressed, corset and all, for the evening entertainment. Plans for the internal mechanisms were continually dancing through her brain as she had yet to find a way to connect the thought centre to the controls for the actual body. Essentially it was a limp vegetable unless she could come up with a system to link the two parts.

She shook her head and resisted the urge to hit the new maid who in her carelessness, saw fit to continually jab the young woman in the head with the hair pins. She overlooked it however when she met the anxious gaze of Ms Wright whose neck had taken on a flushed red hue and was fanning her face frantically in an attempt to soothe her nerves.

“Calm down, everything will be fine,” Millicent whispered as she gritted her teeth against another pin stabbing itself into her head.

“Yes, okay, all fine.” Those two words were the only response she received.

The younger woman wanted to roll her eyes. She never thought Ms Wright would become nervous and anxious.

“Ladies,” A voice cut in startling both of them. Millie was the first to turn around, her eyes lighting up when she saw the man leaning heavily against the door frame.

However her joy quickly faded when she examined her father head to toe. The initial relief of seeing him up and fully coherent was a relief but whatever had taken a hold of his the day before had obviously done its job. His skin was grey and the man looked gaunt under the lamplight.

“Father, you should be resting.” The tall blonde said stumbling towards the sickly man and instantly fussing over his to make sure that he was alright.

When she saw that for the most part he was okay, Millie stepped back and offered the man a shaky smile while her arms just dropped to her sides. Silence quickly fell over the group and the maid who had been stabbing her in the head only moments before, took her cue to leave and slipped out through the hidden servant entrance.

“I’m fine, just wanted to see you both before you left.” Mr Clancy replied, for the first time in many years smiling down at his daughter. She reeled back at the shock of it like she had suddenly been slapped in the face.

“You both look beautiful. Henry won’t be able to keep his eyes off of you.” Richard Clancy turned his gaze to Ms Wright who was smoothing down the front of her dress. “Emma, you look incredible. It suits you to be out of black.”

The mousy woman, who face had been powdered and her hair put into an up-do that was less severe than her traditional bun, looked at least five years younger than she actually was and the scarring on her face was less noticeable because of it. She blushed at her employers words and ducked her head.

“Have a good time tonight ladies. And remember ladies - don’t do anything you wouldn’t want your mothers to know about. I don’t need to tell you that we don’t want anything bad to be said about this household so you behave yourselves and be home before ten. Is that understood?”

Both women nodded their heads like errant children.

Smiling at them both dotingly, Mr Clancy waved his daughter forwards. She inched her feet forwards, her gaze going over her shoulder to look at her governess but Emma merely frowned and shrugged her shoulders.

Turning back to her father, Millie was surprised when the sickly man pulled her into a hug, holding her to him even as her arms flailed before finally wrapping around his back.

“Your mother would be so proud Millie,” The frail man whispered into her hair before placing a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Really proud.”

The pulled away so that they could regard one another. A silence fell over them but there were no awkward glances or intense desires to fill the gap with sound. It was just peaceful.

A ringing bell drew their attention and abruptly the moment was broken. Millie allowed her gaze to trail to the window with a scowl, no longer feeling the excitement for her next meeting with sir Henry. Instead she felt resentment as when her gaze trailed back to her father, he was not the man he had been only a minute before. He had retreated back behind that cold and tough exterior that she had grown accustomed to over the years.

Millie blinked back the tears that wanted to come, her hand rubbed at her chest which felt empty and cold. She felt like her father had just died before her very eyes and yet there he was, standing opposite her with his emotionless features. He still smelt like the man of her childhood, like tobacco and peppermint. He still dressed like her father, with his tightly knotted cravat and persistent dress sense which was stuck in the century before. And yet when she looked into his familiar grey eyes, the ones so like her own, she realised that there was nothing there of the man she had loved when she was younger. That man was gone.

“You mustn’t keep his Lordship waiting ladies. It will give the man a poor impression.” Richard sniffed and then shuffled to the side, gesturing for both women to pass him.

Millie stepped past first, immediately turning so that she could make the grand entrance down the stairs to give the man the lasting impression that her father wished for her to give/. However it was Emma that Mr Clancy wanted to speak to, and as she passed through the door after Millie, her employer stretched out a hand and wrapped it around her wrist.

She yelped in surprised and turned a gaze to the man who had taken her in all those years ago and felt a tremor course through her. Lifting her gaze to lock with his, the young woman felt a shiver course through her so hard and fast that even her skirts quivered. The look there said a million thing but first and foremost it was a warning.

Leaning close, she could feel his breath, which smelt of fresh mint, blow across her face as he spoke.

“She cannot know.”  

Gulping, Emma Wright turned her head to him and tried not to show the terror which was making her hands tremble when she saw how close the man was to her. She did not say a word, merely raised a brow.

“Know about what.”

With that she hurried as fast as her corset and skirts would allow her. She didn’t have to worry though as Mr Clancy merely leant back upon the wall, his energy suddenly very depleted as he watched them go. Closing his eyes, he released a sigh while drawing his hands over his drawn features.

“When will this nightmare end?” He whispered with his words coming out in almost a plea as he kept his face buried within his hands. But he got no answers from the walls and doors and instead was left to face his nightmares alone.