Bluebells And Blushes

Chapter 3

Hi guys so this isnt Alice this is just her eye color. Yep.

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   I stared at her, my mouth slightly open. "Sir Benedict." I repeated for what seemed like the millionth time. "Yes." She said slowly. She wasn't smiling anymore. "How do you know my father?" She inquired. "Well, um he almost beat me to death, but other than that we are quite friendly towards eachother." Now she was scowling. "I don't appreciate your tongue." She said sharply. "I saved your life and you damn well better be grateful for it." I was suprised, I've never heard a woman of her stature use such vulgar words before.

We stared at eachother for another few moments. "You should get dressed." She ordered. I blushed. I hadn't noticed that my upper half was bare, only bandages covering my abdomen. I'd never been so naked in front of a woman before, let alone a heiress. She nodded toward a bathtub in the corner of the room. "I'll get one of the maids to fetch the hot water for your bath." And with that she marched off.

I was peeking out the windows to see which end of the house I was at when I heard someone knocking at the door. I swiftly crossed the room and opened the door. " 'Ello Will." The maid said. I grinned, I knew this maid, Sarah was her name. She couldn't read for the life of her but she had a kind heart. She was struggling to carry a large pitcher full of what I assume was hot water. I peered over her shoulder and saw three other maids doing the same thing. "I expect you can wash youself." She grunted pouring her pitcher into the metal bathtub. "Yes yes, of course."

Once the rest of the maids left I stripped down and climbed into the bathtub. There was a small shelf by the side that held soap and a washcloth. I soaped myself up and started to scrub, feeling weeks of dirt slide off my skin. The last time I'd washed properly was sometime late February in the stream by my home. Once I had finished, I found a towel and dried myself off seeing a pair of trousers, a shirt and a coat on a plush velvety chair. I put them on, looking around the room to see if I had missed anything else. Making my way to the door I heard some whispers. I frowned and turned the doorknob swinging the door open. Sarah and some of the other maids I didn't realize were right there. Had they heard me washing? I blushed a scarlet red. "You were right outside my door this whole time?" "Yes siree Mr. William." I walked out of the bedroom and shut the door behind me. Sarah smiled and beckond me forward.

The rest of the maids had dispersed, leaving only me and Sarah walking down the hall together. "Oh blimey!" She exclaims, "I'd almos' forgotten somthin'!" She took out of her apron a comb and a bottle. "Well we'd only you te' look good in front the Lady Alice now would we?" She ordered me to stand in front of her my head facing away form her. A musky, woodsy smell came from the little bottle and she struggled to undo the knots that had been building up over a course of months.

"There!" She smiled proudly at her achievement. "Come now we best no' be late for te' Lady Alice." She led me down some stairs and we turned right into another corridor, took two more rights and a left and finally made it to the dining room. I was nervous, I'd never eaten with a Heiress before. I worried if my table etiquette was up to par with those who lived in such fine establishments as this one. Wiping my sweaty palms of my trousers, I shook my head preparing myself for either a catastrophe or a great success.

The door swung open to reveal a great hall with an extremely long table in the middle of it. Beautiful tapestries hung on the wall depicting battles, and others with angels. "Alice" was sitting at the seat closest to the end. I wondered why she wasn't sitting at the head of the table when I remembered Her father, Lord Benedict owns that seat.

I make my way across the room towards the table, cringing at the loud echos my shoes make when they hit the floor. I go to the seat directly across from Lady Alice and pull it out wincing at the loud scraping noise it makes. She was too busy reading a book to notice me. When I sat down and slowly started to pull myself back towards the table the chair screeching noisily again, she looks up. We stare at eachother for what seems like forever before she breaks eye contact and goes back to reading her book.

"Um, hi I don't think I've introduced myself to you yet-" she holds up a hand. "First of all starting every sentence with 'um' doesn't say anything about your intelligence or social skills, so lets try that again." She sits back in her chair, one eyebrow raised. We sit there in an uncomfortable silence until she motions her hand for me do say something. I clear my throat. "Hello Lady Alice, I don't think that I've gotten the chance to introduce myself, I am Mr. William, the gardener at this estate." She smiled and reaches her hand across the table to shake. "Well how do you do, Mr. William, I am heiress of this estate, now let me ask, how is it that I have never seen you before?" "Um-" She glares at me. "I am instructed to stay hidden when others are in the garden." "Why?" "Well M'lady your fathers exact words were," I change my voice to that of a gruff older mans, " Listen here boy, I don't want anyone to say they saw you in the garden, I fear that a face like yours would ruin the view of the flowers." She laughs. "That sounds exactly like my father." "So William how long have you been here?" "All my life. My father was hired here as a young boy and he married one of the maids and had me." "Oh, where are they?" I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Dead." "How?" "My father was in the war, and after he left and never came back, my mum became violently ill and passed." "I'm sorry." She said quietly. "My mother also passed away, five years ago, I was ten at the time." She smiled sadly. "Well I suppose now we have something in common." "Well that is a very sad commoness we share." I said trying to lighten the mood. She giggles, " 'commoness' is not a word William." I smile happy to be able to make her laugh. "Now you should be heading back to the gardens now right?" I nod. Getting up flinching again at the sound of the chair. She to gets up but without a sound. What sort of madness is this?

"Come." She said walking towards a different exit than the way I came through. We walk in silence, until we get to another door. When this one open we are in another hall, staircases on the left and what I assume to be the kitchen on the right. The walls and floors are grey stone and in front of me is the doorway to the gardens. Both of us walk towards the doorway and right when we are a the cusp of going outside we stop. "Well I had an enjoyable breakfast with you William." She hands me a hat. "It's still quite brisk out there, I don't want you to get sick." I nod "Thank you very much for the food. And the bed. And the new clothes. Oh right and the hat! So yeah thanks." She offers me her hand to shake but instead I grab it and gently kiss her knuckles. I jammed my new hat onto my head and walk out into the brisk morning air back towards the gardens.

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Hi all! So I finished another chapter and I hope you like it! Sorry if the updating seems a litttle random, I'm a pretty sporadic person! Bye!

- Ruby