by Abigail Agar
She did not yet know Miss Windsor. He truly believed that he could convince his mother to approve of her in time. Even if that time was not soon. Even if that time was after they eventually married.
Maybe he was getting ahead of himself. After all, he had not even spoken with Miss Windsor about these things. He had certainly hinted at his feelings, even said things that she could interpret as a profession of affection. He had not formally asked her if she would be willing to be courted by him.
As Jonathan took the path away from the estate, he looked to his left into his right, deciding which way he wanted to go. At first, he wanted to take the path to the right, but from the corner of his eye, he saw something that made him go left.
Was it possible? Was he actually being followed?
It took Jonathan only a moment to figure out what was going on. He was being followed on horseback. And he knew, right away, who was following him.
It was one of his mother’s footmen. She had, apparently, chosen to have him spy on Jonathan as opposed to his usual duties of running errands and bringing her letters and sending her card around to friends.
Jonathan had a brief burst of fury, but then, he decided to turn it into a little bit of fun.
If his mother wanted to spy on him, if she wanted to know where he was going and who he was seeing, he was going to make sure he would give her an exciting story.
He felt a little bit bad. Of course, the footman was only doing his duty, but Jonathan was not going to let his mother get away with this.
The path to the left was not an easy one. It was a route through a bog and a forest, a complete mess. There was a creek and woods covered in moss and cobwebs.
As Jonathan trotted away, he smiled to himself. Indeed, this was going to be fun.
“Hiya!” he shouted, striking the reins and leading the horse into full speed.
At last, they were running, running as fast as they could. It would be difficult for the footman to keep up with them.
Jonathan knew his steed. He knew they could go fast and far, causing all sorts of trouble. It was going to be an exciting adventure for the two of them, forcing the footman out of his comfort zone in the most delightful way, shaming his mother.
They reached the first patch of trees. Jonathan took the path which was comparatively easy. Although he was going fast, this was not going to be so difficult for the man following him. Instead, it was going to give him a false sense of security.
As Jonathan rode, quickly, he felt the wind in his face. He very nearly got struck by a branch, but he moved out of the way just in time. He hoped that the man would do the same.
The small forest came to a quick end. From there, they reached the creek. The creek was not overly deep, but it was wide. It was wide enough that it was going to be difficult for the man to get his horse to go, but Jonathan rode easily. When he had the chance and did not think that the man would notice, he glanced back to see if he was still being followed. Indeed, it was impressive. The man was doing a better job than he had anticipated.
At the creek, Jonathan made his way through with ease. They reached the other side and continued on. He knew what lay ahead. The best part, the part that would really leave his mother shocked and appalled.
The man followed him to a nasty bog. It stunk and as the horses clipped their hooves through it, the gross water splashed up, staining Jonathan’s shoes. He knew that the man was going to have the same experience.
The primary difference, however, was that Jonathan was wearing his riding clothes. The man, he figured, was still in his typical uniform. Although Jonathan felt bad for putting him through this, he was also angry that the footman had obeyed Jonathan’s mother’s orders. Who was the head of the house? It was not his mother. It was Jonathan. The footman ought to have remembered that before following through on these orders to spy on his own master.
Jonathan continued to race through. Soon enough, he came out the other side and took the circular path through another thicket. It did not take long to get through it and to reach back to the house.
He made his way to the stable, dismounted, and handed the reins to the groom.
“Here you are. I fear that I cannot be the one to clean him today and I am terribly sorry. He is very dirty. Perhaps, later, I shall return and brush him out,” he said.
“Certainly, Your Grace. I am more than happy to clean him,” the groom said.
“Thank you. I know that he needs a good deal of work at the moment. We went through a creek and a bog. But I must go and speak with my mother at once and, because of that, I cannot stay,” he explained, as if it was his duty, and not the groom’s, to handle the cleaning of his horse.
“I am perfectly happy to handle it,” he said.
“Oh, but you should also know, and I urge you to say this to no one, not even the man himself, you are about to have another horse, ridden by one of the footmen. His horse is also going to be a mess. For that reason, I really shall come as soon as I am able to lend you some assistance,” Jonathan said.
The groom smiled and nodded, his gratitude evident. The two of them had always gotten along well and had an understanding that Jonathan would be allowed to handle the horses as much as he wished and no one would stop him from that.
With that, Jonathan went inside. He was a mess, but he did not care. He would apologize to the cleaning staff, asking the maids for their forgiveness for everything he tracked inside. What mattered the most for now was finding his mother.
She was in the drawing room and looked up at him with alarm when she saw the state of him.
“Good heavens! What is the matter with you? What happened? You look like quite a disaster and you are getting…ugh, what is that? It smells terrible. You smell terrible. Is that swamp water around your ankles?” she asked, insulting him at every turn.
Jonathan smiled in a bitter, angry way. He kept the false smile on his face just enough to allow her to see the rage which rested underneath it.
“Mother, I am quite dirty, yes,” he said.
She looked at him with a strange worry for a moment, as if she was taking in the clear and apparent unhappiness in his own face.
“Is something the matter?” she asked, leaning away from him in defense.
“Oh, I do not know about that, but there is something I should very much like to show you,” he said.
“Show me?” she asked.
“Indeed. Will you follow me?” he asked.
“Not until you get cleaned up. You smell awful,” she said again.
They had only a few moments before the footman would arrive and Jonathan wanted his mother to be in position for that moment.
“Please, Mother. After this, I promise that I shall clean up. It is only going to take a few moments. Perhaps ten minutes, no more, possibly less,” he said.
“What is it that you want from me?” she asked in reluctance.
“I want you to come with me for now. That is all. Will you please join me?” he asked, gesturing out the door of the room.
She glared at him but followed. He led her to the front door of the estate and made her sit and wait.
“Here, I have this chair for you. Get comfortable,” he said.
“Tell me what all this is about. What are you doing? What are you forcing me to do?” she asked.
“Mother, I am not forcing anything. I simply want you to sit here and wait for a moment. You shall soon see everything,” he said.
“But—”
“It is a surprise, Mother. All right?” he said with exasperation. Maybe if she believed that he had some sort of surprise for her, she would leave him alone and stop pestering him while they waited for the footman to arrive.
Soon enough, the handle on the door began to turn. It was only a moment before the footman entered through the door, looking up at them with shock that they were sitting there waiting for him.
His mother gasped, seeing that the man was even dirtier than Jonathan. At least Jonathan has been prepared
for what he would be traveling through. But this man had no idea. He was a complete mess and looked like he had been through a great ordeal.
Jonathan turned to his mother with a dead pan expression.
“Surprise, Mother,” he said.
She turned to Jonathan with wide eyes, taking on the understanding that this had been his plan all along.
He was ready to tell her precisely what was on his mind, the important truth she needed to finally accept.
“You may be my mother, but I am a duke and I expect to be treated with the respect of my station, do you understand?” he asked her.
She did not respond at once, so he leaned forward and looked her in the eye.
“I am quite serious, Mother. I have had enough of this. If you want to spy on me, in the future, you had best do it yourself as opposed to subjecting the employees of this household to such torment,” he said.
Then, turning to the footman, he continued.
“And as for you, I am your employer. My mother is not. You do not take orders from her if they are in defiance or disrespect of me. I suggest you bear that in mind and inform the rest of the staff of the same thing,” he said.
With that, he walked away from his mother, leaving her bewildered.
Chapter 19
At last, the day had arrived. Ellie was going to get to see Mr. Potts again. This had been the most eager she had felt for anything in a very long time.
Seeing him was always her greatest joy. Now that she was trying to get past the arrangements from her aunt, it meant even more to her. Ellie could not imagine what her life would be like if she was restricted from these visits. She would simply feel overwhelmed and stuck.
Ellie brought freshly baked bread that she had prepared that morning. There was a loaf for the family and also one that she made just for her time with Mr. Potts. She also had cheese and apples, in addition to carrots set aside for any animals with which they might come into contact.
Once she made it to the house, she went inside and began arranging things so that they could get to work straight away when he arrived and then the food would all be ready after. She poured water into cups and then into the kettle so that she could easily have the tea ready for him as well.
She could hardly wait for Mr. Potts to arrive but, by the time he did, she was so overwhelmed with excitement that Ellie nearly forgot herself. She had to pull back her enthusiasm at the very last moment in order to not potentially frighten him or make him uncomfortable.
“Mr. Potts, is that you?” she called from the kitchen, making her way out into the hall in a perfectly relaxed fashion.
“Indeed, Miss Windsor. I am here,” he replied.
They met and, in that moment, their eyes locked as well. Ellie was confident that Mr. Potts was just as eager to see her as she was to see him. That comforted her greatly and led her to hoping that there could be a true connection between them.
“You look lovely, Miss Windsor,” he said with a bow.
“Thank you, Mr. Potts,” Ellie replied, curtseying and making just the faintest eye contact. Her heart pounded from the joy she felt and she wondered if she had always had the capacity for this happiness or if it was something new entirely. Was it Mr. Potts who brought this out of her? Or was it always within her to feel?
“Have you had a nice few days?” he asked her.
“Oh, certainly. It was lovely. However, I am very glad to be back here now. I do miss it when I am away from the house.”
Ellie refrained from telling him that she had been absolutely miserable in the past few days, wishing that she could come and be away from her family and all the anger and pressure which she felt when she was at the house. Certainly, she wished that she could explain to him what her life was truly like each and every day, but she did not believe that it would be appropriate to inform him of all her sorrows.
“Yes, yes, I can imagine so,” he said with a hint of his own sadness. Ellie wondered what his days were like and if he experienced the same sort of thing she did. Was it possible that there was someone in his own sphere who brought him the same level of unhappiness that her aunt brought to her?
Ellie hated to think that he could suffer the way she did. It was dreadful to wonder if he was ever unhappy or if there was even the faintest hint of dissatisfaction in his life. She remained silent on the subject, however, not wanting to pry.
After these days in which they met, Ellie realised that she still did not know Mr. Potts very well. Considering how much she liked him and the trust she was putting in him by being alone together, she felt it would be wise to know more about his life, just as she had shared more about her own.
However, she did not know how best to ask her questions. How could she pry?
“Well, shall we begin?” Mr. Potts asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
“Yes, indeed, thank you,” she said.
Ellie followed Mr. Potts back outside where they quickly finished trimming some of the dead branches on trees. One of the apple trees was doing terribly and it hurt Ellie’s heart to know that the deer were not profiting from it.
She also recalled once as a child when her father lifted her on his shoulders and allowed her to pick apples from that tree. Smiling, she pruned in the hopes that it would one day bear fruit again.
After they finished, they returned inside and Ellie swept while Mr. Potts tried to fix a pipe which had broken in the kitchen. Ellie had not needed to use the tap to which it belonged, but she did hope she might be able to eventually.
“I believe it ought to be functional now,” he said.
“Thank you very much, Mr. Potts. I am so grateful.”
“Well, you should not be grateful until you are certain that it works. I am far from an expert in the area of tap maintenance.” He laughed.
Ellie joined him in the small kitchen and put the kettle she had prepared on the stove to make the tea. She then unwrapped the food, including the bread she had previously sliced, and placed it on a tray.
“You did a wonderful job preparing all this. It looks to be quite a feast,” Mr. Potts told her.
“I certainly hope so. I wanted everything to be ready but still kept fresh and I hope you enjoy it. I baked the bread just this morning,” she said.
“Really? It smells divine. I trust that you and I shall enjoy it very much. Oh, and that cheese looks wonderful. Do not tell me that you also made that?” he asked with a laugh.
“No, no, I fear that I did not.” She grinned, shaking her head.
In the tight space of the kitchen, Ellie sensed the closeness between them more than she even had to observe it. She was drawn so near to Mr. Potts that she wondered if they might be thrown together in the midst of their standing. If she took but a few steps forward, they would be nose to nose. Somehow, the sudden awareness of this proximity made her blush and she leaned back ever so slightly, hoping that he did not notice.
“Well, perhaps we ought to sit and enjoy it?” Ellie suggested.
“Indeed, that is an excellent idea,” he replied, turning and leading the way to the back garden where they sat in the grass together, the food in front of them.
They began to eat and drink their tea, all while looking up at the sky and enjoying the fresh air. Ellie noted something in the demeanor of Mr. Potts that she had not been able to place in all this time, something which she desperately wished to understand. It seemed like the perfect moment to try and get to know him better.
