Magnificence
Vastra froze as a soft low humming buzzed down the hall, filtering slowly through her ears. She frowned. It sounded like singing. She followed the noise down the corridor and stopped outside Jenny's room, pressing her ear to the closed door. She closed her eyes as the sweet singing wove it's way through the hard wood of the door towards her. The song was unfamiliar to her; it sounded not of this time. It held a strange, jaunty rhythm, fitted to unfamiliar variations of words. But then, she was not surprised to hear this funny little future tune tumbling so effortlessly from Jenny's lips. There was so much she didn't know about her maid.
She pushed open the door silently, just enough to catch a glimpse of the human girl, sat at her mirror, her hair still pinned in it's tightly wound bun. She was wearing nothing but a very thing cotton chemise, and Vastra could just see the silhouette of her gently curving body beneath it. She watched as the girl, still humming to herself, raised her skilled slender hands and began to pull the pins, one by one, from her hair, letting it tumble down her back, like a thick black velvet curtain pulled across the white marble of her skin.
Vastra's eyes followed her, transfixed by this curious human girl as she stood, raising her arm above her head to stretch, in an almost feline manner, releasing the hard earned knots and aches from her smooth back. Vastra frowned. Did she work her too hard? Did she retire to her room each night, only to collapse in her bed, exhausted and overworked? But Jenny was no ordinary human. How could any ordinary human provoke such emotions, as those elicited by one simple glance at this one? She was not ordinary. She may look deceptively fragile, with her white skin, her small frame and her handsome face, but she was strong. There was an unprecedented measure of power and strength hidden in this small delicate body, and a furious temper, and abundance of determination to match it.
Jenny let her loose gown fall from her shoulders, and Vastra watched as she sauntered over to her bed. She stopped just in front of it and without turning, said,
"You should come in to the warm Ma'am. The view is much better inside," and Vastra did as she was bid, clicking the door softly shut behind her. She walked silently over and wrapped her arms very carefully around her, feeling the warmth of her smooth stomach beneath her cold fingers, and she pulled her gently into her arms.
"You are magnificent."