Angry And Gentle Both Together

Alec walked across the grass slowly while taking in the beauty that nature offered to Penge that August afternoon. The Durhams would never see how truly beautiful the wholeestate was, for they were too wrapped up in their upper-class nonsense. It was just property to them, something to prove their importance, and they never took the time to take it all in and enjoy it.

There hadn't been much for Alec to do on this day, except to constantly circle the gardens in search of dead rabbits and do a couple of things here and there as ordered. Itwas not much different from what he did each day, and what he would continue to every day until he left for the Argentine, a day that couldn't come soon enough for him.

Yes, he was leaving England, with no intention of coming back. There would be no more taking orders from people who couldn't even remember his name….. and oh, just recalling that incident with old Mrs. Durham and the posting of the letter made Alec's blood boil. He was done withserving these so-called gentlemen and their wives. There was nothing left for him here except for a miserable existence, and though he would miss the woods that he so dearly loved, he knew he must leave them if he wanted something better then all of this.

When Alec reached the front of Penge after about his second time circling the entire estate, he spotted Milly the maid, and her cousin, whose name he couldn't remember at that moment. They giggled when they saw him, and he walked over to join them.

They were not the least bit pretty,nor were they smart or clever, but they gave Alec the attention he always liked getting from anybody who would give it to him. And so the girls where rewarded with his irresistible charm and small, playful kisses on the lips. Alec saw no harm in these little games of flirtation, though those they served would scorn their behavior if they were seen, and call it inappropriate. He thought it was natural to indulge in such behavior and it was the Durhams' loss - or anyone who didn't understand –for not accepting it.

He had gotten so caught up in his flirtation with the two maids that he had failed to see a car that had just drove up and parked not too far from where they were standing. It was only when the girls had broken away from him, giggled, and started to walk away that he realized that they had been spotted.

Alec turned around to find a golden-haired gentleman staring at him with a strange combination of anger and gentleness in his eyes that Alec had never seen in another human being before. A longing to understand why this man looked at him the way he did stirred inside him, along with a different kind of longing that took his breath away.

"Wouldn't I and he…." he started to think, but then realized that if stared at the gentleman any longer that he ran the risk of losing every inch of his sanity. So he just touched his cap and went on his way, with his mind in a muddle and his heart beating out of control.