A/N: Sorry for the delay, I wanted to finish this chapter sooner but it wasn't possible. I feel it might be longer than the previous one but I had to finish it right where it did, it didn't feel right to finish it earlier. Just I quick note, for the hair I already mentioned that Blair hair was loose and in curls, you can imagine her hair a bit like in 3x11 or 3x12, maybe a season 1 hair too. For Chuck, the time period where the action is happening for now calls for a haircut like the one he had in 1x12 or even 1x14, but the thing is his looks in 1x12 were more boyish and for the overall story I tend to think in his face like he looked in season 3 and the beginning of season 4 (4x2, I think you can imagine why) so for this time period in particular maybe a mix of both things? For Eric definitely season 2 onwards looks, I don't feel he changed that much between seasons 2, 3 and 4.
I don't own anything, if I did the show wouldn't be like it is now.
After the visitors finished their meal, they all headed back to the mansion. Once they arrived to the stables, they unsaddled the horses and made sure everything was in order before returning to the main house by the same route they had previously used.
When they finally reached the kitchens, Fritz had just started the travel preparations for his mistress and himself.
"Did you finish your lessons?" The Countess asked Fritz in German.
"Yes, Milady" was his reply.
"I see you started gathering the things I asked you to" she added.
She was going to say something more, but then remembered that they were not alone.
"Would you mind wait for me while we finish here?" She said to her visitors in English. "I need to go over some things with him first" she said referring to Fritz.
"Not at all" Mr. Bass said with a rather charming smile, which did not entirely escape her attention.
"I trust you will find your way back" she said, the perfect hostess, but deciding to ignore Mr. Bass's charm.
"Don't worry. I'm sure we will find something to do in the meantime" Mr. Bass said smoothly before leaving the kitchens with Mr. Rhodes.
Whether she wanted to retort "I'm sure you will do" to him or not, it is unknown.
Turning to Fritz once more, she asked him:
"Did you finish your Mathematics lesson?"
"Yes, Milady."
"And your German lesson?"
"Yes, Milady."
"Very well, I will check them now, and after we finish I will teach you another lesson and leave you homework for tomorrow. Like I told you before, today we won't study Latin and Greek, and once we finish with today's lessons I will help you finish with what you started before we returned." And with this the Countess sat down with Fritz in the kitchen table to look over his lessons.
After they finished going through Fritz's lessons for the day, she proceeded to help him with the things he was doing before her return, that were none other than start preparing the trunks for their travel and the things that they needed to pack in them. Naturally they couldn't finish packing in one night, but for that night they were going to pack and move certain things and what was left pending could be packed the next night. When she determined that they had reached a point where they could stop, she told the boy the following:
"Let's show our visitors their chambers." And with this said, they left the kitchens in direction to the room where their visitors were waiting for them.
Once the Countess and Fritz arrived to the room where she had greeted her visitors for the first time, they found each of them in an individual chair, reading. Fritz had entered the room first, with the Countess just a couple of steps behind him, so once they stopped walking she placed her hands in the boy's shoulders while standing behind him and addressed the visitors in English:
"Sorry to keep you waiting for so long. We had some things that we needed to finish first."
"It's alright. We managed to keep ourselves busy in the meantime" Mr. Bass said, showing her the book.
"I see you found the library" she said, not at all surprised that he went around snooping. In fact she was expecting it.
"I hope that you don't mind, I took the liberty of exploring your library in search of something to distract us. You certainly have an impressive collection. Schiller?" he said, referring to the book in his hands.
"Yes" she replied, with a haughty edge on her voice.
"Goethe too", he continued, moving his head briefly towards the book that Mr. Rhodes had in his hands. "And several French authors…" he drawled.
"Fritz and I have come to ask you if you would like to see your chambers now" the Countess interrupted him in German, with a bit of a toss of her head.
Mr. Rhodes was silently observing this exchange. He knew better than to intervene.
"Please, lead the way" Mr. Bass said in German like nothing had happened.
Both men stood up and started walking towards the Countess and her servant. She and the boy turned around and guided the way towards the chambers.
They finally reached one of the rooms of the house, which had a door hidden in one of the walls. The visitors noticed it as soon as the Countess opened it. This time she let Fritz walk ahead of them while they all started to descend a group of stairs. In that way, they reached a totally underground hallway illuminated only by the light of the torches alternated between heavy oak doors at both sides of the hallway. It wasn't a narrow corridor, but rather a spacious one, and the doors looked strong and they clearly had heavy locks.
After they passed a couple of closed doors, Fritz stood in front of one of the doors at the right side of the group and proceeded to unlock and open it. However, he stood by the door, while the Countess and her visitors followed inside.
"This will be your chamber" the Countess said in English addressing Mr. Bass (who had entered immediately behind her) all the while taking a look around and turning to face him. Mr. Rhodes, who had suspected as much about the sleeping arrangements, preferred to stay rather close to the doorway where Fritz was still standing and silently watching the scene.
From where he was standing, Mr. Bass also took a look around, finding the room satisfactory. There was a grand bed of dark wood that was the central focus on the chamber. Although there were no paintings in the walls and in the ceiling, only a rather cream color in the walls (maybe lime?) the chamber was grand in size and it had a dresser, chairs, tables and candles giving proper lighting. On the inside of the oak door, metal reinforcements were visible, proving that the door was even more resilient than what it looked like from the outside, and there was also a bolt to lock it from the inside.
"No canopy bed?" he asked to tease her. It worked.
"Listen, you know how much work it took to get all this underground system below the house and move the furniture down here? I had to get really brittle people that nobody was going to miss after the job ended. Whenever Fritz and I need to move something down here it takes a great effort to do so, which is why we to try to keep here only the essentials."
"Really? A good bag of money couldn't have bought their silence?" He asked, while walking a little around the room.
"Not if I wanted to make sure they wouldn't be a threat down the road" she stated.
He seemed to accept her explanation because he didn't add anything else, and in fact for a moment something flashed in his eyes, like a tale sign that he was now serious about the issue and he understood the situation.
She must have noticed it, because as a way to change the conversation, she said the following:
"Fritz"
"The gentleman's trunks were place on the left side of the dresser" the boy said in German, understanding that his mistress had meant for him to speak.
Turning around, the Countess addressed Mr. Rhodes in German. "Now, I will show you your room …" she paused mid-sentence.
"Richard" Mr. Rhodes reminded her.
"Richard," she repeated "please follow me." And she went out of the room with him and Fritz behind.
In the meantime Mr. Bass proceeded to take a closer look to the things inside the room, knowing that they would be detained for a while. When he figured that enough time had passed, he went out of his chamber, just when the others were leaving Mr. Rhodes's chamber, which was right next to his.
"And where is your chamber?" he asked the Countess in a rather smarmy way.
"You will never know it" she replied with a fake smile and practically gritted teeth.
"Charles" Mr. Rhodes said as a way of warning. He knew they couldn't provoke her hostess much.
"There are still several hours till dawn" Mr. Bass said nonchalantly "and we already ate. What are we going to do in the meantime?"
"Well," she answered "Fritz needs to have his midnight snack, for which he's already pass the hour. We also need to finish packing some things and secure the ones that will stay here in my absence."
"Maybe we could help you packing" Mr. Bass offered as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
"The world will have to freeze over before I let you touch my things" she bitchly replied.
"Or maybe I could wander around the upper rooms, see what you have there, which one is your fake bedchamber, what secrets do you keep in it…."
"If you want to go there and waste your time till dawn looking for things that are not there, I have no problem with that" she fake-sweetly replied. "In the meantime, Fritz and I will go to do something useful. Are you coming, Richard?" she said to the latter one, and started walking to the stairs with Fritz in tow.
Mr. Rhodes also started to follow her, but not without giving another warning look to Mr. Bass, where he seemed to say "Stop provoking her. Aren't you afraid she will backtrack on her word?" to which Mr. Bass only smirked once he was left alone.
Once the other 3 were above, they started walking towards the kitchens, with Mr. Rhodes saying to the Countess in English:
"How long does that corridor go?"
"Until an exit in the forest" she answered, and then added: "I figured it would be the safest place to go in an emergency".
"Does that exit have a cover?"
"Of course."
They continued silently until they reached the kitchen. Once there, Fritz proceeded to serve in a bowl the broth that he had left cooking slowly, and he sat down at the kitchen table to eat without a word.
In the meantime the Countess started reviewing some of the things they had already packed, while making mental notes about other things.
"It's a light meal" Mr. Rhodes observed.
"I don't want him to eat anything heavy so late at night" the Countess said.
After another beat of silence, Mr. Rhodes said: "I don't suppose you want me help you pack either."
"I'm sorry" she said apologetically, and she really meant it. "But with Charles here, it's better if we don't put you in the middle or that you feel compromised in any way…"
"It's alright, I understand" he said.
"You know I would ask you to help me if I could…" she started again.
"Really, I get it" he said, with a bit of laugh in his voice. "You don't have to explain it."
"Well, for what is worth, thank you for understand" she said with a hint of a smile.
"You are welcome" Mr. Rhodes said. "I think I will go back to that book I was reading earlier. It will help me to go over my German."
"Of course" she said, while moving around the kitchens a little. "I imagine you have continued with your studies as much as you can."
"It's not easy, and it has never been easy" Mr. Rhodes said, "but I think it has gotten easier through the years."
"I do hope my books can help you then" the Countess said. "The library is at your disposal for anything you need."
"Thank you, I appreciate it." Mr. Rhodes said. "If you excuse me, Milady" Mr. Rhodes said, making a bow to retire.
"Mr. Rhodes" the Countess said, making a bow of her own.
They both couldn't help little smiles of amusement to the protocol of it all, and Mr. Rhodes retired from the kitchens to retake the reading of that book.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bass had gone to snoop around again, this time to the upper floors just as he had insinuated to the Countess. He went through many rooms and bedrooms of the house, until he finally found the one he believed the Countess kept for the public, boudoir and everything. It was lavish, luxurious, more Rococo than Neoclassical (in fact, several bedrooms had a bit of that), but he couldn't find a hint of anything actually personal or significant for the Countess.
What he didn't know is that while he was going through the upper rooms and Mr. Rhodes had returned to his book, the Countess had gone to a study room where she also had a secret entrance, this time to a small room that contained her valuables. She took the money that she thought might need for her and Fritz to travel alone, some documents that by experience knew it was better to carry with her, and some other things. She quickly brought them to the kitchens where she had a trunk available for part of the things she was carrying, with a false floor at the bottom of the trunk to hide them there. On top of that she also put clothes and other things, making sure they weren't the most important or lavish looking. She carried the things that she didn't put in the trunk to her real bedroom in the underground hallway, making sure to lock it after exiting it with the key she always carried with her. She quickly returned upstairs and went to the drawing-room, where she wrote some instructions in a sheet of paper that she needed be carry out as well.
By the time she returned to the kitchens Fritz had finished his meal and washed the dishes. She helped him with the laundry and they also packed more things, mostly his clothes and some other essentials she deemed necessary for them. By that time it was 4 o' clock in the morning and she decided he needed to go to sleep, even though it was earlier than the time he usually went to sleep.
Contrary to her case and the one of her visitors, his room was near the kitchens and the room where the driver was sleeping. What nobody could imagine is that this room also had a secret entrance that connected with one of the rooms of the underground hallway, all in case of an emergency. She made sure that he completed all that he needed to do before sleeping and she tucked him in bed. Fritz was allowed to lock the main door from the insight, and he always carried the key with himself, while she carried another copy of the same key with herself, which allowed her to also lock the door, which she was going to have to do today not because she was keeping him a prisoner or something of the sort but because she had already tucked him in bed and for him to lock the room from the inside he would had to get out of bed. Once he was properly tucked-in, she sat down next to him in bed, facing him, and she started saying while passing a hand through his hairs:
"Tomorrow after I wake up we will continue packing. I need to go through with Mr. Bass and Mr. Rhodes when we will go to eat, but I imagine it will be more or less at the same time of today. While we are out, you will do your homework and study your lessons for the day. Give a read to Latin and Greek so you can keep up. I will see at my return if we can look at a little of History and Geography, if not it will be the next day. I will ask Mr. Bass if he can do something about his driver so he doesn't bother you while you study, but do prepare dinner for both of you like this is a regular thing to do in the house. I gather he is German?"
"Yes, Milady" the boy answered.
"You have two or three hours of sleep before the driver wakes up. Make breakfast for both of you. If he asks anything, you just tell him that we are most likely going to sleep-in late because as far as you know we were up late talking, but you did receive the instruction to go deliver a letter on my behalf and that you need him to drive you there. Give him this paper" she proceeded to give him a small piece of paper, "with money that I left in the usual place. The paper says the town you need to go and the person you need to look for and that I instruct to let you sit down inside the carriage. You remember the town and the person we visited the other time, right?"
"Yes I do, Milady" the boy answered.
"That is the person I'm sending you to see. We need somebody to look after the house in our absence." She made a small pause, and then continued. "Take the opportunity to sleep while you are inside the carriage. Once you arrive to the town and find him, give him this piece of paper" she said, taking out of her dress the piece of paper she had written before in the study. "Ask him to send me a written reply. Keep it hidden in your clothes so no one can see it. He will also feed you and the driver before you return here. Going to the town and back will most likely take you all day."
"Yes Milady" the boy said.
"Alright then. Sleep well" she said, and she kissed him in the forehead.
The boy put the papers in his bedside table and she got up and left the room, pausing near the door before leaving to blow the candles that were in a nearby table.
After leaving Fritz room, she went down to her chamber and readied more clothes and other things to pack. She did this with the door locked to avoid being unexpectedly surprised by anyone. Another hour went by until she decided to go upstairs to bid her visitors good night. She decided to go looking for Mr. Rhodes first.
When she entered the room where she had first received her visitors she found Mr. Rhodes reading and Mr. Bass walking around the room, looking at things. This certainly made her task easier.
"It's almost dawn now. I'm going to sleep" the Countess said.
"I should go to sleep too" Mr. Rhodes said, putting the book aside and getting up.
"Indeed" Mr. Bass said, turning around to face the Countess. "Do you know how long it will take for you to…?"
"I'm still not sure" the Countess cut him off. "There are several things I need to do first, but believe me we are doing this as fast as we can."
"It's alright, I just wanted to ask. Let's all go to rest then" Mr. Bass said.
They left the room together and went to the room with the hidden entrance to the underground hallway. She waited for them to start descending the stairs first because the hidden entrance also had a bolt on the inside and she needed to lock it first before descending the stairs. Once they all reached the bottom of the stairwell, they started walking the hallway to the part where Mr. Bass and Mr. Rhodes chambers located.
"Well, good night then. I'll see you tomorrow" Mr. Rhodes bid his farewell and entered his chamber as quick as he could without seeming too obvious, because he was sensing a storm was coming.
Mr. Bass and the Countess said goodnight to him, and once alone, the Countess addressed Mr. Bass: "Good night, I'll see you tomorrow" she said, and turned around to leave.
"Wait a minute" he said, taking her forearm and by that making her turn around again. "That is all that you are going to tell me?"
"I don't know what you want me to tell you" she said, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Last time…" he started.
"I don't want to talk about last time. Or any other time."
"You don't have to do this alone." He said, trying another angle.
"I have done it pretty good all by myself, thank you very much."
"You know what I mean" he pretty much groaned.
"No, I don't."
"I don't want anything to happen to you."
"I can take care of myself."
"It's not an issue of whether you can or not, because I know you can. But you know as well as I do that this is dangerous, and it would be less dangerous if you were at least with the others. Or with me."
"Don't do this" she said, with a voice between steady and pleading.
"What will it take for you to believe I have changed? He asked
"You haven't changed."
"We have all changed. We had to, the times are different."
"The times might be different, but you haven't changed. If you were, you wouldn't be doing this." She said, and with those parting words she took her wrist out of his hand, turned around and went inside her chamber, locking the door after closing it.
Mr. Bass stood there in the hallway, looking wistfully in the direction where she had disappeared inside her chamber, so hastily that she didn't realize he now knew which one was her chamber. Not that it mattered now because he knew she would lock the door every time she went in and out of that room. Most of all, he knew that for tonight, he had messed it up.
Mr. Bass went inside his chamber and closed the door. Without locking it.
A/N: I promise that in the next chapter the rest of the gang will make their first appearance.