England, 1885
Alice stepped out of her carriage at her home, the Ascot Estate.
"Come along now, Lewis," she chided her six year old son. "We have to go tell your father we have arrived home." Though, truly, she felt no hurry to even see Lewis's father at all.
Lewis stepped out of the carriage reluctantly. He did not enjoy his fathers company one bit. He had his mother's sense of adventure and luckily, her looks. He never felt much connection with his father, and feared becoming a replica of his father.
"Must we speak with father?" he asked.
"Yes," said Alice painfully. "Hamish is your father and my husband. He is our lord and we have a duty to him."
When did I become such a… lady? She wondered, but she already knew the answer. When Lord Ascot died and Hamish inherited the company. When he refused to fund her trips unless she married him. Little did she know he would cut her off all together and never allow her to travel away from him again. He 'had employees for that' and told her 'it is not a lady's place for such things'. All of this made her loathe him even more. And the fact he force her to have a child with him made her sicker.
"Lewis, I believe it would be best if you go get dressed for the party," said Alice when they reached the door of Hamish's study. "I'll see you there."
He set off, looking relieved, with his nanny to go get dressed.
Alice took a deep breath, and entered the study.
"You're late." Hamish said before he even turned around.
"I know," replied Alice.
"I know? I know?" He said raising his voice. "And you're filthy to! You have been a lady your whole life and still don't know how to behave like one! Why are you covered in dirt?"
When she did not answer he became furious.
"WHY?" He roared.
"Before Lewis and I left we played in the rose garden." She said calmly.
"'Played'? And you went out in this state? How dare you disrespect my name?"
"Maybe I would not if you allowed me to travel."
CRACK!
He had slapped her.
"Never disrespect me. I am lord. You are but a lady. You live in my house under my law. You have no power in my house."
Alice calmly walked away from Hamish, unshaken. When she reached the door, without turning around she said, "Fairfarren, Hamish. Fairfarren."
And then she ran.
She ran out of the manor, past the men and woman gathering for the big party Hamish was throwing, past the people calling her name, past the red roses she hated, past her life. She ran until she stopped at a strange hole in the ground, a rabbit hole, and knelt down beside it and peered into it. The ground gave way beneath her and then she was falling, tumbling, down the rabbit hole once more.