Thomas rubbed his eyes as he dawdled into his room. The candle created a light tangerine glow around him and he could see his bed, tempting him to sleep. Thomas sighed as he had to wash and shave, as he had no time in the morning. He took off his shirt and threw it to the floor. His livery was safely downstairs so as not to be crumpled. He filled a basin with water, removed all his clothes and sunk in to the lukewarm water, the hot running water was sparse by the end of the day. He washed, shaved then relaxed for the first time that day. Thomas always had to be careful not to fall asleep in the bath as he had occasionally done. He didn't move that much in his sleep but he didn't like waking up to find himself naked, freezing cold and shrivelled like a prune. He laughed to himself at the thought. "What's so funny?" Thomas almost broke his back from jumping out of the bath tub. He had splashed water over the candle and was desperately seeking a towel and a stray box of matches. The other end of the room lit up as a match was lit. Thomas saw a hand reach over and light the candle. Now he could see the spare bed was occupied by a stranger grinning with his fringe flopped over his eyes. " I thought you could use the light,…to find a towel" The stranger was now sat up in bed, Thomas unfroze and grabbed the towel of his bed and regained what little dignity he felt he had left at that point. "Who are you?!" He almost shouted the first words but then came down into a whisper. He didn't see any point in it as the bath fiasco had probably woken the whole of Yorkshire. The young man in the other bed brushed back his fringe and gave a toothy grin, "Oh I'm Bentley, I'm the new footman, replacing the last one, well obviously you knew that, well maybe you didn't, hmm I don't know did you know?…"
"Okay I get it!" Thomas didn't like the sound of other people at the best of times, let alone when they frighten you to death and then give you sermon on their employment. Bentley was unstruck by Thomas's brashness, "Didn't you know I was coming?" Thomas explained that he may have missed the announcement and personally took not that O'Brien hadn't bothered to mention it. "I thought it was a bit odd that you got naked in front of a total stranger, haha well we're all men here! Good night!" He said cheerily and then rolled over to sleep. Thomas just sat there staring at the back of the random intruder. He was so happy it was creepy, it was like having another William, only William seemed a lot more mature compared to this guy. He shook his head, sighed and then cleared up the bath mess. Just as he was about to sleep, it suddenly dawned on him that he had gotten naked in front Bentley. He cringed and hoped the chatterbox wouldn't say anything. "Well…once again my room is no longer mine, gone are the days I hum in the bath, pose in the mirror and sneak bottles to my room and get drunk in bed alone…ahh those were the days." Thomas thought to himself. He didn't mind so much having a roommate but it wouldn't be long before he longed for privacy and began to resent the other occupier, but for now he decided to let things be and closed his eyes, ready to rise for the next day.
