Fordee House

November 1875

Jessica sat impatiently in the headmaster's office staring out the window at the last of the bright orange and yellow leaves. Trying to calm her nerves, she let her mind wander to her friend with the chocolate brown eyes. A smile ran across her face as she remembered the bag of candies he had brought her just yesterday. Butterscotches she had shared after dinner while he taught her a new card game called True American. Their time together was easy, simple, and she had begun to look forward to it everyday. Shaking her head at the memories, she refocused her thoughts back to the task at hand, her meeting with the headmaster.

"Ah, Miss Day, you were waiting for me. Apologies." He motioned for her to take a seat as he himself sat behind a booming desk with heavily carved legs.

She tapped her thumbs nervously while waiting for him to organize the papers in his hand. Finally, unable to wait any longer, she said, "Mr Fancy, I need to speak to you about a student here by the name of Caroline Bingley."

"Yes, she arrived here just this week, I remember. Very affluent family from England I believe."

"She has been assigned to several of my classes and thus far proves quite accomplished. Impressive. Socially though, she is not."

"How so Miss Day," he asked, leaning over his desk with blue eyes and a confusing smile.

Yes, Russell Fancy was a handsome man. Every female at the school was aware of it. He worked tirelessly to improve the quality for the young women in every way he could. This dedication and his chiseled chin caused Jessica to feel a bit lightheaded a few times when he had stood nearer to her than she was accustomed to.

Feeling flustered from gazing at his eyes she managed to stammer back, "Yes, well, um, Caroline Bingley, she is, well how shall I put it...mean."

He smiled at her description while staring down at his hands. "Is that all she is?"

"Well, I believe that she is spreading viscious gossip amongst the girls."

"Gossip!" He held back a laugh so as not to offend her.

"Yes, I believe she's causing problems at the Academy that could one day lead to scandal if not handled soon," Her tone had changed and she realized she sounded defensive now. Calming herself before she spoke again, she said, "Mr. Fancy, I only want to make sure that the self confidence of these young women stays in tact during these formidable years. I believe my job as a teacher is to translate the prescribed subjects but also to provide guidance to the needs of growing young women as they enter adulthood."

She saw his eyes change from that of a mocking tone to one that was more sincere and warmer. "Thank you Miss Day. Your dedication is commendable. My apologies for not understanding fully your intentions. I will speak to her parents myself and see if there is anything we can do to help guide Miss Bingley into our Academy policies smoother."

"Fine, that is all that I am asking," she said in a clipped tone still feeling defensive.

Caught somewhat off guard he answered back while now standing, "yes, of course, I didn't mean any offense. Thank you very much Miss Day for bringing this to my attention." He watched as she too stood up to leave before he stopped her with a question. "Miss Day, will you be attending the charity auction on Friday?"

"I had planned to, why?"

"No reason, I simply was hoping to see you outside of the school sometime, without discussion of gossip or school girls."

He shot her one of his Fancy smiles and it had worked. She blushed a deep red to her cheeks before biting her bottom lip. Taking a swallow to gain some composure, she managed to squeek out a barely audible "yes, that sounds nice", before spinning towards the door. She ran out of his office then threw her hands over her face once out of view.

Jessica bolted through the curtained partition in Miss Cecilia's milinar shop and found her friend pinning a bouquet of roses and herbs to a black wide brimmed hat. "Cecilia, I just acted a fool," she said out of breath. "Why must I do this!"

Cecilia had become accustomed to these dramatic displays from her friend from time to time and simply smiled while continuing her creation. "What did you do Jessica?"

"It's Mr. Fancy, the headmaster. We were having a meeting and I realized suddenly that he was, he was...then he mentioned this auction and how much he'd like to see me there and then well, I ran like a scared school girl." She blushed at the memory again. "Cecilia, why can't I be, I don't know, more demure?" She plopped down on the padded fitting chair and leaned over to hide her face in her folded arms.

"Do you need to be Jessica? Are you interested in Mr. Fancy?"

She pondered this thought before sitting up to answer. "Well, he's handsome. He's very dedicated to the welfare of the school. Confident, too confident sometimes. Wouldn't you be interested? Shouldn't I be interested?"

"It doesn't matter what I think, what do you think?"

Jessica picked up some of the dried roses and twirled them in her fingers thinking about his chiseled chin and piercing blue eyes. Was she interested in Mr. Fancy or was she just flattered? He made her nervous to be sure. Did he make her laugh and smile though? That she didn't know. Only one man she could think of did that and he was presently upstairs waiting for her to come home, as he did most afternoons.

Nicholas Miller. Her thoughts seemed to end up with him more and more as each day passed. She had even begun to wonder if perhaps the feelings were mutual. There was something beginning to linger between them. She could feel it in his eyes when they would lock onto hers, her heart would race in anticipation. But that was ridiculous. Nicholas Miller was her friend and to think of him as anything more was very inappropriate.

"I don't know Cecilia. I'm not sure I know Mr. Fancy enough to say whether I am interested."

"Maybe you should find out."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean maybe you should spend more time with him. Find out if he's someone you're interested in. Someone that you can sit and talk too for hours on end, reading and laughing. Like you do with Nicholas every night."

Jessica's head turned abruptly from the table to meet her friends' eyes. Was she a mind reader? Did she know she was thinking of Nicholas just then? Her friend instead simply wrapped black ribbon around the brimmed hat in her hands.

"Jessica?"

"Don't be silly Cecilia. We're just friends."

"If that's true then why are you blushing right now?"

Jessica touched her cheeks, cooling them with her fingers. She wasn't ready to talk about this with Cecilia or anyone else. If anything, she just needed to spend some time alone with her thoughts. Maybe then she could figure out why Nicholas kept ending up in them.

Nicholas sat at the table on Friday night drinking his whiskey and reading the book Jessica had given him. He had noticed she had escaped after dinner up to her room. Dissappointed, he sat reading, hoping she would return. Avi and Cecilia sat at the other end of the table discussing textiles or plummeting stock prices, either of which bored him.

She walked into the parlor just as he was pouring another finger of whiskey. He spilled most of it as he stared at Jessica, dumbstruck. He had never seen her dressed like this before with lips darkened and curls spilling around her shoulders. Her deep scarlet gown exposed her flawless shoulders and Nicholas was instantly enchanted.

Avi, now grinning at his friend's demise, leaned over to Nicholas, "you're spilling your whiskey."

"Oh god," he said lifting the bottle and pounding the table loudly as he grabbed for his napkin to clean the mess. "What a fool I am," he mumbled under his breath. Yet still, he couldn't stop his eyes from drinking her in, all of her. She was a vision.

"Miss Jessica," said Avi walking towards her. "What a sight you are this evening, ravishing, just ravishing." He took her hand in his and kissed it.

Cecilia stood, beaming at her protege. "You look beautiful friend. Your hair looks wonderful pulled back like that."

Jessica blushed and fidgeted with her dress feeling uncomfortable at the sudden attention. She looked over Avi's shoulder wishing to hear from Nicholas. He stared at her with his jaw tight but seemed paralyzed. Apparently he had no plans to say a thing to her. Disappointed, she continually fidgeted with her hands not knowing what she should do now. "Well, I guess I'll go."

"Let me walk you there Ms. Day. A woman dressed as you should never be unaccompanied through the city at night. Any crazed man could simply whisk you away," he laughed. Turning to look at a silent Nicholas, he said, "am I right?"

Hearing Avi's voice pulled him from his fog. "No, no Avi, I can walk her. I could use some fresh air right now." At that, he stood up and walked over to her while wrapping his scarf around his neck. "Would that be OK Miss Day, if I walked you to your, to your, um event?"

Her face perked up, relaxing at the edges as he approached her. "Why yes Mr. Miller, I would like that very much." He retrieved her coat then held out his arm for her to take. Barely able to look at her, they left the parlor while Avi and Cecilia watched from behind. They watched as Nicholas squeezed his one free hand tightly over and over again until they were out the door.

"No, she doesn't want you here anymore," was the first thing they both heard as they left Fordee. Waiting for their eyes to adjust to the dark, Jessica was first to see Mr. Remy speaking to the ever scowling Postwaite, who, as usual, was leaning against Cecilia's front window.

She saw his cigarette burning through the dark lighting up his eyes, his menacing eyes.

"I think Evelyn can speak for herself," he said back to Remy, closing in on his eyes.

"Mr. Postwaite, I am asking you as a gentleman to leave Miss Evelyn alone. She is done spending time with you."

Nick, sensing the tension shift, let go of Jessica's arm and motioned for her to stay where she was. He approached the men cautiously, asking, "is everything OK here?"

Mr. Postwaite stood up taller, two men now speaking to him. "Yes, everything is just fine. Just fine indeed."

"Great, so we all have an understanding now, correct?" Nicholas crossed his arms in front, now standing firm next to Remy. "Postwaite, I'm thinking that you wouldn't want to push yourself on a lady, am I correct?"

At the mention of the word lady, he chuckled and tipped his hat back. "No, no I wouldn't want to with a lady." He turned to leave but paused in front of Remy for just a moment. "You can have her, she's nothing to me."

"With pleasure," Remy replied with a smile. He ran his hands through his hair repeatedly taking a deeper breath when he saw the ginger haired man finally turn around the corner.

Jessica ran to hug Remy, "that was incredible what you did for Miss Evelyn."

"Yes, Remy, are you OK," Nicholas asked.

"I believe I am now," he said. "I believe I will be."

"Yes, of course," Nicholas replied reaching to shake hands with Remy. "Well done."

They both watched as Remy returned to the warmth of Fordee before arm in arm again, they headed out for into the evening.

The air was chilly as if snow was coming soon. Jessica held on tightly as they passed families and couples out for a stroll before winter took hold of the Chicago streets. People smiled at the two of them, tipping hats or saying a casual "good evening." She felt overjoyed by the boldness of their stroll, of being out with Nicholas.

He could see from the eyes of passerbys that they noticed how beautiful his walking companion was and he felt proud. He guided her in and out of crowds and eventually even around a frisky horse tied to a lampost.

"Hey there Mr. Gelding," he said ducking while it tried to nip at his hatless head.

Jessica laughed watching Nicholas stare down at the horse as it bared its teeth back grabbing again for his curls.

Her laughter grew and only encouraged him to put up his hands as if to box with it. "You don't want to mess with me," he yelled at the horse." Laughing at himself now, shaking his head at what a fool he was. "That animal would have lost that match, most definitely."

"And you would have saved my honor, I guess, from a horse."

He turned to her then, stopping under the street light. She looked cold with her pink nose and lips trembling. He stood entranced, simply staring at her magnificent face.

No words could speak her beauty, no force could move my sight, for in this
chilled darkness, I'm entranced by Day's light.

The tension beetween them grew more serious as she once again, felt her eyes lock on his. Her heart was speeding at a ridiculous pace and her thoughts were scattered at what to say or do next.

"Jessica, I didn't say this earlier but I hope you know..." he paused to collect his thoughts, "you are, I mean you look, stunning this evening." He reached up, unable to stop his hand from touching her.

She felt his fingers on her cheek brush softly against her skin. A shudder rose up her back and a heat flushed under his touch. His eyes piercing through her until her legs felt weak and time felt lost.

The sound of approaching footsteps abruptly ended the moment. Both of them turning towards a couple strolling as well. They hesitantly began to walk, both caught in their own thoughts with neither knowing what to do next.

After a few blocks of silence, he finally asked "Where are you going this evening Jessica?"

"It's a charity auction for the school. I thought I had told you about it."

"No, I would have remembered."

As they approached the school, he could see people wearing formal attire walking into a gas lamp lined entrance. There were flowers near the door and inside he could see a crowd of people gathered.

"Well, it looks beautiful. I hope you have a wonderful evening Jessica."

She stared shyly up at him, noticing how he continued to readjust his tie. He was nervous. Not knowing what was appropriate she merely touched his hand at his side and squeezed it, "thank you Nicholas, for the walk tonight, thank you."

"How will you get home?" It had suddenly occurred to him that she couldn't possibly walk home later in the evening, alone.

"I'll take her home," said a man Nicholas had never met before. He was dressed in a dark wool tux and was smiling at Jessica in a way that Nicholas did not care for, one bit. "Good evening Miss Day," he said lifting her hand to his lips. "You look incredibly beautiful, as I knew you would."

Nicholas watched as Jessica pulled her neck up higher and fidgeted with her dress again at an alarming rate. He also began to feel a low grade panic in his gut watching the scene unfold.

"Hello sir, I'm Russell Fancy." He put his hand out for Nicholas to shake.

"Nicholas Miller, nice to meet you." Peering closely into Mr. Fancys' eyes, he saw it. Just a flicker, a moment held between two men. He had intentions towards Jessica and now Nicholas knew why she had worn that dress tonight. It was for this Russell character.

"Mr. Fancy, this is my good friend Nicholas Miller. He lives at the same boarding house I do. He's a poet, a very talented one."

"Oh, an art man. I always wished I could spend time on art but alas, I am destined to help others instead." He smiled at Nicholas in a way a cat smiles before it lazily swats you with its claw.

Returning to Jessica's face, he said, "thank you Miss Day but I'm hardly that good." Her glassy eyes stared at the man in the sharp suit. The moment was beginning to break him and he feared he didn't have many words left to say. "I need to get going now. You'll make sure Miss Day gets home safely then?"

"To be sure Mr. Miller. She will be in good hands."

"Well then, I'll take my leave." He nodded at Jessica, not waiting long enough to see her smile turn to loss before he walked away quickly. She watched him, confusion in her eyes at his abrupt departure, but he never saw it. Instead he only felt a cold wind blow through his hair and dried leaves crunch under his feet. Feeling an emptiness now in his heart he fought back the waves with words and turned just in time to see her take Mr. Fancy's arm and walk into the party.

So must the falls subside to winters,

So must the days to dusks,

My hope for her has fallen to splinters

My chances with Day, to dust.