"What do you mean you're forbidden from leaving your house?"
Hannah and Elizabeth had come to visit Mary two days after the party. The girls often wandered the streets of London at the beginning of each week, enjoying the air and gathering little trinkets to decorate their rooms or enhance their wardrobes. It was one of the few times Mary was allowed outside of her house and she relished the time she spent each week. But when the two had shown up on her doorstep Cecilia had told the them Mary wasn't allowed out as Mr. Lawrence had instructed her.
The three girls were now sitting in the beautiful garden that sat behind the Lawrence house. Wisteria bloomed along the wall behind them, nearly suffocating Mary with its overwhelming fragrance. The purple flowers looked beautiful in the sunlight but Mary couldn't force herself to appreciate them given her situation.
"I ran off during the party and returned home late. As punishment I am not allowed to leave the house for the remainder of the month," Mary informed her friends with as dignified a face as she could manage. Inside she was seething with rage and disappointment over the situation but she forced herself to remain calm.
"Well honestly, the whole thing seems rather silly to me! If I ran off during a party my father would just assume I was with a handsome suitor and know I was safe," Elizabeth said. She couldn't help but giggle as she twisted a blonde curl playfully in between her forefinger and thumb.
"What were you doing Mary?" Hannah asked, her head tilting to the side with concern. Her soft blue eyes held a certain amount of wisdom that few people possessed. She had always been the conscience of the group; Mary was too impulsive and Elizabeth more boy-crazy than logical at times, despite her good head and strong upbringing.
"I was simply out. There were too many people in attendance and I needed to get away." Part of Mary believed what she was saying, the events with Bert and Auntie Clara feeling more and more like a dream with each day that passed.
"Where you really just out, Mary Lawrence?" Elizabeth asked, her pretty pink lips formed into a teasing pout. "Or were you perhaps with a suitor?" She leaned towards Mary with a gleam in her eye.
"Of course I wasn't out with a suitor," Mary dismissed the accusation, but her thoughts couldn't help but drift to Bert.
"Mary Lawrence! Are you blushing?" Elizabeth squeaked excitedly.
Mary's hand flew to her cheek. "No! Why would I be blushing?"
Hannah reached out to touch Mary's other hand. "Mary, you know you can trust us right? We've been friends for so long, we wouldn't just tell your father if you had such a precious secret."
Mary clasped Hannah's hands in hers. "Oh no, Hannah, of course I trust you both! And if I was seeing a suitor you would be the first ones I would tell." She turned to meet Elizabeth's eyes, still staring playfully up at her. "But there is no suitor, I promise you both."
"Well, if you insist," Elizabeth said, pulling back.
"How are you going to keep yourself entertained while you wait out the month?" Hannah inquired.
Mary sighed. "I suppose I could take up painting again. Though I am quite sure Father will ensure my tutors assign more than enough work to keep my hands tied."
"How unfortunate," Elizabeth said. "Do you think your father will let us come visit you?"
"Likely not. The only reason you were allowed in today was because Father is at the bank and Cecilia took pity on me."
"A month is such a long time! I don't like being unable to see you for so long."
"Elizabeth, be thoughtful. Us being unable to see her is hardly the worst. Think of how Mary feels!" Hannah admonished her friend.
"It's all right girls, really. I will survive, I promise you. Don't worry about me. Now you two should leave before Father comes back and gets terribly angry at both of you."
"All right, if we absolutely must," Elizabeth said. She stood up from the ornate stone bench she and Mary had been sharing and straightened out her skirt. "But do know we will be counting every moment until we can see you again."
"And so shall I," said Mary. As her friends walked the path to exit the estate she sat on the bench, contemplating her newfound solitary confinement. Mary had never been the most social of creatures, but she loved her friends dearly and the idea of going for so long without seeing either of them weighed heavy on her mind. She sat lost in thought, watching her friends disappear down the long path out of the garden.
As she contemplated how she would make it through her isolation, Mary felt something hit her face and bounce into her lap. Her hand flew to her cheek feeling where the object had made impact. In her lap she looked down to see a simple acorn, resting on her dark blue skirt.
In the moment it took for her to pick up the acorn and process what had happened, another one slammed into her cheek. "What the bloody hell?" she exclaimed, snapping out of her confusion and looking wildly about the garden.
Peeking over the brick wall that closed in the garden was a face, topped with black hair and framed with soot. The pair of dark eyes nestled in the face seemed familiar to Mary, but it wasn't until the face spoke that she recognized who it was.
"Mary! It's me!" Bert said, his arm clinging to the wall.
"Bert? What on earth are you doing here? You could get me in trouble!" Mary said, rushing up to the wall so she could prevent her voice from carrying across the garden.
"I just came ta check on ya! 'Adn't seen ya in a bit so Auntie Clara wanted ta make sure ya were all right!"
Despite the strangeness of Bert and his companions, Mary couldn't help but feel comforted by the fact that these people wanted to make sure she was fine. "Well, depends on what you mean by all right. Father has forbidden me from leaving the house for the next month."
"Well that's down right daft, innight? Why on earth would 'e think that's a proper solution?" Bert's brow furrowed as he spoke.
"He seems to think it will keep me under control somehow. I just have to be good until the month is over and then things will go back to normal." Mary readjusted her shawl as a gust swept across the garden. "But it will only make things worse if he sees strangers talking to me in the garden. I am grateful to you for checking up on me but you really shouldn't be here."
From what Mary could see of his face it appeared Bert gave a solemn nod. "Don't worry, Miss. I'll make sure ta not interfere. Any time I stop by 'e'll never know I was around! 'Till next time, ma'am!" With that, Bert disappeared from the wall.
"Next time? What do you mean next time? Bert, you cannot visit me, you don't understand!" Mary ran to the wall in what she knew was a fruitless effort. When no answer came, she rested her forehead against the cool brick and sighed.
"So you do have a secret suitor?"
Mary whirled around to see Hannah standing behind her. "Hannah! What are you doing here?" She stepped away from the wall as if it would remove her unwilling implication in whatever Bert was planning.
"I forgot my shawl," Hannah said, halfheartedly holding up the delicate fabric. With a worried expression, she gingerly stepped toward her friend. "You know you can trust me, right Mary? I would never do anything to betray you."
"Oh of course I trust you, Hannah!" Mary ran up to Hannah and clasped her hands in her own. "If I did have a suitor I would tell you. But he really isn't. He's just…."
What was Bert to her? A friend? She didn't really know him well enough to consider him a friend. An acquaintance? Mary hated the stuffiness of the word and besides, her experience with Bert in the streets of London made her feel as if there was something more than casual between the two of them? Could she consider him a suitor? She knew her father would never approve of anything between them, but she had enjoyed his cleverness and joyful attitude, and he had made her laugh unlike anyone ever had before. So what was he?
"He's just someone I met the other night. Paying a visit to check up on me. Nothing serious at all, I promise." She looked into Hannah's eyes, trying to convey the honesty of her statement to her friend.
"All right, if you promise. I probably shouldn't tell Elizabeth then since it isn't a proper suitor. She would never be able to keep the secret for fear of the romance." Hannah swept her hand dramatically across her forehead, imitating the pose Elizabeth often flourished when things became too romantic for her.
"Thank you Hannah. I truly appreciate it." She pulled her friend into a tight hug. "Now go before Elizabeth thinks you've been kidnapped or something!"
Hannah giggled, turning around to walk down the garden path. Once again Mary watched until her friend left her sight, meaning she was once again alone with her thoughts.
Her gaze shifted back to where Bert had popped up near the wall. Would he really try to visit her again? If so, how would she keep her father from noticing? She couldn't deny that part of her wanted him to visit, wanted her father to notice. Maybe then he would disown her, and she would be free to live a life outside of the societal expectations of someone of her class.
Her fingers had been absentmindedly tracing the outside of the acorn she still held in her hand. Out of nowhere she became painfully aware of how smooth it was along the side before suddenly coming to a sharp point. She raised the acorn up to the level of her chest and began to focus.
As she attempted to narrow all of her focus on to the acorn, she couldn't help but let her mind slip back to the party. She thought of the noise and music, the general happiness everyone seemed to exude. Auntie Clara drifted through her mind, and she pondered on the encounter with "magic" or whatever had happened with the apple. Her stomach grumbled, and her thoughts turned toward the deliciously greasy meat pie Minnie had given her at the party…
Without warning, the acorn in her hand suddenly jumped in her hand. It was a brief hop, so quick Mary almost missed it, but she was certain she had seen it move. Terrified, she threw the acorn into the grass and ran off into her house, whispering to herself "It's not real, it's not real, it's not real…"