"Ally! Thank you, thank you for coming back! Uncle Austin was right!" Alice ran to her and they hugged as if they hadn't seen each other for years.
Ally accepted Mr Moon's offer. She just felt it was the right thing to do for her. And if he ever showed signs of being the old Lord she would have gone away immediately, without thinking about it twice. So she was okay.
"Are you here because you forgot something?"
Ally turned around. "No, Madame. I'm here to be Alice's tutor, if the offer is still valid, of course"
"What- Alice already has a tutor" Anne was visibly confused, and kinda nervous.
"Not anymore, cousin" Lord Moon popped out of nowhere. "I was the one who asked Ally to come back at the villa. As you can see, Alice's glad she's here... And not only her" He walked towards them. Not seeing Ally for a couple of weeks made him realise she had something special.
"Austin, you can't do what you want witout asking me... She's my daughter and I'm the one who-"
"Pleeeeeeeease, Mother! Let her stay, let her stay" shouted Alice, taking her mother's hand.
"Well then. But I don't want to regret it"
Ally took a sigh of relief. She smiled at Austin, who was there staring at her. "You won't, I promise" she said. "I'm gonna go take my luggage to my room..."
"I'll help you" Austin took one of Ally's bags and walked behind her to her apartment. As soon as they were alone, Lord Moon started talking. "Listen, Ally... about what happened -"
"You don't have to say anything, Sir... I'm here, and this means I understood" she interrupted him. Ally was okay, she didn't want to make him feel guilty when it probably took him a lot of courage to write that letter. She didn't need other explanations.
"Fine. So we're good?"
She just nodded.
That piano. She missed playing so much. Two weeks without music were such a torture. Ally touched the piano keys then sit on the bench.
She remembered playing for Madame Moon thousands of times. Ally missed seeing her in her chair, eyes closed and a big smile on her face while she listened to her. God, she would kill to hug her once again.
She couldn't help but start playing a song. The door opened and she stopped herself.
"No no, don't stop. I heard the melody and I knew it was you..." Austin closed the door once again and walked near the piano. "Go on, I'll listen to you in silence, I promise" And he sat right next to her on the piano bench.
She started playing... then suddenly stopped again.
"I don't get it" she said, out of the blue.
"What?"
"This. You don't want to control me anymore..."
"You're right. These weeks made me think about me and, well, you. I just want to court you and persuade you that I'm different"
She looked down, trying not to show him her emotions. He got closer to her.
"Sir... Someone could enter"
"I don't care, honestly"
Austin was leaning in to kiss Ally's lips. She closed her eyes. He suddenly stopped himself "Wait. Last time you beat me..."
She laughed. "You'll have to risk"
Smiling, he connected his lips with her.
"I know I shouldn't, but I can't stop thinking about Lord Moon. Oh God, Trish, I'm falling for him"
She said it... And she felt it. And it was wrong. And it was crazy. And it was deadfully true.
"This is gonna be a problem..."
"I know. But I can't help it and I know I shouldn't daydream but when he kissed me I felt like I was walking on the Moon" Ally was happy but worried at the same time. Not even the fresh air of the garden could calm her. "Do you think I should tell him what I feel?"
"No, no. Let him come to you. Just... Let him make up his mind"
"Ally!" Dallas was running from inside the villa. "The Lord is looking for you. He said it's important. He's waiting for you in the library"
No, Ally, it's not what you're thinking. It's probably something about Alice or my work at the villa, she kept thinking, while walking upstairs. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She just had to open the door.
"Ally, thank you for coming." he seemed nervous. Which was unusual for him. "Here, I need to talk to you."
"Of course, Sir. Tell me" she couldn't wait one more second.
"I think you've understood what's going on between us... And what I feel for you. It's not easy from me to say what I'm about to tell you. I realized I'm in love with you. I'm deeply in love with you" he smiled and took her face in his hands. She thought she'd never been that happy in her whole life. "But... I can't marry you." All her world seemed to crumble to pieces.
"Why- Why not?"
"Because I'm a Count. And a Count can't marry a..."
"Servant" she pulled away. "Now I get it. You tried to make me fall in love with you so that I could convince myself to be your... lover"
"No, you got it wrong..."
"I'm not like that, Sir. I won't sell you my dignity just because you want to save your title... This is not love" Ally felt she was about to cry, but she didn't. She just decided to go out of the room, as fast as she could.
Austin followed her in the hallway.
"Ally! Wait. Wait" he put himself in front of her "Look at me. Look at me"
She didn't understand. "I'm looking at you"
"No, you're not, or you would see how much I want you. I could scream it so that everyone could hear it. And I wouldn't be ashamed. I love you, but I can't marry you."
"It's not that you can't, Sir, it's that you don't want to"
"You just can't understand"
"It's because I think as a servant and you as a Count and we'll never get each other"
"If you loved me, you would understand why I'm saying this."
Ally couldn't believe what he was saying. He didn't love her or he wouldn't ask her something like that. Live a life as his lover would have meant a life hiding under a blanket in his room, not a single day together in public. Nothing more than the night. And she deserved more than that and she expected him to understand.
On the other hand, Austin was sure about what he felt for her. He was sure that he not only wanted her body, as it was before, but he wanted her soul too. He wanted to spend the rest of the life looking at her and talking to her, he wanted her at night just as much as he needed her during the day. But he couldn't marry her. He just couldn't give his title of nobilty away. No one would have ever considered him a Count anymore. They would be married, yes, but moneyless.
"If I became your concubine, I couldn't look myself in the mirror anymore. My family would reject me, and it would be such a scandal."
"This is the only way we have to love each other" he really, really wanted her to change her mind.
"This is not the way I need"
"Well then, I won't bother you anymore. Think about your dignity tonight, think about it while you're in your bed alone." He walked away, angry as he never was in his life. She was petrified in the middle of the hallway.
Uhmmm ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
