And the plot thickens!

Ch. 28

"Good-for-nothing fool!" Erik mumbled to himself. He slammed the door behind him, uncaring as to whether or not anyone would hear him as he stormed down the stairs and continued to mutter profanities about the headstrong Butler.

Alinah jumped, startled, when she heard the door slam shut, and she could hear loud footsteps flying down the staircase. She knew that whatever Mr. Harris had said or done had upset Erik, and she inhaled sharply as she prepared herself for the storm that was about to arrive in the form of a very angry Master. And arrive in that exact way, he did.

He breathed loudly as he stood in the doorway and glared at her.

"Erik, please forgive me-"

He raised a hand up to silence her pleas. "I want to hear none of it from you! You have caused enough trouble, as it is," he growled at her.

Instead of listening to him, she continued, anyway.

"No, you must hear me out! I know what you must think of me, but I did not leave because of you," she said. Then, she thought harder on her words and added, "Well, it was because of you, but not in the way that you think."

"Oh, really?" he raised his eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest in mock interest. "Spare me the story, please."

"No!" she countered, losing her patience with him. She didn't deserve his anger, and she would not allow him to unleash it on her, this time. "You have made a false accusation against me, and I wish to clear my name of reproach. I left because I could not bear the solitude of my room a moment longer, and had you been a gentleman by agreeing to provide me with company and conversation every-so-often, then I would not have felt the need to seek out the friendship of someone else!"

"Well, as you say, I am not a gentleman."

"Stop it! I will hear none of that nonsense," she took in a deep breath to calm herself, and in a softer tone, she said, "Had I not injured my leg, I would have had plenty of tasks to occupy my time with. I am sorry that I left without giving consideration to your wishes."

Erik scoffed at her but she ignored him.

"I should have handled the situation differently, and I hope that you can forgive me. I am sorry for the pain that I have caused you. It was not my intention to hurt you," she said gently. The sadness in her eyes made Erik frown, despite himself, and that's when he took the time to observe her appearance.

Her usually-bright blue eyes were a dull grey, filled with a haunting sadness. Her long brown hair had been pinned up at some point in time, but most of it fell around her face, looking tangled and wild. Her dress was wet and dirtied at the bottom edges, but most of it was covered by the dark cape that she wore. On top of everything, she looked as if she hadn't slept in days.

Erik couldn't help but to feel bad. He imagined that perhaps she had heard from her husband, and that had been the reason for her sadness. If that was so, he did not wish to add to her burdens with his anger.

He released his arms and let them fall to his side. He glanced down at the floor, ashamed of how he had behaved. He hadn't been able to control his temper earlier, and although she had made him miserable during her absence, he was grateful that she had returned, nonetheless.

"There is a new servant in the house, and he will tend to your former duties," he couldn't help but to notice the look of surprise and then hurt on her face, as she must have realized that she had been replaced. He immediately wished to ease her mind and said, "But your room still belongs to you and you may have the obligations of preparing meals and caring for the gardens when the weather has improved, if you wish to."

She gave a small smile and replied, "Thank you."

Erik now found himself feeling awkward as the silence filled the air. Feeling obligated to make conversation, he asked, "And your leg, how does it fare?"

"Very well, thank you," she blushed and glanced down at herself, hoping that he wouldn't notice.

But he did. And regardless of how stubborn he had been, he had to admit that seeing the colored glow in her cheeks was something that he had missed. Not wishing to stare and to keep himself in her presence longer than necessary, he excused himself and returned to his room.

Alinah couldn't prevent the relief that came to her and her smile widened. The first thing that she would do that morning would be to make something special for breakfast. And she knew just the sort of thing to draw Erik out of his mood.

She took off her coat and laid it on the back of the divan, deciding that she would bring it upstairs later. Her leg was still a bit tender, and she didn't want to trouble herself with the troublesome climbing of the stairs that very instant. She made her way to the kitchen and rummaged for the ingredients that she would need. Thankfully, Mr. Harris had maintained the stock of supplies in the kitchen and she found what she required.

She lit a fire in the stove and ignored the shooting pain in her arms. She glanced down at them, as her dress had been short-sleeved, and noticed the large and dark bruises that showed. She chided herself that she hadn't worn something more suitable for hiding them from the eyes of others, but she shrugged her shoulders and carried on with her task.

After she had set the dough in the oven to bake, she set a pot of water to boil. She stared out of the window to see that the snow was slowly melting, and she felt excited at the prospect of warmer weather. She jumped when her thoughts were soon interrupted.

"Ah, so you're the famous Cook whom I have heard so much about!" a young man piped in cheerfully through the doorway.

Alinah turned around to see a tall man who looked to be in his late twenties. He had curly blonde hair, with a few whisps falling in front of his strikingly-blue eyes. He had a very strong jawline, but soft features that gave him an overall friendly appearance.

So this must be my replacement, she thought. She gave a bashful smile and glanced down at her feet.

"And what, exactly, have you heard?" she asked, looking up at him to see him smiling.

"Many grand things," he replied. He stepped closer to her and bowed. "Jonathan Kinsley, but I insist that you simply call me Jonathan."

"Alinah Claude," she curtsied politely.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance. My," he frowned, pointing to the purple sections on her arms, "What has happened to you?"

"Oh," she covered herself with her hands, embarrassed, "I fell on a patch of ice."

She bit her lip when she lied, but she didn't want to go into detail about something that he had no business knowing. No one else needed to know about her husband, and besides, she didn't want to dwell on such dark thoughts, anyway.

He formed an 'O' with his mouth and nodded in understanding. "Well, you'll have to be more careful. A beautiful woman, such as yourself, should never own a single bruise, in my opinion. They are much too ugly for a complexion so smooth as yours."

She blushed as a result of his compliment and turned around to give her attention to the meal that she was preparing.

"I shall see you later," Jonathan called out before he went to dust the surfaces in the foyer.

Alinah sighed happily as she waited for her dessert to finish baking. At least, even when Erik was in one of his moods, she would now have someone to talk to. Jonathan seemed to be very charming, and she was eager to share conversations with someone, for once, instead of the grunts, growls, and reprimandings of her Master when he was in a foul mood.

Twenty minutes later, Alinah arranged three of her chocolate-filled pastries on a plate. She had mixed slivers of almonds in with the dough, and she sighed with delight as she drizzled a sugary icing on them to top them off. She poured a cup of tea as well and placed it on the tray next to the plate of desserts. It was her favorite flavor; chai, which was a mixture of cloves and cinnamon accompanied by a creamy taste. She had purchased it in town when she had stayed with Elinor, and had managed to bring what was left of it with her, and she hoped that Erik would like it.

Balancing the tray upstairs with her cane would prove to be a challenge. She sighed very loudly as she stood at the base of the staircase with the tray in her hands, thinking of how she would make it.

"Do you need any help?" Jonathan asked, peering around the corner in the foyer. He set down what he was doing and made his way over to her. "Here, allow me."

He took the tray from her hands and waited for her to climb the stairs, taking each step with her. Once they had reached the top, he offered to deliver it himself.

"Thank you, but I think that I should do it," she said. She didn't want to anger Erik further by abandoning her own duties, and besides, she could see that Jonathan had been busy with his own responsibilities.

"Really, I wouldn't mind. But as you wish," he smiled as he waited for her to receive the tray from his hands. "And I do hope that I get to sample some of your work..."

She giggled at him and replied, "Yes, there is more in the kitchen."

Jonathan returned downstairs and Alinah carried the tray over to her Master's door. She knew that knocking on his door and handing it to him in person wasn't the best idea at the time, so instead, she set it down on the table and went to her room.

Behind the door, Erik shook with madness as he thought of the exchange that he had just witnessed between the two servants; the way that Mr. Kinsley's charm had brought a smile to Alinah's face. And then, a familiar monster of its own awoke inside of him, and it's name was...

"Jealousy".