(For everyone's info, I really wanted to use Jay Gould in this story
because I find him fascinating. But I didn't want to offend his family, so
I changed the names of his children, and in laws, and basically made up all
the characters in this story to suit me, because, well, this is FICTION.
So please no one take offense, I know it's not accurate.)
Hiding the near-drowning incident from Christian's parents was too easy. The seven year old boy seemed plenty excited about keeping their new friendship with Mush a secret, so the way they met him fell under this understanding. This was very relieving to Sadie, who was fairly new to the country and the job was given to her as a favor. She wasn't particularly fond of New York, but one has to do what one must when she needs to eat.
Sadie's employers would most likely never learn of her negligence at the park from anyone else, simply because they were never there. The children's mother, Eliza Kennington, the Countess of Castellane, had three children in all. The youngest was still an infant and was with his mother in France, where she spent the majority of her time. She and her husband, the Comte de Castellane, were in the midst of a troubled marriage; not that this had anything to do with their separation from their children. The exceptionally rich have the tendency to let others raise their children for them since they aren't forced to themselves. This suited Sadie just fine, as she needed the employment, and she came from a family of higher servants: butlers, governesses, and gardeners.
The Countess was the source of money in this household, or so it was rumored. Her father was Jay Gould, the most hated man in America, the railroad genius, the stock market wizard, one of the richest men in the world until his death a few years earlier. Sadie was certainly a lucky girl for this arrangement.
After tucking the children in bed, Sadie went downstairs for a bite to eat. She stopped short, hearing her name being spoken behind the closed kitchen door.
"She can't keep her legs closed they say. They say that's how come she lost her job in England!" the first voice whispered.
"I thought she worked for royalty. That her great grandma raised Queen Elizabeth," said the second.
"The Virgin Queen! Apparently she didn't get her promiscuity from her mother's side!" the voices giggled. "They say…"
The maid's mouth clamped shut when Sadie entered. They both nervously turned and pretended to be busy. Sadie reached in a cabinet and grabbed a small portion of cheese and began slicing herself some bread. Casually, she said, "You know, it wasn't my sleeping with the Prince of Wales that got me dumped in America, it was what I did to him when he replaced me…" Both women froze. The first one turned.
"The Prince of Wales…" she started suspiciously.
"It's really not all that far fetched me dearies. Half the ladies in London have had the honor of seeing his bed at one time or another." The maids just stared, finally speechless. With that, she turned on her heel and strode out of the room.
She headed out the back door to enjoy her meal in the solitude of the garden. As always, the city was never quiet, but the high stone walls kept out anything too disturbing; minus the stench of course. She finished her evening snack and looked around. It was nice to be alone for once. How on earth did those floosies hear about her situation at Windsor? Apparently rumors are strong enough to swim across the bloody Atlantic.
Just then she heard a rustling in the shrubbery as if some kind of animal had simply fallen into it.
"OUCH, shit!" Well that certainly wasn't a cat… She grabbed a garden hoe, which was the closest thing to a weapon at arm's length, and approached the dancing plantlife.
"Who's there?! Come on out er I'll beat ya with this here hoe!"
The intruder burst out laughing.
"Now ye laughing at me?! I'll beat ya anyhow!" She lifted up the garden hoe and nearly slammed the newsboy on his head before she recognized his face in the moonlight. She tried to swing the tool to the side, but the rusty blade still caught him in his left shoulder. He screeched.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She dropped the hoe and grabbed at him.
"Why're ya goin around swinging garden tools at me? Cried the wounded young man, "after I saved yer job!"
"And why are ye sneaking around in me bosses garden fer?" she snapped back, "I shoulda put a gash bigger than that in yer fat head!" She reached for the garden tool again, but he dove for it, and stood up brandishing it in front of him as protection. Sadie smiled. Mush looked at her suspiciously and lowered the hoe. "How's yer shoulder?"
"Not too bad," he said as he examined his bruised collar bone, "nuttin' I can't handle." He straightened up and grinned at his opponent, "So ya happy ta see me er what?"
Sadie snatched the hoe from him and grabbed his hand. Worried that someone would come out to the garden after all their commotion, she led him to a garden bench shielded by shadows. She leaned forward and whispered, "What do ya think you're doing here?"
Mush stuttered out the beginnings of a few sentences, then realizing that they all included spying on her, he gave up and planted the kind of kiss on her lips that she would never forget. Unbelievable. American men can kiss! After the kiss came a most awkward moment, where, as a lady, she should push him away, and shun further advances. Oh, but he had a precious face. He leaned forward again and kissed her lightly on the neck. She leaned her head back and met his next kiss. She had such a hard time playing the lady in these situations… His fingers brushed over her neck and chin. Chills ran down her back and she felt the goose bumps rise on her arms. His hand ran down her arm and he intermingled his fingers with hers. They looked at each other briefly; she couldn't figure out what color his eyes were in the darkness, but they were gorgeous. Sadie reached her arms around his neck and kissed him harder.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jacob Castellane had returned to New York for something like a vacation. He could only spend so much time with that wife of his. He could only pretend to love that dog for so long before he needed to get away.
After pouring himself some brandy, he returned to the window to see if they were still out there. He had been startled to hear raised voices in his back yard and had gone to the window to see what the commotion was. He'd almost sent someone out there to remove the two from his garden, but things had gotten interesting. They had gone from attacking one another to the kind of lovemaking he only dreamed about. His wife was wretched and just plain ugly, and any other servant or whore he made himself through was not much better.
He strained to see through the darkness as the girl leaned her head back to let that scoundrel kiss her long neck. He swallowed hard when he saw the young man move his hands up her skirt. Someone should stop this. Why should that dirty American peasent be allowed to have what a count cannot?
"James, let the dogs out into the garden."
Hiding the near-drowning incident from Christian's parents was too easy. The seven year old boy seemed plenty excited about keeping their new friendship with Mush a secret, so the way they met him fell under this understanding. This was very relieving to Sadie, who was fairly new to the country and the job was given to her as a favor. She wasn't particularly fond of New York, but one has to do what one must when she needs to eat.
Sadie's employers would most likely never learn of her negligence at the park from anyone else, simply because they were never there. The children's mother, Eliza Kennington, the Countess of Castellane, had three children in all. The youngest was still an infant and was with his mother in France, where she spent the majority of her time. She and her husband, the Comte de Castellane, were in the midst of a troubled marriage; not that this had anything to do with their separation from their children. The exceptionally rich have the tendency to let others raise their children for them since they aren't forced to themselves. This suited Sadie just fine, as she needed the employment, and she came from a family of higher servants: butlers, governesses, and gardeners.
The Countess was the source of money in this household, or so it was rumored. Her father was Jay Gould, the most hated man in America, the railroad genius, the stock market wizard, one of the richest men in the world until his death a few years earlier. Sadie was certainly a lucky girl for this arrangement.
After tucking the children in bed, Sadie went downstairs for a bite to eat. She stopped short, hearing her name being spoken behind the closed kitchen door.
"She can't keep her legs closed they say. They say that's how come she lost her job in England!" the first voice whispered.
"I thought she worked for royalty. That her great grandma raised Queen Elizabeth," said the second.
"The Virgin Queen! Apparently she didn't get her promiscuity from her mother's side!" the voices giggled. "They say…"
The maid's mouth clamped shut when Sadie entered. They both nervously turned and pretended to be busy. Sadie reached in a cabinet and grabbed a small portion of cheese and began slicing herself some bread. Casually, she said, "You know, it wasn't my sleeping with the Prince of Wales that got me dumped in America, it was what I did to him when he replaced me…" Both women froze. The first one turned.
"The Prince of Wales…" she started suspiciously.
"It's really not all that far fetched me dearies. Half the ladies in London have had the honor of seeing his bed at one time or another." The maids just stared, finally speechless. With that, she turned on her heel and strode out of the room.
She headed out the back door to enjoy her meal in the solitude of the garden. As always, the city was never quiet, but the high stone walls kept out anything too disturbing; minus the stench of course. She finished her evening snack and looked around. It was nice to be alone for once. How on earth did those floosies hear about her situation at Windsor? Apparently rumors are strong enough to swim across the bloody Atlantic.
Just then she heard a rustling in the shrubbery as if some kind of animal had simply fallen into it.
"OUCH, shit!" Well that certainly wasn't a cat… She grabbed a garden hoe, which was the closest thing to a weapon at arm's length, and approached the dancing plantlife.
"Who's there?! Come on out er I'll beat ya with this here hoe!"
The intruder burst out laughing.
"Now ye laughing at me?! I'll beat ya anyhow!" She lifted up the garden hoe and nearly slammed the newsboy on his head before she recognized his face in the moonlight. She tried to swing the tool to the side, but the rusty blade still caught him in his left shoulder. He screeched.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She dropped the hoe and grabbed at him.
"Why're ya goin around swinging garden tools at me? Cried the wounded young man, "after I saved yer job!"
"And why are ye sneaking around in me bosses garden fer?" she snapped back, "I shoulda put a gash bigger than that in yer fat head!" She reached for the garden tool again, but he dove for it, and stood up brandishing it in front of him as protection. Sadie smiled. Mush looked at her suspiciously and lowered the hoe. "How's yer shoulder?"
"Not too bad," he said as he examined his bruised collar bone, "nuttin' I can't handle." He straightened up and grinned at his opponent, "So ya happy ta see me er what?"
Sadie snatched the hoe from him and grabbed his hand. Worried that someone would come out to the garden after all their commotion, she led him to a garden bench shielded by shadows. She leaned forward and whispered, "What do ya think you're doing here?"
Mush stuttered out the beginnings of a few sentences, then realizing that they all included spying on her, he gave up and planted the kind of kiss on her lips that she would never forget. Unbelievable. American men can kiss! After the kiss came a most awkward moment, where, as a lady, she should push him away, and shun further advances. Oh, but he had a precious face. He leaned forward again and kissed her lightly on the neck. She leaned her head back and met his next kiss. She had such a hard time playing the lady in these situations… His fingers brushed over her neck and chin. Chills ran down her back and she felt the goose bumps rise on her arms. His hand ran down her arm and he intermingled his fingers with hers. They looked at each other briefly; she couldn't figure out what color his eyes were in the darkness, but they were gorgeous. Sadie reached her arms around his neck and kissed him harder.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jacob Castellane had returned to New York for something like a vacation. He could only spend so much time with that wife of his. He could only pretend to love that dog for so long before he needed to get away.
After pouring himself some brandy, he returned to the window to see if they were still out there. He had been startled to hear raised voices in his back yard and had gone to the window to see what the commotion was. He'd almost sent someone out there to remove the two from his garden, but things had gotten interesting. They had gone from attacking one another to the kind of lovemaking he only dreamed about. His wife was wretched and just plain ugly, and any other servant or whore he made himself through was not much better.
He strained to see through the darkness as the girl leaned her head back to let that scoundrel kiss her long neck. He swallowed hard when he saw the young man move his hands up her skirt. Someone should stop this. Why should that dirty American peasent be allowed to have what a count cannot?
"James, let the dogs out into the garden."