:: CHAPTER FIVE ::
The next few weeks passed slowly. Will spent much time in the garden; now preoccupied with tending the roses. The rose gardens held a clear view of the road leading up to the house, and of Lizzy's window, in case she happened to look out.
Still confined to her room, she forced herself away from the pane. She could not let this go further. From a very young age her parents had impressed onto her the severity of honour; honour that would very soon be depleted if she let herself get wrapped up in romance and allow a man to have his way with her.
Summer drifted on into Autumn and Autumn into Winter, and still they had not seen each other. Will continued to annoy the cook, and Lizzy continued to smile as she heard their bickering echo through the corridors.
One day, an icy wind swept down from the north. Frost settled over most of Lizzy's window, blocking all view except of the distant trees. Wrapped up warm in her bed, wearing three pairs of socks, Lizzy awoke to clatters downstairs. Arising, she walked to the window and, through the frost, could just about make out the figures of some men, loading suitcases into a carriage.
"I'm so sorry, Sir." Came someone's anxious voice from downstairs. "I had no idea you wanted to leave this early. The carriage will be ready shortly."
"I am most seriously displeased." A slimy voice immediately followed, making her uneasy despite its distance. My uncle, she thought, breathing raggedly. Hurriedly, she pressed her hands against the glass of her window to try to glimpse the famous man.
"Good bye, Sir." She heard a man say as he shut the carriage door. Lizzy listened intently as she heard the horses ride across the gravel and away.
She sat back down in bed and tried to warm herself. Her breath turned to ice in the air and her nose glowed red. A key turned in her door. It clicked and opened. Blunderguts walked in, her hair not as tidy as usual, though her uniform as heavily starched. She carried with her a tray containing two apples and a glass of water; Lizzy's breakfast. She put the tray down on the side of her bed and turned to stare at Lizzy.
"The Master's gone, so you best behave yourself. You haven't got him to look over you now!" Her words dripped with pleasure.
"Fine job he's been doing so far." Lizzy muttered, sarcastically. As soon as she said it, she wished she hadn't. Panic splattered onto her face as she found herself pulled up by the collar facing the prospect of a clenched hand.
"What did you say, girl? Go on! Say it again!" She goaded; anything for an excuse.
A maid ran into the room, her white pinafore turned charcoal black.
"Miss Monroe, Miss Monroe, you must come quick!" she cried. Her face as blackened by soot as her clothes.
"What is it, you stupid girl?" She spat back, dropping Lizzy to the floor and walking towards the maid. "What's happened?"
"The fireplace in the Great Hall has collapsed somewhere, and has spread right across until the Entrance Hall! I've come now to get your help! Please, make haste!" She said, running off, with Blunderguts falling in behind. Lizzy would have laughed, but pain and fear temporarily crippled her emotions.
The Great Hall, Lizzy thought, as her captor's form disappeared, I can get out through the kitchen! Since her arrival there, she had planned so many ways in which she would escape. Now, there was no time to waste! Seizing such a perfect opportunity, she tore off two pairs of socks, grabbed some shoes, and stepped out into the empty corridor.
Outside, the rain began to fall. It had long since lost the tenderness of summer rain, and now was falling in torrents from a darkened sky. Most of the household were trying to stop the flow of ash from the faulty chimney, and so running down the servants' staircase, Lizzy darted in the other direction, so as to be found by no one.
The whole house seemed derelict and haunted. Every staircase that she turned down, every room that she ran through was empty. The vastness of the house and grounds now seemed annoying to her as she tried to remain unseen whilst servants ferried to and fro with water, towels and brushes; she wondered if she ever would be able to leave such an expanse of land.
Should I reach the garden by nightfall?, she questioned herself as she hid behind clocks, under tables, in cupboards as the servants passed.
Finally, she thought as she reached the door to the kitchen. It was shut, and so she had to steady her breath to hear if anyone was inside. She had barely paused a second when she heard noises from somewhere else. These wouldn't have bothered her as much, had not the noises been growing louder!
Immediately, she reacted by taking her chances in the kitchen. She opened the door silently and slipped inside. Hovering behind the door she listened, frozen by fear, as the voices grew stronger. Blunderguts! Her stomach turned.
The urgency of the moment freed her limbs, just in time to lock the door before the knob began to turn.
"Dear God!" She whispered to herself, stepping back, her heart pounding and her hands shaking.
"Who's in there?" Came the invading voice through the keyhole. She didn't reply. "Whoever's in there better open this door right now and I wont get as mad as I should!"
"Now there's an incentive!" came a voice behind Lizzy. She gasped and turned, only to see Will, standing there, amused as always.
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