Chapter Eight:

Skinner…

As Skinner waited in Kathryn's room, waiting for her to return, he pondered a few items of concern he had. For instance, why had Jekyll come by looking for her? Where was she when he woke up? And why did she seem to be hiding something from him?

The door opened and his attention was drawn from his thoughts. Kathryn entered and walked over to her wardrobe as Skinner quickly placed himself out of her way. She opened it and pulled out a dress. She paused briefly, considering her choice. Apparently finding it inappropriate, she returned it to the wardrobe and crossed to the dresser. She bent and opened the bottommost drawer. Skinner silently watched as she rummaged through it. She found another dress and pulled it out. It looked to Skinner to be a maid's working dress. Nodding her approval, she laid it out on her bed, then returned to the wardrobe. She pulled out an indigo coloured dress, almost smiled, and went behind the dressing screen.

Why she thought she needed a dressing screen in her own private quarters was beyond Skinner. But then again, she did a lot of things that he didn't understand. He momentarily contemplated joining her on the far side of the screen, but settled for watching her shadow instead. She was a graceful and beautiful girl. Slim, petite, yet tall. He loved her.

"I thank you for your distance, Skinner," she said, coming out from behind the screen and buttoning the back of her dress. Even with her hair pinned up as it was when she went to bed, and slightly messy from sleeping, she looked stunning. The indigo of the dress contrasted perfectly with the olive tone of her skin. "I had rather thought the temptation would get the better of you." She sat at her vanity and opened the drawer, pulling out her hairbrush. She unpinned her hair and began brushing it out.

"I have some self-restraint," he said, watching her.

Kathryn quickly pinned up her hair again, keeping it from her face, in the same sort of manner Mina would. She stood and walked to the dresser and took a necklace from the top drawer. Putting it on, she said, "Well, I'm proud of you. Did you need something?" She sat on the edge of her bed and put on a pair of boots.

He sighed. "I've got a lot of questions," he admitted. "But, I don't think I can ask them. Not yet, anyways."

She stood and walked to the door. "Perhaps another time, then," she said, leaving.

Skinner watched the door close behind her. Then he growl in slight frustration and hit her wardrobe, jarring it enough to open the door. An item fell out and clattered to the floor, drawing his attention. He picked it up and examined it. It was a silver box, almost like a despatch-box. Skinner wondered why she felt she needed to keep a despatch-box in her wardrobe. Jekyll kept his beside his bed on the bedside table. Why would she need to hide it? What could she keep in it that she feared exposure to the rest of the League? His fingers itched to open it, but he knew he shouldn't.

Footsteps outside the door caught his attention. Skinner took the despatch-box with him into the wardrobe and closed the door, leaving it open only a crack so he could see out. Seeing it was Kathryn who had entered and that she was walking to the wardrobe, he returned the despatch-box to the shelf where it was before it fell out of the wardrobe, and pressed himself into the darkest corner of the wardrobe and arranged the dresses around him so she wouldn't see his shape against the fabric.

Kathryn absently opened the wardrobe and took out the despatch-box. She left the wardrobe door open and crossed to her desk with the box. She set it on her desktop and took off her necklace. Skinner cautiously exited the wardrobe and walked over to her as she opened the pendant of her necklace. The pendant was, in fact, not simply a pendant, but a small case in which a small, silver key was kept. Kathryn took the key out of the pendant and used it to unlock the despatch-box.

What was inside, however, Skinner never got to see, for at the instant in which she opened the despatch-box, there was a knock on the door. She slammed the despatch-box shut. "Yes?" she called. "What is it?"

The door opened and Sawyer entered. He closed the door behind him. "Kate," he said. She locked the despatch-box and stood, taking the box to the wardrobe. "Kate, listen to me."

"What is there to listen to, Sawyer?" she said, putting the despatch-box in the wardrobe. "You've presented your case most adequately and delightfully. But I'm afraid I have to decline your most generous offer." She closed the wardrobe door. "Now, if you'll please excuse me, I have to plan my evening out."

Sawyer nodded and left the room, Skinner following close behind him.