This January night started the same as any other. The lights in the house were fading one after another; voices were getting quieter with every minute. The corridor Harriet walked down was completely dark and empty. She gently opened the door to her pupil's room. The child was sleeping peacefully in his little bed. Harriet smiled and wished him sweet dreams in her thoughts. When she closed the door and turned around to go back to her room, she heard someone laugh. The voice was coming from around the corridor's corner. She walked to the corner on tip-toes and carefully looked around it. On the dark side of the corridor she saw two figures kissing and whispering to one another. When Harriet looked at their faces she wasn't surprised who she saw. One was Maggie, A young and pretty housemaid, and the boy with her was Adam, a young man who delivered fresh meat to the house every day from the butcher. Everyone who worked in the house knew about their relationship, but only one didn't accept it.
"Cogsworth wouldn't like it," thought Harriet. It was perfectly known that the house owner did not allow any of the servants to invite anybody into the house without permission. And she was sure Maggie was not allowed to bring her lover to the house. Especially at night.
Suddenly Maggie broke the kiss she and Adam were sharing and said, giggling, "Come with me. I've got something special for you in the kitchen." They disappeared into the darkness of the house.
Harriet smiled to herself. Maggie and Adam were a lovely couple. Both young, beautiful and in love. Who could need more? She felt that something small but sharp and cold started to grow in her heart. Jealousy? Slowly she walked from the place.
She hadn't gone more than twenty steps when out of nowhere someone appeared in front of her. First she heard a voice asking in a harsh way, "What are you doing in here?"
Then in the dim candle light she saw the face of James Cogsworth.
"Walking," she answered, unsure. She always felt unsure in his presence. Every time he looked at her, it was like he was looking for something to criticize.
"Is the hour not too late for walks, Miss Berkeley?" She wanted to ask him the same question, although she knew it was his usual nightly patrol, checking to make sure everything was under control.
"Well?" He was waiting for an answer.
"I was checking if the boy is all right," she finally replied. "And he is."
"Yes, you did right. That's your duty after all." In his tone she heard something that sounded like gentle approval. "But you should take some light with you. It's not safe and proper to walk at night without any lighting." But of course, he always knew best.
He looked at her once more and with a silent bow he turned and walked in the same direction as the couple had a few minutes before. When Harriet realized where he might be going, she said the first thing that came to her mind.
"Mr Cogsworth!" she called to him. "I just got back from the kitchen, so don't bother yourself. Everything's fine there."
He gave her a strange and sad look. Then, saying "Good night, Miss Berkeley," he turned away to go to his room.
Harriet lay down on her bed as soon as she came to her room. She didn't look IN the mirror before sleep because she knew what she would find there. She didn't say any prayers - there was nothing to pray for. She just wanted to sleep, have strength for another day of life.
But sleep wouldn't come. Harriet had an odd feeling that something wasn't quite right like she have forgotten or done something wrong. And then that smell came. At first it was strange to her, but a moment later she recalled that only burning smells like that. With this thought in her head she rose from her bed and tried to find her way through the darkness to the place the smell was coming from. She circled the corridor A few times. Then she knew. It was the kitchen!
She hurried down the hall, growing more frightened with every step. When she finally opened the kitchen door, Harriet couldn't believe what she saw. The whole table and half of the floor were in flames. Maggie and Adam were trying desperately to fight the fire but it was growing larger and larger with every second. For a moment Harriet stared at the pair surrounded by flames as though hypnotized. If not for Maggie's cry, she probably wouldn't have moved.
"Help!" the girl screamed.
Of course, she should get help.
Like a blind woman, she slowly moved through the dark corridor till she reached someone's door. She knocked urgently and saw that her hands were shaking. When she tried to call to the person behind the door, no words came from her mouth. When the door finally opened, she hardly recognized the person who stood across her.
"What is..! Miss Berkeley? What's happened?" James Cogsworth was looking at her, confused.
"Fire." Harriet felt tears flowing down her cheeks. "Fire in the kitchen. It's all my"
But he wasn't listening. He had run out of his room and was now rushing down the hall.
"Wake up everyone!" he shouted to her over his shoulder.
After a mad dash from door to door and calling every servant to immediately go help with the fire, Harriet felt she was unable to do anything more. She slowly sat on the floor, leaning her back against the cold wall. She didn't feel anything except chills all over her body. She needed a long, lonely while to pull herself together. When that while finally passed, and her mind was focused again, Harriet decided to go to the unfortunate place. On her way she passed some house-workers whom she had called earlier to help. They were going to their beds, all of them tired and dirty. "That means it's all over, thank God," she thought.
The kitchen door was half-open. When she slowly walked to it and looked through, something in her commanded her to stop. Things were happening in there that didn't require her presence. So she just stood behind the door and watched, amazed.
What intrigued her was not the damage left by the fire, nor the water on the floor or the burned places on Maggie's dress. It was the presence of the master of the house here in the half-burned kitchen, talking calmly with James Cogsworth. But their conversation amazed her even more.
The first words that came to her were said by their master. "It's fine now, Cogsworth. The money shall be taken from your salary. Though I still can not believe it. You! The most responsible man of all!"
Harriet now noticed Cogsworth's expression. She had never seen him so tense and serious, though being tense and serious was not unusual for him. There was also something in his eyes she had never seen before. But what it was, she didn't know yet.
The master continued. "If it was anyone else he would be thrown out in this very moment, but you my dear, loyal Cogsworth... I know it must have been an unfortunate accident."
"Forgive me, sir," replied James Cogsworth without his usual self-confidence.
The old man smiled in a friendly way and clapped Cogsworth's shoulder a few times. Maggie and some other servants watched the two men with fear and fascination. Something wasn't right in this scene.
Then it all came to Harriet. Cogsworth had taken all the blame for the fire on himself! No, it was too hard to believe. He would never sacrifice his own reputation, his own dignity for anything. The Cogsworth she knew would never do this. The one she knew... But did she really know him? Had she ever tried to know him?
She again looked at the scene, now more confused than ever. But at that moment, the master left. He passed Harriet without even noticing her. After that, and when the other servants were dismissed, only Cogsworth and Maggie were left in the kitchen. He asked the girl to sit. He himself stood in the middle of the ruined kitchen with arms crossed. Harriet entered the room as slowly and quietly as she could.
"Is everything all right?" she asked, afraid of what he might respond.
"It is all right, thank you, Miss Berkeley."
"But I don't understand... What happened? Where is the boy ..."
"We should rather ask Margaret. She appeared to know him very well." He looked at Maggie, demanding some reply.
Now Harriet noticed that the girl's face was all in tears, her body was shaking and she was still staring at the floor as though she was afraid to look at Harriet's or Cogsworth's face. When she finally tried to speak, her words were at first hard to understand.
"I'm so sorry. We didn't mean anything wrong. I didn't know it would turn out like this. I'm so..."
"We know perfectly well that you are sorry. Just tell us clearly what happened," said Cogsworth, beginning to lose his patience.
"Oh, Mr. Cogsworth, sir! I'm so grateful! It was so noble what you did. How can I ever thank you?"
"It doesn't matter if you are grateful or not! Just tell us what we want to know!"
Harriet watched Cogsworth's behaviour in amazement. She had never seen him in a state like this. It was almost as though he had feelings, and more, he was actually showing them!
"I wanted me and Adam to have a dinner here together," Maggie began, "with candlelight, wine and everything. We drank some and didn't notice... Some alcohol spilled on the floor, then the lamp crashed and the candles and everything...At first we didn't notice, but then my dress started to burn and everything... everything..." They didn't hear what happened with everything because Maggie's voice broke into loud sobs.
"It's fine, Margaret," said Cogsworth in a calmer tone. "Now go to your room and sleep." But Maggie didn't move from her place.
"I assure you, you won't lose your job," he added. "Maybe that will teach you something."
Slowly, with A silent "thank you" and "good night", Maggie left the kitchen.
After a silent moment, he turned to Harriet. "It's all over, Miss Berkeley. You should also go. There is nothing more to do in here." His voice was calm and quiet. If she hadn't seen what had happened earlIier, she would never have guessed by looking at him.
"I still don't know... why did you do it? What for?"
"Maggie doesn't need any more trouble."
"I never thought that you... I mean, you never..."
"Only because I don't do it often you think I'm not able to help others. To care about them..." He wasn't looking at Harriet while saying this, like there was something embarrassing in his words.
"No, you're wrong!" she interrupted. "I don't think that... I don't think that now... Now when you know perfectly well that I had a chance to stop it before it even started. I'm sorry I lied to you then. I feel so ashamed of myself now, but I really thought I was doing right."
Cogsworth smiled sadly, still not looking at her. He didn't say anything, and for a moment silence fell between them. In this moment they looked at each other, confused but intrigued.
"One can be misjudged so easily," said Harriet, looking in James Cogsworth's eyes. He didn't respond, so she took all her courage that was left in her and said, "I've always wanted you for a friend, though I never knew how to say it. Now i see the simple way is the best. I was afraid of how you would react to me saying this, but now I know there is nothing to be afraid of." She paused for a moment and then she added quietly, "We can be great friends."
James Cogsworth smiled at her for the first time without any trace of sadness. "I would be honored to be your friend, Miss Berkeley."
She gave him her hand and he held it for a long while, and now they both were smiling.