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Bending down to shake the sand out of his shoes for what seemed like the thousandth time that morning, Jarvis cursed the fact that he was being made to spend the entire day at the beach. It was his lordship's latest whim. Lady Mary's health had not been good for some time and the doctor had thought sea air would be the most effective remedy available. Obviously the Earl had insisted that his health would undoubtedly benefit as well from some time by the coast and so Jarvis had found himself and the other men cooped up in some boarding house on the seafront at Bournemouth. Mrs Diggins however, had suddenly fallen ill before they were about to depart from Taplows and so Mrs Ryan had accompanied them as well, being virtually the only other member of staff who seemed able to cope with Lady Mary.
So far the day hadn't been too bad, the Earl had struggled into his new bathing suit and had eventually been persuaded to dip a toe into the sea before declaring immediately that it was far too cold and he couldn't possibly be expected to bathe in water like that. He had since retreated up the beach and Jarvis had noted with some consternation that he appeared to be eyeing up the donkey rides with some enthusiasm. That task would swiftly be delegated to Mr Adams thought Jarvis; there was no way he was chasing some bloody mule carrying the Earl up and down the beach.
Everything seemed to be going well, even the donkey the Earl had chosen had behaved perfectly placidly, however towards the late afternoon, just as Jarvis was beginning to think about heading back for the day, it was noticed that the Earl's favourite dog, Archie, had gone missing.
"Of course your lordship, we'll find it right away." Jarvis assured the Earl, bowing slightly before turning and walking over to Adams. "Bloody animal" he muttered through gritted teeth "When was the last time anyone saw it?"
"Just after lunch sir" Adams answered "Shall I send the footmen out to look for it?"
"Yes. Actually we'd better all go. The sooner we find it, the sooner we can leave."
"Is everything alright Mr Jarvis?" Mrs Ryan suddenly asked, the two men not having seen her approach.
"Mrs Ryan" the butler acknowledged "It will be once we find this dog."
"Lady Mary thinks she might have seen it go that way." Flora replied, pointing towards the cliffs at one end of the beach "I was going to wander down and see if I could see it, after all the Earl won't leave til it's found."
"Yes I know" Jarvis said with a wry smile "I'll come with you. Mr Adams if you would organise the footmen to search the rest of the beach then we can hopefully find it as soon as possible."
Nodding his agreement, Mr Adams made his way back up the beach, barking orders at the footmen as he did so, leaving the butler and housekeeper on their own.
"Shall we?" Jarvis said, indicating along the beach. "When does Lady Mary think she saw Archie?" he asked after walking along in silence for a few minutes.
"Ohh she said she saw him not long ago. But then she also said she knew it was him because he was black and white, whereas Archie…"
"Is most definitely all black!" the butler finished for her, glancing across at her as she returned his knowing grin.
"Exactly!" Flora murmured
Sighing in frustration, Jarvis ran a hand through his hair, looking back across the beach to see if there was any sign of success yet. "Why don't we just go round to the end of the headland? See if there's any sign of him on the next beach?"
"Yes, that's a good idea" Flora replied softly, lifting up her skirts to step over a small stream that led down to the sea. Attempting to jump over the same stream, Jarvis silently cursed as the some of the water splashed into his shoes, noticing for the first time that Flora was without her shoes and stockings. Glancing down again he realised that this was the first time he'd ever seen her without footwear, it made her seem different, almost…more relaxed perhaps. Looking away, he tried to not think about the glimpse of a very shapely pair of calves he'd got when she'd hitched her skirts up, something made harder by the fact that the housekeeper had once again hitched her skirts up and was walking along in the shallows.
"Mr Jarvis, why don't you take your shoes off?" Flora suddenly called out "The water is very refreshing I can tell you." she added with a smile
Clearing his throat, Jarvis quickly tried to clear his mind of all images of Flora Ryan's legs "I'll suffer as I am Mrs Ryan. Thank you anyway."
"As you will Mr Jarvis" Flora murmured as they continued along the beach in silence.
Quarter of an hour later Jarvis suddenly looked around properly, there was no sign of the blasted dog and they had been past the headland a good ten minutes or so ago, the rest of the staff were out of sight behind the cliffs now.
"Do you think perhaps we should head back now?" Flora suddenly asked, echoing his thoughts as they both eyed the incoming tide that was approaching rapidly.
"Yes I think that would probably be best. I'm sure we'd have seen Archie if he was anywhere near here." Jarvis replied, looking anxiously up at the sheer cliffs to see if there was another route off the beach. "We'd best hurry, just in case." He added when he couldn't see any path leading up the cliffs.
A few minutes later and it was becoming increasingly obvious that they weren't going to make it back past the headland before the tide cut them off.
"Is there no other way back?" Flora asked, trying to keep the anxiety out her voice as the waves lapped round her ankles, her dress now up round her knees as she valiantly tried to keep it dry.
"No I can't see one." Jarvis replied tersely "Come on, we need to keep going quickly."
"Mr Jarvis I don't think we're going to make it" Flora said "The water's nearly knee-deep here already."
"It's not knee-deep at all" Jarvis snapped "We have to carry on, there's no point turning back now."
"It will be knee-deep any moment!" Flora snapped back "I'm not going on any further Mr Jarvis. I can't swim and my dress will weigh me down, I can just see us getting trapped out there and then you know what the currents are like when it starts getting deeper and then we'll be…"
"Fine" Jarvis cut her off irritably as her voice started rising higher and higher "We've got no choice then." He added, glancing back at the ever-retreating shoreline "I'll carry you."
"Mr Jarvis!" Flora exclaimed in horror
"Hurry up" Jarvis muttered, turning round "Jump on my back, it's the only way."
Blushing furiously, Flora eventually managed to clamber on to the butler's back, looping her arms round his neck and clinging on for dear life.
"Mrs Ryan" he choked out a few minutes later "please, not so tight, I do have to breathe." Hoisting her up slightly, he tried to get a better grip on her legs but the bottom of her dress was now soaked and kept slipping through his hands. Muttering his apologies he finally gave in and slipped his hands underneath the hem of her dress so he could grip knees properly. Gasping as his cold hands came into contact with her skin; Flora tried to push aside all thoughts of just how she would be able to look the butler in the eye again when they finally made it to the shore.
Staggering against the tide as the currents whipped around his legs, making it harder and harder for him to keep going, Jarvis was silently cursing everyone he could think of for making him end up in this situation. Suddenly he spotted an outcrop of rocks from the headland that looked like they had some sort of path leading up from it. Weighing up the odds quickly, he decided that it was their best bet, the tide was coming in much faster than he had anticipated and he certainly didn't want to be caught out there for much longer. Making his way over to the rocks as quickly as he could, he manoeuvred round so Flora could scramble up onto them before hauling himself out of the water and up beside her.
"If we can make it up this path then we can follow the cliff down to where the others are." Jarvis said, more optimistically than he was feeling, pulling the shivering housekeeper to her feet who just nodded at him in reply.
Striding out along the path as best he could, Jarvis looked back after a few moments to see the housekeeper only picking her way very slowly along, holding her drenched skirts in one hand. Realising she had no shoes, so this was going to be more difficult than he had anticipated, Jarvis made his way back towards her just as she stumbled against a loose piece of rock. Darting forward, he caught her before she fell, wrapping an arm round her waist to steady her.
"Here, let me help you" he muttered "it won't take us too long, I'm sure"
Ten minutes or so later and Jarvis himself was not so convinced of the truth of that statement. A strong wind had got up and Jarvis was convinced that the sea spray he could feel lashing against his face was not just spray but that a rainstorm was also heading their way. Pulling the housekeeper closer towards him, he tried to encourage her to walk a little faster, after all, at this rate they weren't going to make it back before dark.
Stifling a sob, Flora tried to block out the effort it was taking to keep moving and concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. It just seemed as though the end of the path didn't get any closer, no matter how many steps she took. A few minutes later she stumbled once again, crying out as she caught her toe on something sharp and would have fallen had Jarvis not had his arm wrapped tightly round her.
"I can't do this, I can't go any further!" Flora cried, biting her lip to try and stop herself from crying at the pain.
"Flora of course you can" Jarvis retorted in exasperation "It's really not that far now, we can't just stop here! We'll freeze to death."
"Well we're probably going to anyway!" Flora snapped back hysterically
"Don't be ridiculous woman!" Jarvis snapped in irritation, this was not going to help them get back to the beach in one piece; however his tone had the opposite effect to the one he was hoping as Flora only seemed to get more hysterical.
"I can't walk Walter! I have no shoes, my feet are in agony. It is freezing cold, my dress is wet through, we are about to be caught in a storm and we are probably.."
"What!" Jarvis demanded "We're probably not going to make it! That's the most ridiculous thing…"
However he was cut off as Flora's sobs began to get more and more hysterical, she'd be hyperventilating any minute he thought. Grasping her by the shoulders, he was about to shake her firmly to try and shake some sense into her but she just went limp in his arms. Panicking slightly, Jarvis pulled her closer, lifting a hand to brush back all the loose strands of hair that the rain had plastered to her face.
"Flora no! Come on, don't do this…" he muttered in her ear, pulling back slightly as he felt her arms tighten round his neck. Pausing for a moment as her eyes fluttered open they both gazed at each other for a long moment, and Jarvis felt himself being drawn even closer towards her. Leaning down he gently brushed his lips against hers, feeling her shiver against him that, this time, he wasn't too sure was because of the cold. Wrapping his arms more tightly around her, he kissed her again, deepening the kiss this time as she ran her hands through his hair, reciprocating the kiss just as passionately.
Oblivious to the worsening weather around them, the pair almost didn't hear the shouts of 'Mr Jarvis' until they were nearly upon them. They pulled apart hastily, guilty expressions on both their faces, just as Joe and George rounded the corner.
"There you are sir; we've been looking for you everywhere!"
"Yes thank you Mr Cosmo, we got cut off by the tide." Jarvis replied curtly.
"The way down is just along here sir, the carriage is waiting at the bottom." Joe piped up with "Mrs Ryan would you like a hand?" he added, noticing the housekeeper's lack of shoes.
"I think we can manage thank you Mr James" Jarvis cut in swiftly, offering the housekeeper his arm as they began to make their way down the path, cursing, as he did so, the rather impeccable timing of his footmen.
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