A/n: Sorry, this is a very late chapter, but a lot has been going on. It's still raining a lot over here, making it take longer to build my home, but it will be ready sometime in November. I'm so ready to have it done and have a good work area for writing.
I also got another cat, so Ciel (my other cat) is not taking it too well. Sassa Belle and Ciel don't fight, which is excellent, but they love to growl and hiss at each other. I think when they have more room to move around each other, they should get along better.
Also had computer issues. Having to use my laptop as the desktop is all packed up and in storage. The charger was giving me problems, but I went to Best Buy and picked up another magsafe charger, and it has fixed the issue once I had the spear time.
I'm thinking of starting a page on Facebook or something to keep people up to date with where I am on all my stories and maybe giving a few sneak peeks of chapters from their favorite stories.
Chapter 4: Is the Sea Monster the true villain?
Once all the introductions were made, William announced that dinner was ready. The family filed out of the drawing-room and made their way to the dining room. Mary was placed next to Matthew with Lilly on his other side. This was a different setup than the show Lilly thought, but since Mary was next to Matthew, so Lilly let it go.
"Do you think you'll enjoy village life? It will be very quiet after life in the city." Robert led the conversion as he looked at Matthew from across the table. Thomas being the first footman, began to serve dinner, starting with Isobel.
"Even Manchester." Violet thought almost as if she disapproved…well, Lilly knew she did, but more along the lines, she didn't approve of him being the heir as she wanted to see Mary inherit everything. Thankfully Isobel jumped in to save the conversion before Violet could say another thing that would undoubtedly be slightly rude.
"I'm sure I'll find something to keep me busy." She stated delightfully. Cora smiled at this. Lilly liked how Isobel could find the bright side of things and wished she could do the same thing.
"You might like the hospital," Cora said as she leaned forward towards Isobel, trying to be helpful with her suggestion. Her midnight plumage that was placed in her copper hair bobbed a little as she spoke. This piqued Isobel's interest.
"What sort of hospital is it? How many beds?" Isobel inquired wide-eyed wonder. She comes from a medical family, Lilly reminded herself. So, of course, Dr. Clarkson's cottage hospital would be her main focus point in the village.
"Well, it—it isn't really a hospital," Violet chimed in before Isobel could get her hopes up as Thomas came to Violet's side so she could serve herself.
"Don't let Dr. Clarkson hear you. He thinks it's second only to St. Thomas's." Robert interjected before his mother could say another thing. Lilly had always admired Dr. Clarkson on the show. She could tell he did care for his patients and took pride in his work and his little cottage hospital in a minuscule village. Lilly felt that if someone couldn't take pride in what they do, they needed to find something else because it reflected on the individual.
"It's a cottage hospital, of course, but quite well equipped," Cora added quickly before her mother-in-law could add more of her two cents into the conversation.
"Who pays for it?" Isobel inquired as she looked up from her plate to Cora. Of course, Violet wasn't too happy with the talk of money. She believes money should be discussed by the men and behind closed doors as ladies had more important things to spend their time on. Lilly looked down at her empty plate. She was never one for numbers. A solid B minus student in math. She was ok with that, but she was more than advanced in what any of these ladies knew during this time. Probably even most men knew here, which kind of made her feel so much better about her math skills.
"Oh, good. Let's talk about money." Violet sarcastically said as she looked over to Isobel. Lilly silently sighed and looked over to poor Matthew. He just looked uncomfortable and properly feeling so out of place. All too soon, Thomas had made his way over to Matthew with the first part of the first main course.
"I will hold it steady, and you can help yourself, sir," Thomas spoke softly but condescendingly. Lilly looks at him from the corner of her eyes at the audacity of his words. She knew that almost no one was happy about Matthew except for a small few, but being here and witnessing it firsthand was something else. Matthew looked at him blankly. Lilly took a moment to look over at Mary, who was sporting a slight smirk as she took a sip from her wine glass.
"Yes, I know. Thank you." He spoke confidently before serving himself expertly before placing the utensils neatly back onto the tray, a sign for Thomas to move down to Lilly. Mary chose that moment to speak up and try to embarrass poor Matthew even further.
"You'll soon get used to the way things are done here." She spoke smugly with a look on her pretty face to match. Lilly rolled her eyes at her sister. Matthew, ever so fast on the uptake, came back with a swift reply.
"If you mean that I'm accustomed to a very different life from this, then that is true." He stated. His face showed that he wasn't bothered by her comment as he wasn't ashamed of how he was brought up in the world. Being able to do things for yourself is the greatest thing in the world that one can know. Lilly's upbringing was never on the scale of her new family or that of Matthews, but it wasn't bad for being lower middle class. Sure, they had their fair share of finical struggles here and there, but she knew that it could have been much worse. She probably grew up with people who had it worse, but as they didn't air their family's dirty laundry, no one was the wiser.
"I think people being raised differently makes the world a much more interesting place. All walks of life have a story to tell. Something to add to the world, and all one would have to do is listen to learn to see through their eyes." Lilly piped up, taking a dig at Mary's spoiled, snobbish attitude.
"I think that is a lovely way to put it." Sybil chimed in her in an angelic voice giving her twin some support.
"Agreed," Cora said, smiling at her youngest. The convention soon moved on to small talk as the awkward dinner went on. Soon all the delicious food that Miss Patmore had made was all gone, and it was time to go through to the drawing-room as everyone made their way to the drawing-room for drinks and more conversion, passing Thomas as he stood at the door letting the family in. Lilly slowed to a stop in front of him and turned to look him in the eye.
"That was a very unkind thing to do to Cousin Matthew. I thought you better than to stoop down to Mary's level, but I was wrong. Things are hard enough for him. Why do the people with the kindest hearts lash out at everyone." Lilly stated softly to Thomas, letting him know she was cross with him and very disappointed in his behavior as Matthew was closer to Thomas's way of life than her new one more than anything. She looked at him, and for a split second, she saw guilt cross his handsome features, but as quick as it had come, it was gone.
"I will do my best not to do it again, my lady. I'm sorry for your disappointment in me." He said in a hushed voice so that only she could hear him as he straightened back into his previous posture. She stared at him for a moment more before nodding ever so slightly before she resumed walking into the drawing-room behind the rest of her family.
The next day Lilly found herself with Sybil in the library as they tried to find a few good books to read.
"I think it was wonderful how you stood in Cousin Matthews's corner. Mary was out of line with what she said." Sybil said as she pulled a book from the shelf in front of her and thumbed through its pages. Lilly looked up at the book she was skimming through to her angelic sister standing a few feet away from her. Her hair pulled back in a beautiful French braid tied with a blue ribbon at the end, matching her cornflower blue blouse and matching skirt.
"Mary can be the kindest person if only she would let herself instead; she attacks everyone with such hard words to cut them down. I think if she was herself, I think they would get on just swimmingly. Until then, he will need someone to help him. All this is new to him, and it's all at once, and that makes it all the scarier." Lilly stated what she knew as she placed the book back in its spot on the shelf before brushing her hand on her purple heart-colored skirt, then straightening the waistband, fixing her whisper white sweater that tucked into it as she turned to look at Sybil.
"Maybe, but I think Mary is very stubborn and always likes to be right where I see Cousin Matthew with someone more…I don't know sweet maybe. Someone can be kind but can stay strong and be his rock when it needs it as he would do for her. I don't think Mary is that person." Sybil sighed, thinking before taking another book.
"Maybe this Edith's moment," Lilly said with a smile that Sybil shared.
Later that night, Matthew and his mother joined them for dinner once again, only this time it seemed like things were a little more relaxed until Mary once again opened her big mouth to take another stab at Matthew.
"I have been studying the story of Andromeda; do you know it?" She asked Matthew. Her midnight dress with sheer ink-colored fabric covered her shoulders, making her skin glow even brighter in the candlelight. Thomas came around to each person with the fruit tray. Everyone now focused on the exchange between Mary and Matthew. Ready to hang on to their every word as the drama played out before them. Everyone was eagerly waiting to see who would win this round.
"Why?" Matthew asked, confused as to why she brought that particular story up. Lilly rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well that Mary was once again trying to put him in his place.
"Her father was King Cepheus, whose country was being ravaged by storms, and in the end, he decided the only way to appease the gods was to sacrifice his eldest daughter to a hideous sea monster. So, they chained her naked to a rock." She started summarizing everyone at the table before Violet stopped her with a laugh, clearly uncomfortable with what Mary had just said.
"Really? Mary, we'll all need our smelling salts in a minute." Violet stated. Lilly smiled at what was said, thinking about things in her world that really would make Violet faint.
"But the sea monster didn't get her, did he?" He asked. Lilly had the feeling that he already knew the story but didn't want Mary to know he did, so he played dumb. Mary was shocked for a moment as she didn't expect him to say that.
"No. Just when it seemed he was the only solution to her father's problems, she was rescued." She said, recovering quickly.
"By Perseus," Matthew stated, shocking her even further. It made Lilly smile a little as she looked down to her lap that was covered by the spindle-colored stain dinner grown as she played with the cream-colored cloth napkin that rested on top of her skirt. Mary's face seems to falter even further.
"That's right. Perseus, son of a god. Rather more fitting, wouldn't you say?" She stated happily as she forced a smile as she hit another blow to Matthew in the politest way possible in the most underhanded way.
"That depends. I'd have to know more about the princess and the sea monster in question." He said without missing a beat—stunning Mary into silence which was quite a feat. So, Lilly couldn't help herself when she added the conversation.
"Remember Mary in many stories, the hero turns out to be the real villain of the story while the monster is the real hero, gets the girl, and they live happily ever after as they ride off into the sunset together. It's important not to judge before we know the person or sea monster." She said softly as to seem as she was only adding to the conversation and not trying to give Mary a taste of her own medicine. She turned to Matthew, who was once again seated on her right, and saw him smile. She let a small one of her slip onto her face before turning to face Mary once again.
"Of course, you are right. Some stories have surprise plots that shock us all. I will be sure to keep that in mind." She said casually as her elegant fingers closed around an exquisite crystal wine glass. It was filled with a dark ruby red liquid inside it before bringing it to her full lips and taking a sip before returning it to its place within her place setting. Lilly returned to eating her grapes, and everyone began to speak to each other again. With Matthew here, it will be interesting to see what the next few months will hold. Lilly was being to like watch the story unfold before her very own eyes. Much better than watching it happen on the tv screen. Yes, they will be fascinating indeed.
A/n: There it is. I wrote this whole thing while waiting for hurricane Ida, but thankfully it turned last minute and missed us; but the issues with my charger made it hard to charge my laptop and do the editing. Plus, I have been playing with ideas for a book and a couple of new fanfictions on the Twilight saga.
