I'm really sorry that it took so long to get this out. I wanted to make it longer, but I figured it would be a good ending for the chapter. Lots of thanks to aLL aMeRIcAn gIRl 50 and H.M. Chandler!
"Where is it?!"
The ten minutes that had passed since the time James had first walked into the Parlor in search of his journal had now led to complete pandemonium. The couch had just been torn apart, the desk had been ransacked, and James' vocabulary was about to backslide. Mouth open as he took a deep breath in preparation to scream for Sarah, the parlor maid, he quickly spun around to be met with a surprising sight. In fact, it even shocked him momentarily. Unfortunately it wasn't quite long enough to overtake his anger.
Eyeing Mary as she stood there with his journal held in her outstretched hand, he couldn't help but take notice of her rumpled appearance. Rarely did she appear before even James in anything but the latest fashions – all strictly modest – with her hair done to perfection. That was hardly the case this morning. Her hair hung in waves down her back, and she still wore her dressing gown.
The fact that her unkempt appearance made her all the more appealing did not improve James' mood in the least. In fact, it gave him not a small amount of pleasure to see her arm beginning to tremble from holding the heavy journal outstretched for so long.
Keeping his eye on his journal as though afraid it would disappear again, he questioned her with a slow preciseness that showed his anger.
"Tell me, my dear, wherever did you find it?"
"You know perfectly well where I found it, darling." She shoved it at him so quickly he barely caught it in time.
Glaring, he snapped back. "I do hope you weren't too horribly disappointed with not finding a single love letter or even a confession. That is what you were looking for, isn't it?"
"Why would I ever need a confession James? A confession requires there to be a secret to confess. You have never made any of your actions a secret," she hissed back before sailing from the room.
Okay, so things hadn't exactly gone as she had originally planned. So much for a heartfelt talk leading to a nice happily ever after. Sighing in frustration, Mary flopped down on her bed. This was great, just great. Not only had she just helped to make things worse, now James was even more furious than he had been before. He probably hated her now.
"Hate is only a step away from love, darling. You can't hate someone without first caring enough about them to feel that strongly." Her grandmother's advice from so many years ago rang in her ears. If only that were true. If only James did still love her…
With a grin, Mary popped up from her previously prone position on the bed. Now that gave her an idea.
"No, no, no! That's not at all the way I wrote it! What's going on here today? Why can't anyone get it right for once?"
James had reached the end of his patience, and that was saying something. To be honest, he had been in a foul mood all day. It's her fault. Just look at how my morning started off. Grumbling to himself, he ordered them to go through the scene once more. Settling into one of the theater chairs, he propped his head upon his fisted hand and wondered what he did to deserve such a crummy day. He hadn't even seen the boys.
Groaning in frustration, he concluded that the day would be best if it ended here. So that's exactly what he did.
After a quick dismissal of everyone that included an apology and thank you for their hard work, James headed out of the theater. A few quick instructions and the toss of a couple coins sent two messenger boys each on their own respective mission. Whistling, James headed down the steps and started his stroll to the park. Perhaps the day could be salvaged after all.