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The next day, James and my eldest sister Anne paid a visit to our home here in Oxford. My mother delighted in their visits, saying that the family was once again whole. I had spent the day with my mother and the other help cleaning and preparing for their visit. I wanted to tell her that she had been mistaken since it was only James and Anne coming over—not Queen Victoria. If I said such a thing, my mother would have my ear twisted in her hand.
"Charlotte, dear, could you ask Cook if lunch is ready yet?" My mother said as she inspected the mantelpieces on the tips of her toes. Amusingly, my mother was a petite beauty compared to my father's lean and lofty figure and it was quite a sight to see the pair of them together.
"I already asked since I knew you were going to ask." I said as I adjusted one of the paintings on the wall.
"Try not to be so insolent, Charlotte. It isn't cute." She said though I can see a smile on her face. Holmes was right that I inherited my hair from my mother. What he did not know was that I had also gotten her short temper as well. I guess that the typecast of redheads having terrible tempers is true in my case. "Now if you aren't too busy mouthing off, go open the door since they have already arrived."
"How do you know?" I asked just as a couple of knocks sounded on the door. My mother simply pointed out the window she was looking through. "Never mind...I'm coming!"
I opened the door and there was Anne with her husband Geoffrey. Anne managed to smother me into a tight hug despite her rather pregnant belly.
"Oh Charlotte, it's great to see you. I swear I don't understand how you got so tall." Anne smiled sweetly. She resembled my mother the most as she was also petite and as freckled as my mother.The only difference was that she got Dad's raven hair. Behind her stood Geoffrey, her husband.
"Hello, Geoff!" I greeted warmly as I traveled from Anne's embrace to Geoffrey. Geoffrey was a mild-mannered and slightly delicate young man with a pair of pince-nez perched on his sharp looking nose.
"Always a pleasure to see you, Charlotte. I brought some of Chopin pieces with me so I do hope we'll get an opportunity to play together." He said as he gave me a quick embrace and escorted Anne into the house as she was at the point of her pregnancy where any movement was cumbersome. Geoffrey was a cellist for the orchestra and was a talented musician. Every visit was punctuated with a mini-concert where I would play piano, Geoffrey the cellist, and my father who would put his old violin to his chin and join along.
As Anne and Geoffrey settled into the parlor and the house became crowded with chatter and laughter, I was seized from behind and was being tickled by an unseen though familiar person.
"JAMES! Stop it or I'll—I'll—"
"Or you'll what? You'll stutter?" He joked and continued to tickle me. James was still as much of a child despite being five years older than myself. "Now, where's Dad?"
Mother was the one that answered. "He needed to speak with some professors. He should be home any minute. Now James, give your mother a kiss."
"Aw, Mum, I'm too old for that." James said as he tried hiding behind me, which was quite impossible as he was exactly my father's height. He was practically my father's younger twin.
Despite my mother's petite size, she had the strength to pull all six feet of him and planted a big kiss on his cheek to his chagrin. It was his comeuppance for sneaking behind and tickling me and I began to laugh. He stuck out his tongue in response to my laughter. James was one of the best doctors in London but he still had the maturity of a five year old sometimes. Once he managed to wrench away from Mum he started to talk.
"So I heard from Dad that you met Sherlock Holmes."
"How the deuce do you know about him? And about that?"
"Dad sent me a telegram about it, saying you were distressed and all that. And well, I went to school with his older brother Mycroft and they're very much the same person if I remember right. Can be a bit of a busybody, if I remember right but smart as anyone that I've ever seen."
"'A bit'? That's an understatement." I cleared my throat and changed the subject. I did not want to talk about Holmes at all. "How's your practice, James?"
"I'm based around Kensington now and it's really busy considering that it's nearly winter and of course, everyone will get sick around this time. Remind me to give you a check-up while I'm here."
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "I'll remind you. I promise." I crossed my fingers behind my back as I said this.
"Well, I hope you aren't too busy so that you can find yourself a nice girl to settle down with." Mum said raising up that oh so familiar litany. James groaned while Anne and Geoffrey shared some sympathy but still laughed at my brother's exasperated look.
"Oh, Mum!" He said as he put his hat onto the stand and took a seat next to Geoff. He stretched his arms and placed them behind his back as he sunk into the fabric. "If I happen to find a good girl to settle down, you will be the first to know. By the way, why not ask Charlotte if she's found a nice boy…"
I was about to strangle him when a voice resonated through the home. "Halloa!"
I smiled and was the first to greet my father. "Halloa!" I responded as he took off his top hat and scarf. I helped him take off his tweed jacket. "You're late, James and Anne are here."
"I'm not late, they're early." He retorted as he gave me a kiss on the cheek and proceeded into the parlor. "Jimmy! Annie! Ah my family all here!"
Of course, being the man of the house, practically everyone was on their feet and gathered around the patriarch. There was just a pandemonium of sound all around as everyone was talking at the same time. It took Josephine about four minutes to let us know that dinner was ready.
"Well, I'm starving so let's all continue this pandemonium in the dining room!" He said. "Oh, and Geoff, I do hope you brought your cello. I would like to play some Boccherini."
"Of course I brought it along, sir."
"Good lad, good lad," Father said clapping a hand on one of Geoffrey's shoulders.
After a delicious and satisfying dinner, we sat conversing around the dining table while Father cooed over Anne's large stomach and dispensed advice for Geoff's impending fatherhood duties.
"Having a child is such a joy but at the same time it will be quite a strain. I remember Charlie here would wake us up in the middle of the night for a month straight right after she was born." Father said as he poured himself another glass of wine.
"I think we're quite ready for it, Dad. You know how I've always enjoyed a challenge." Anne said as she rubbed her belly.
"Decide on any names yet?"
But before Anne or Geoffrey could answer, Josephine announced that there was a guest that wanted to speak with Dad.
"Oh Josephine could you tell the guest to call back tomorrow? It is dinner after all." Mum asked.
Dad got up. "No it's quite all right. I'll go see who it is." He walked out of the dining room and the conversation began once again at the table. While my head was in the conversation, I heard from the front door my father speaking in a low voice. The dining room door left open, I was able to see into the hallway and the front door. Inconspicuously I leaned my chair back slightly so that I could see what was going on.
My father's face had a concerned look upon his worn face. The figure who he was speaking with was obstructed by my father. Yet judging from my father's stance and gestures, he was not happy. After a couple more minutes, he closed the door but remained there for a second longer. He began to turn around and I leaned back forward and pretended to be nonchalant as he returned to the dining room.
"Who was that, dear?" Mum asked as he sat back down.
"Ah, well…it was just a colleague of mine." He said, his fingers tracing the rim of his wine glass. "That's all."
"I see," she said and continued giving advice to Anne about her pregnancy.
James was telling me a story about one of his patients but I was not paying much attention. I watched Dad. Though subtle, I saw the lines on his forehead crease in worry. He suddenly looked up at me and we just looked at each other from across the table. Our eyes looked back at each other—the eyes passed down from father to daughter—and it was as simple as that. He knew that I had seen something and I also knew that this was never to be mentioned.
I felt compelled to paint the next day and discovered that I had run out of paints and canvasses. Instead of getting Josephine or one of the other servants to do it, I decided to set off and go on my own—especially when Mum decided to help James find a possible wife. James and I shared one thing in common—which is our temper—and if there was one thing that could perturb him greatly it's an invasion of privacy on his part. Besides, if she's trying to help James, I'm sure that at some point she'll try and assist me. And that was definitely the worst thing she could do at the moment.
Perhaps I should explain myself.
When I fell ill the previous year, I was completely paralyzed on my left side. I was literally in bed for pretty much the entire six months which stretched from late August to early February. During that span of time, my eighteenth birthday came—an important event to so many young girls as it symbolized their entry into society.
I was never officially entered into society. No debutante ball was arranged on my behalf and not that I minded—since parties are usually a large bore for me—but with no entry into society came that I never had a social season where boys came to my door and asked for my permission to court me and such.
Being the daughter of a progressive and educated man as my father is (and wanting to resemble him as much as I could), I was much more interested on reading and studying any book I could get my hands on instead of the latest fashions and how to attract a suitable suitor. Hence, I never really learned about men and frankly I was never interested in marriage—something that I kept secret to myself though I'm sure that my father knew in that oddly weird way that he always does. And I will be the first to say that this attitude cemented itself as I lay sick in bed.
So escaping from my mother's matchmaking hands, I took my bicycle and set out for town. A gift given to me by my father, my mother often thought that it was folly giving me a bicycle considering my delicate state yet James agreed that the gift was a good one considering after the polio had managed to go away, I would need to exercise my leg. I had made my way to busy High Street when I heard my name being called. I stopped my bicycle and turned around to see Aidan Keating walking down the street.
He ran to catch up with me and I dismounted my bicycle. "Hello, Mr. Keating, how are you?"
"It's Aidan when we're not around the adults, Miss Andrewes."
"Very well, if you're going to be casual about things then I insist you call me Charlotte." I said amused. "What are you doing here, Aidan? Shouldn't you be in class?"
"No, no, I'm done for today. I'll probably study a bit more but I'll probably go cross-eyed if I read another book at the moment so I needed some fresh air. How about yourself, Charlotte, what are you doing about town?"
"Well, I needed to fetch some paints and canvasses and I wanted to get some fresh air as well." I said as he started to walk again. I decided to walk next to him with my bicycle.
"I have nothing better to do so I might as well come along with you." He said with a smile. However I could not help but feel anxiety in the pit of my stomach.
After walking a couple more blocks, I got the paints and canvasses and put the paints into my basket and Aidan kindly carried the canvasses. We managed to occupy our time by talking about his studies and rowing practice and the various books that I've read. However, that could only fill so much time and we sunk into an awkward silence.
"So…" Aidan started to talk. "I wanted to ask if you weren't busy and didn't need to head back home if you could accompany me to a fencing competition at Christ Church."
By the time the match was over, I thought to myself, Mum was probably done attempting to match up James with some poor young woman or other. Thus she would be done expending her energies and would not perform her services on me. I accepted gladly and we went on our way.
I began to realize that perhaps going with Aidan had been a bad idea for I realized that for him there was more of a romantic implication to our outing that I stupidly had not thought of this. As Aidan and I walked together, he insisted on taking my bike and also whenever he managed to look at me, I could see something in his eyes that wanted more than a casual friendship with me. Damn it all, I thought to myself.
The match was to be held in an unused classroom. We entered and found that the desks had been pushed back to the wall to make use of the most space. Several bystanders were already waiting for the match to begin, sitting on the tops of the desks. Some benches had also been brought in for extra seating and that is where Aidan and I decided to sit.
I tried to put myself at ease and subdue these anxious feelings. I watched the competitors gather on opposite ends of the room. Some were putting on their protective gear while others were slashing at imaginary opponents. One competitor caught my eye not by his actions but lack of them. He was leaning against the wall with his foil in hand, his eyes closed. I then realized that the fencer was none other than Holmes.
Aidan was about to speak when I interrupted him. "I didn't know Holmes fenced."
"Oh," he said a little put off by my bringing up of Holmes. "Yes and he's quite accomplished. I'm sure that he'll do a great job." He raised his arm and waved at Holmes. Holmes merely nodded in his own way of greeting and his grey eyes moved towards my direction. I looked away and tried to focus on something else but luckily Aidan supplied conversation to distract me.
"So Charlotte, I heard that it will be your birthday very soon."
"Yes, it will be. I will be nineteen years old."
"Well, congratulations," he said with a smile that twinkled those bright blue eyes of his. "I heard that there will be some sort of festivities in your honor."
"Yes, my mother had it arranged for me. She missed out on the opportunity to throw me a party last year due to…well, you know."
"Oh right, well…I wanted to ask if I could accompany you…"
Oh dear, I had been right. Now what the hell was I going to do? Aidan was a nice man and a handsome looking one at that but I just was in no way interested in him in a romantic way. Before I could give Aidan an answer, Professor Ellis had raised his hand in the air to bring attention to the sizable crowd.
"All right, everyone, let us get settled and everything. The match is about to begin. I'll introduce you to the team from Baillol College," there was polite applause heard from all around. "And our own team from Christ Church." Louder cheers were heard this time around. Professor Ellis raised his hands in the air once again and waited for quiet to reign in the hall again. Finally satisfied, he spoke once again. "I want everyone to behave civilly. This is not some street brawl you are watching. This is a gentlemen's sport and I want such behavior that warrants it." He surveyed the crowd again as if to instill the severity of the sport. "The match will begin now."
I felt Aidan's hand move over mine and I looked at him.
"I'll let you know after the match what my answer is." I said removing my hand and rubbing my left arm.
He moved closer and whispered in my ear. "I'll be waiting,"
I knew he would and I knew that I would need to find some way to let him down easy. I felt someone else's eyes upon me and I turned and saw Holmes looking straight at me with a small smile on his face. Was it possible that he knew what was going on? Hell, if he knew about my polio, I'm sure he'd be able to figure out Aidan's forward nature and my unease from several feet away.
At the match's conclusion, Christ Church had managed to win with a slight edge over Baillol courtesy of Holmes. Of course, Holmes gloated over his victory and had a smug look on his face as he polished his foil and removed the protective clothing. Everyone had gathered around him, giving him cheers and applause. Aidan went over to Holmes and gave him a congratulatory punch on the shoulder.
"Brilliant job, Holmes! Well done!" Aidan said.
"Well, I thank you, Aidan, but you see that win was quite elementary." Holmes said with an air of mock modesty. "You see, that fellow from Baillol parried when he should have lunged and—well, you saw the rest."
"Quite an accomplishment, I must say," Professor Ellis said, looking over his pupil warmly. "I'll see you in the laboratory Monday morning, Mr. Holmes?"
"Of course, Professor," he then turned towards me. "Well, Miss Andrewes, I thought we would never cross paths again."
"I would agree with you at any other time however Aidan invited me to join him." I retorted as politely as I could for we were still in a public atmosphere. I would have to rip him apart some other time again. "However, I must agree that it was quite a match."
"I would say so myself if I were able to see that match for myself." Holmes said. I felt like I was going to choke on this arrogance. "May I assume that you and Aidan are courting?"
The shift in subjects was not only abrupt but absolutely uncalled for. My face essentially turned the same hue as my hair and before I could answer, it seemed that Providence had some divine retribution in store.
"SHERLOCK!"
It was Holmes' turn to turn scarlet as a streak of pink taffeta shot past me and appeared at his shoulder. It was a young girl perhaps around my own age with curly blonde hair kept in a frizzled bun who looked at Holmes adoringly with large brown eyes. A heavy sigh escaped Holmes and from the glowering look in his grey eyes I could tell that this wasn't a pleasant visit.
"Oh Sherlock, you were so brave and strong! Did you hear me cheering for you because I was and see, because I cheered for you, you won—"
Holmes attempted to interrupt her, saying brusquely. "Actually, Miss Ellis, I won because—"
"Oh Sherlock," she rested her curly head on his shoulder to his great vexation. "We make a great pair the both of us. I cheered you on and you won."
He put his hand on his furrowed brow. "Aidan, Miss Andrewes, I have the greatest pleasure in introducing you to Miss Emily Ellis. Emily, this is Aidan Keating and Charlotte Andrewes."
Emily didn't even seem to notice us and kept up her adoring rant. Aidan gave me a sidelong glance and I tried to smother my laughter. Oh this was sweet, sweet revenge.
"Sherlock, oh, we belong together, don't you see?" Emily's eyes and voice said beseechingly. "We make a great couple, don't you think?"
The look of anger and horror upon Holmes sent me over the edge and a giggle managed to escape me which unfortunately got Emily's attentions.
"Why are you laughing?" Emily said with a fanatic tone. "Sherlock Holmes and I are going to be together, you'll see! Mrs. Emily Holmes…I love the sound of that. Doesn't it sound lovely, Sherlock?"
Holmes finally managed to recover from the shock and regained his wits. He said with a kindly voice that I thought he was incapable of, "Emily, dear, I believe I see your father looking for you."
"Oh well, then I must see to Daddy." She fixed a would-be seducing gaze on Holmes. "Until we meet again, my dear Sherlock, parting is such sweet sorrow." She puckered up her lips and blew him a kiss and off went Emily Ellis to wreak havoc on someone else.
Holmes looked positively green at this point. "The bane of my existence,"
"Oh I don't know, Holmes, I think you two would be quite happy with each other." I said unable to control my laughter. Aidan released the long-held laughter and began to hoot loudly. Holmes just stood silent as our laughter rang all around him. Finally when we managed to calm down he cleared his throat.
"Well, are you quite done?"
"No, wait a moment, Sherlock," Aidan said catching his breath and then starting to laugh again. My laughter had already started to fade away when Holmes ultimately put a damper on my mood.
As Aidan was distracted by his laughing fit, he leaned over to me and whispered, "It seems that the both of us have attracted unwanted attentions."
Any signs of laughter had fled from me after that statement.