A/N: So this is a quick update, but I wasn't in the mood to update my other ones, so here we are :) Thanks to linalove, Marciella and dionne dance for reviewing the last chapter. I hope this one satisfies! :D
"Maître," Angelique breathed, clumsily curtseying. What was she going to do now? Would he tell on her? Why hadn't she taken more notice of the bird?
"Who are you? Why are you here?" he asked, standing up straight with his hands on his hips and clearly trying to be like his father.
"Je suis désolée, maître. Je… je…" She trailed off as she realised she'd spoken in fluent French.
"Who are you?" he repeated. Angelique swallowed.
"I'm the Housekeeper's daughter, Angelique Bouchard."
He seemed to relax slightly at her words which made Angelique wonder whether he'd thought her an intruder. "Well, what are you doing out of bed?"
"I… I wanted to see the house. I've never been down here before and I wanted to know what it was like," Angelique said, then realised it sounded a bit weak. She looked up at him uncertainly, but immediately looked down again when she saw two dark eyes frowning at her. "I'm sorry."
"How old are you?"
Angelique looked up again, startled. "I'm six."
"I haven't seen you around before. Where do you stay in the day?"
This time it was Angelique's turn to frown. He was chatting with her? The master of the house was chatting to a servant's daughter in the middle of the night? "I stay in my room, master."
"Oh, do you play with your toys when your mother works?" His voice had completely lost the authoritative tone it had had a moment ago.
Angelique frowned again. "No, I don't have any toys. I sew and embroider."
"Really?" He looked shocked. "Mother does that. It looks so dull."
"Well, it can get a little boring, but my mother says I have to learn so I can mend my own clothes when I'm older."
"Oh, Father says I have to learn arithmetic so that I can take over the business when I'm older. That's why I have a tutor. Although, he says we may move soon and start a fishing business in America."
"Oh." Angelique didn't know what arithmetic or a tutor was, but she didn't dare ask. She was already in enough trouble as it was. However, Barnabas didn't seem to notice her confusion and continued the conversation.
"Have you ever been into the city? Mother has taken me a few times." Angelique shook her head. "It is disgusting. The filth that lines those streets… I don't know how those people live like that. It smells like ripe chamber pots!"
Inside, the young girl felt a bit disappointed. She'd always imagined the streets she'd daydreamed walking along to be exciting and a real treat, but from what Barnabas was describing, they sounded even worse than being in the house day after day. Perhaps that's why her own mother never took her, she thought to herself, because they were so horrible.
"So what were you looking at in here? The portraits?" Barnabas asked, pulling Angelique from her thoughts.
"Yes," Angelique said softly, turning back around to admire the paintings.
"It is incredibly dull posing for them. Do you know I had to stand for hours in that pose while that Pinter man painted me? I ached all over by the end of it."
Angelique stopped herself from pointing out that most of the servants ached all the time.
"That one is Mother, she's so pretty, don't you think?"
"Yes, if only I could paint that beautifully. They're so lovely, especially the ladies in their dresses. I wish I had a dress like that."
"Mother has lots, all in different colours. I think she likes the navy ones best. She wears them the most, although, she only wears her best when she goes out or Father holds a dinner party. I don't like those dinner parties. The ladies get all giggly around the men and clutch onto their arms. Luckily, I am allowed to go to bed after a couple of hours so I don't have to put up with them."
"I'd love to go to a dinner party and get all dressed up. Anything other than wearing my blue pinafore or the black dress."
"You only have two dresses?"
"Yes. I don't need more than two. One for every day and one for special occasions."
"Like church?" Barnabas asked.
"Well, we don't really go to church…" Angelique fiddled with the front of her dress awkwardly as she noticed that Barnabas was staring at her with wide eyes, his mouth gaping open.
"You don't go to church?" he asked in horror.
"We can't, so we have our own service here, in the servants' quarters. My mother takes it."
"Oh, right. Well I suppose you don't need as many dresses then."
Before Angelique could reply, there came a twittering from her shoulder and the little bird rose up, as if stretching its wings.
"You have your own bird?" Barnabas asked, his eyes widening. "It's rather unusual colours."
Angelique didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him about the fact it came from a piece of sewing she did. He would accuse her of being a witch!
The bird fluttered back down again and nestled close to her neck, as though it was trying to show that it did belong to her, leaving Angelique no choice but to admit it was hers.
"Yes," she said. "It was hurt and landed on my window ledge, so I'm looking after it until its better again."
"Oh, does it have a name?"
"Um…" Angelique thought for a moment. "She's called Sèraphine."
"That's a pretty name, what does it mean?" Barnabas wasn't looking at her, instead, he had his head cocked, watching the little bird on her shoulder intently.
"It means fiery one. I named her that because of her colouring."
"Can I hold her?"
"Well, yes, if she'll let you." Angelique reached up to her shoulder, hoping that Sèraphine would hop onto her finger so she could pass her over, although confused as to why the bird seemed to want to be with her now after seeming so scared of her earlier.
Luckily, Sèraphine seemed to understand and instead of letting Angelique take her over, just flew over and perched on the young boy's outstretched hand.
"She's so light!" he exclaimed in shock, making Angelique giggle a little. "It's as though she's not there at all. You're so lucky! I wish I could have a pet bird."
"Well, we could share her if you want, master?" Angelique said as Barnabas' hopeful eyes followed the bird as she glided back to her owner.
"Really? But we never see each other, unless… we could have nightly visits!" His eyes lit up with excitement. "It could be our secret. You share Sèraphine and I will show you around the house."
"Would you?" Angelique asked eagerly. "I was worried I'd get lost, but if you know your way around then I'd be…" she trailed off as she suddenly thought of what would happen if someone found out. "Your Mother and Father wouldn't be very pleased if they found out you were talking to me, would they?"
"I promise I won't tell them. As I said, it will be our secret."
"Well, I can't come every night, I can't risk any of the other servants hearing me."
"Well, how about two or three times a week?" Barnabas suggested, adamant that he was going to get his way. "I would like to be friends."
Angelique was taken aback. Surely this wasn't right. A boy of his class couldn't be friends with a serving girl, could he? However the thought of losing her new friend so quickly was something she found she couldn't bear thinking about, so she chose not to ask. "Me too."
Barnabas smiled at her, his dark eyes now a warm dark chocolate colour. "Shall we meet here at midnight on Thursday then?"
"Okay, I'll try, but if I don't arrive, then it's probably because I can't get away from my mother."
"Good, well, we should probably be going back to bed now. I suspect it will be dawn in a few hours and you look rather tired," he said as Angelique yawned.
"Well, goodnight, master."
"Goodnight, Angelique."
She watched as he walked out of the room before finding her way back up to the serving quarters, managing not to wake anyone, even in her state of excitement.
As she got to her room, she whispered to Sèraphine to stay hidden and slipped into bed, falling asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow and leaving her with dreams about her new friend and what fun they were going to have together.
A/N: French translations
Maître = Master
Je suis désolée = I am sorry