A/N: Next chapter. Delivered as promised. May I just say how much TheNugget's review meant to me? It was very encouraging and made me want to get this chapter up as soon as I physically could. You can thank them for that. ^-^ Well.. here it is and more will be coming shortly. Enjoy!
Chapter Thirty-one
Passing of Time
The next week passed by quickly. Darcey had practice everyday and then hurried to eat and go to her room or outside rather than chance hearing La Carlotta anymore than absolutely necessary. The rest of the cast was learning the dances and looking over the scripts until the orchestra knew the songs well enough to play while they practice. Darcey was afraid it wouldn't be much longer before that occurred. No more than a couple days. She spent the afternoons practicing on her own or with Nadilee. She spent the evenings often with Nadilee or Meg, often both and half the time with Meg was spent with Garren. Darcey hadn't physically seen Erik but had seen the evidence of his presence. The first night, she got in bed to find that a warming pan had been placed under her mattress. Every night after, there was a warming pan there. One especially cold night, he had placed a hot brick wrapped in a towel at the foot of her bed to keep her feet warm. She had written him a thank you note after the first night and it had not been there when she returned to her room. Today, she was going to spend the afternoon with Lionell. He had been busy all week and hadn't been free until today. She had felt bad rejecting the offer after he had followed through with his side of the bargain.
She combed through her hair before placing her headband back on. She didn't know how to improve her appearance anymore. She sighed. Why did she care what he thought? She shouldn't feel the need to perfect her appearance. She turned her back on the mirror. "Here goes nothing," she whispered to herself before heading towards his office. She knocked on the door and heard him call for her to come in. She opened the door and he looked up from his desk. He grinned at her.
"I'll be right with you. Just let me sign this..." He looked back down, signed his name, and pushed his chair back so he could walk over to her. On his way over, he picked up a picnic basket. Darcey raised her eyebrow at that. "Don't worry, we aren't going outside in the snow." He pulled out a blanket and spread it out on the floor. He proceeded to set out food and she kneeled down to help him. While they sat and dished up, Darcey reflected on how different this picnic was compared with the one she had had several weeks ago. She preferred the more relaxed and simple picnic they had shared. "So, how is your duet coming?"
"Excellent. I'm so excited for the production. We are going to start practicing altogether soon."
"I'm happy for you. I look forward to it." They were silent for awhile until he thought of another topic of conversation. "Tell me about your child hood. Where did you grow up? I wouldn't happen to have known your parents would I?"
"Yes, you did know them. My father was Lord Dubois. My childhood home was near yours."
His jaw dropped. "You are teasing me, aren't you?"
She shook her head. "I'm not. My full name is Darchelle Dubois."
Lionell stared at her for a minute before recognition dawned. "I knew you. Before I mean. I believe we might have even played together as children. What happened to you? People talked about how you had disappeared for weeks."
She made a confused face. "I didn't disappear. I was kicked out of my home by a distant cousin. I had to sell all of my things and fend for myself."
"I'm so sorry. I didn't know. You know how rumors are. Some people said you ran away with a lover. Some said you were kidnapped. I never found out the truth. Time passed and society moved on." Darcey just nodded. It was weird talking to someone who knew her from before. "You've changed. Did you know that?" He had no idea how much. "You're not as shy anymore, that's for sure." She nodded. "Was it hard? I mean you went from having so much to having so little. I don't think I could do that."
Darcey nodded slowly. "It was the hardest things I've had to experience." Especially one part of it. She didn't think she would ever be able to forget what had happened that day.
"I'm sorry that you had to suffer. Why did he kick you out?"
Darcey went completely pale. This was not something she wanted to talk about. "My parents didn't leave me with anything. They didn't care enough about me. I was in mourning and couldn't leave my home. Then the current Lord came and told me that I had been left with nothing. That they had given him everything. He gave me three days to sell all my things and leave. It's a horrible feeling to know that your parents loved a complete stranger more than you, their own child." Lionell was silent as he thought about what she had said. His eyes brightened and he opened his mouth to speak but shut his mouth again. "What?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing." Darcey could tell it wasn't nothing but if he didn't want to talk about it, then she wouldn't force him. He shook his head. "This is not how I wanted this to go. I apologize." She just nodded. "Will you allow you to make it up to you?" She looked at him questioningly. "Are you free next Tuesday?" She nodded her head causing him to grin. "Good. You aren't anymore."