WDWG - Chapter 23: Bewildered

It became clear to Buffy that things were very different than what she had expected. Okay, so Giles was well off. That made sense at a certain level. She had always wondered how he had managed his "year of leisure" as she referred to it, and the way that he carried himself always reminded her of a character out of a Merchant-Ivory film. Not that vile Cecil character from A Room with a View, though. That was more the fact that his uncle was some sort of Lord? That Giles was Sir Rupert? And - there was an estate? It all boggled her mind.

The befuddled Slayer was starting to piece things together: her Watcher's preference for traditional weddings, 'I can't deny my heritage,' and 'certain ways things are done.' He was part of something she never in a million years could have dreamed of. But could the pieces fit? She was Californian born and bred, and there was etiquette here, precedent, stuff she'd heard of, but really had no clue about, other than what she'd read about in the gossip magazines about the Royals. And she was casual, at times irreverent, and very, very American. This was so not going to go well.

Giles noticed the concentration on her face as she stared out the window watching the landscape go by. "We've got about forty-five minutes to an hour depending on traffic. Do you want or need anything?"

"Uh, I think I just want to rest." She answered.

"Tired, love? I thought you slept well on the plane."

"I did, just not enough I guess." Buffy snuggled up against him and shut her eyes. She wasn't quite ready to ask about all this new information and he didn't seem to feel the need to say anything about it. She sighed, not really knowing what to think at the moment. 'You're definitely not in Kansas anymore, Toto.' She told herself.

XxXxXxXx

Buffy hadn't thought she would actually fall asleep, and gave Giles a shy grin when he woke her as the car turned onto the property. The gravel drive was lined with poplar trees and when she looked up and saw the "house" she nearly dropped her jaw. Very Merchant-Ivory, she decided. "Um, Giles?"

"Yes, my dear?"

"You want to tell me about...uh... all of this?" She asked, gesturing towards the castle like building before them with disbelieving eyes.

He smiled, "Let's get settled first. I could use a good cup of tea."

When the car came to a stop in front of the manor house, Alan quickly came around and opened the door for them. As Giles exited the car, the chauffeur addressed him, "Sir Rupert, Lady Anna should be here within the hour to look at your injured hand."

"You called her?" The Watcher asked incredulously.

"No, Sir. I called the house and spoke with William. He said he would arrange it. He presumed his Lordship would want your injury tended to by family." The driver responded unfazed.

Giles sighed in resignation, "Thank you, Alan." He turned to help his bewildered fiancée out of the vehicle.

They were met at the car by William, the head butler, "Sir Rupert, Miss Summers, I hope your trip was satisfactory. Your rooms are ready. His Lordship has made the assumption that you will be sharing accommodations, but if that is not adequate, please let me know and we will make arrangements to suit your needs. Would you like to take tea in the Drawing Room or in your rooms?"

Looking over at his future bride, Giles could see she was rather unsettled and answered, "In our rooms, I should think, William, thank you."

They followed the butler through the main wing of the house, and the grandeur of it all rendered her speechless. When they arrived at Giles' rooms, Buffy's eyes widened in astonishment and she felt like she stepped through the pictures of her high school European history book. The suite consisted of a huge living room and study area, an ornate bathroom that clearly had been modernized with a step in jacuzzi tub, a huge shower with multiple heads and jets, and a closed off water closet; and huge bedroom complete with a four poster bed, antique wooden furniture, paintings from 18th and 19th Century masters, and rich heavy navy blue velvet drapes that matched the bed linens.

"Tea will be up shortly. Is there anything else I can do for either of you?"

Buffy looked at Giles and shrugged her shoulders. "No, I think we are fine for now, William, thank you."

"Very good. Sir. Miss," and with that, the butler left them alone in the living room.

The bemused American folded her arms around her and took in the view from the large window overlooking the rose garden. Giles shoved his good hand in his pocket and walked over to her.

"You look overwhelmed, love." He observed quietly, standing behind her.

"You think?" She asked with a hint of sarcasm, but it wasn't scathing and she kept her eyes trained on the landscape. "It's beautiful. So green and lush."

"I've missed it." Giles stated, pulling his hand from his pocket and slipping his arm around her waist, drawing her as flush against his body as he could with the sling in the way. He lowered his head and kissed her temple before continuing, "My uncle is the Earl of Banbury, which is a town about fifty miles north of here. This is his family's estate, called Greys Keep. The earliest part of the current house was built in the early 1500s, but it has been added onto over the generations, with the main wing built in the 1800s. The chapel that you see just beyond the trees is 14th Century and the walls and gatehouse date back to Tudor times. And finally, Lady Anna Grey is my cousin. She's a doctor and runs a practice in London."

"And you, Sir Rupert?" Buffy asked with a sigh, leaning back into him.

"I'm sorry about that. I would have told you back in LA when we were discussing my affairs, only I had forgotten."

She turned and looked at him with incredulous eyes, "You forgot you are an aristocrat?"

"I'm not." He said, matter-of-factly. "Obviously, my mother was, but like Princess Anne she married a commoner, and so the title doesn't pass to me. My father was a Baronet, which is a title conferred on those of us not born into nobility and it is hereditary, passed to the first born male. It was awarded to a great-great-something grandfather back in the late 1700s. I had forgotten about it since I haven't been in a social setting with my father where the title was used in a very long time and this is the first time anyone has addressed me as such. It came as a bit of a shock."

She walked back to the window. "This is all... so... different. It's going to take some time to get used to."

"This is only a small part of my world, Buffy. Things are quite normal at home. I have a few employees who help run the farm, tend to the horses, keep up the house when I am not there, those sorts of things. Nothing nearly as grandiose as this." There was a knock at the door. "Enter." Giles called.

A young woman in her twenties walked through the door with a tray of tea, tea cakes, pastries, and sandwiches. "It's good to see you back, Sir Rupert."

"Thank you, Mary. Um, just set the tray on the coffee table, please."

The maid set down the tray and asked, "Will you or Miss Summers be needing anything else, Sir?"

Giles looked at Buffy who shook her head and turned to inspect the grounds of the estate again from her perch in the window. "No, I think we are fine."

"Lady Anna has just arrived and she says that she will meet you in the library in half an hour."

"Very good, thank you, Mary." As the young woman exited their rooms, Giles looked at the tea pot with an expression of longing and exasperation before Buffy took the cue to cross the room and pour them both a cup, fixing his the way he liked it. Giles gave her a chagrinned smile and took a sip of the hot beverage before replying, "Thank you for the tea, love. Um, I was thinking, as long as Anna is here, it might be good for you to have a physical. We don't know what effects, if any, the spell Willow cast to activate the Slayers might have had on you."

"I take it she knows about Watchers and Slayers, magick, and the things that go bump in the night?" Buffy asked, sitting down on the couch to drink her tea and eat a sandwich.

"Yes, after medical school she went to the Coven in Devon to understand how magick works and what toll it takes on the human body. She possesses no magical abilities of her own, however."

The cautious Slayer sighed, "Is she a Watcher too?"

Giles heard the distrust creep into her voice and sought to reassure her, "No, darling, she's just a doctor who happens to have an interest in the occult, that is all." He sat down beside her on the couch, removed his glasses, and cupped her cheek, "I just think it's a prudent course of action, that is all. It would also be a good idea, in case you conceive or already have done. And if not, we should start out with every advantage possible, don't you think?"

It was the first time since that night that they had talked about the possibility of her becoming pregnant, and her tone softened, "I think a physical is a good idea, but I am not sure I am ready for this to be a topic of discussion around the family dinner table just yet, Giles."

"Anna is a doctor, everything is confidential. Anyway, I don't think there is a need to tell her anything, just a checkup and to see if there are any residual effects from the spell. Anything else you should wish to discuss is, of course, up to you."

Buffy looked past him, finishing her tea. "I think we'll just play it by ear for now. Are you ready to head down and get that hand checked out?"

Giles looked down at his hand and grimaced, "I suppose."

"Come on, you big baby. It's different when the shoe is on the other foot, isn't it?" She asked rhetorically.

As they entered the library, they noticed a tall, slim sandy-haired lady fiddling with a piece of machinery. Giles let out a little cough so as not to startle her and she turned around.

"Shall I treat you for a cold as well, Rupert?" She was a stunning woman in her mid-thirties, and carried herself with grace and assurance. Buffy could detect a family resemblance in stature and hair color, and in the warmth of her smile.

"No cold, just the hand, I'm afraid, and really, you shouldn't fuss." Turning, he put his good hand on the small of Buffy's back and made introductions, "Anna, may I present my fiancée Miss Buffy Summers. Buffy, Lady Anna."

The petite American was at a loss. Should she curtsy, shake hands, or simply turn and run? In the end, she opted for door number two and extended her hand, "Hi, it's nice to meet you."

Anna smiled and took her hand, "It's just Anna, Rupert can be so stuffy sometimes. It's lovely to meet you and congratulations on your engagement. We never thought he would find anyone who could hold his affections long enough." Turning her attentions back to the man in the room, she continued, "Anyway, that was cruel, cousin. The poor girl is probably already freaking out about all this formal shit."

Buffy laughed, "Yeah, it's... definitely a different world here."

Giles rolled his eyes. Anna always was a handful, extremely brash at times, and always picking on him. She had ruled Greys Keep from the moment she could crawl, and every time he visited, she was sure to aggravate him. Still, he loved her like a little sister.

"So what did you do this time?"

"I met a wall I didn't like very much." The older cousin muttered.

Anna's expression softened and she patted his cheek in familial affection, "Oh, Ru, you silly. You should have learnt that lesson by now. This is what? The fifth, maybe sixth time? Anyway, come have a look at my new toy. It's a portable x-ray machine. I'm quite proud of it, really."

Buffy watched the exchange between the two relatives with an amused interest. It was clear who had the upper hand in the relationship. And, Ru? Oh, that was too cute. She definitely would adopt the use of the moniker. Rupert was way too formal for him.

Giles walked over and checked out the device. His cousin was right, it was ingenious. "I am sure there are all sorts of practical applications for this."

"Medical, military, security, archaeology, you name it. Anyway, Buffy dear, I only brought two lead smocks and I have to take a few pictures of your idiot's hand, would you please wait out in the hall until I am done?"

"Uh, sure. Not a problem." Buffy stood on her tip-toes and kissed her lover before heading out the door.

"Your Slayer's beautiful, Ru. You didn't seriously just spring all this upon her did you?" Anna asked setting up the x-ray machine.

The flustered Watcher went to fold his arms across his chest, but the damned sling got in the way and he dropped his right arm down to his side in frustration. Sheepishly, he answered, "I'm afraid I did, though not intentionally. I had intended on going home first, but your father had other plans for us. Uh, incidentally, did you feel any magicks surrounding her?"

"No, not initially. Do you want me to do a more thorough examination?"

Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, Giles responded, "Yes, but not without Buffy's consent. We've talked about her taking a full physical examination, but she's just not comfortable at this time. Still, I'd like to make sure everything is fine."

"I would imagine she's feeling a bit like a fish out of water. Well, I'll be around for the next few days, so should she ask, it won't be a problem. Okay, now let's get that hand out of the sling and have a look."

Having finished up the initial examination and taken the x-rays, the physician let Buffy back into the library.

"So, what's the diagnosis, Doc?" Buffy asked, putting her arms around her fiancé and resting her head in the area between his chest and shoulder.

"We'll know for certain once I finish looking over all the images, but I would say that he's probably fractured at least one of the two fingers you splinted. That, and he needs that hard head of his examined. Walls are not to be trifled with, Ru! They might not fight back, but they know how to take a punch."

"Ha bloody ha," Giles muttered sarcastically, garnering a playful slap from the blonde wrapped up in his embrace.

"She's right, you know." Buffy agreed, looking up at him.

"You're supposed to be on my side!" He complained.

"Well, when you do stupid stuff..." The Slayer grinned wickedly at her accomplice across the room.

"What happened to all the sympathy?"

"Women power, Rupert, deal with it." His cousin riposted.

"Bloody hell!" He pouted, internally pleased to see the two women forming a bond.

"Well, congratulations, you dunderhead!" The doctor declared. "The damage isn't as extensive as I had originally thought. You've only managed to fracture the middle finger and there's a chip in the knuckle just below it. Unfortunately, now I have to put a hard splint on, not just tape the fingers."

Giles sighed. It was a rather stupid injury, easily avoided, but there were very few things that set him off like that anymore. A threat to the safety of the love of his life? Definitely high on the list.

A/N: The Earldom of Banbury is an extinct earldom. It was created for William Knollys in 1626 and died with him. William served both Queen Elizabeth I and her successor King James I. His father Francis served in the courts of Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Queen Elizabeth I and was the jailer of Mary Queen of Scots. I decided to bestow the earldom on Giles' uncle because it is currently extinct and I wouldn't infringe on anyone's title.

Francis Knollys owned the estate Greys Court in Rotherfield Greys in Oxfordshire, upon which I have based Greys Keep, with a few modifications to make it grander. I have never been there, but I chose it because it was associated with the earldom and the Knollys, and also because Rotherfield Greys and Greys Court was originally connected to the Grey family. Rotherfield Greys was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 under the ownership of a Norman Knight named Anchetil de Greye. It all just sort of worked itself out. :)