Catastrophe - 1

"Oh my goodness!" The slight figure moved ecstatically from one region of the spacious room to another, moping in sheer amazement! This person was, of course, Louisa.

She was about to faint from beholding this much vanity!

The decor style of the bedroom was a pink floral pattern matched with a blend of cheerful lavender. This gave the room background a fussily feminine outlook. 

"Can there be any more surprises? Imagine how much wealth this merchant allows to fritter away!"

Louisa laughed charmingly, thoroughly overjoyed. She slapped her hands together in the process. She could not believe her luck.

The room in itself was fragrant and very spacious. She thought the premise was dainty and neat, and the bed looked big and lush to afford her a comfortable sleep for several decades, undisturbed.

"This is a fantasy dream come true!"

One step after another, Louisa moseyed inside a seemingly large room space. It was an extension of the exotic bedroom, but it was more of a closet than a bedroom. The closet was an exalted room with so many unique styles of clothing. Unique; in that, they looked quite foreign from the ones she was used to seeing.

Smiling contentedly, she veered her feet towards the exit and walked a couple of seconds out of the wardrobe and into the bedroom.

"Ah..." she let a sigh break out of her lips, smiling, "I wonder what the outside view looks like from up here. Well, let me go see."

Picking up both sides of her skirt, she ran excitedly like a happy toddler in the direction of the window side. 

••••

Rochester walked out of his study feeling lighter and a lot more positive about a lot of things. He still felt bad about the situation back at the inn and one that had led him to bring the said girl over to Aegremonth where he welcomed her into his home.

He swivelled towards the right where he saw the flight of stairs he could take to descend to the first floor where her bedroom sat, but he stopped abruptly allowing his mind to dawdle on another thought. 

'Adele...she must not cross paths yet with Hazel or else she'll make it known to mother when she returns. No! I mustn't allow this catastrophe to happen and Simon, how can I be sure that he has gotten my message delivered to Grace? What if she's yet to take Adele out of the garden and Hazel gets to stumble on her from her bedroom window?'

"No!" a hesitant sigh heaved out of his chest. Taking a deep exhale, he froze, "I should go down by myself."

In a dash, Rochester hurried down the flight of stoned marble stairs to be able to reach the ground floor quick enough.

•••••

Louisa slowed down her slight racing when she found herself very close to the window. 

That side was neatly aerated with the dry wind crashing in from the outside heat. It was a windy, and hot afternoon!

"Ah. The skies are truly colourful from up here. It's almost like I can touch the skies if I put my hands up enough. Can you imagine if I was to climb up to the topmost floor? I wish mother was here to behold all these things with me."

Just as she was taking care to admire the sun and its yellow rays from that height, Louisa heard a loud rumble in her stomach. It only meant one thing.

"I am starving!" she whined painfully while picking her right hand up to her belly and squeezing on it, "why is either Brightfin or Mrs. Phellipe not here yet? Don't they know that I will be hungry by now?"

An angry scowl marred up her face, only slightly because she still looked very pretty either way. In that mood of wanting to stop her view of the outside scene, she was eager to head back down from her bedroom in search of her offenders. 

"Oh! If only they know how wickedly I'm about to deal with them. Idiots! How can..."

Her eyes suddenly shifted to a view of the garden below where she caught a truly fascinating view.

"How lovely!" a bubbly exclamation burst out of her mouth the moment she saw him, Simon, the merchant's Butler. He was in close contact with a little girl who looked around the age of five or six? Since she could not see much of the girl's face, Louisa reckoned that her svelte clothing meant that she could not necessarily be the man's daughter. 

"Oh, look how tenderly he is talking to her. Are they related or something?"

Just as her musings wandered to such a thought, she caught a peek of someone else...she could only see his back as he suddenly walked in on the scene of Simon coaxing the little girl to do something. 

The harder she looked at the other man to figure out who he was, the more she felt there was something oddly familiar about him.

"Have I seen him before?"

______

Good news, everyone! This book has finally been sent a contract invite.

To my loyal fans, I know it has been a lot of waiting but I put up an announcement already stating when daily updates will resume.

So far, it is looking like I will be able to keep up after all because May is looking more promising in that I will have ample time at my disposal. As such, I can focus chiefly on writing.

Yay!!!

I know with the 2022 Webnovel Spirity contest in line, there is the temptation to start another project but I would not be doing that. Yes, for now, this book and Ara's story remain my utmost priority.

Thank you all for reading. I love you guys and see you in the next chapter. 😘😘