14

Lady Victoria stood as if glued at the center of her room, reading the words on the little piece of paper she was given by Knight. "A man in want of attention?" she mused within herself. "Additionally, he writes nothing of himself, not even a family name for easy detection?" she wondered. And for Knight, this was exactly the point of writing the paper anonymously, to create curiosity in the Lady.

In realization that the letter was quite anonymous, Lady Victoria turned to see if Knight had indeed left, only to be met by a closed and locked door. Knight was already long gone. She wanted to ask him who it was that had rendered him the letter. But now she would have to stay quiet, for Andrew would almost certainly fire Knight if he were to find out that Knight had given Victoria an admirer's letter when it was no calling time.

Lady Victoria, with the letter in her hand, slightly folded it as it was, and placed it next to her lamp, with the book she had been reading before, and hadn't yet finished, on top. She thought the words in the letter sweet and wanting, coming to the conclusion that this writer might probably be one of her already known admirers. Thus, to her, it became nothing but beautiful pieces of crafted writing, but she appreciated the effort, inwardly.

The next day, at exactly six in the morning, Larny and the maids woke Victoria up unintentionally as they were preparing the water tub for Lady Victoria to bathe.

As she rubbed her puffy eyes, she observed the maids placing cool and boiling water with ease, as Larny's elbow touched the water to feel its heat. After it was perfect and its temperature interesting to Larny, she dispersed the other ladies, as her eyes turned to Lady Victoria, who was now climbing off the bed.

"I'm sorry we woke you early!" she started, "Prince Edward has arrived quite earlier than usual today. With him, he carries red roses and the peacock has well be fed by the guards and later in the day…" squinting her eyes, "he shall be freed to roam the compound," she added, grinning in a smile.

"So early?" Lady Victoria questioned, as she noticed a folded piece of paper lingering in Larny's left hand. "You carry a letter, for you?" she asked curiously, smiling, as Larny walked quickly to the door, locked it, and pushed her hand forward right after she was close to Lady Victoria.

"A writing for you, Lady Victoria. Should I dispose of it, as it has no name on it?" Larny questioned, of course, her usual duty of dealing with papers and things Lady Victoria was in no need of.

Lady Victoria stood from her bed and smoothly took the letter from her maid's hand. It was still folded the same way as the previous one, and well signed 'anonymous' on the top visible part of the fold. Curiosity got the better of her, and she opened the letter, as Larny too eyed the letter, curious about what it would contain.

"Gossip says, you stand first in attracting almost all, if not all, eligible bachelors in London… and I, not a gossiper though, but I shall gossip in this letter, dictate, you are the most unreachable eligible spinster despite all standing admirers.

I envy those who have gotten acquainted with you…

How am I to? Or have I?"

"It leaves with a question," Lady Victoria gasped suddenly in frustration, somehow scaring even Larny, who was waiting to hear what the letter stated. It turned out they were small sentences. But God knows how small or little of a sentence can change even a breaking human.

"Am I to dispose of it, my lady?" Larny questioned, ready for action.

"No… We can't dispose of it. Would you know who gave it to you?" Lady Victoria questioned.

"It was one of the night guards, the one who stands right at night," Larny replied, as Lady Victoria thought much about who stood right or left of their door at night. She never took much into consideration of who did stand wherever; it was not much of her business.

"It's alright, I believe the writer shall acquaint himself someday. Hopefully, I will still be available!" Lady Victoria added in an ignorant tone.

"Should I dispose of the little piece?" Larny questioned again, as Lady Victoria shook her head and threw the paper, a little aimlessly, onto the top of the table.

"Should I dispose of it?" Larny questioned again, her eyes worried that the paper might have frustrated the Lady, but Lady Victoria was far from being frustrated by the letter; all she knew was that the words had left her hanging. And there was nothing worse than being left hanging by a letter.

"It is anonymous. This means I can't quite communicate with the writer. Isn't that obtuse?" Lady Victoria stated, starting to undress herself, remembering that the hot tub might already be running cold.

"It might be cold, my lady," Larny noted, but Lady Victoria was adamant about getting herself into the bathtub. It was only a few degrees from cold, but she cared little about it.

In the bathtub, none spoke to the other. The room was silent, with the soft sound of Larny squishing water on the soft cloth she bathed Lady Victoria with as the only thing heard. Lady Victoria's eyes were lightly shut, her thoughts far away from Larny's doing. She thought of who the writer was, and secondly, of Prince Edward, whose persistence and want were evident. A man calling out a woman as early as six—was that not crazier? Lady Victoria wondered. The climax of Larny massaging Lady Victoria was reached, and she knew the bath was all done, and now she opened her eyes. Larny had never seen Lady Victoria close her eyes on her when giving her a bath. This was odd.

"In deep thoughts, my Lady?" she questioned, as she wrapped the silk cotton-made towel around Lady Victoria's head in order to dry her hair, then helped the Lady out of the bathtub and wrapped the following towel on her body after drying her completely.

"No…" Lady Victoria lied. It was not in her nature to lie. What troubled her? Larny still detected the lie and assumed probably the lady did not want to be disturbed as she helped her farther away to the closet where she was to wear today's beautiful pink dress with white folds at the neck and the edges. It was just a simple but elegant dress for a day to stay at home.

"You look beautiful, my lady," Larny complimented as she dragged the big castle-designed mirror for Lady Victoria to check her reflection in, to which she smiled back, but Larny noticed it was not the same smile she had lived to know since her first start of being close to Lady Victoria. Larny was a little older than Lady Victoria, but not that aged; they would still stand to be classified as agemates. She was twenty-three, Lady Victoria being just sixteen. She started the work when she was just a sixteen-year-old girl at the Lancaster house, back in Lancaster. She probably then thought that the light makeup was what was little enticing Lady Victoria, hence running for the makeup box opposite where they stood, at the makeup table.

"I want no more makeup, I believe the light is enough," Lady Victoria added, her voice low and hardly convincing. Larny nodded as Lady Victoria looked at her flat white shoes, gave Larny one last glance and said, "Tell no one about the letters. They might be the only perfect thing as light in my life."

"My lady," Larny started.

"Please, Larny," she suddenly, for the first time, called out, swiftly reaching for Larny's folded hands. "You tell no one. Not even Andrew!"

"Of course. Of course!" Larny added, pulling Lady Victoria into a slight hug. She, of course, knew a lot weighed on her. A lot indeed! Especially the thought that she was finally saying her goodbye to the home that bore her. Is it not hurting?

With that, Larny called out one of the guards, and out Lady Victoria went, the guard escorting her. Down the stairs to the living room, and on the left, the parlor sat there.

"Dear!" the Countess called, on sight of Lady Victoria approaching the parlor. She embraced her in a slight hug, and with her left hand, slightly motioned a leave gesture to the guard as the Countess pulled Lady Victoria toward the sofa, with Prince Edward seated, enjoying a tray full of macaroons, and beside him, a full bouquet of red roses. On sight of Lady Victoria, he stood and bowed a little, as she also slightly acknowledged his presence. Andrew had not yet arrived from his businesses—being with the lowlife actress, if he knew the McVourse prince were here, he surely would fly.

"For you!" Prince Edward stated, offering a bouquet of flowers to Lady Victoria, as she gladly accepted and placed them at the corner. The Countess, despite being farther away from the two, tried to motion to Lady Victoria to smell the flowers and at least lie. But Victoria saw none of that. She felt her mother was probably correcting her sitting posture or something of the sort.

"I feel I a little bit overwhelmed you with my wants yesterday! My apologies, I meant no pressure on you!" Prince Edward started, "I contemplated on it and felt I became a little selfish! That stands not as my nature. Please feel free to choose whoever your heart warms to. May the best win. I came earlier, as I was scared another would arrive earlier than I. Incompetent of me as it is. But I… I am glad I still remain the first, despite. Call the peacock your favorite material, in all the embroidered items girls like, or a doll, or whatever it is girls like… I would say your favorite character in a book! But I denote not you read… I like not readers... I prefer girls who are home-based at least. They know less of civilization now, as I shall teach them when she becomes a queen…" Lady Victoria heard nothing after that. It was already detected by her that Prince Edward had a label for the lady he wanted… but would he stop talking? Would he stop disintegrating himself? This is the part where Lady Victoria needed her brother Andrew. To quieten mouths making such statements. She sought Prince Edward as more educated; it seemed he still remained lacking!