Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dearest Mama,

It is hard for me to believe that a week has passed since I arrived here. Time passed too quickly, and I have remained rather occupied with work. Although the simple fact that it has been eight days since I packed up my few belongings in a valise and left behind you, Amelia, Sarah, and Edward to come here is still a burden on my heart. I miss all of you immensely, but things have been going well here.

Amy is the sweetest little girl in the world, and it took me only two days to adjust her schedule. I can sense she is already attached to me, and we are beginning to have the best time together since taking care of her hardly feels like a chore. Her uncle, The Earl of Sommers, has been completely absent, and I am certain he is away. If he were in the manor, I would have met him by now. Perhaps his absence has ruined things for the little girl, but I am taking good care of her.

Meanwhile, Mrs Bailey has been taking good care of me!

I have fitted in well with all the servants, and everyone is kind. I believe I did the right thing by not revealing my true identity, for if everyone knew about it, I would have been treated rather differently, and I do not wish that to happen. Things are better this way, and I feel a part of the household.

The house, on the other hand, is beautiful. It keeps reminding me of our manor, but I try to keep thoughts of the past at bay. The only thing that disturbs me is the looming sadness over the house. It is filled with sorrow, Mama. Our little cottage might be small, but it is happy, while this mansion can hardly be called a home. It is beautiful and grand but has no warmth and love to it. I wish I could somehow brighten it. I really hope I can.

Please give all my love to my beautiful sisters and Andrew. I miss you all, but I promise I will visit sooner rather than later.

With love,

Your Ophelia

Ophelia sealed the letter before skipping down the stairs to send it for posting through a maid. She had the afternoon to herself since Amy was taking a nap with Mrs Bailey, and Ophelia was free to spend her time however she wished. After an entire week, she had been able to find some time for herself, and she wanted to use it well.

She handed the letter to a maid and quickly made her way towards the kitchen, having developed a good friendship with the cook. He was a middle-aged man who was kind and courteous and was always insistent on feeding Ophelia, calling her too slim for her own good. He kept telling her how someone as beautiful as her must be a little fuller to complement that beauty.

Had everyone known she was a member of the ton, they would have never been able to develop such frankness towards her, and Ophelia would have felt singled out and alone. To survive here, she needed to have friends, and she had been able to find several of them amongst the help.

"Ophelia!" the cook greeted her as she entered, and she smiled at him. "Where is Miss Amy?"

"Asleep with Mrs Bailey; hence, I have the afternoon to myself," she replied, sitting on a chair that had already been pulled out.

"And how are you planning to spend it?"

"I was wondering if I could go out and stretch my legs a little. Do we have a market nearby?" she asked the cook, who nodded.

"Of course we do! You will have to go to the village, and if you are going to the village, would you be kind enough to bring me eggs and bread?"

"Absolutely."

She was rather excited to be able to go out. She was missing the village.

***

Ophelia made her way across the gardens, walking back towards the mansion after her trip to the village. She had got the eggs and bread, which the cook had asked her to bring and definitely had an extremely enjoyable time making her way across the market. Even though she had been alone, her time had been extremely enjoyable. Despite that, she missed Amy and found herself wondering what Amy might be doing at several intervals of the day.

It was almost as if they were attached.

She continued to walk ahead when her gaze fell on a tall man, brushing down the most beautiful chestnut stallion. She switched her gaze away from the horse, only to realize that the man had been staring at her all along, his eyes narrowed.

Is something stuck to my face? Why is he staring?

She did not know what it was about him, but she flustered under his gaze, suddenly feeling more self-conscious than she had ever felt in her entire life. It was true he was rather good-looking, but Ophelia had never thought to be attracted to a stable boy or groom. He must certainly be either of those. Despite that, she could not understand why he continued to stare at her.

"Hello?" Ophelia greeted him from afar, quickly making her way towards him. His eyes widened at her greeting, clearly not having expected her to approach, but Ophelia had never been one to back away.

"Hello."

"Is something stuck to my face or am I doing something wrong?" she questioned, still feeling self-conscious. He was much taller than her, his dark hair standing out in perfect contrast against his white skin. Ophelia could not deny his handsome looks, feeling a pull towards him.

Who is he?

"Why would you ask such a thing?" he asked, a small smile dancing on his lips as he stared at her.

"You have been staring."

"Oh." He nodded his head as if trying to think of a way to justify it. "I apologize for my rudeness. I did not mean to stare at you. It must have happened while I was not paying attention."

It almost felt as if he had slapped Ophelia, but she maintained her composure.

"Of course." She nodded. "Thank you for your apology."

"It is no problem at all."

"I am Ophelia by the way," she introduced herself, immediately regretting her decision as his expression turned from confused to bored to stern. Ophelia did not understand how he was able to elicit such reactions in her, but she had no control over them. It was almost as if he was turning her into a different person.

"Are you a new maid?"

Ophelia's eyes widened at his stern tone, unsure why he had he suddenly turned so rude towards her. She had only introduced herself out of courtesy, and here he was, acting as if she should not have even been talking to him. As the nanny, her station was far above that of a stable boy, but clearly the man in front of her did not understand that.

"As a stable boy or groom, whatever you are, I think you should mind your own business and not ask me if I am a new maid. Your arrogance is unsuitable and rather ugly," she replied angrily, and his eyes widened at her insult.

She was glad at the reaction since it was exactly what she had hoped to achieve.

"As a groom?"

"That is what you are, isn't it?" Ophelia asked, feeling high and mighty in front of him.

"Even if I am a groom, who gave you the right to converse with me in such a manner? You think this is allowed?"

"Absolutely. As someone stationed inside the house, I believe my position is well above yours, and you must keep that in mind. I only introduced myself and even took the time to converse with you since you were staring at me, and I had no desire to appear unnecessarily rude."

"Rude? You already appear unnecessarily rude to me. I can only imagine how much," he retorted, his tone still reeking of arrogance.

What is it about him?

"I was being kind, but clearly, men like you do not even deserve kindness," Ophelia rolled her eyes, wondering why she was conversing with such an utterly useless man.

"It is women like you who believe that every man is staring at you or somehow interested in you when no one is. I am not the one who must learn to be kind, but it is you!" he answered, and Ophelia had never felt this angry in a very long time.

"No one but you have ever accused me of anything but being on the opposite spectrum of unkindness," Ophelia replied through gritted teeth, every second between them only making her angrier.

Everything about him angered her, but she still could not force herself to walk away, her heart wishing to learn more about him. It was as if an invisible string was pulling them together, and they had no choice but to stay close to one another.

"Now I have," he replied angrily, "what will you do about it?"

"You sound like a loathsome human, and I truly wish I never have to interact with you again. Try not to come out of the stables because your presence annoys me," Ophelia replied, quickly taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

He is useless and vile.

He is useless and vile.

He is useless and vile.

She kept repeating the chant to herself to feel a little less angry.

"If you are stationed inside the manor, you should probably stay there. Someone like you might not want to be caught out here speaking to a lowly groomsman, do you not think?"

"I will do exactly that," Ophelia replied coolly, "have a good day, or perhaps don't. I could not care less."

With that, Ophelia turned around and walked inside the manor, never wanting to converse with him again. However, the attraction and chemistry she had felt towards him were unmatched by any other she might have ever felt. She wished she could understand the reason behind such a thing, but it was quickly becoming impossible to analyse.

All she needed to know was how they needed to stay away from one another. He incited a reaction in her that she did not want to surface, and she was glad he stayed outside the manor all day, and if she steered clear of the stables, she might never even run into him again.

She was going to do exactly that.

He had angered her so in their first meeting, and she was certain any future interactions would only be far worse than this. Despite all of it, his blue eyes refused to leave her memory, and Ophelia kept thinking about him.

Who was he, after all? Some part of her did want to see him again.