Chapter 4
She awoke the next day feeling incredibly rested, as if it had been months since she’d slept through the night, although she didn’t have any recollection of that being the case. When the chambermaid entered her room bright and early the next morning, she smiled at the young woman and allowed the maid to dress her for the day. She would have protested, knowing full well how to put on her clothing, had she not been warned against it the night before after her arrival.
The maid, Evelyn, carefully removed her nightgown to check the dressing on her rib cage. Once it was removed, the girl gasped loudly when she noticed that the rather large injury from the day before was nonexistent.
“Bloody hell!” she exclaimed, quickly covering her mouth for her extremely improper faux pas. “Forgive me, Miss.”
The blonde looked at the maid with a puzzled expression.
“That’s one fine doctor! Look, Miss! You’re completely healed!”
The two women inspected the smooth skin on her ribcage with equal astonishment.
“It’s as if you’d never been wounded,” the maid spoke in a hushed tone, unable to stop herself from touching the other woman’s flesh. “You’ve got angels lookin’ out for you.” Evelyn nodded her head reverently and turned around to fetch her shift and corset.
This was most odd, indeed. She wondered if her ability to heal had anything to do with her inability to speak. Everything was such a blur, as if she hadn’t existed before yesterday, as if she’d just been born with a brief recollection of words and intelligence though she had no idea how she’d learned these things or where they’d come from. This place was so strange and she was in constant fear of doing the wrong thing, offending someone or wondering if she were a burden to them. She also wondered how long it would be until she saw William again. He was such an enigma to her and she was curious to find out more about him. The fact that he’d been so appalled with himself for daring to touch her was perplexing. Was there something wrong with her? Was he disgusted by the fact that she couldn’t speak and therefore felt as if he’d lowered himself by making physical contact with someone such as her? She hoped not, because there was something so intriguing, so fascinating about him that she couldn’t help but want to be around him, even though they’d spent hardly any time at all together. Perhaps she’d misread his kindness for something more, having met the man in a state of shock, but something told her there was more to him than that and she was determined to find out what it was.
* * *
William hadn’t slept at all the night before, not a wink. Instead, a large portion of the evening was spent berating himself for having touched such an angel, for having dared to sully her with his impetuous gesture. What must she think of him now? He had to make it right and that’s all there was to it. He would prove to her that he was raised properly and that he wasn’t some sort of lecherous mongrel who took delight in taking advantage of women in distress.
Once he’d sorted out that bit of unpleasantness, he’d set about trying to determine what her name was. He’d seen the initials on her trunk and started writing possible names to ask her the following day. Calling her Miss constantly wouldn’t do at all and even if they were unable to land upon what her true name was, perhaps he could give her one of his own. His curiosity about this woman was driving him insane!
She’d been so accepting of him, even found amusement in his nervous fidgeting, which, if it had been anyone else, William would have taken the utmost offense. But the sparkling in her eyes showed that she meant no harm by it, and dare he hope, she found it charming? Perhaps he was exaggerating, most probably was, but it was nice to have finally met someone that didn’t seem to be overly concerned with propriety. He was a stuffy, uptight bastard most of the time, unable to relax and enjoy himself especially when his mother was around. His mother, Anne, notoriously corrected his every move with sharp gasps, swatting his hand or banging a spoon on the table. It was most annoying, but Anne was desperate to mold her son into an eligible bachelor. She forced him to attend numerous social engagements, which he absolutely detested! The Underwoods, the Pierces, the Hilfreds and the Tates were the crème de la crème and “It was high time for William to quit sulking about the house and meet some nice, decent people his own age.” Oh, but they were so boring! They cackled and guffawed at the most ludicrous things, were only concerned with status and gossip and barely paid notice that he was even there, so why should he go? It wasn’t until he’d met Cecily Underwood that William finally accepted his mother’s wishes and made a point to be seen in public more often.
Cecily was beautiful, unattached, came from a good family and even agreed on more than one occasion to listen to his poetry. He’d written a vast number of sonnets inspired by her, though he’d never gained the courage to confess to her that she’d been an unknowing muse. It seemed, however, that she either didn’t understand the context of his words or she was too polite to embarrass him, because she rarely had any insight once he’d finished reciting. Perhaps she was overwhelmed with emotion or afraid that William might make fun of her if she didn’t understand the complexity of his pentameter. Either way, he continued to write them and recite them in the hopes that one day he’d grow a spine and tell her how he felt about her.
Thoughts of Cecily Underwood, however, were the last thing on his mind that morning. As he dressed for the day and made his way downstairs to the dining room for breakfast, he noticed a bounce in his step that had been long absent since he was a boy. With his list of names firmly tucked into his front coat pocket, he smiled and waited for his guest to join him.
* * *
Well, breakfast certainly didn’t start out the way he’d planned. Once she’d arrived and was seated, William couldn’t for the life of him find his voice. The color had returned to her cheeks, she’d been dressed in a gorgeous cream dress that tastefully showed her petite figure, her golden blonde hair was swept up on the sides of her face, highlighting the black crystal earrings that hung daintily about her slender neck, and even amid the pungent aroma of bacon, he caught a faint scent of lilac that bombarded his senses in the most delightful way. Simply put, she was breathtaking and he could do no more than nod at her with a nervous smile when she was finally seated.
One good thing about that morning was that William indulged in a little more jam on his bread than Anne would ever have allowed. Oh, how he loved strawberry jam! And he was pleased when he noticed that his guest seemed to love it as much as he, for as soon as he’d slathered a triangle of toast with the stuff, she quickly followed suit with a sly grin. That small gesture was enough to set him at ease and he cleared his throat before asking, “Did you sleep well?” He’d startled both his guest as well as himself with the loudness of his voice but she swallowed her toast and nodded politely. “Oh, t-that’s good. I find it difficult to sleep in a strange place when I’m away on business. I’m pleased you were able to do so.”
There was a long pause of silence as the two of them continued eating before he spoke again. “Are you feeling well today?”
She nodded and smiled before she took a bite of her eggs.
William’s eyes darted to a nonexistent spot on the table, wringing his hands together in his lap. “I wonder if you wouldn’t mind joining me in the library after breakfast. I-I thought it would be of interest to you if we might sort out your name?” She tilted her head and furrowed her brow and he smiled at her, thinking that every nuance and facet of her behavior was simply adorable. He shook his head, bringing himself out of his embarrassing gaze. “You see, I-I noticed a pair of initials on your trunk. E.S.? It must be your name a-and I thought, well,” he placed both hands flat on his knees, straightening his fingers to stop them from trembling, “that perhaps something might strike you as familiar?” As she chewed on her last bit of toast he remembered his list of names that he’d tucked into his coat and he fumbled a bit as he pulled them out and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “I wrote down a list,” he said as he held the folded pages for her to see before placing them on the table. “So, if it wouldn’t be t-too much trouble, would you accompany me to the library?” His face twisted as if he was preparing for a blow to his cheek but she smiled brightly and agreed with a nod. He exhaled and dug into the remainder of his breakfast, excited to set about solving this mystery.
* * *
“Emily? Emeline? Esther?” The last name William recited earned him a most entertaining facial expression from his guest. Her nose wrinkled and she shook her head in disgust. He smiled and continued pacing the small library as he read off the list of names while she sat primly on a sofa against the far wall. “No, you don’t look like an Esther, do you? What about Edwina? Eleanor? Emma? Elaine?”She sighed and shook her head dejectedly. William scratched his head, hoping that this idea of his wasn’t making things worse for her already rumpled spirits. He just knew, however, that he’d figure it out eventually, so he tried to lighten the mood. He walked closer to her and said rather dramatically as he jerked his head sharply in her direction, “Is it Rumpelstiltskin?!”
She started laughing silently, both from what he’d said as well as the abrupt turn of his neck, the velocity of which jostled his reading glasses to land askew on the tip of his nose. It was such an unexpected thing for him to do that she was first shocked and then incredibly amused, her cheeks turning red in her own delight as her eyes shone with mirth. She clapped her hands comically and nodded her head as she continued to giggle.
He grinned and said, “I knew it! Although,” he turned very serious, “you’re not as hairy as I imagined. And you’re awfully tall for a dwarf. Are you hiding a pointy hat that I’m unaware of?” This amused her even more and William was chuffed to bits that he’d made her smile so brightly, that she’d even took part in his simple jesting. Never had his strange sense of humor been so appreciated since the death of his father, who happened to have an impressively sharp wit. William and his father often joked with one another when he was a young boy and Anne would scoff at the two men for being silly, roll her eyes and continue with her cross stitch or whatever boring activity she’d busied herself with that day.
It was refreshing to have an audience such as this woman who’d taken up residence in his home. Stranger still, that while he was incredibly nervous around her, he found that without even trying to, she was bringing him out of his shell. And he wanted to come out; was desperate to, in fact. He’d repressed so much of his old self when his father died, shut himself in with books and poetry, clung to his mother for comfort and she’d eventually become his entire world. He’d long ago accepted that the old William was gone, that that part of him was merely a phase of adolescence. Adulthood was a difficult adjustment for him, finding that there were too many rules and restrictions and acceptable behaviors and even more unacceptable ones that he found the whole idea of being a man to be a burden. And so he buried himself in literature, business, and a vast array of monotonous activities that one could do on their own without the distraction of others reminding him how self-conscious he’d become.
William was so lost in his thoughts that he was startled when he felt a warm hand lay upon his forearm. She’d walked over to him to get a look at his list, reminding him of why they were in the library in the first place. He cleared his throat and said, “Forgive me, I was distracted by something. Shall I continue?” When she smiled up at him and turned to sit back on the sofa, he read the next five names on the list.
“Esmeralda? Eve? Elizabeth? Eudora? Estelle?”
She gasped with a spark of recognition and jumped up from her seat. William turned to her and said, “Estelle? Is it Estelle?!”
She shook her head and fanned her hands towards herself excitedly, indicating he should go back a few names.
“Eudora?”
She stomped her foot and shook her head. He blinked at her ire, finding his cheeks were growing hot and he swallowed before he said, “Elizabeth?” She nodded frantically and without thinking, William embraced her in a triumphant hug and swung her about the room, laughing. “It’s Elizabeth!” She linked her arms around his neck, grinning happily only to stumble on her feet when she was suddenly dropped on the ground and William turned away from her quickly. “I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…please forgive me,” he said this with his back towards her, his body full of tension.
Sighing, she tapped him on the shoulder and he reluctantly turned around to face her, his cheeks bright red with embarrassment for his bold move, skin still tingling from the sensation of having held her so closely. Elizabeth gave him a reassuring smile before she gently touched his arm and mouthed the words, “Thank you.”
Entranced by her emerald eyes and the wonderful feel of her hand on his arm, William offered a small grin and ducked his head bashfully. “It was no trouble at all, Elizabeth. M-may I call you Elizabeth?” She clicked her tongue and looked at him incredulously, as if he should have known better than to ask such a silly question. He chuckled nervously. “Very well then, Elizabeth,” he whispered, allowing her name to roll off his tongue like a prayer, finding that he rather liked the way it sounded. Elizabeth couldn’t help but agree. It wasn’t the answer to her past, but it gave her a sense of identity and a feeling of hope and the way he’d uttered it, well, it had a very pleasant effect on her already shaky knees.
He noticed that her hand was still on his arm and he found that he wasn’t willing to bring it to her attention, wanting the small contact to last a bit longer than was deemed appropriate, so he stood perfectly still, hoping she wouldn’t notice. “It’s a beautiful name,” he said quietly, braving a glance into her eyes and finding that she wasn’t at all disgusted by his flattery. In fact, she seemed embarrassed and bit her lip in a most tempting way. Was William responsible for that? Had he made this charming young woman blush by paying her a compliment? He was astonished that he had the capability to create such a gorgeous pink stain on her cheeks and realized he’d drawn closer to her and that her hand was drifting towards his shoulder.
Elizabeth looked up at him through her long dark lashes, panting softly as he came closer to her, gasping when he opened his full lips to speak to her in a hushed tone, barely over a whisper.
“Elizabeth,” he uttered, swallowing a lump in his throat as his heart started to pound against his chest. Did she want him to kiss her? This was wrong, all of it! He should be backing away now, putting distance between them, ending this madness once and for all but he was pulled to her like a magnet, unable to stop the hand that came up to delicately cup her cheek. She nuzzled into his touch and he licked his lips, lowering his head towards hers. Elizabeth closed her eyes in anticipation, wanting to feel his mouth upon hers, needing it like nothing she’d ever needed before and a tiny gasp fell through her parted lips when his breath tickled her nose. And suddenly, he was gone, pacing the room nervously, leaving her in a daze.
“Master William, you’ve received a letter,” came the booming tone of the butler as he entered the library after having been bid enter by his Master.
Elizabeth exhaled and blinked rapidly, watching William as he nervously thanked the old man, unable to look her in the eyes. He turned towards her and bowed. “Excuse me Elizabeth,” he said curtly, and quickly dashed out of the room without another word.