Unchaining Alice

Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty – One

It was the kind of kiss that warranted applause and that is exactly what they got. Staff and family stopped and stared before starting to clap. Neither Alice nor James noticed though.     

Alice had never been kissed and she could not have died having never experienced it. She felt so safe and secure in his arms, yet she felt alive and on fire while their lips touched. Pure excitement made her shiver as it travelled down her spine. Almost reluctantly they pulled apart as the duration of their kiss was becoming inappropriate for a public display of affection.

Though they were apart, and Alice back on her feet, his arms had no left her waist and she was glad of it.

“Let’s go for a walk,” James suggested quietly in her ear. Alice smiled at Sebastian and James’ brother, Henry, as well as the staff that had gathered as James pulled her toward the hallway.

They walked down the back of the house, past many more fine rooms that housed sitting furniture and ornate fireplaces and decorations. The back door was like the front door – oak. It opened up onto an unusual scene for London houses – a lavish garden. It was not overly large, but it had many tall trees and clusters of green shrubbery that concealed the secluded parts of the area. James led her down the garden and behind the leafier part to a hidden pond. It just sat in and amongst a collection of mossy boulders and reeds. She could hear what sounded like frogs chirping on the water.  

“This is extraordinary,” Alice marvelled. “How wonderful to ‘ave ‘ad such a place to come as a child.”

“And we did,” James said as he pulled her towards one of the boulders. He brushed away some of the moss so that it was clean enough for them to sit down. “We used to play down here all the time. As the eldest and most good looking –” he couldn’t continue for Alice started to giggle. “– and I’ll pretend I’m not offended.” He winked, being his usual charming self. She liked this side of him. She liked to see him confident yet humble. Too often lately … well, in the last few times she’d seen him … he’d been worried about her and he couldn’t be himself. Now everything could be normal. “But yes, as the eldest it was my responsibility to watch out for the girls and Henry around the pond. Though mama used to have the pond fenced off so there was no possibility of us falling in.”

Alice sighed and leaned into him slightly. He welcomed the motion and put his arm around her. “Thank you for not giving up on me,” she whispered. She felt his lips brush her hair as he murmured something that sounded like ‘Never’. Alice was suddenly reminded of her last request of James. “Did you see my priest and ask ‘im about Jacques?” Alice asked quietly.

James shook his head. “No. When I learned there was I hope I had convinced myself that I would ask you to tell me about him.” Alice liked to hear that he had faith, even when she didn’t have any.

“I’m glad,” she replied honestly. “I want to tell you about ‘im. I want to tell you everything. I want you to know me. I want your family to know me.”

“Tell me about him.”

Alice smiled as she remembered his icy blue irises and his charcoal hair that always seemed to fall into his eyes. She remembered how tall he was and she remembered how protective he was. She remembered how he used to laugh at his own jokes and how he used to let Alice have the meat whenever they were given food on the street. He would always take care of her. He did so beyond the grave. “Jacques was many things. ‘e was passionate and determined, persistent and impatient. ‘e believed in our cause more than anything. We were raised that way.” Alice turned to James. “He looked like me. We both had the same eyes – the blue that ‘ides nothing. But ‘e was tall and ‘andsome. ‘e would ‘ave ‘ad a wife someday.” Alice was saddened at the thought. He had a sweetheart, or the beginnings of one with a girl in Paris. Alice never knew her name or what happened to her but she knew Jacques had feelings for someone. “After our parents died we ‘ad no-one. We lived one step ahead of the law as we stole to survive. I was but a child and Jacques was three years older. That was until the republicans found us. After the July revolution in 1830, we didn’t know what would ‘appen. We thought everyone ‘ad disbanded but we were wrong. They were planning and Jacques quickly became a leader. ‘e never put it above me though. Never. ‘e always made sure I was safe. Protected.” And then came the June revolution where everything went sour. Alice knew she had to, but rehashing all these memories were still painful. She didn’t think one ever got over loss. “When you lose someone, you never forget. You never move on, you simply learn to live with it because you must. And eventually at the mention of their name you don’t cry, and at the thought of their voice you don’t break and at the memory of their face you don’t fall. You make yourself strong for them.”