Crimson Bird (BWWM) BK 1

Chapter Twenty-Two

The row of houses on Bond Street were familiar, and the sights of governess walking with their charges along the street and the park that lied outside of the houses were familiar, yet foreign to Bird. So, she turned her gaze away from them and focused on the lap of her new gown. The gown that Talon, the crown prince, had given her. He'd mentioned only that he wouldn't want those outside of his house to mock his ability to provide for his kept woman. She mentally scoffed. Kept woman?

How she cursed her fate and the day she met his brother. Bird didn't know where her anger stemmed from, and where it should be focused. She felt helpless to this world that jerked her here and there without permission.

Her hands curled in the fine material of her dress as her eyes stared numbly at her still bare feet. She wasn't worthy to be given shoes. How long would she continue this miserable life? How long would she be used in such a fashion? For the Williams, she was chattel to be bled, for Fitzwilliam, she'd been a tool for revenge against the very man who now used her as a means to an end.

Glancing back to the window, she reached out and moved the small curtain aside. What met her sight was a group of young women, their eyes bright with good humor. As she watched, they appeared to be sharing an inside joke. She felt a longing so strongly for her own friend that she physically reacted by jerking the curtain back in place.

She hadn't dared to contact Stacia, due to her wish to not worry her friend. Yet, she felt the need now to talk and share her heart with someone, anyone willing to listen and not someone whose only wish was to use her.

She was growing tired, and bitter. She was pulled from her wandering thoughts when the carriage came to a stop. The door was opened by a footman and she hesitated for a moment, wondering silently what would happen if she alighted from the carriage, merely to run and disappear amongst the thick crowds that London was famous for. Alas, she still had nowhere else to go, or be accepted. With that in mind, she stepped from the carriage and found herself staring in horrified silence at a house she knew all too well.

Turning her eyes to her left, she found herself staring at the familiar brick front of the third prince's townhouse. Her heart thumped hard in her chest as she stared at it for a long moment, daring the door to open, daring the very reality around her to change. Shift just a step to the left to allow her freedom and happiness. Nothing. Nothing happened. The door remained closed and the street quiet. In the silence of her reality, Bird felt her heart do something queer, something so foreign.

"Miss?"

She turned her eyes away from the house and turned her blank gaze to the footman. "Ah, I'm sorry." She removed her hands from his and turned her attention to the house. "Is this where I'll be staying?"

"Yes, miss," the young footman said with pride, it appeared. "His lordship said it will now belong to you."

Not saying anything to this, she simply smiled and followed the other servants into the house, where she was greeted by the butler, housekeeper and other servants who looked at her with curiosity, and some, very slight disapproval. But, she gave it no credence and focused primarily on learning their names and their roles in the house.

She was escorted by the dour-faced Bradley, a man, who unlike Mr. Pinwin, didn't appear to engage in the occasional humor. If anything, the man appeared too serious. Still, she would not hold it against him. She entered the chamber.

"Dinner will be served at 7, miss. Will his lordship be joining you?" he asked in a heavy voice, a strain of inquiry in it.

"I am not sure," Bird said as her eyes moved over the room's simple décor. "I assume he will send someone to give news on whether he will choose to dine here." She turned and gave him a small smile. Giving her a short bow, he left the room, the door shutting quietly behind him.