MAD WOMAN | THE BUCCANEERS

NOBODY LIKES A SECRET

GUY THWARTE'S FAVOURITE HOLIDAY HAD ARRIVED, Bonfire night. He had explained to Violet how every year they would host a big party because his mother loved it, but that this year he wanted something more intimate since her loss.

Violet had made the journey down to his house, excited to see all the familiar faces she had missed so much the past few weeks. Before everyone else arrived the pair tidied the home somewhat, having been left unattended since the Thwarte family had been forced to let their staff go. Violet didn't mind though, in fact, she found some fun in tasks such as cleaning or chopping wood especially since she had been practically forbidden from manual labour basically her whole life. Also she got to spend more time alone with Guy, it had become one of her favourite things.

Since everyone had been gone for a while, visiting America, it was really just her and Guy left in the friend group and so they had been spending increasing amounts of time with each other.

At the sound of footsteps on the pebbled path, Violet sprang up, darting outside.

"Nan! Theo!" she exclaimed with a radiant smile, the gravel shifting beneath her feet as she hurried to meet them.

Guy followed closely behind, greeting a slightly perplexed Theo, who seemed taken aback by the absence of staff.

"Tell me, how was America?" Violet asked eagerly as Nan enveloped her in a warm hug.

"Oh, I missed it dearly, but there's no place like England," Nan replied with a wide grin linking arms with the girl and running inside, the pair giggling. 

After helping Nan put her things away upstairs, they walked back down the staircase to the main sitting room. Violet found her grin fading away however, when she was met with the haunting face of Lord James Seadown. Her spine straightened as she bit her tongue, aware of the piercing eyes currently on her.

Guy noticed her discomfort and moved to her side almost immediately 

"Violet I promise you I did not invite him-" He spoke softly beside her. Before sighing when he realised what had happened.

"Nan must have invited Jinny. I can ask them to leave if you want me to."

Violet sighed too, in understanding.

"No- Its okay, I'll just stay away from them. Its a big house." She shook her head before swiftly exiting the room and retreating to the safety of upstairs.

A few hours later, Guy had persuaded the girl out of her room so the group could run around the star shaped Thwarte maze. According to Theo they did it every year and Guy always won. Whoever got to the torch in the centre of the maze first won, and got to light the bonfire.

Violet was determined not to win.

Lighting the bonfire meant spending another second with Seadown and that sounded like nothing more than a nightmare to her, so when Guy announced ladies first she practically sprinted away, hoping to warm herself away from the icy energy the blonde man exuded. Unfortunately, her eagerness did not account for Nan's whereabouts and so instead of doing the maze together like planned, Violet found herself alone and lost in the green swells of hedges and twisting corners.