The Master Finale | manxman | (Book Four: The Master Collection)

VIII - Never Let Me Go

"Yes, my brother used to work for you when I was a baby. My father said you promised to help us if we ever needed anything."

"Your father sent you all this distance just to meet with me?"

Seeing that Jasper wasn't as frightening of a nobleman as Ava thought he would be, the young girl let herself relax and tucked a hair behind her ear. "I may be a girl, Mr. Lancechester, but I am not weak. My father raised me tough like the boys."

Jasper noted her confident tone now and looked her over, spying the sheathed blade she had hidden in a strap on her boot, and her knuckles had minor bruising as if she was no stranger to a tussle. "Even so," Jasper said, stepping out into the corridor, "It is not safe for such a young girl to be traveling all alone. Could I get you anything to drink, perhaps some food? Brimonhive is a long distance from Banemount."

"You got hot chocolate?"

"Plenty," the Master started from the library, ordering a housekeeper to bring a tray of hot chocolate to his office downstairs. When he and Ava were in the red room, he took a seat behind the large desk while the girl seemed to marvel in her expensive surroundings. "Tell me, what has your father sent you for?"

"Money," Ava answered, "Mum has fallen ill back home, and we haven't the money to afford a doctor or any herbs for her. Father said you could give us what we need to help her. Since my brother hasn't come home in years, you're the only hope for us. Father says my brother he's stuck in the Americas. He wants to come home but can't find a way and its awful over there."

Jasper furrowed his brow in confusion at Ava's thoughts toward Elijah just never going back home. Was that a story her mother and father made up? Was it so the girl wouldn't know the true reason behind her brother's disappearance? If anything, it was probably best she thought that way. "How much does your family need?"

"I don't know," Ava shrugged. "Enough to pay a doctor for his time? Enough for herbs? I would personally say enough for a whole new house in general, but that might be a bit much and father would call that rude. Really anything would help, Mr. Lancechester."

It wasn't a difficult decision for Jasper to make if he would help the Goode family. He already knew down in his heart that, even with Xavier and Ella's previous neglect, Elijah would want all of them to be taken care of. After all, that is why the butler took on his past position in the first place: to help his family.

From a large safe hidden beneath the desk, Jasper took out one-hundred pounds and counted it on the surface, Ava's emerald eyes going rather big after seeing such a large amount of money. "Given I am sending you with all of this," Jasper said, "I cannot allow you to travel alone."

"You don't have to worry about me, Mr. Lancechester," Ava protested, "I can take care of myself."

"I'm not sending you alone and that's that."

While Jasper then grabbed a velvet sack to hold everything in, Ava was given the hot chocolate she'd requested. It was so strange still for Jasper to sit here in front of someone from Elijah's family, especially someone who shared a sharp resemblance to him. The young girl surely did take on the looks of her brother from the rescue in the forest, and suddenly Jasper wondered if there was anything at all she knew about Elijah. Was she aware of how kind and brave he was?

"Oh, Jasper!" the Master suddenly heard Lady Darcy from the hall, and when she rounded into the office, she froze almost immediately after seeing the crimson red hair of someone seated before her husband. Stunned before Jasper could say anything, Darcy circled in front of Ava. "Dear me," the Lady breathed, "I thought — never mind."

Jasper was about to introduce young Ava when Timothy appeared in the doorway of the office as well. He wore an almost all black outfit with just a burgundy vest for color, curly black hair pushed back out of his face.