Abigail

---9---

It was dark, the only thing illuminating the room was the steady flicker of the candle at my bedside.

I was yet to sleep, the noises from the room next to mine keeping my mind reeling, instead of letting it rest.

The moans were muffled behind the wall, you might of missed them during the day, but now in the silence of the night it is the loudest thing I can hear. I groaned loudly, frustrated that I was being kept from my sleep, and of course it was Mr Ridley keeping me from it.

I patiently waited for them to finish but they didn't, in fact they got louder. I cursed Mr Ridley out of his existence, I shut my eyes tightly, hoping it would stop and I could finally sleep.

Thankfully, it eventually did stop, and I found myself slowly drifting into a much needed slumber, but then there was a loud thump against my door, it was as if the heavens above didn't want me to sleep tonight.

I went to the door, grabbing a shawl to wrap around myself. I opened the door to a woman slumped against the wall, she had made the thump when she fell.

"Can I help you?" I bent down beside her, touching her shoulder lightly to get her attention.

"I need to get home." She whispered, her words slightly slurred she touched her forehead before groaning.

"Why are you here?" I asked, hoping it wouldn't offend her.

"Mr Ridley... but I want to go home now." She sighed, trying to stand.

"Hang on a moment." I went back inside my room and quickly put my boots on, by the time I'm back in the hallway she wasn't where I left her, she was wondering down the hallway singing to herself, I quickly chased after her. 

"Wait, wait." I slowed as i got closer to her, trying not to make too much noise, she stumbled a little, bumping into a potted plant, I grimaced as the loud noise rang through the quiet night. A few minutes a door down the corridor opened, a sleepy Lady Catherine wondering out. 

"Whats going on?  Who is this?" She looked the women up and down, judging her.

"Mr Ridley invited her here, but now she needs to go home, I was going to get her a carriage."

"It's the middle of the night, nobody is here to drive her,she'll have to walk." Catherine stated, rubbing her eyes.

"I'll have to walk with her, it's too dangerous to go alone." I sighed.

"You can't go." Catherine told me, with authority.

"I have to go."

"Fine but I'll wait for you to come back." She sighed. I nodded before walking out into the cold.

"So where exactly do you live?" I asked her, the woman was clearly still drunk, but it seemed as though the cold air had done her some good.

"Take me to white Chapel ma'am." She said simply, White Chapel was a good 25 minute walk in modern London, it couldn't be much different here, I wish I could persuade her to stay for the rest of the night but I knew that she would be shamed, and embarrass Mr Ridley, I didn't care about the latter however. We began  walking, she sung quietly in the darkness it was more eerie than comforting, if I'm honest.