The Water-Man

Chapter 12--Agatha Dalton

The first rays of the sun shone across the rooftops of Afton-by-the-Sea when Pearl ascended the stairs with a tray of morning tea for Miss Agatha. She kept everything balanced with practiced skill as she opened the door and stole softly inside. It wouldn't do to wake the young woman before the curtains had been drawn.

"Oh!"

Pearl stiffened and the tray jostled as she nearly collided with someone in the room. The maid hastily set the tray on the nearby table and in three long strides, crossed the room to fling open the curtains.

Miss Agatha herself stood in the middle of the floor, almost completely dressed. Pearl stared at her with wide eyes.

"Madam!"

Agatha clutched at her skirt with nervous hands. "Oh, please don't tell Mother, Pearl!"

"But—b-b-but Madam!"

"Fetch my hat and coat, would you, dear?" Agatha wouldn't look at her maid, choosing instead to sit on the lounge at the foot of the bed and lace up her own boots. "I can't be seen, not today. I want to be gone by the time everyone is awake." She stood and smoothed her skirt and paused at the vanity to adjust her hair. "Did you get the basket already?"

Pearl nodded numbly as she still tried to comprehend how Miss Agatha could have gotten herself out of bed in a darkened room. "It's ready as ever ma'am—but... Shouldn't you at least take breakfast before you go?"

The young woman paused her toilette to shake her head. "The Martins are coming for tea; if Mother sees me at any point this morning, she won't let me out of her sight. I'll buy something at the cafe in town." She grabbed the clutch that coordinated with her dress and waved the maid away.

Pearl bustled into the hallway and down the stairs. By the time she emerged from the kitchen with the wicker basket over one arm, and Agatha's hat and coat over the other, the woman herself stood at the door leading to the yard at the back of the house.

Agatha took the hat and coat first, then accepted the basket.

Pearl trembled all over. "Ma'am," she said quietly, "are you sure this is right? Seeing a strange man outside the knowledge of the Lord and Lady?"

Agatha hesitated with her hand on the door. "What Mother and Father want for me, I could never accept!" She said, turning to meet Pearl's gaze. "Celian, he—oh Pearl! He is so much more than any of the eligible bachelors wandering around in their fancy cars and their gambling debts, looking for a debutante to take as a trophy wife. He actually cares for me, he cares enough to listen, and he accepts my side of things. No other man has ever given me that, and it has inspired me to continue improving myself, more than all those years in finishing schools." She smiled as she thought of him.

"But," Pearl observed, "you have spoken of his parentage."

Agatha nodded. "That is why I haven't spoken to Mother and Father yet. They would never allow me to marry a poor, penniless orphan." She sighed. "I often wonder, though..." her voice trailed off as the floorboards overhead creaked. Agatha tensed as she and Pearl glanced upward.

"I have to go," Agatha whispered, and she turned to follow the path to the gate in the hedgerow.

Pearl sighed and closed the door, locking it, and returned into the house to retrieve the tea tray.

On her way back to the stairs, a moving shadow caught the corner of her eye. Pearl froze and focused at the area, but the hallway stood dark and empty. She shook her head and continued to the kitchen.

A footstep behind her caused her to whirl around with a yelp, but it was only Charlie, yawning and rubbing his face as if he had just awakened. He stopped and blinked at the fair maid.