ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔩𝔬𝔱𝔱𝔢 𝔖𝔲𝔩𝔩𝔦𝔳𝔞𝔫 ¤ 𝔇𝔬𝔠𝔱𝔬𝔯 𝔚𝔥𝔬

Chapter 12

"Mr Ridley, I have your morning tea" Charlotte said, waiting outside his study.

"Come in, Charlotte" Mr Ridley said.

Charlotte entered and gently laid the tray on the table. It included a cup and saucer, a teapot full with hot tea, a bowl of sugar, a small jug of milk and a plate with two pieces of toast.

"Well, a little birdie told me today is a very special day" Mr Ridley smiled.

Charlotte turned to face her master. In this hands was a wrapped up gift with red ribbon. Charlotte gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

"Happy birthday, Charlotte" Mr Ridley smiled.

"Thank you, Mr Ridley" Charlotte smiled. "May I open it now?"

"Of course you can, you're the birthday girl after all" Mr Ridley replied.

Charlotte ripped the coloured paper and ribbon off, eagerly. She was very excited. She hadn't had a present like this in years, apart from the chocolate bars Nurse Anne used to give her.

It was a sketching pad and a pencil kit. Charlotte's face lit up.

"Oh, thank you so much, Mr Ridley!" Charlotte smiled. "How...?"

"I decided to visit The Foundling Hospital last week while you were out and see what you used to enjoy doing there. One of the nurses told me you were into Art and Design a lot, so I decided to get you something to draw your imagination on" Mr Ridley explained.

"Thank you again, Mr Ridley" Charlotte said. "This is so generous of you!"

///

"Charlotte, wait!"

Charlotte turned around, careful not to drop the towels in her arms. She was due to deliver them to some students who had been caught in the heavy rainfall that morning.

It was Timothy.

"Oh, hi Tim" Charlotte smiled. "I wish I could talk, but I have jobs to do"

"I know, I just wanted to tell you to meet me in the stables tonight at 8:30" Timothy replied. "We'll talk then"

Charlotte nodded, "Alright, I shall see you there"

///

Charlotte sat outside later that day, drawing in her new sketching pad. 

Two months she'd spent working for Mr Ridley, and she'd never felt so at home in her life. Mr Ridley would teach Charlotte a different subject every day each week. 

Monday was Physics, Tuesday was Maths, Wednesday was Chemistry, Thursday was History and Friday was English. If Mr Ridley was too busy, he'd give Charlotte a booklet on the subject of the day for her to read and answer the questions inside.

Saturday and Sunday were very different days to the week. Mr Ridley would visit his mother in a nearby town on Saturdays, meaning Charlotte could spend the day with Timothy. On Sundays, Charlotte was only needed in the morning to deliver Mr Ridley his afternoon tea.

"Well, well, well, what's Sullivan doing by herself this mixture of a day?"

Charlotte looked up and noticed three teenage boys smirking at her. She recognised them as the boys who would make Timothy do their homework. 

Charlotte ignored them and continued drawing a tree nearby. She was used to boys bullying them, due to the amount of boys back at the Foundling Hospital who would make fun of the girls for becoming servants while the boys would become soldiers.

"Hey, listen when I'm talking to you, Sullivan!"

"Why should I?" Charlotte asked. "We aren't on school grounds, meaning you aren't the boss of me. Besides, Mr Ridley wouldn't be pleased to see you three are messing with his servant"

Suddenly, the sketching pad was pulled from her grasp. 

"Hey!" Charlotte yelled, getting blocked by one of the boys. "Give that back!"

The boys laughed as they threw it on the ground and then shoved Charlotte backwards, still laughing. Charlotte felt so vulnerable, and she hated the feeling. 

"Leave her alone!" 

Charlotte watched as Timothy intervened, shoving one of the boys into a puddle nearby. Hutchinson, the tallest and strongest, slammed his fist into Timothy's face, making him hit the floor next to Charlotte.

"Hey!" a female voice yelled. "What are you doing?"

"Let's go!" Hutchinson said and broke into a run, followed closely behind by his friends. 

"Are you alright?" Martha Jones asked, helping Charlotte back onto her feet.

"Yes, thank you Martha," Charlotte replied. "Timothy, what on earth were you thinking?"

"Charlotte, no one knows what they're thinking when they are saving their best friend" Timothy sighed. 

Charlotte felt hurt at the words 'best friend'. She knew why too; she had feelings for Timothy.

///

Martha smiled at Charlotte as she finished cleaning up Charlotte's sketching pad. 

"Charlotte, I understand you're scared" Martha sighed. "But you'll be even more scared in the future if you never tell Tim"

Charlotte nodded, "Why not you tell Mr Smith your feelings?"

Martha chuckled, her cheeks burning. 

Shortly after Charlotte had begun her work for Mr Ridley, Mr John Smith became the new History teacher. 

Charlotte also met Martha, who was Mr Smith's maid. They bonded very quickly, much to everyone's surprise. Martha even started to show Charlotte that sometimes it was perfectly fine to speak up.

But no matter how much Charlotte would be a confident young woman, it was such a struggle to talk about feelings around Tim. 

Oh, how much Charlotte wished and wished that she could talk to Pearl and have her by her side once more...