A walk had been what Hadassah needed to get her mind off of the vile master that awaited her behind the gates of the Talbot estate.
The soft breeze and perfect clean air, carried into her nostrils, filling her with the illusion of peace as she listened to Paul speak nonstop beside her. She enjoyed Paul's company, she decided as she listened to his tale, nodding and smiling to his words. It was easy to relax with him around and he had been right; the cinnamon rolls were lovely.
It was evening before she decided to return to the estate, knowing it wouldn't speak well of her to be seen with a bachelor in the middle of the night.
Paul walked beside her, long strides reduced to match hers as they made their way back to the estate. She really didn't want to see him go but she decided she didn't exactly have a choice, she would see Paul on Sunday anyway and perhaps they would walk back together.
Reluctantly, she waved him goodbye and made her way into the gates and through the cobbled walkway. She entered the building through the back door -as was expected of every servant- and was surprised when she didn't find Berta working in the kitchen. Marcia instead stood by the sink with her hands buried in soapy water.
"Oh, hello, Dasa." She offered her a small smile, before returning her attention to the task of doing the dishes.
Hadassah's eyes swept the kitchen, certain she would find Berta somewhere close by, engaged in another task. When she didn't find the older woman, she turned her attention back to Marcia.
"Where is Berta?"
"Helping the mistress," A tired puff of air escaped Marcia's lips.
"Do you need my help?" She made her way to the sink as she spoke, stopping in her tracks when Marcia shook her head.
"Lord Talbot rang for you earlier."
Hadassah's lips fell open, shocked.
"Perhaps he is no longer in need of your service for tonight, but it would be wise to see if he still is." Marcia took the rag from the sink and wiped her hands. Turning around, her eyes swept the clean kitchen and a smile settled on her face. "I will just see if the mistress is in need of anything else, before going to my room and taking a long deserved break."
With that, she turned to the door and made her way out, leaving Hadassah standing there, utterly shocked that Daniel would finally, after two months, be in need of her.
It was several minutes before Hadassah forced her mind out of a shocked state and turned to the door leading out of the kitchen. She wasn't thinking as she made her way to Daniel's bedchamber, praying she would remember which room actually belonged to him. Her knees trembled and her heart pounded but she kept walking, refusing to consider the reason he was summoning her. She guessed it had everything to do with her walking out on him in the presence of his guest, hence the reason her knees trembled, but she didn't dwell on it. She couldn't dwell on it if she was successfully going to make it to his bedchamber.
She reached the door she assumed, from the memory of the day he had slammed it in her face, belonged to him and pounded on it.
Silence followed.
Guessing he was most likely asleep, she withdrew her hand and made to walk away, when she heard a gruff voice commanding her to enter.
Hands trembling as well, she reached forward and turned the doorknob. She pulled her eyelids shut and said a small prayer under her breath for some supernatural help, before pushing the door wide open.
She stood frozen for a while as the door gave way before her, revealing the lavishly furnished bed chamber. The large canopy bed with red curtains draped over it, was the first thing that caught her eyes. It stood in the center of the room and while it was large enough to bring comfort to about five people, it only occupied a small portion of the larger room.
As she made her way inside, her body became aware of the warmth emanating from the fireplace. It washed over her body, but did very little to ease her nervousness.
There was no one in the room, she realized as her eyes swept the length of it once more. The white carpet sprawled by the foot of the bed, made her wonder how the maids managed to keep it clean. There was a matching white sofa very close to the fireplace, a dresser and a wardrobe by the wall.
Perhaps she had imagined the voice requesting her to enter. Still, she was unable to stop herself from going further into the room, eyes continuing to scan it in awe. It was nearly spotless with white walls that made it seem even cleaner.
Reaching the bed, she ran her palm across the white sheets, breathing in softly as she reveled in the smoothness of the fabric.
"You're here."
Jumping back with a loud yelp, her hands flew to her chest. She turned around sharply, eyelids growing and mouth falling open as she searched frantically for the source of the voice. It took a while, but she finally caught sight of Daniel standing before an open door that she hadn't noticed when she first came in.
Shaking her head, she watched him step away from the door and make his way to the white sofa. He placed himself on it.
"Where have you been?" His voice was calm, surprising her, but doing nothing to ease her fear of being fired or scolded.
She watched as he picked up a book and held it before him. He was clothed in a simple white shirt and black trousers, unlike the formal attire of a tailored suit she had seen him in. His brows were slightly pulled together, eyes focused on the book in his hands.
Turning her attention from him, she stared at the book in his hands. A frown immediately settled on her face and the longer she stood staring, the deeper her frown became.
"Well?" His eyes remain fixed on the pages of the book as he rose a brow.
"Well?" She couldn't think, not when she was staring at something very unlikely, not when he was...
"Then you went to be with the solicitor?"
Stunned, her attention shifted back to him.
"Not only do you appear before me smelling of smoke," He flipped the page, the sound of paper briefly interrupting the sound of her pounding heart. "You leave a bucket in my path, storm out on me while I'm having a meeting and ultimately disregard your duties to be with a lover."
"My Lord has neglected to put me to work. I forgot about the bucket when Berta demanded that I help serve dinner. My lord must forgive a valet who has been sentenced to the kitchen but I most certainly cannot remain trapped in my room until it is deemed fit to summon me." She fought to keep her breathing regulated as she explained herself before a man she couldn't help but despise every single day. "Perhaps it is unkind to accuse me of having a lover especially..."
"Then you weren't with the solicitor?"
She bit down on her lower lip and clasped her hands before her. "Forgive me for neglecting..."
"Ah, you will not answer the question."
Glancing up at him, she was just in time to watch him flip the page. It didn't make sense, she frowned. Was he only pretending to be reading? Why would he do that?
"Am I forbidden from having friends outside the walls of the estate, my lord?"
"You will not answer a question, my question, with one of your own, Dasa." He flipped the page again, causing her to take a step forward.
She examined his face from a small distance, confused at his intention. What was he doing?
"Were you with the solicitor?" He tore his eyes off of the book and turned to her, brow raised.
She stood staring at him for a few seconds, contemplating the best way to answer his question. Of course it wasn't his business who she spent her time with, but she knew he deserved an answer especially because she had neglected her duty, even if it was he who first neglected her.
Nodding, she lowered her gaze.
"Well?" The tone of his voice carried his impatience. "Will you or will you not admit to it?"
She lifted her head up, confused about his accusation. Hadn't she already admitted to being with Paul? He sat watching her, waiting impatiently for her answer.
With a loud sigh, she nodded again, fully expecting the expression on his face to change. She didn't know why, but she suspected her admission would grate on his nerves.
His expression didn't change. His brow was still raise, a frown still dented his features and he still sat watching her.
"Have you lost your tongue, Dasa?"
She opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly shut it again, realizing for the first time that his eyes weren't truly on her. If anything, his eyes were aimed three inches to her right hand side. Swallowing a loud gasp, she stared at the book in his hands for further reassurance of her suspicions and true enough, he held it upside down. At first, she had assumed he did so in pretense he was reading but the longer she stared, the more apparent it became he wasn't pretending to read.
Coming to a conclusion, she bent down silently, pulse racing as she silently took off her shoes. Placing them by the side, she tiptoed two steps from her shoes and immediately turned her attention back to Daniel.
He sat staring at where she was supposedly standing, brow raised, frown deepening.
Her mouth fell wide open then, a loud gasp escaping as she realized for the very first time since she met Lord Daniel Talbot, that he was blind.
•~•~•
Daniel turned sharply to the sound of someone gasping. At first, he suspected someone had entered the room without his knowing it, but as he opened his mouth to speak, he was interrupted by Dasa's words.
"You're blind?!"
He hadn't heard anybody sound so shocked in his life and while her rude observation should have upset him, it instead made a smile immediately settle on his face.
There was something about Dasa, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He didn't need her but every time they were in the same room, he found himself entertained by her presence. She was unlike any servant he had met and to be honest with himself, she had been his longest serving servant. He always managed to fire the rest even if it upset his mother greatly. While his nurses tried to connive their way into his bed and ultimately heart, his valets tried to cheat, steal and gain from his blindness.
He kept Dasa around because he knew his mother would only hire someone else if he succeeded in getting rid of her. There was also something about her, something that went beyond his mental picture of her, her silent footsteps and the smell of her skin. She had a fighting spirit he found quite entertaining. It had been the same spirit that had forced her to storm out of the parlor after he had insulted her before the solicitor.
He had been forced into a meeting with a solicitor because his father had to go on an urgent journey to meet his brother in Italy. He had been in a sour mood because of the impending meeting and the sugar in his tea had helped to grate on his nerves. Of course it was after Dasa had stormed out of the room, the fabric of her skirt slapping his wrist mercilessly and the scent of her skin assaulting his senses as she did so, that he realized how brutal he had been to her. He had barely recovered from her behavior when he heard the solicitor race after her.
A feeling he hadn't understood at the time, had replaced his confusion as he listened to the solicitor run down the hall after Dasa. The man had returned after several minutes and it had taken everything in Daniel not to throw him out of the estate, but he somehow managed to get through the meeting.
He had then returned to his room and rang for Dasa. When she didn't show up, he rang for another maid and requested for Dasa. He was then informed of her absence and had immediately gotten upset at the thought of her being with the solicitor. He spent the entire day convincing himself it wasn't his business where she spent her time and with whom she spent it.
"Are you blind, my lord?" He heard her footsteps cross the room until she was standing before him, the scent of her skin filling his nostrils. He also noticed a new scent; cinnamon. "Forgive me, I didn't know. Oh, now I realize the bucket incident is my fault and I nearly killed you and I'm so terribly forgetful..."
He rose to his feet and turned to make his way back to the veranda where he had been enjoying the cool evening breeze before she arrived. Since the cat was out of the bag, there was no point talking about it. Although, a part of him wondered how she found out.
"Daniel?!" She grabbed his elbow and in that second, he whirled around, hand taking captive of her wrist.
A loud gasp followed his actions, followed by something bumping against his chest. He reached out suddenly, mentally guessing that she would be shocked enough to want to back away from him and would eventually fall backward to the floor.
He had been right, for as his right hand reached out while his left held her wrist captive, it encircled her waist, holding her upright.
He couldn't see her, but he felt her staring at him, her face most likely only inches from his. Her breath tickled his lips, filling him with a sensation he hadn't felt before. The scent of her skin was so strong in his nostrils, he realized for the first time that he liked it. Her chest was pressed to his, her body curving perfectly to fit his. His arm tightened its hold around her waist as his body instinctively leaned in close.
He realized as he leaned in, that she had stopped breathing; no longer was her breath tickling his lips.
He released his hold around her wrist and lifted his hand to her chin, wanting nothing but to feel her face with his palm, giving him a better mental picture of what she looked like.
A sharp inhale followed his actions and a smile settled on his face as he imagined the look in her eyes. Did she think he would kiss her? Would she want him to kiss her? Was she like his nurses who would have done anything to climb the social ladder, even if it meant marrying a blind man?
He didn't desire to kiss her, however. He just found himself enjoying their closeness.
"Do I look blind, Dasa?" He leaned into her, his fingers brushing her jaw. Her body tensed in his arms in that second. Releasing his hold around her waist, he stepped back and turned around. Straightening his shoulders and raising his chin up, he began making his way back to veranda, feeling her eyes trace his movement.
Copyright © 2018 Lily Orevba All rights reserved.
A/N
Thanks guys, for your well wishes. I know this season is terrible but it'll pass. I kinda feel better today so, here's a chapter I've been struggling with for a while. Do leave a comment to tell me what you think about it. Do you think Hadassah and Daniel will make a fine couple? Or would you rather have her end up with Paul?
Please leave a vote behind and thank you so much for two thousand reads!!! I still get so excited seeing people reading my stories.