The sleep enveloping Jasper's body slowly withered away. His chamber was still dark and he himself was still a bit groggy. Beside him a figure lay under the covers and he smiled tiredly, reaching out his hand and ran his fingers a small ways through the silky hair. Then he traced his fingers down to the shoulder and scooted closer, pressing his nose into the back of their neck.
He furrowed his brow a moment later. The scent he was so familiar with was different from what he was used to, but his bleary mind quickly pushed the thought aside. He slipped his leg between theirs, kissing the sweet aromatic skin under him.
"Mmm," came a weary moan.
Jasper kissed again, trailing them towards the back of their neck. "Good morning," he whispered, almost inaudible.
A hand reached blindly for his, dragging it under the covers and up their chest.
Jasper smirked and then, like a brick wall appearing from nowhere, understanding struck him. He gasped, sucking in a chest of air and backed away quicker than ever.
Darcy nearly screamed as well as she comprehended the situation. "Jasper!" she wheezed, shooting upright.
"Darcy!"
They flinched from the realization, both tumbling off the opposite sides of the bed.
Jasper almost fell on his head and got to his feet hastily, catching a flame to the bedside lantern. He and Darcy stared bewildered at one another...before laughter shook the room. Darcy slapped her knee, bending over as tears of hilarity and embarrassment overcame her, and Jasper gripped his stomach, his cheeks becoming sore.
"Dear, lord," Darcy exclaimed heartily, "I thought you were Juliette!"
"And I thought you to be Elijah!"
Wiping a tear from her cheek, Darcy said, "We couldn't have been anymore wrong."
"Oh, I feel quite humiliated."
Jasper and Darcy clearly had forgotten they were to spend the night with one another, for show, of course, to give the illusion of consummation.
When their laughter died down, a moment later Eli entered the chamber, dressed and ready to serve as the lowly butler everyone else thought him to be. Seeing Jasper and Darcy in an equal state of disorder made him pause in the doorframe. He'd known they were supposed to spend the night together, but he couldn't put his finger on why they looked so puzzled. "What is the matter?" he asked.
Darcy snickered with a playful twirl, the hem of her nightgown opening in a wide circle before falling again. "It seems your master was trying to get touchy with me, Elijah. I'd say he deserves a little talking to."
"I was not!" Jasper cut in.
"Tell that to my shoulder, Mister."
Eli shook his head, dismissing whatever they were going on about. "If you two are quite finished," he said, "The manor has a very unfortunate guest downstairs."
Jasper, fixing his blonde mane of bedhead, couldn't imagine who Eli could be talking about. After last night's supper in celebration of his marriage, everyone had gone home to their families while Darcy was the only one to stay behind. "And who might this 'unfortunate' guest be?"
Annoyance could be heard in Eli's voice when he said, "Your ever so wonderful cousin Edmund."
The name rattled in Jasper's head for a quick second. Edmund? What in the name of Christ was Edmund doing here of all the other places he could be? No one from his step mother's side of family just dropped in without a notice like that. But wait, Eli had said 'a' guest, just one. So Edmund was here alone? No Francis or Bolton following close behind? Jasper could already feel himself begin to sweat.
The jolly mood in the room was replaced with frustration and a demand for answers. "What is he doing here?" he just about panicked.
Darcy jumped at the infuriation in Jasper's voice, and looked to Eli for verification on the matter.
"I don't know," Eli answered, "But he's all too eager to see you."
"No!" Jasper shouted, his cheeks turning red, memories of his last confrontation with Edmund coming back. He could feel the wind being knocked out of him again, remembering how he'd been thrown back on a bed, pinned down and nearly violated by the seventeen-year-old. He would be eightteen now.
"I don't want him here!" Jasper's once chipper face had morphed into an expression that bellowed hatred and rage. "Send him away!"
Eli, shaken by the fury in the Young Master's voice, hurried for Jasper, placing his hands on his shoulders. "Calm down," he soothed, glancing over toward Darcy and then back. "I tried speaking with him already, but he wouldn't give me a moment."
"I am NOT going down there until that fiendish wretch is off this property!"
"Jasper-."
"I mean it."
Eli sighed, beaten.
He turned his back on Jasper. "Lady Darcy," he said, "Would you be so kind as to give me a moment alone with Jasper? Juliette is down in the servant's quarters having breakfast, and should be up to greet you in a couple minutes."
Darcy nodded, "I'll just give myself a warm bathe for the time being, then."
When she disappeared into the bathroom, the door latching behind her, Eli faced Jasper again, but the small seventeen year old was gone.
Eli spun around, catching the Young Master hurriedly pulling on his day clothes. "Jasper, wait. Please."
"No, I must tell my father Edmund isn't welcomed here."
As Jasper buttoned his blouse, missing a few of the holes, Eli grabbed the boy's trembling hands. "Jasper, listen to me," he kept his voice low, just in case Darcy could hear through the wooden door. "I am just as upset as you are, if not more, but speaking up about the incident will only cause undesired attention. I want Edmund thrown out of this manor as well, but unfortunately we both hold secrets dire for the other if ever discovered."
Jasper's hands continued to tremble in Eli's grasp. The red haired boy was right, though. It didn't seem to matter if either of them spoke of the attempt at molestation, or the fact that Jasper was in an intimate relationship with Eli, either way both parties would be punished to some extent.
Veiling his frustration with the lot of the dilemma, Eli sighed and kissed the back of Jasper's hands. As much as he wanted to comfort his love, he honestly didn't feel like dealing with this right now. Ever since his short escape back home, nothing seemed to be going right anymore. They'd had five months of pure unadulterated peace, living and loving happily until...Silas.
He was already having issues of his own when it came to accepting his loss of the boy with crooked glasses; the last thing he needed were more problems on his plate. And given it was Edmund, made it a whole lot worse because he knew too much.
"His intentions are undoubtedly impure," Eli said, "But he should know he's putting all of us at stake with whatever he's doing here." After kissing Jasper's hands again, he pushed a curly blonde lock behind the boy's ear. "I came to warn you, but I must get back to work now. The dinner last night prolonged cleaning the entire manor. I'll try to finish my household duties and return to you as fast as I can."
Jasper didn't want to see Eli go but let him, watching his tailcoat vanish with the closing of the door. He took a seat at the end of the bed, slouched over as though conquered by the mere knowledge of Edmund's presence.
He sat alone for a while, trying to motivate himself into getting up, but lacked the desire to leave his bedroom. Maybe if he remained locked away long enough, no one would-
There was a faint, almost hesitant, knock on the door. His blue eyes darted over in its direction. "Who is there?" he commanded, sounding both afraid and flustered.
"Juliette," the timid voice answered.
"You may enter," Jasper said, relieved.
The door opened slowly and Juliette stepped inside, closing it behind her afterwards. She was dressed as usual in her dark navy uniform, long brown hair tied back, and her pretty face held a centered expression. She hardly ever looked unmoved. In her arms she carried a gown, no doubt for the Lady. "Darcy is not in here anymore?" Juliette asked softly.
Jasper crossed his legs on the bed, toying with the loose seam of his sleeve. Before he could respond, however, Darcy's voice called through the bathroom door. "I'm in here, my love. I could use a bit of-," she giggled, "-assistance if you'd care to lend a hand."
Juliette's face flushed a shade of red and she looked up at Jasper, who just shook his head knowingly and leaned back on his palms pressed into the mattress.
A few minutes later the two young ladies exited the bathroom, Darcy now put together in her olive green gown, her black hair, which touched passed her shoulders now, still drying a little at the ends. "Hm," she eyed Jasper on the bed, "I see you've managed to get dressed, however, it looks like a child tried to put everything together. Look at your socks, one is buckled lower than the other."
Pushing his hair back out of his face, Jasper said, "I care not for what I look like today."
"If I may inquire, this wouldn't have anything to do with whoever entered the manor, does it?"
He didn't bother trying to hide. "It has everything to do with him."
"Who is he?"
Jasper stood from the bed, kneeling down to fix the buckles on his long socks. "Edmund, I don't believe I've ever spoken to you about who exactly he is. Do you recall when I was afraid on behalf of Elijah being in a confrontation with a lot that I, myself, was afraid of?"
"Yes," she nodded, "And then suddenly the next day your library was destroyed."
"Well," Jasper stood upright again, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his shorts, "He's not the one who tarnished my library, but he is the one who orchestrated the attack on Elijah. What I'm more fearful of, though, is that...he's...tried to put his hands on me."
Darcy was quiet a moment, and then, she said, "You mean, he...?"
Before Jasper could give an answer, a light rap came to the chamber door. "Young Master," it sounded like Anna, "You have a guest."
Jasper, Darcy and Juliette glanced tensely at the door, as though waiting for it to magically open on its own. A second later, Darcy sauntered toward it without any consent or worries and, just about flung it open.
Out in the hall stood Anna alongside a tall ginger boy with pale skin and dashing blue eyes, dressed damper in a black and gray rider's uniform. He was fairly bigger than she was expecting. Given Jasper's petite size, she'd anticipated someone around his sized, but in realizing the two boys weren't related by blood, the size difference was greatly noted.
Anna bowed her head in respect for the Lady, "Young Master Edmund, Madame," she presented the ginger boy before taking her leave.
A smile pulled at Edmund's lips as he stared down at Darcy, "And you must be the fortunate Lady Darcy of Milridge." He held out his hand as for her to grant him with her own.
She didn't budge, and said, "I am a Lancechester, now," her tone leveled and unbothered.
Edmund's smirk faded away only to be replaced by another, "Of course, you are," he declared. "I understand my dear cousin is in here?"
Darcy glanced behind her into the room, Juliette being the only person in sight. The light of the bathroom shone from beneath the door, and there was also the shadow of feet moving back and forth behind it. "My husband," she said, "is occupied at the moment." Then she stepped out of the room, beckoning Juliette to follow on behind her. To Edmund, she said, "Why don't you and I get acquainted elsewhere for the time?"
Not bothered by the suggestion, Edmund gestured for Darcy to lead the way, and they descended down the hall and stairs together. He looked back as Darcy and the servant Juliette went first, smirking at Jasper's chamber door in his wake. A whisper of a laugh crept through his lips. Hushed, he said, "This'll be amusing."
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