Cotton & Lace

The Decaying House

When I woke up, the sun was shining brightly through the windows. My nightgown was no longer on the floor. A new dress and under layers were set beside my changing screen. I got out of bed and wrapped a robe around me. I decided I wanted to take a bath to wash off the unspeakable things I spent my night doing. I called for Isla to run my bath and made my way to the bath house located beside the rose garden.

It was a small structure made out of stone with a candle chandelier that hung above a large round tub. The hot water filled the room with steam and caused the rocks to condensate. I hung my robe on the anchor attached to the stone and stepped into the tub.

The water was hot and filled with perfumed oils and fresh milk. Isla believes milk will soften and whiten the skin and that's how ladies should appear. I didn't mind either way as the bath smelled beautifully.

I dipped my head below the water to wet my hair and then surfaced. I took a cotton cloth and a bar of the handmade soap and began soaping the cloth. I scrubbed my skin leaving it pink and then began soaping my hair. I sank below the water's surface to rise myself and then leaned back to relax against the tub.

I heard an abrupt knock on the door and Isla entered.

"Miss Sadie, Mister Andrew wants to have lunch with you today.He says please don't make him wait all day.." Isla said quickly.

I sighed. "Thank you, Isla. I will get ready now."

I stepped out of the tub and dried myself off and put my robe back on. I went to my room and got dressed to meet my husband in the dining room for lunch.

As I entered in the dining room, my husband, Andrew, sit at the head of the table, various foods presented on the table before him. I took my seat to the right of him and folded my hands in my lap.

Servants immediately started serving food on our plates and Andrew began eating.

He looked tired. His brown hair was messy, dark circles under his normally bright green eyes. His skin was pale but now it looked even paler than normal. I realized while looking at him that I had never really taken the time to study his features. He was 23yrs old when we married but now he looked much older. I contributed his aging to the excessive gambling and drinking that he did.

"Sadie, my family will be coming to stay with us for a visit. They will be arriving tomorrow morning." Andrew spoke.

"Oh! How wonderful!" I said, feigning excitement.

"We will need to move your personal effects to my room before their arrival." Andrew said matter of factly.

"I will instruct Isla to do so right after lunch." I said.

I was not looking forward to this arrangement even if it was temporary.

We finished our lunch and I excused myself from the table. Andrew disappeared to his study and I found Isla to inform her of what was needed. She quickly went to gather my belongings and let the other maids know of what needed to be done before tomorrow. The help all went to working on preparations. I saw Andrew leave and climb into an awaiting carriage.

Since everyone was busy and Andrew was gone, I decided to sneak away to find Reed.

I ran through the grassy field, across the stream and to his old campsite. He was sitting on a stump whittling a piece of wood. He looked up and smiled at me as if he had been waiting for me to come.

I ran up to him bent to cover his face in breathless kisses.

"I have missed you so much!" I said excitedly

He kissed me on the lips in return.

"I haven't stopped thinking about you since we parted this morning." He said.

I looked around and realized his camp site was mostly gone aside from his nap sack beside the stump he was sitting on.

I immediately panicked.

"Ar...are you leaving?" I stumbled over my words.

"Yes, but just somewhere more shielded. I don't want to risk those men coming back. They appeared to be a rebel militia and those kind usually cause problems." Reed said.

I sighed with relief.

"Know anywhere else on the property I can stay,Miss?" Reed asked.

"I've never explored further than the grass field" I stated.

"Then it's time we fix that." Reed said with a wink.

He grabbed his bag and gun and we set off below the overgrown fields. We walked for a long while to a point that when I turned around, the house was out of sight. We continued walking and came across some vines and brambles covering the bones of a rock structure. It looked almost like a lighthouse as it was a large tower with a square building attached. The roof was covered in straw and metal and the vines were laying claim to most of it. Reed found the door and pushed it open revealing a small room with wooden floors, a fireplace, an old bed, desk, and some chairs. It looked as though it had been empty for years. We peaked through the structure and found a tiny room with a mirror and wash basin. There was a spiral staircase leading to the top of the tower room.

"Looks like home to me!" Reed said.

I half laughed at this.

"I will bring you some things as I can." I told him.

"Thank you, miss. Anything is appreciated." Reed said.

Reed loaded up the fireplace and lit it in order to provide some light in the otherwise dark room. We shook out the old mattress and dusted off the surfaces throughout the room. I took a seat on the edge of the bed. It was hot and stuffy in here with the fire going and the sun blazing outside. I watched Reed move around the room and just started smiling. He was the most handsome man I had ever known and I desperately wanted him to be mine but knew this couldn't happen. This reminded me of the company soon arriving.

"My husband's family will be coming to stay tomorrow morning.." I said.

"Oh?" Reed replied.

"I don't mind them. But I know they will have a lot of questions about why we haven't had a baby yet..I fear this could put him on edge." I said, thinking of how much pretending I was going to need to do.

"Then why did you marry him?" Reed asked bluntly.

"Because our families needed to be tied together in order to keep money and business between only our two families, so they arranged for me to marry him with the expectation that we would provide multiple children to eventually take over the business. I thought we would fall in love over time but Andrew only drinks and gambles and spends his nights away from home.." I said.

"I don't understand, you have been married for all this time but you had never received your husband in bed?" Reed asked.

"No...he was too drunk on our wedding night and spent our honeymoon hunting.. when he returned he told me I would have my own room and sleep in that room and eventually we would agree upon a time to try for a baby. I know he spends his time in the company of other women, just not with me. " I said with a bit of sadness. I didn't love Andrew, he was my husband, but in reality I barely knew him.

"I see.." Reed replied. He leaned in and kissed me, instantly diminishing the sad thoughts I had. I put my hand on the side of his face and looked into his eyes before kissing him in return.

I stood up knowing I needed to get back before anyone noticed I was gone.

I looked down at the floor, because I didn't want to go back either.

Reed spun me around to face him, pulling me by my waist close to his chest. I rested my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. In that moment everything going on felt far away and the only thing that mattered was this moment with him.

After a few moments we pulled away from each other.

"Time to get you home, Cinderella." Reed said lightheartedly while taking my hand to lead me out of the room.

We stepped outside in the late afternoon sunlight and began walking towards my home. I did not realize earlier how long it had taken to find the decaying structure.

When we reached the edge of the rose garden, I turned to Reed and pulled his face down to mine, pressing my forehead against his. I breathed in deeply

"save me my prince charming" I said with a sad smile.

"I will ready the pumpkin carriage now, miss" Reed said smiling.

He pressed his lips softly to my lips and then on my forehead.

"I will be waiting for you." He said and then took my hand, kissing my palm and then folding my fingers over it.

"Hold this for me." Reed said with a smile and then turned to leave.

I watched him walking away for a moment before turning to go inside.