The English Rose

Paris !

                                Joseph couldn't get down the gangway fast enough, he was tired of being cooped up because the damn weather. “ To Calais, and to the hotel to change and get ready for the trip to Paris.” The snow was coming down quite rapidly, he was sick of the damn cold. He longed for the warmth of the sun and to not worry about an income. “Drive on.” He tapped his cane loudly on the roof of the coach. The coach took off down the lane, snow flying everywhere around the coach. “ Come one Joseph think, you have to fix what you said to her.” he thought out loud. They pulled up to a small hotel, La Calais. He opened the door, and stepped down, striding into the hotel. The man behind the desk greeted him, “ How may I help you sir ?” the man said with a heavy French accent “ “Lord Ludendorf wanting to rent a room for a few hours.” “ Very good your Lordship.” He handed him some paperwork to sign, Joseph handed him some bills, and in return got his key. He picked up his cane and strode to the staircase. He ascended two floors and began searching for his room. “ Ah Number 204.” He inserted the key into the lock and turned it. He flung his coat across the bed and strode into the bathroom to freshen up. Thirty minutes later he was walking down the stairs. He returned the key and got his paperwork. He did not want to miss the train, it was too long of a journey to take a coach. His coach pulled up to take him to the station,. The snow was falling hard, making it difficult to see. He could see the lights of the station up ahead. The weather was absolutely dreadful. He pulled his hat on, and pulled up his collar up closer. The coach came to a stop and he opened the door. The wind was fierce, chilling him to the bone. He walked to the station, showed his ticket and boarded the train. He couldn't wait to get to Paris. He was already tired of traveling.

“ Rose here is your cup of tea.” Henry handed her a cup of tea. The train let out a shrill whistle and the train leapt forward into motion. “ Oh goodness, wow this train is fast.” Rose laughed. The snow fell softly around the train, it looked like a snow globe outside. "We are going to have a small dinner, nothing complex, just easy going. We will be getting into Paris late.” The porter brought the rolling cart into their car, he was followed by another porter who had another rolling cart as well. The carts were packed full of food, champagne, and wine. The travelers were famished, they set about filling their plates and glasses. The atmosphere was lively, everyone excited for the upcoming season. They talked, ate, joked as the train chugged along to Paris. The snow gradually began to stop falling outside. The lights from Paris started to peek through the low clouds and fog. Rose was seated close to the window, it was a bit darker. She was nice and warm, her belly full of delicious food. Her lids drooped down, as the train car gently rocked her to sleep. Her mind began to unfold her dream. Yelling, her cheek felt warm , her body knocked into a side table knocking over the oil lamp as well. The oil lamp shatters against the wood floor. Rose can feel her body being dragged against the floor, sharp pain goes through her side towards her hip. Glass shards rip through her dress and rip her skin. She let out a scream, her body was dragged upwards. Searing pain rippled across her the side of her face, she felt her face starting to swell. Her hat pin was digging into her head. She was crying out in pain and suddenly she came out of her dream. Rose sat forward, shaking, trying to gather her thoughts. Andrew, Lily and Henry came to her side. Tears were pouring down her face, she was trying to catch her breath, but she felt trapped. She tried pulling her coat off, but she didn't realize the buttons were still fascinated. She began clawing at them to unfasten the buttons. “ Rose, Rose let me help.” Lily said concerned She knelt down in front of Rose to help. Rose was shaking still, the tears began to slow. Andrew brought her a small glass filled with whiskey. He handed it to her, and she took a small sip. “Rose drink more, you need to calm your nerves. “ Andrew replied He was very concerned. He had never seen Rose like this before, he couldn’t wait to get back to England. She drank the rest and handed the glass back to Andrew. “ What is going on ?” Richard’s voice boomed in the train car, Rose jumped at the loud noise. Richard’s face softened at the view of Rose. He knew she was very upset. “ Father, she had a bad dream , it was really bad.” “We are almost to Paris, James said he sent out several telegraphs to help get more security while in Paris. Rose you are not to go out unless you have a group go with you and the new security as well. I want you to feel safe.” Rose nodded in response to her father’s request, she had stopped shaking, but she was still very worried. Just then the train porter came in and said “ Your Grace, 10 minutes until we have arrived to Paris. “ “ Excellent, thank you.” The porter did a slight bow and turned to leave the car. The ladies began putting on their hats, gloves and coats. The men donned their overcoats and hats as well. The rain began  hitting the windows again, it got chilly in the train car. The train applied it’s brakes gently, they all stood, ready for their journey to be over. 

                               The station looked empty, except for what seemed like at least 10 coaches to transport everyone to their hotel, The La Rachelle. The train stopped and let out a shrill whistle to let her passengers know it was time to vacate the train. Henry extended his elbow to Rose, she gladly accepted with a smile. Andrew told Henry they would travel together. Henry opened the door and was greeted by the pouring rain. A footman ran forward with an umbrella, to shield them from the horrid weather. Rose moved closer to Henry to stay under the cover. “ Goodness, it seems the weather followed us.” Rose said. “ Here we are Rose, in the City of Lights, and we can barely see the lights.” He laughed out. They both chuckled together. “ What is so funny ?” They both turned to see Joseph standing there next to them. Rose moved closer to Henry, she did not like Joseph nor did she trust him. “ We were just laughing about the weather.” “ The weather ? What an odd thing to laugh at.” He replied dryly. “ Well we must be on our way.” By this time Andrew , Lily, Lucy, Matthew and Isaac had all caught up to them. “ Let us be on our way Henry, the ladies are getting cold.” Andrew said but saying it while looking at Joseph.” Yes Of Course, Can I ride with you all to the hotel ? There isn’t any room in the next coach.” “ Sorry we are all full in here, try a different one.” Henry swung the door closed as everyone was already inside. He tapped the roof of the coach with his cane and away they went. “ Why is he even on this trip, nobody likes his family. They have some unhandled ties.” proclaimed Matthew. The carriages pulled up at The Grand Hotel and came to a stop. The lights were bright, everything twinkled with the freshly fallen rain on the ground. The door swung open, “ Welcome to The Grand Hotel, What is the name ?” “ Lord Forrester, Lady Strathmore, Lord Strathmore, and Countess Saxe and Ansbach.” The footman gave a bow and began quickly getting other footmen to help unload all the carriages. Andrew stepped out first, followed by Lily, Rose and Henry. A butler came down the stairs quickly, so much so that Rose was nervous he would fall. "Your Lordships and my Ladies we are so pleased to have you here, please come in out of the cold, we have your rooms all prepared.“  The large group went up the stairs, guided by the butler. “ Lady Rose and Countess Lily, we have you sharing a very large suite, here it is now.” “Oh wonderful.” A large fireplace had a fire going in the large sitting room, there was tea on the table. "Henry and Andrew, please stay and have some tea, we can invite my other brothers too. Have some fun before the madness starts. “ “ Sure, let us remove our coats and hats, we will be back. “ Just then Joseph strode past the room, tipping his hat to the  ladies. “ Dr.” He replied in a heavy German accent. Rose could feel the blood drain from her face, she turned to enter the room. Her hands shook as she tried to remove her gloves. They all entered the room and closed the door behind them. “Oh goodness, What am I going to do ? He knows, he is going to try and ruin me.” Crystal tears rolled down her cheeks. “ Rose sit and have some tea, we will figure this out.” Andrew said sternly “ Darling, he is jealous of you, he will never amount to anything and you have achieved so much, in such a short time. “ Lily said calmly. “ Henry sat on the couch, having removed his coat and hat. Clara entered the room “ Oh, I'm sorry your ladyship, I didn’t realize you were here yet, would you like to change ?” Everyone turned at the sound of Maude speaking in the hallway, “ Andrew, where is your sister. I have barely seen her. Ah there you are Rose. I will not be able to go with you tomorrow to meet with Mr. Worth. Your brothers and Lilyanne will go. Good Night.” She closed the door and Rose sat down slowly on the couch, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. She could go and pick out what she wanted, not having to worry about any hen pecking. 

Lily and Rose walked slowly ahead of the men, talking about their day and what they wanted to get from House of Worth. “ I need to expand on dresses for the summer but also a court gown as well as holiday gowns too.” Oh yes, Christmas gowns are in short supply for me. Of course a court gown is the most important. “ “ Ladies wait up. “ They turned to see Joseph walking down the stairs at a quick pace. “ Your mama thought it would be beneficial for me to come along.” “ While I thank you for the offer, we are quite well looked after.” Rose replied. Henry came along next to Rose, and extended his elbow and she graciously accepted. He gave Joseph a cold look, “ Let's be on our way.” The group walked down the steps of the hotel, where they awaited their carriage to come up. They needed to take two carriages as Henry’s two youngest sister were coming as well. The sun was out, nice and bright. “Where to first your grace ?”Mr. Smyth inquired “ The ladies need to go to House of Worth first, then we will go to luncheon. We can’t be too long, as we have to board the train back to Calais later this evening.” “ Very good Sir, we have two carriages here. We can get a third for all the purchases made, that way they can come back and be packed for the train.” “ Wonderful” Henry replied. Everyone was already getting into the carriages. Glancing back up toward the hotel, Henry noticed Maude and Joseph speaking at the top of the stairs. He quickly sat down “ Lets go.” A quick click of Mr. Smyth's tongue and away they went. Henry could see out the corner of his eye Joseph practically running down the stairs, and Maude huffing behind. “ Oh thank goodness we dodged the calamity of that madness.” Chuckled Andrew, just seeing what Henry did. “ So tell Henry what Joseph meant last night.” Andrew said pressing. “ So only a select few know, I recently graduated from St Andrew’s as a Physician, mostly focusing on Women and childbirth.” Rose said nervously. Henry’s eyes lit up” Rose that is amazing, truly.” Rose blushed “ Thank you, but you can understand why I was so nervous last night. He could ruin me.” “No he will not, I will not allow him to do that.” Henry spat out. The carriage slowed and pulled to the side, as they could see in the distance rain starting to fall. The footman put the top of the carriage up, to keep the passengers dry from the rain. Just then a loud slam could be heard against the side of the carriage. They turned to see Joseph astride his horse, with his cane in his hand. “ You couldn’t wait for me ? Her ladyship requested that I come with you all.” Andrew flew up out of the seat and out of the carriage, his brothers were already walking towards their carriage. The footmen had dismounted as well, “ How dare you hit the side of the coach with your cane while there are ladies present. What is wrong with you ? What if you hit one of them ?” The rain started to come down a bit hard, Andrew strode over to his brother Isaac, “ Lets loose him, he is not coming with us.” Isaac smiled in agreement, they each turned and walked back to their carriages. “ Let’s go, to The Windmill.” It was an exclusive club that he knew Joseph did not have a membership to, it also had a back exit for them to get out of. Andrew watched as the other carriage turned around, Joseph wouldn't be able to keep track of both of the coaches. They set off, going down the street at a quick pace “ When we get back to London, I need to visit some expectant moms who are due before summer. I haven't seen any newly expectant mothers because of the season, Mama is going to have our schedule packed full to the brim with visits, balls, galas, and tea parties. Makes my head spin.” The carriage slowed they made their way towards the entrance of The Windmill, It was gated, requiring paperwork to be shown. The gate opened and they passed through, their follower was not able to make it threw the gate. They could hear lots of yelling at the front entrance, slowly getting muffled as they made their way around the building. Finally they sighed in relief, they could be rid of the nuisance. The back gate opened and they passed through quickly. The minutes passed as the group discussed the season, Rose’s ideas for impoverished mothers and the Christmas season. “ Here we are sir, House of Worth. The other carriage was parked further down the road, its passengers not in the carriage but they could be seen from inside the shop. "Smyth, Can you park further up the road ?” “ As you wish Sir.” They excited the carriage and went into the shop.

                                                             A porter from House of Worth carried the boxes out to the extra

carriage they had rented. Mr. Smyth had offered to ride in the carriage to ensure their purchases made it the hotel. “ Ladies we must get back to the hotel, it took a bit longer than expected. We will need to have tea before we change and get ready to leave for the train.” Andrew closed his waistcoat watch. “I sent a runner back with a note letting Papa know we were running behind, and also to have our Valets and Ladies’ maids have everything ready to go except our traveling clothes.” “ Rose how are you feeling ?” “ Oh I love my court gown, but I feel like a pin cushion. The seamstress got me more than a few times with the pins.” “Ouch , that sounds awful.” Lily said with a giggle. “ Ladies, we must be quick changing, otherwise we will miss the train back to Calais.” “Ok no problem, we will be quick.” Replied Lily. They went down the road quickly. They rounded the corner to find a long line of carriages packed full, ready to take their passengers to the station. “ Oh goodness, everyone is waiting on us. It wont take me long to change and be ready.” “ It wont take me long either.” replied Lily. The carriage slowed to a stop, Rose could see her mother walking toward the carriage. She looked upset. “ Andrew and Rose, I must speak with you both.” “ Mama, we must get the ladies upstairs so they can change before the train leaves.” Andrew stated sternly. “ No they will travel in what they are wearing, you both chose to delay arriving on time, and excluded our friend Lord Dusseldorf with your bullying ways.” Maude said angrily “ Get back in your carriage and we will leave to the train station.” “ Mama you are being blinded by Joseph, he is arrogant and rude. He hit the side of our carriage with his cane because we didn't wait for him. Lord Forrester was witness to this. You need to stop favoring him and pay attention to who he is.” Andrew said. Andrew and Rose turned to walk back to their carriage, Rose was disappointed in her mother defending Joseph. He was a loose cannon, violent and angry. “ Mama is out of line siding with him, I will speak to Papa later. He is dangerous, his family is low on money. “ Andrew helped his sister back into the carriage, Andrew was in a foul mood. He wanted to be back home, he wanted to be on the back of his horse, trotting through Hyde park, perhaps with Lily by him. “ I saw you got some books Rose, what did you get ?” “ Oh just some textbooks on childbirth, and ensuring a healthy mother.” “ Oh wow, how interesting, and who do you see to help ?” Lily asked. “ I help mothers that are poor, sadly most doctors are not wanting to see poor mothers.” Rose stated sadly. They could hear the loud shrill whistle of the train, the wind was picking up, the storm clouds dark ahead. “ Ladies shall we Play hearts when we get settled ?” Henry asked. “ Oh that would be fun, I want some tea and cakes too, I'm quite hungry from shopping.” Lily said, giggling. Rose could see her brothers walking up the steps to train car three, her brothers laughing going up the stairs. The ladies stepped out of the carriage, holding onto there hats as the wind whipped around them. “ Oh goodness this weather has been something else this trip.” Proclaimed Lily. “ I want the warm sun on us, and us to be riding down the lane atop our horses.” The train let out a hissing of steam, letting herself be known that she was ready for the journey. 

                The train whistled again, and the station porter yelled out “ All Aboard” The girls gathered their skirts and quickly climbed on board, the men closely behind them. Luckily the footmen and porters were quick to unload and load everything. The train lurched forward with a sudden start and slowly down the tracks they went. The ladies removed their hats, gloves and coats. As did the men, they gathered around the food and tea trays, leaving them quite empty. Laughter and goading went on as they played Hearts. “ Your Lordship, how do you keep winning ? Do you have a trick sleeve ?” Asked Rose. “ No My Lady, I have spent many a days, playing cards with my late Grandmama.” Henry said, his eyes twinkling “ Oh what a treasure you are, keeping your Grandmama company.” Rose replied back with a smile “I for one, can’t wait to be back riding through Hyde Park. Lily would you care to join us, we were planning on going in two days or so, perhaps a picnic as well ?” Andrew inquired “ Hopefully the weather will be wonderful while we are still in London, I for one am tired of the rain.” Lily stated. Maude entered the cabin, as did Joseph. “ Your Lordship.” They both gave bows, and turned to Rose. “ Lady Strathmore, I would be honored if you would accompany me through the park on Friday .” Internally Rose groaned, she didn’t want to go any where with him. “ Mama, Rose and I are very busy with our charities all week, Lily, Henry, and Matthew are helping as well. “ Andrew stated flatly, hopefully discouraging Joseph from wanting to be around them anymore. Joseph reached for an armchair and dragged it over, trying to put it in between Rose and Andrew. Rose was turned the other direction and didn’t see Joseph pull the chair up, her hand was resting on the armrest, Joseph misjudged and pulled the chair up way too close. Pain ripped through Rose’s fingers and hand. Pulling her hand back quickly, she examined it. She skin had abrasions and scratches, the colors ranged from purple to pale pink. She pushed her chair back, and went to the tea cart, she grabbed a carafe of water, and poured some into a bowl. She was aggravated and in pain. She grabbed a linen napkin and soaked it in the cool water, she was worried about the cuts, she uses her hands constantly during delivery that she cant have them injured. Her mother came over, “ Oh Rose are you ok ? Let me go fetch a Doctor, we need your hand to heal before the season starts.” Maude went from the train car and Rose let out a sigh. Henry came up behind her, “ Are you ok Rose ?” She had now fully submerged her hand into the water. The left part of her hand was throbbing, she was fighting back the tears.  She Turned, her green eyes stared at him, he could see the pain in her eyes. “ Rose please come sit, let me look at your hand.” Henry said, looking at her sympathetically. Joseph looked pale white, trying to murmur apologizes, but nothing came out. Andrew shoved Joseph’s chair out of the way “ Please move out of the way.” Andrew said flatly to Joseph. He turned and left the train car, slamming the door behind him. “ Oh my goodness, my hand hurts. He should have been paying attention. I need my hands to help mothers. “ Rose said sadly. She sat down on the chair and she heard her mother come back in with her father. “Rosie what happened ?” Her father asked. “ Joseph is claiming you put your hand there to block him from moving closer.” “ Ooh Papa, that is not what happened at all, he has been hounding us this entire trip. He is not kind and at times is very rude. I had been sitting between Henry and Andrew since the train left the station. He came in at mother’s insistence. Andrew had to stop him from hitting our carriage a second time earlier. He pulled his chair in way too fast and hit my hand, that had been resting on the armrest. Andrew, Lily and His Lordship saw the entire episode transpire.” Rose said fiercely. Richard turned to Maude, “ You will stop encouraging Joseph to place himself where he is not wanted. Lets go.” Richard guided Maude from the train car, but before leaving he turned and said, “ Lock this door.” The train pulled into the Calais station quite late, almost 11pm. They had several stops along the way to Calais. Henry stepped out of the train car first, the air smelled like fresh dew. The wind was blowing in behind them, a chill to the air.

            His father and mother coming towards the train car. “ Henry .” James called Henry over to him, and he strode towards him. “ We will be setting sail once we all get aboard the ship. We will not all be sailing, but not everyone knows that yet. Quickly get the ladies aboard. The luggage is already on its way there.” “ Alright Father, are we sailing to London ?” No the Captain Said we can sail up the coast and dock closer to home. “ “ Oh brilliant.” “ What happened to Rose’s hand ?” Henry turned to see Rose, and the rest of their group walking towards them. Rose had the linen napkin wrapped around her fingers and hand, in a makeshift splint. “ Joseph wasn’t paying attention and hit her hand with the chair or he did it on purpose to hurt her. He is an awful man.” “ They will not be sailing with us, quickly get everyone aboard the carriages. “ Andrew, please help me get the ladies to the carriages so we can leave for the docks, we are sailing right away. “ Rose looked relieved, as did Lily. They both were tired from such a long day. The climbed aboard and away they went towards the docks. “ Well good, the Ludendorf’s were still trying to get off the train. Loading onto the ship will take a bit, but the luggage should already be on board, father wants to leave right away. We are sailing up the coast, home.” Rose and Lily’s eyes lit up, to be away from the bustling busyness of the city would be refreshing, and Rose could see her expectant patients. Hopefully Clara had a poultice ready to go, to put on her hand.