Becoming Love

Chapter 3

While one would assume, and fairly correctly at that, that the leisure activities of a lady during this time were superficial, one certainly could not say the same of the servants. Instead of visiting other households, shopping for the latest fashionable items, planning a dinner to entertain other high class members or hunting for a suitable match, servants would occupy their day with activities that made all of this possible. Cleaning the house, keeping the stables and the gardens, polishing floors, cutlery and doing the dishes, mending clothes, and even dressing the masters were only few of the activities that one in that level of society would go through on a daily basis. Of course, there were also the other workers who farmed the lands that provided the income which allowed the wealthy to remain wealthy and living the life they were used to.

To the masters, the difficulties of such a life, and the injustice of it, were invisible. They lived their lives under the impression that they did these people a favor by allowing them to be under their service. Although it must be said that the benefit of having a roof to live under and food to eat every day was indeed a desirable situation, as not many were so lucky to be in such a position, it, by no means, meant that it was fair nor that it was them, the servants, who were the ones to enjoy the benefits of the relationship.

While their masters enjoyed a life of leisure, luxury and elegance without as much as lifting a finger, they worked hard from sunrise to sundown in order to get by, and with little aspirations of getting a better life eventually. It was no different for those who worked in Lord Richard’s household.

Although the life as a worker at Whitestone Hall was not bad, considering as the Lady Grey provided a rather decent income, the hard work was in no way less than in any major house. While the Greys held the title of Lord, it was said that Whitestone Hall could easily be fit for even a Duke, and the lands that belonged to the family were wide and bountiful. On top of that Lord Richards’s father had made such good business in his time, that the family was now one of the wealthiest of the country, and thus, the elegance and maintenance of such a house required a great deal of work, and a small army of servants, to keep immaculate.

Every single one of the workers spent a hard day to keep everything ready and perfect for any situation, from the gardens and stables to the housekeeping. Moreover, lately, the social dinners and elegant visitors at the Hall had been more common. Lady Grey had not yet secured another child, and although John was a remarkable young man, the house had felt more and more empty to Lady Caitriona Grey with the passing of time.

In a way, she hoped that the constant company would make her feel more at ease at her home, and would help avoid the loneliness she often found herself in, as even spending time with John became more difficult when he started studying and spending most of his day with Mr. Yates or Adele. She took every chance to spend with him,, and often required him to sit with her for a while and talk to her. She refused to openly accept it, but somewhere inside she knew that John would be her only son, and making sure that he turned into the great, honorable and sensible Lord he was meant to be, and that he achieved a life filled with success and happiness had become her goal.

Her own married life was comfortable. Lord Richard wasn’t a romantic man, but they loved and respected each other. He had been initially caught by Caitriona’s beauty and elegance, and then, for her overall countenance. She was an intelligent woman, witty, merciful, from a very respectable family, and she clearly had the temperance of mind that immediately spoke of her maturity at age nineteen, and how much of a great mistress she would make. It was her who, with time, taught Lord Richard to be more mindful and respectful of lower classes, including servants, because it was their responsibility, as they were in a position of privilege.

Lord Richard and Lady Caitriona didn’t spend a lot of time together, as he often traveled on his own, but he heard her when she came to him and, although he was a strict man, he did, as any smart man would, submit to his wife’s requests, so long as they didn’t directly oppose his wishes. This is why he had been persuaded to allow John to extend his studies at home and delay his going to Eton to study, and they got one of the best tutors that could be found in the country. He saw the benefit of having his son close as he grew up, and he boy was the only consolation to his wife for not being able to produce him more children. He still hoped, though, that they would have the opportunity to have more children before she reached the stage, proper of women’s age, when she would no longer be able to bear children.

All of this played a part for John to become who he was, and that he spent time with whom he did. His friendship with Willow made her even more aware of the life servants lead, and in turn, he was much more sensible towards them. He was loved by the servants of Whitestone Hall, as they also saw in him a man that was close to their own through the little Miss Edwards, Willow.

During the past three weeks, another visitor had stayed at Whitestone Hall, a mister Steele, friend of Lord Richard, who was accompanied by his new wife. The presence of the couple meant that John, in addition to his school time, had to be present at times with the family, as Mrs. Steele had found herself so fond of the young man, wishing her future son would be half as handsome and half a gentleman as John was, and praising him at every chance which, of course, made the Masters incredibly proud, especially Lady Grey.

John took the visit in a mixed manner. He didn’t spend much time with the group, he was just a kid after all, but the time he did spend with them, he had to admit, was pleasant, and it did feed his ego and pride in his self in a positive manner. He did miss Willow, though. He had not had time to walk and talk with her and even Adele was missing the girl. The day the visitors left, after classes were over, John had insisted to Adele to go on a walk, and she knew what this meant. When they reached the kitchen back door, Adele went forward, while John hung back, waiting. Adele came back, but she was on her own.

“Where’s Will?” asked John, peering behind Adele.

“She has gone to the town, Young Master, to buy supplies.” John nodded, silently. “Shall we go on?” suggested Adele.

John turned his gaze to her and shook his head lightly. “No, I think we better return home. Mother will enjoy the company.” He said, and after Adele agreed, they went back inside. They spent some time with his mother, now without the visitors, and after a little while, John excused himself, saying he would go to his room, but instead, he went to one of the rooms that faced the entrance of the kitchen, so he would know when the cart with the supplies was back.

As soon as he heard the cart closing in, he spotted Willow’s blonde hair and he got up and made his way downstairs, being careful to not alert his family, Adele or Mr. Yates. He walked out, and made his way to the back of the house until he saw the servants, unloading the cargo, Willow was helping with a basket, and then she noticed him. Leaving the basket close to the entrance, but out of the way, she smiled and walked over to John, and as she got closer, John’s lips smiled too. A couple of the servants saw her walk away, and before they could say anything, they saw John and just offered a polite nod, which John replied, before focusing on Willow as she reached him.

“Miss Willow.” He said with a playful tone, as he slightly bowed his head, as a gentleman would when meeting a lady.

“Little Master John!” she said in the same tone and chuckled, offering a not very polished curtsey. “I heard Mr. and Mrs. Steele have left already?” she commented.

“Yes, they left around noon. How was your visit to town?” he asked, and slowly turned to walk towards the garden, Willow followed, as usual.

“It was fine, we just did the weekly run to replenish the kitchen. You guys eat a lot when you have visitors!” she said with a smile, as they walked. Somehow the absence of Adele wasn’t really felt by the either of the teens. “How come you’re out here at this time?” she asked, they usually went for their walk earlier in the day.

“Oh. Well, it has been a while since I had the chance to spend time with you, so I thought, now that the Steeles left, that I should come and see how you were doing.” He said with a soft smile as his eyes were on her. Willow was really pretty, that blond hair and the fiery tone of her eyes made her always look like she was glowing.

“Ah, now you remember your dear friend Willow, Mister Grey?” she asked in a teasing tone, although she meant some of it. While any aristocrat or respectable family visited Whitestone, John and Willow wouldn’t talk. It was a request from Caitriona, as she knew what a scandal it would be to know that the son of Lord Richard played and socialized with a servant child almost every day, and that he regarded the girl as a friend.

He stopped, and looked at her with his hands still behind his back. As she also halted, he remained quiet for a moment, and then he moved closer, barely one step separating him from the girl. He was almost fifteen, and he understood a bit more of the feelings a teenager goes through than Willow herself had experimented, even if she noticed behaviors from men around her, it didn’t mean she understood them properly.

“I feel, Willow,” he started with a soft, yet serious voice, his eyes looking down at her tenderly, as she looked at him with a soft blush at his closeness, but a slightly confused expression at his tone. “that I have a hard time forgetting about you at any time.”

Willow’s eyes widened and her cheeks flared up, suddenly hearing the thumping of her hear in her head same as she felt it in her chest. She had never felt something alike before. As she smiled, looking down shyly to try to hide her flustered cheeks from his eyes, both she and John were unaware of the eyes that, from afar, had taken note of the scene and of the uneasy sentiment that it had stirred.