The Moon's Curse

Chapter 6 - Bad News

SWINDON, MARCH 12th, 1872

I jump in surprise, as I hear the door opening. I blink in confusion, did I fall asleep? I glance through the window, realizing that the sun is going to set soon. Oh, dear, I did fall asleep. I quickly sit up, my head spinning because of my hasty movements. For a moment, my vision blackens, and it takes a while for it to clear up again.

When it finally does, I see Felicity standing by the door, watching me with a worried expression on her face. I already open my mouth to ask her what she is doing here, but she places a finger over her lips, trying to tell me to keep quiet.

She gets to my bed, sitting down and starting to fix my hair. I am a bit embarrassed that she has caught me sleeping in the middle of the day, but I am grateful that she doesn’t mention it. And that she is redoing my hair instead.

“I have a short break, so I sneaked out of the kitchen to come check up on you,” she whispers as she keeps her fingers busy with my hair. “So, how did it go? Did your aunt suspect anything? What did you tell her?” she wants to know next, still speaking in a hushed tone.

I take a deep breath, deciding to use the same volume as her. I tell her about what my aunt said and how she scolded me for going to the fields with the maids. I also explain that I managed to fool her that I am nervous about my future, not her early return.

By the time I finish, I expect Felicity to breathe out in relief, but she doesn’t. She tugs a few more times, then lets her hands fall down to her lap. I immediately turn around to look at her with a questioning gaze. “Well? What am I supposed to do now? My aunt is back, and I am nowhere near forgetting Ezra. You said I would only be able to stop thinking about him once we have a little fun together. How do I do that now with my aunt being back?” I whisper, panicking a little.

Felicity sighs, furrowing her eyebrows as she tries to think of a solution for my problem. After a few long moments, she directs her serious gaze at me, and I can tell that she has made a decision for me. One that I am probably not going to like, no matter what it turns out to be.

“You will keep trying to seduce him. He is a man. It shouldn’t be that hard,” she remarks quietly, looking around as if somebody else were in the room with us. I follow her lead, wondering what she is so afraid of. My room is on the other end of the house, where servants don’t usually move around. Unless they are cleaning, of course.

It then hits me what she just said, and I can feel the blood disappearing from my face. I shake my head slowly, but determinedly. “No. I can’t do this anymore. My aunt will have my head if she finds out that I am fooling around with a boy. And his head, too!” I whisper-yell, but my friend still stares at me calmly.

She leans a bit closer to me, her voice growing even more silent. “Listen, you have said it yourself. You are nowhere near forgetting him. Your only option is for the plan to continue. If not, your aunt will see how miserable you are and jump to conclusions even faster. Is that what you want?”

I shake my head immediately. Of course, I don’t want her to find out that I fancy someone. Especially when that someone is one of our field workers. However, I still have a hard time seeing eye to eye with Felicity. “I know, but she can catch us! Continuing this is like writing myself up for a death sentence!” I argue silently, making my friend sigh impatiently.

“Do you want to forget about this boy or not?” she asks, watching me with a challenging gaze. I gulp nervously. Of course, I want to forget about him. I just wish there was a safer way to do it. I nod in defeat, hanging my head. She covers my hands with hers, making me look up at her. Her brown eyes are glistening encouragingly, trying to tell me that it will all be just fine. “I have to run now. I hope we will see each other soon,” she whispers.

Before I am able to respond, she is already gone. A gush of wind is all she leaves behind, as she disappears through the door. I grind my teeth together. Why can’t I just forget this boy and be done with it? Ezra. Even thinking of his name makes my stomach jump. Oh, heavens, what have I gotten myself into?

I don’t want to leave my room, but I know it will soon be time for supper. After trying to find a reason to excuse myself from it, my traitorous stomach growls. Sighing, I get up, knowing I won’t be able to fall asleep if I don’t get something to eat. As I leave the room, I find myself hoping that my aunt hasn’t been looking for me all this time.

I happen to run into Mrs. Spinster in the hallway, earning her approval with my new dress. She bows her head, stopping in front of me, blocking the way. “Lady Sophie, I was just about to come get you. It is time for supper,” she speaks to me with a polite tone, but she doesn’t wait for my answer. She turns around and heads towards the Dining room, with me walking behind her like an obedient dog.

My aunt is already sitting by the table, taking her usual place. I take the chair opposite her, while Mrs. Spinster sits in the middle. Out of all the servants in the house, she is the only one, who was given the honour to be sitting with us.

“Good afternoon, aunt,” I greet the lady cheerfully, making a hint of a smile appear on her face.

“Good afternoon, niece,” she responds in the same playful manner, her gray eyes studying me closely. “Did you have a good nap?” she wants to know, taking me aback. She wasn’t usually one to make an effort to chit-chat. She thought it was completely unnecessary to talk about meaningless things. But apparently, something has changed.

“Yes, it was alright, thank you,” I respond, peeking through the door that leads to the kitchen. I am trying to see if the maids are already bringing dinner to the table. I am starving.

“Well, I hope you now realize that helping the maids is an exhausting task, inappropriate for a lady. You are lucky that your sewing teacher couldn’t come today. You were supposed to have classes this afternoon,” my aunt suddenly remarks, making me look at her in surprise. Oh, so this is what the small talk was all about.

I notice Mrs. Spinster’s embarrassment with the side of my eye, but I don’t think she is the one my aunt is angry with. I lower my head in shame. “I am sorry that I offended you. It won’t happen again, I promise,” I say, hoping that I will be forgiven.

As I raise my gaze back up, to check if she is still looking at me, I can feel chills running down my spine. She is watching me with that same scary gaze that she used on me earlier in the day. But as she blinks, I realize I must have only been imagining it. She must be tired too. That is why she is looking at me like this.

“You’re a good girl, Sophie,” she finally says, nodding at me in affirmation, that I have in fact been forgiven.

Just then, the maids finally bring out the food, serve us, then retreat into the kitchen. We dine in silence, one can only hear the sound of cutlery clinking against the plates.

As I get half through my plate, I realize I might have asked for too much food. But I decide that I won’t be leaving any of it, so I force myself to eat, no matter how badly my stomach protests. Being trapped inside the corset, there is not much room left for it.

I still finish the whole plate, breathing out in relief as I lean back on the chair. I am tempted to untie the corset, but there is no way I could ever do it so discretely that neither my aunt not Mrs. Spinster would notice anything. So, I stay there, feeling a bit nauseous and hoping I can leave the table soon. I can’t wait to change into my nightgown.

Suddenly, a loud knock can be heard all the way to the Dining room. I believe it is coming from the front door. My aunt and I both seem confused, while Mrs. Spinster is already on her feet, rushing towards the Vestibule. Who could be coming to visit us at this hour?

As I sit and wait, I also try to catch the voices that are coming from outside. My whole body stiffens as I recognize one of them. Oh, no. It’s Ezra. And he must be with Mr. Walker, the head of our field workers must have brought him here to also meet the First Lady of the house. What do I do now? I can’t let my aunt see that I can’t tear my gaze off Ezra whenever he is near me!

I quickly turn towards her, holding my stomach. “Aunt Mora, may I please be excused? I am feeling incredibly nauseous. I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of our guests,” I practically beg her. She waves her hand at me dismissively.

“Of course, off you go. But next time, don’t ask for so much food. It is a very unladylike habit,” she simply remarks, and I thank her, almost knocking over the chair, as I get up. I send my aunt one last bashful smile, before leaving the Dining room with my hand over my stomach.

The moment I leave, I feel a sense of relief washing over me. As long as I don’t have to face Ezra, I can take any kind of nausea. I would even eat another plate of supper if it were necessary. Anything to avoid being in the same room with him and my aunt at the same time.

I am so deep in thought, that I don’t watch where I’m going. And it leads to a very uncomfortable situation.

I collide with someone, clutching their arms to prevent myself from falling. I can feel their grip on my elbows. It is firm, but gentle at the same time and I find myself looking up into the darkest pair of eyes that I know.

I have to remind myself that we are not alone. I can see Mr. Walker and Mrs. Spinster from the corner of my eyes, watching the encounter. Freezing, I stumble backwards, my heart thumping inside my chest loudly. “Good evening, gentlemen,” I first greet them, then turn back to Ezra. Mind your manners, Sophie, mind your manners. “M-My apologies, I didn’t see you there, Mr. Davenport,” I stutter, managing to keep a respectable distance between us.

As I readjust my gloves, which slid down from my encounter with Ezra, he clears his throat, shaking his head. “Lady Acker, the fault is mine. I am sincerely sorry,” he tells me, and I try not to let myself be affected by it. I need to get out of here as quickly as I can!

“Alright then. All is forgiven,” I quickly reply. “Now, if you will excuse me, I won’t be joining you for the evening, because I am not feeling very well. Have a good night, gentlemen,” I tell them, bowing my head at everyone, including Mrs. Spinster. I then stride past them, heading straight to my room.

As I close the door behind me, I lean on it, panting heavily. I take the gloves off, throwing them to the floor, then proceed with the dress. By the time I finally get to the corset, my forehead is already filled with sweat. I take it off, breathing out in relief. That is much better.

But as I have nothing else to do anymore, I find myself thinking about what just happened. My knees get weak as I remember the strong arms that I grabbed with my hands … The arms that kept me on my feet without making much effort. As I close my eyes, I can pretend that I am still there in the moment, breathing in Ezra’s intoxicating scent. I heave out a longing sigh, knowing that I won’t be able to get this encounter out of my head for the whole night.

I open my eyes, horrified at the way a simple touch made me lose my head. I decide that I need some fresh air. I wrap myself into a warm blanket, opening the window and leaning onto the shelf. I take deep breaths, but something about the evening is oddly … Loud.

I listen intently for a moment, soon realizing what I’m hearing. It is my aunt’s voice. I can hear Mr. Walker and Mrs. Spinster as well … And Ezra. My heart flutters at thought of him, and I hold my hand over my chest, trying to focus to hear what they are saying.

I hear Mr. Walker starting to say something about dead animals and a beast. I don’t hear much about it, but it is enough for me to connect the dots. He must be speaking of the beast the whole Swindon is talking about. The one that I heard two field workers arguing about today. So, it’s true? There is beast lurking in our woods?

My aunt shares concerns with Mr. Walker. We have an enormous flock of sheep, that we rear for wool. From what I gather, it represents a large part of our income and that we can’t afford to lose any of it. I continue to listen, but I don’t find out anything new anymore. Mr. Walker discusses possible solutions to this problem with my aunt, but I don’t hear Ezra’s voice any longer. Disappointed, I get back inside, closing the window. The night is quite chilly.

As I wait patiently for a maid to come and help me get washed, I can’t stop thinking about two things. The first of them being Ezra and the second one being the beast. What does it want? Why did it choose to live in Swindon out of all places in England?

I am so tired of asking myself these questions without getting any answers. I decide to go for a ride tomorrow. I need the wind to clear my head a bit. Perhaps that will help me think and come up with some answers.