The Fourth Mistress

Unheard rumour

Louise looked at Mr. Reed, who sat in the carriage, who made no effort to step down from the carriage or go on his way.

Even with the distance, they had between them, she took note of his polished shoes, his neatly combed hair and the grim expression on his face. But more importantly, it was those olive-green eyes that watched her with the same intensity as she did, an awkward silence forming in the atmosphere around them before he asked,

"Would you like to take a ride in the carriage? I can drop you at your place?"

She pursed her lips and then said, "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Reed, but I am capable of walking, and I don't live too far away from here. I wouldn't want to trouble you. I need to deliver something at Humphries before going home."

With the way things had gone down in Mrs. Boville's manor, Louise was sure that Mr. Reed had pulled his carriage over to comment on it. But here he was, offering her a ride back home.

The coachman continued to stand next to the carriage's door that he had opened with his eyes cast down while both Louise and Mr. Reed continued to stare at each other.

"It is going to turn dark soon because of the possible rain, and it would be rude to not offer you a ride when I am going in the same direction," said Graham.

"You must be a kind man to offer every person a ride," stated Louise, her eyes looking at him in wonderment and a smile forming on her lips when she noticed his lips quirk, but he didn't smile. "I guess it would be okay."

"You make it sound like it is the most difficult thing to do," commented Graham, moving aside from where he was sitting to make space, as Louise made her way to stand near the step of the carriage door.

"It is because it makes me curious on why you are offering me help," she stared into his olive-green eyes that looked striking because of his pitch-black hair.

Truth to be told, Louise could use a ride as it would save her time, and she would be able to reach home soon. She was reluctant because she didn't want the topic of what happened with his mother and her to be brought up.

Being a gentleman, Mr. Reed gave his hand for Louise to take, and her eyes fell on the large hand. Placing her hand in his for support, she stepped into the carriage. Taking a seat next to Mr. Reed with a gap between them, the door was shut close, and the coachman went back to take his seat at the front.

The carriage was made of fine wood and plush seating. The ceiling was higher than that of the local carriages that travelled between towns and villages for the public. Louise made her dress proper to remove the wrinkle that had formed on her skirt.

Though Louise had replied to his words, the man had not commented back. Looking at her reflection through the closed window, she tucked a piece of her brown hair so that she was still in a presentable state. Even though they had met only once, Louise couldn't deny that this man held a magnetic power that drew her towards him in curiosity.

There was no shortage when it came to handsome men in Habsburg, but the mystery this person held around him was enough to have a woman turn back and take a second look at him.

"Were you coming back from your workplace, Ms. Evardon?" she heard Graham ask her.

Louise turned to look at him, "Yes, I was."

"How strange," murmured Graham and Louise's eyebrows drew in together.

"Strange?"

Was he like the other men and women who found her working to be strange because she was a woman? She didn't understand why some of them looked at her as if she was working for Satan when, in truth, she was good at what she did. Louise hoped that one day in the future, she would be able to turn into a fine legal advisor and would have clients just like Mr. Winkle.

"It is strange that you have been working here yet I have never seen you around," replied the man and the frown that had formed on Louise's face disappeared.

"Mr. Winkle's office isn't exactly in the town and I never walk on this side of the road. The inside of the forest has a path that is used by the woodcutters, and I use it. It is shorter in distance. And, I left the office earlier than usual today which is why," explained Louise while her expressive brown eyes looked at him.

When she broke her gaze away from his questioning gaze, Louise felt his gaze on her for two seconds more before turning his head to look on his side of the window. Slowly her eyes moved from her side of the window to look at Mr. Reed, who sat straight and poised. On-time, he turned to catch her looking at him.

"I wanted to apologize about what happened in Mr. Boville's manor. I didn't mean to disrespect your mother," it was something she wanted to get off her chest.

"Would you have kept your thoughts to yourself if you were aware of who she was?" he asked her.

"Maybe not," she said slowly.

Graham stared at the odd woman. He was used to women who either tried to get too close to him for the wealth his family possessed, or they kept a distance from him. He had never met someone like Louise Evardon, who had tried to educate his mother in the soiree. He didn't appreciate the little scene that Louise had caused because it concerned his mother, but at the same time, Louise's bold words had intrigued him.

The carriage ride was a short one, and the coachman pulled not too far from where the family of Humphries lived. When she got down, Louise bowed her head,

"Thank you for the ride, Mr. Reed." The man didn't spare actual words but only offered her a nod before his coachman closed the door and rode the carriage away.

Watching the size of the carriage diminish from where she stood, Louise didn't know why but it felt like Mr. Reed must have regretted his decision to give her a ride as he hadn't exchanged another word and was quick to drop her.

Handing the letters at the Humphries' house, Louise made her way back to her own home, and as Mr. Reed had mentioned, the sky did turn dark.

"I am back!" Louise announced herself when she entered the house and caught sight of her Uncle Hugo, who placed the newspaper on the table and stood up.

Seeing Louise, her uncle said, "Good that you are back. I was going to step out with an umbrella to come look for you."

Louise smiled warmly, "You don't have to do that uncle, you know I will be safe. And rain is nothing to be worried about."

"Of course, I remember the number of times you have got drenched in the rain and your aunt had to pull you back home because she would find you playing in the rain," whispered uncle Hugo before a smile cracked upon both of their lips. "How was your time with Mr. Winkle? Any new case?"

"It was a peaceful day. Just cleaning the racks and sorting files in another room," replied Louise. "Mr. Winkle has so many old files, some that are locked away. Very often he likes to shift and clean them."

"There was a time when the man was unapproachable. It is good to see that you both are getting along," responded her uncle.

"He was hard to get along. Sometimes I wonder if it is because I have gotten used to him or if he has turned tolerant," a small chuckle escaped Louise' lips.

Hugo DeRose was as tall as his wife, probably shorter than the average male height, but dearly loved by his wife Merlin and Louise. He saw Louise make her way to her room, and a soft sigh escaped his lips. Louise was a young woman, which was why he worried about her safety, not that he didn't believe she wasn't capable of looking after herself.

Louise didn't have to work as he earned a decent wage from working in the textile firm. He and his wife had agreed for Louise to work because they loved her while also knowing she had a keen interest in the matters that concerned the legal cases.

In her room, Louise hummed a thoughtless tune while pulling out the clothes from the drawers' and placing them on the bed, which she was going to change into.

Once she had changed the dress she was wearing to her house clothes, Louise stepped into the kitchen to help Aunt Merlin, who stood in front of the coal stove with the small logs of wood crackling in the fire. "Taste this one, I added two more ingredients," said Aunt Merlin, bringing the spoon forward, and Louise turned her hand so that the liquid could fall on her palm.

"Mm," Louise could taste the sour and tanginess of the liquid, "Did you add lemon to it?"

"I did, doesn't it taste good?" chimed Aunt Merlin before asking, "I thought Mr. Winkle would send you home sooner because of the weather."

"He did. It just took me longer to come back. Here, let me get that," said Louise before picking up the hot vessel by holding it with a cloth and carefully placing it on the wooden table.

"The old man must be softening," Louise chuckled, hearing her aunt's words.

"I wouldn't go that far," she said, picking up the plates from the drawers and wiping them with a clean cloth before placing each of them on the table. "Say, Aunt Merlin, how is it that you were trying to get me to speak to the eligible men who attend the soiree held by Mr. and Mrs. Boville, but didn't mention about Graham Reed?" questioned Louise in curiosity.

This was something that Louise couldn't stop thinking since she had stepped down from Mr. Reed's carriage.

The elderly woman looked slightly surprised by this question from her niece, and she asked, "Don't you already know about it?"

Louise frowned, "Know what?" she asked her aunt.

"Graham Reed might come from a wealthy family but the man has been married three times and all his wives dead. He's a widower," explained her aunt, and Louise's eyes widened in surprise.

Married?

This was something that had failed to reach Louise's ears, "I don't understand. How did they all die?" she asked in curiosity. The man looked considerably young, and it was hard to guess that he was married, not once but three times.

Her aunt shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, "I don't think any of us know the proper details about it. Some say they fell extremely sick, while some say the women left him because of his family. Some believe that he has been cursed with bad luck which is why his marriage didn't survive nor his wives."

"They must be just rumours," proposed Louise. Things like these were often blown out of proportion by the people by adding their own imagination to it.

"No no! It is true that he has been married before!" said Aunt Merlin when she noticed her niece didn't believe what she said. "I heard from someone that it was the reason why the Reeds moved to this town. To start afresh and not be hung up on the past. He must have been married when he was really young," her aunt then laughed, asking, "Why else would I keep you away from introducing him?"

Louise still found it hard to wrap her head around this information. It didn't help that the people of Habsburg addressed him as the 'eligible bachelor'.

"I thought it was probably because of the gap in our status and...his mother?" Louise scratched the back of her neck.

"Of course, I wouldn't hold you back from meeting suitable suitors for such reasons. Graham Reed, I just didn't want you to be involved in any kind of bad luck," said Aunt Merlin with a frown on her face. "I mean losing three wives...What an unfortunate man," whispered the woman.