Chapter 38: Chapter 38

She was sitting straight in the soft armchair, watching the performance on the privately set stage.

They were in one of the Royal Family's manors in London and the chairs had neatly been ordered in a semi-circle so that the small audience could well enjoy the act.

She crossed her legs and saw the disapproving look of the lady sitting opposite her and the way her eyes fell directly on her now showing ankles.

Henriette readjusted her position and let the skirt fall freely, touching the ground and covering everything.

The room was suffocating.

She placed her hands over the bottom of her corset, but nothing would make the whale boned piece loosen even the slightest bit.

And there she'd thought the metal- held ones would be tighter. The man next to her tilted slightly in her direction and asked in a hushed voice.

"Do you like the play, Lady Henriette?"

"Yes, I... Yes, very much."

She glanced towards the closed wooden gate of the big saloon, then towards the window.

It was rainy and foggy outside, but it still felt like the better place for one to be.

"Do you like Shakespeare, or do you prefer..."

The man continued asking questions and Henriette got up.

"Excuse me, Sir Belcroft."

All the men got up, as the polite manner required of them when a lady deserted her seat and she reassured them everything was fine.

They sat back down and she went out.

Henriette's hands directly went for the buttons of her dress, but she couldn't reach the ones travelling up her back.

Besides, she couldn't exactly be walking shedding clothes off in the hallway, and she went straight to the door, leading to the back yard.

A servant rushed towards her.

"My Lady, an umbrella."

"No, I just need some air. It's only a drizzle, thank you."

He nodded but still didn't leave her out of sight in case she needed him.

She went down the stairs to the garden, her dress already soaked wet at the bottom rim, but she continued walking

Henriette hugged herself against the chill, the silk doing very little to protect her against the cold wind.

She walked blindly ahead among the greenery of the gardens, water trickling down her neck.

Her hair had earlier been braided into a fashionable hairstyle, but it was now disheveled because of the rain, the water falling heavier by the minute.

Henriette stopped and ran her hands through her hair, her fingers getting tangled in the jeweled pins holding the hairstyle.

We didn't save him. I didn't.

She had been thinking about the man, about her being too late to do anything or talk to the queen.

"He was right." She dropped her hands and said, almost aloud in the empty labyrinth of bushes and trees. "Callum was right. There's nothing worse than feeling powerless. "

Her shoes were soaked and she peeled the wet silk of the white gloves from her hands.

It's still not too late, she thought. We can still do something.

It was then she took the decision she knew she should've taken a long time ago. She hurried back to the main house, passing the startled servants.

"My Lady, you..."

"Prepare my horse, I'm going out."

Henriette took her dress off with the help of her servant and told the girl she could leave. Once she was alone, she opened the big wardrobe and dug for the coat she was looking for, hidden under all the skirts and corsets.

She thug the overly-large shirt in her pants and rolled the sleeves up a bit, so that they didn't cover her hands entirely. Once she was done, she put her hair up and hid it under the black hat.

The lady was halfway out when she heard her mother's voice call her.

"Henriette!"

Oh, no...she thought but didn't stop.

"Henriette, what is this, are you going out again? "

Her mother continued calling her "Where do you think you're going, "

"For a walk."

"Is this one of your brother's shirts you're wearing. Henriette?"

The Duchess had almost caught up with her, frantically waving her hands around

"You're supposed to escort the queen in a few days to Manchester."

"And I will."

"But..."

"I'll be back, I need to do something. "

"Where? You can't keep walking around like that. "

"I'll see you later, Mother. "

"Henriette!"

"Everything is fine, Mother. I'll be back before dinner. "

She almost broke into a run, the trousers she was wearing much helpful in her moving fasted.  Had she been wearing a dress, she would've already tripped and fell.

Henriette was soon outside, her horse had been saddled and it was waiting for her.

****

The rain had stopped and she got off her horse once she reached a more open street in the Eastern part.

Callum had told her about the place, this part of London, and about how different everything in the slums was.

She'd never thought she'd ever walk around here, on that street, but she had to make sure.

Henriette had no idea what she was looking for, perfectly aware that what she was doing was probably a big mistake- that she shouldn't be walking alone here in the late afternoon, yet- she had to do it.

People were occasionally glancing at her and the horse she was leading, but no one approached.

She put her hat lower over her eyes and continued marching ahead. Henriette's shoes were sinking in the cold, sticky mud and the air was filled with all kinds of scents, most of them horrendous.

She tried not to cover her mouth and nose and kept stealing occasional glances at the beggars and the small children, selling various things on the street.

A woman appeared from somewhere, throwing a bucket of water, or something muddy, which smelled like rotting flesh right at her feet and Henriette took a step back,

"Watch where you're going, kid."

The woman had missing front teeth and Henriette stopped herself from gasping

She nodded and hurried ahead, bile rising in her mouth because of the stench.

Someone called something about her horse and she realized it won't be very difficult for anyone to steal it and no one would even try to do anything to help her.

It began raining again and Henriette saw a tavern in the distance- it looked slightly more decent than the others she's passed by earlier, so she decided to hide in there for a while and wait until the rain stopped.

She approached and saw a boy cleaning in front of the inn. The Lay gave him a penny to tie her horse and watch out for it.

Henriette really hoped this wasn't the last time she saw the animal.

Once she was already inside, the lady saw the place was crowded- men in shabby uniforms were drinking something in tall glasses while eating meals Henriette wasn't sure she recognized.

The air was filled with the scent of another unfamiliar dish, but nevertheless- it smelled like something delicious.

Some of the men's hands and faces were back with thick, black dirt.

Coal minors, she thought and saw another small boy carrying around heavy plates.

"Looking for someone, Miss?"

Henriette almost jumped, startled by the female voice coming from somewhere very close to her.

She turned and saw an older lady, regarding her curiously

"I'm Betty, " she pointed at the man at the bar "This old man's wife. My son outside said some lady gave im money to watch over a horse."

"Hello, yes. Yes, I did. It's my horse."

The woman shook her head "I ain't asking questions, but this is not a good place for women."

"I was only hiding from the rain. "

"Aye, raining pretty bad, ain't it. Anyway, suit yourself."

Henriette switched her weight from one leg to the other nervously and the woman laughed "Now don't be daft, girl. I ain't ask you to leave, go sit over there,"

she pointed to the small table at the corner and said "I'll get ya something to eat. "

"Thank you."

The woman laughed and walked away.

Henriette sat at the table, trying to keep her eyes cast down the whole time.

Betty came back shortly with something that smelled way too good and Henriette realized she hadn't eaten since yesterday.

"Pie, for the Miss. You ain't drinking beer, I'd guess, but we ain't having water or anything. "

"No water?" Henriette asked stupidly and Betty laughed "Have you seen the mud outside?"

Henriette remembered Callum had said beer was much cheaper and easier to find than clean water here and it was one of the reasons why everyone drank spirits almost the whole time.

She looked at the men on the table next to hers and said "Maybe what they have?"

Betty pressed her lips together and said

"You sure?"

"Uh...yes, yes, I am. "

Betty looked at her, still trying to bite back a smile and Henriette assumed she'd probably ordered something worse than beer.

Still, she’d already made her choice.

"Aye, you know best. " the woman said and came back a minute later, placing the glass in front of Henriette.

"Right. I have to go back to work, gets busy here. But if you need me, I'll be around. "

"Thank you."

Someone called Betty for more food and she disappeared among the pool of people.

Henriette sat more comfortably on the wooden bench and took her leather gloves off.

She was still wearing the hat she'd managed to snatch from her brother's room earlier and as it was too big for her, it kept tilting on her head or covering half her face.

The fire was burning and she was getting hotter, so she peeled the coat off, then carefully removed her hat, glancing around.

No one seemed to bother looking at her, and Henriette felt safe enough to relax and not glance at the door or around every five seconds.

Doing that probably made her look even more suspicious and out of place, so she looked down at what was on the table.

The lady hesitated, the glass looked relatively clean so she went for it.

It can't be that bad, Henriette thought.

She was just about to try the drink when a man took the seat opposite her.

"You're doing a terribly poor job at trying to make yourself go around unnoticed."

Henriette looked up at the stranger over the edge of her glass.

And stopped.

A tall, dark-haired man was watching her, smiling.

"Nice shirt," he said and Henriette noticed he was actually wearing a similar one. She thought it was a bit odd and wondered who this man could possibly be.

He didn’t seem like one- no, he definitely wasn’t a nobleman, yet he could obviously afford getting dressed in much more expensive fabrics that anyone else around could.

Her hand hung in the air and the man eyed the glass.

"I wouldn't recommend drinking that. "

"Uhhh...why not?" she sniffed her glass and the man laughed.

The stranger tilted his head slightly and Henriette suddenly felt very intimidated.

She'd had diners with kings and ministers and pretty much all the important people on the continent.

Yet, here she was- sitting on the edge of a rotten wooden bench in the company of a complete stranger.

And she was nervous. Very much at that.

There was something about the man. Her right mind told her to run. Fast and now.

She put her glass down and the man asked.

"What's your name?"

"Henriette."

She said it without thinking and he smiled again.

"I'm Xiao. Nice meeting you, Henriette. Now tell me, what does a pretty lady like to do when she doesn't roam my realm? "