Chapter 14
***
With his wife sobbing and crying, Mr. Smith hurried the doctor with his bag to the bedside.
On the bed lay a girl who looked to be about ten years old, pale and moaning in pain. A gaping wound was visible on her forehead, as if it had just been wiped clean.
Only after the doctor began examining her did Pietro ask Mr. Smith.
"What happened?"
"My lord, she ..............."
The carpenter, a married father of one, choked back tears.
"My daughter woke up early and said it was raining. Suddenly I remembered I had left her window open, so I ran to close it, but there were some men in the house, and my Vanessa thought they were thieves and screamed to drive them out................"
Mr. Smith fought back tears.
"The next thing I knew, she was on the floor, and pah, I think she broke her arm......................"
That's when Vanessa on the bed screamed.
"Ow!"
"It's okay, honey, it's okay.................."
Lord Pietro interrupted the doctor's voice.
"What about it, can you fix it?"
"Yes, sir."
The doctor said nonchalantly, then added,
"The little girl has a bad temper, yes, and her arm isn't broken; it's only slightly dislocated, but I've put it back together, so it's all right. The wound on her forehead will leave a scar..................."
"Are you sure, doctor, my daughter is all right?"
Mrs. Smith stepped between them and grabbed Vanessa's hand.
"Oh, you little wench..............., don't you ever go to Louise's alone again, ever..................!"
Vanessa said that after Louise's house was empty, she often went in and out of it like a playground. She knew where Louise hid the key.
Pietro breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank God that's enough. I'll get the police to investigate so we can catch the culprit."
He had heard of the house from the doctor who had come to examine Viscount Engel, and he had followed in his sick father's place.
The lord's father had been laid low after suffering unjustly in the brewery incident.
He had heard that Louise's house had been burglarized, and he was worried that it might be a burglar.
No, maybe that was just an excuse. Maybe it was just the sound of Louise's name that drew them in.
He hadn't been able to do anything for her when she was suffering from the loss of her mother. Her father was in prison for a great crime, and they decided it was better to keep their distance.
"There's been a lot of bad luck in that house lately."
The doctor's words buzzed in his ears.
It turned out this was the second time the house had been burglarized. It was also burglarized shortly after Louise’s mother's death.
Pietro hadn't realized it.
He was told that Louise had tried to get an advance on her wages to pay for the funeral.
She worked as a tutor in the family home and took on odd jobs in her spare time, but it was hard to support her sick mother.
A doctor, a source within the estate, told him that she eventually had to cremate her mother.
Pietro felt so pathetic.
He didn't realize she was struggling so hard because she was always so pretty and cheerful. He thought she was thrifty because she wore old clothes and was pretty in his eyes.
He should have been more courageous and extended his hand.
He was a rich lord and wanted to ask her to marry him. He wanted to confess that he had liked her for a long time.
Pietro stepped out the door and looked up at the small mud house a few yards away, the ramshackle home of his first love.
He slowly began to climb the dirt path.
If he stayed back because of politeness he would never get her back. Perhaps it was time he should do something now.
***
A few days later.
Louise returned to her room after class and found a tray on her desk.
On the tray were two small plates, one with a round of chocolates and the other with two shiny gold coins.
It had been a week since she'd gotten paid. Her weekly salary was four times higher than when she worked locally.
She smiled and popped a chocolate into her mouth. She slipped the coins into a pocket in her drawer and read the note beneath it.
[The master invites you to join him for dinner.
-Martin]
It was a note from the butler.
Louise sighed.
The first week in Burg was easier than she had expected. Miriam had gotten along better than she'd thought, and she hadn't had to deal with the maid as often as she assumed.
The only surprise was the master of the house. He was a difficult man to deal with because he's so cold, and she's not sure why she kept running into him so often.
She had already thanked him for the children's books, and she had been paid. Why would he ask for another meal, especially since he said he usually eats alone.
After all, he was her employer. Whether she liked it or not, it was hard to refuse his request.
Louise checked herself in the mirror. She had no desire to look good for any other reason than to be well-groomed.
Still, just in case, she slipped her mother's brush over her shoulders. She remembered the way the man's eyes had looked at her shawl.
But even when she knocked on his door, she didn't expect to hear the words.
"I wanted to ask you something."
After exchanging pleasantries, he remained silent, his face troubled, and she wondered why he had called her if this was the case. Caius didn't speak until after the meal was over and dessert was served.
Louise's eyes narrowed as she noticed the paper he was spreading across the table. The paper looked strangely familiar, and at the bottom was her signature.
"This is yours, is it not?"
Her emerald eyes narrowed several times.
Sure enough, it was the loan note she'd gotten from Helden's pawnshop when she'd deposited the pearl and borrowed the money. Which the thief had stolen along with the money.
"How did you get this..............."
Caius sighed, as if he knew it was coming.
"You do realize that as far as Helden is my fiefdom, right? I've been having some tax evasion issues lately, so I made some unannounced inspections of some of the shops in town, and I found something interesting."
She had to explain that the borrowing card was her own. Louise mumbled an excuse.
"I heard that a thief............... stole it, and it was so precious to me, that I couldn't..................."
"The pawnbroker there was very greedy, and I found it strange that he had both a loan and a borrowing certificate, so I looked closely at them, and to my surprise, I recognized the names on them. It's not the first time this has happened."
Louise asked in disbelief.
"So, you're telling me that the pawnshop owner was a thief? You don't mean to tell me that he followed me to......................"
She remembered ignoring the stares she often felt on the way home that day.
But no matter how much she regretted it, the past was the past. The pawnshop owner would pay for this, given that the Margrave was investigating it.
She snapped out of it.
She had a chance to get her mother's pearl back, even if they seemed elusive. Suddenly, working for the Margrave seemed like the luckiest thing in the world.
Louise clutched the loan note with trembling hands.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Your Excellency. It's not very valuable, but it's dear to me, one of the few things I have left of my mother."
She was about to pull the note toward her. Caius shook his head, reached out, and grabbed the top of the paper.
"But, did I ever tell you that I would return this?"
"What?"
Louise repeated, puzzled. It had her name on it, and as far as she was concerned, it was an unimportant document. She had expected him to return it, since he recognized that the pawnbroker had taken it illegally.
Wasn’t that what the lord should have done for his people? Of course, Louis was not a citizen of Burg, but she was close enough to be one since she was hired here. She could have bet her life that Viscount Engel would have gladly returned it.
Caius smiled, the corners of his mouth raised arrogantly, but he took the borrowed note back with a firm hand.
Louise looked down at her empty hand and tugged awkwardly at her lips.
She resented the man for trying to play such a dirty trick on something so precious to her, but if he wanted to, she'd have to play along.
"I borrowed the money to entrust my mother's one and only relic because I couldn't afford the funeral. It's a small amount of money for you, but it was necessary for me. I lost the loan certificate and thought I would never get it back, but if you could return it, it would be a great favor......................"
But she stopped talking because there didn't seem to be much she could do to repay the favor.
How could a penniless person like her give the Margrave what he deserved?
But the man persisted.
"Is this really a favor?"
***
To donate for extra chapters for my series or to tip me visit my personal kofi page
Write a comment