Chapter 8 – Yearning
Friday afternoon saw the unexpected arrival of a courier. He delivered a telegram from Lord Partridgeʼs nephew Arthur in Norwich. This caused a lot of commotion in the mansion because the telegram message said that Lord Partridgeʼs sister, a certain Lady Margaret Hammersmith, had suffered a stroke. And although she had survived it, she seemed to be in a very poor state.
Lord and Lady Partridge found it indispensable to pay Lady Hammersmith a visit, mostly because they were concerned that the doctor who was looking after her was a quack and not treating her properly. Therefore, they quickly called for Oscar whom they had more trust in and who was supposed to join them on their trip to Norwich, as they hoped that he would know better what to do.
Henry was not happy about the news at all. He did feel sympathy for that woman with the stroke although he did not know her, but he dreaded the thought of spending a boring weekend in the mansion without Sarah around. Not even Oscar would be there to cheer him up. Going to London wasnʼt an option either as he had squandered all his money on his previous trip already, and he still wanted to save some money up for buying his mother a new window.
Lying on his bed, lost in gloomy thoughts, he suddenly heard someone knock at the door.
“Come in,” he called.
The door opened and Roderick carefully poked his head inside the room.
“Mr. Abbott, I have come to inform you that Lord Partridge would like to see you upstairs in his study without delay.”
Henry froze.
“Are you alright, Mr. Abbott? You are looking rather pale. Will I make you a cup of tea?” Roderick asked, appearing slightly worried.
“No… no… thanks… I am fine… I am already on my way…” Henry stammered.
Roderick nodded quietly, turned around, and softly closed the door behind him.
Henry sat up.
Without delay…
He broke out in cold sweat as the certainty grew inside him that Lord Partridge somehow had found out about his and Sarahʼs love affair. He couldnʼt think of any other reason for the lordʼs sudden urgency to talk to him.
He hoisted himself up from the bed, put on his shirt and gave his hair a cursory brush in order to appear somewhat presentable. Then he left the room and nervously climbed the stairs to the upper floor.
* * *
Henry found Lord Partridge sitting behind a huge desk in the middle of his mahogany panelled study room. Several stuffed animals were lurking on sideboards. One of the walls was adorned by the head of a rather terrifying- looking wild boar, the other by a huge sword.
The Sword of Damocles... Henry thought glumly as he approached the two leather chairs which stood in front of the desk. Sitting in one of the chairs was Sarah. Judging by the troubled expression on her face, Henry gathered that she was likewise terrified. The fact that she was there as well only confirmed his assumption that the little reunion had something to do with their affair. He guessed that otherwise Lord Partridge wouldnʼt have wanted to see them both.
“Please have a seat, Mr. Abbott,” Lord Partridge said, sounding surprisingly friendly. Still, he looked morose, as usual, and slightly worn-out. He lit a cigar and stuck it in his mouth. Then he held the cigar box out to Henry.
“You want one?”
Henry politely declined. His hands were trembling so much that he feared he would let the cigar drop to the floor and burn a hole in the expensive carpet. At the same time he wondered whether the lord would have offered him one of his expensive cigars if he was really that ill-disposed towards him.
Lord Partridge cleared his throat and folded his hands on the table.
“Mr. Abbott, you surely have heard what happened to my sister,” he began unemotionally. But from the nervous twitch of his mouth, Henry could see that this matter affected the lord more than he was willing to admit.
“It is a terrible tragedy and I am genuinely shocked by the news,” Henry said sympathetically, still awaiting a thundering telling-off.
Lord Partridge ignored Henryʼs comment and quickly went on.
“This unexpected situation requires us to go to the North for the weekend. And considering the state my sister is currently finding herself in, I have come to the conclusion that it would be highly unreasonable to bring Sarah along, as I am quite certain that it would prove to be a major threat to my sisterʼs health. The last time Sarah joined my wife and me to visit my dear sister, she threw a dead rat through Margaret's bedroom window.”
Lord Partridge sniffed indignantly at the memory.
Henry threw Sarah an incredulous glance. The girl guiltily lowered her head.
“I must admit that she was only thirteen back then,” Lord Partridge continued. “But given the circumstances, you will understand that I do not want to take any risks this time. The incident back then resulted with my sister having a nervous breakdown; and this although she was not even having any trouble with her health in general at that time. I suppose that you are able to see the point I am trying to make.”
“I clearly am, Lord Partridge,” Henry answered politely, suppressing a little grin at the thought of Lady Hammersmith in her nightgown, just about to go to bed and being surprised by a flying rat.
“Mr. Abbott, you seem to have a strong hold on Sarah. The past days have proved that she somewhat listens to you—what I find highly surprising indeed. But I refrain from questioning it, as long as it has the desired effect to silence her. Therefore, I have decided to take the risk and put the entire responsibility in your hands: I want you to look after Sarah during the time my wife and I are in Norwich. And a big responsibility it is, Mr. Abbott; bear in mind that even Roderick and Emily will not be there to assist you, as they will both be joining us.”
Henry tried hard to pull a serious face. In the meantime, his heart threatened to jump out of his chest with sheer joy. This was quite contrary to all the bad things he had expected, and much more than he would have hoped for in his wildest dreams. He was so happy that his voice quavered with excitement when he began to speak.
“I am quite positive that I will be able to handle this situation.”
Lord Partridge cast him a doubtful glance. He appeared not entirely convinced that Henry was capable of dealing with Sarah all by himself.
“I would like you to know that I deeply regret that this means that you have to sacrifice your free weekend. I hope you have not made any other plans,” Lord Partridge said.
“Well...” Henry frowned as if he first had to consider this, although the only plan he had had in mind was to empty the wine stock in the cellar and hang on to gloomy thoughts. “Thinking about it, I do not really have any plans which could not be postponed to a later date.”
Lord Partridge took a puff on his cigar.
“A word of warning, though: The last time a governess looked after Sarah, the girl went for a ride and stayed away all night. She only came back the next morning, soaking wet because she had been surprised by the most horrible thunderstorm in Englandʼs history. And the governess suffered from a terrible bronchitis after that because she had been searching for Sarah in the woods for hours, along with Jeremy and Angus. I do not want anything like this to happen again; no brazen acts, no matter if it rains or not.”
“No brazen acts, of course, Lord Partridge,” Henry answered firmly.
“Good man.” Lord Partridge let out a sigh of heartfelt relief.
Sarah, who had been quietly listening, suddenly stomped her foot on the ground.
“I do not need a caretaker,” she snapped.
It was evident to Henry that she just acted the brat again in order to distract her uncle from her true feelings; namely, utter delight at the thought of Henry and her spending the entire weekend together—on her uncleʼs orders.
Lord Partridge appeared seriously stressed out at her remark. Henry guessed that the issue with his sister truly got to him; just as the commotion in the factory with his employees going on the warpath. The latter had even made it on the front page of the regional newspaper. For a fleeting moment, Henry almost felt regret for deceiving Lord Partridge. But then he recalled his earlier remark with the hazelnut rod and thought about the poor exploited workers in the factory, and this immediately scattered all of Henryʼs feelings of remorse.
“You are an awful nuisance, Sarah,” Lord Partridge moaned. “Now please go, the two of you. I have an awful lot of things to attend to before we will leave tomorrow.”
Without addressing another word to them, Lord Partridge began to scribble something in his agenda and hardly noticed it when Henry and Sarah quietly rose from their chairs and left. When they had closed the door to Lord Partridgeʼs study behind them, Henry gave Sarahʼs hand a gentle squeeze. Their eyes fused and they happily smiled at each other.
There simply was no need for words.
* * *
On Saturday morning, the heat was blistering. There was no breeze which would have brought some cooling, no cloud which would have promised any rain. It was just hot.
Summer had arrived.
Henry was standing next to the window where he had placed the mirror and was shaving and enjoying the warmth of the sun on his skin. Contrary to the other inhabitants of the house, he was in no hurry at all. The excitement which usually accompanied the departures of the Partridges filled every single room except his own. He whistled a little tune as he let the shaving knife carefully slide along his cheek and down the neck. In the meantime, excited chatter and the clatter of many busy feet filled the staircase as the butler and Emily were carrying suitcases and boxes down to the coach. Lady Partridge was busy shouting orders to everyone who crossed her way, and Angus, the coach driver, was pulling his usual grumpy face.
But Henry felt entirely at ease and unmoved by it all, knowing that he would spend the following two days with his girl. That was all that mattered.
It amused him how easily he referred to Sarah as ʻhis girl;ʼ as if she indeed was already destined to be with him forever.
When the Partridges finally assembled outside in the yard, ready to leave, Henry went downstairs to say goodbye. He found Sarah lingering in the frame of the entrance door, absent-mindedly examining her fingernails and appearing bored. Henry walked past her, only mumbling a quick ʻgood morningʼ in a busy and unsuspicious manner, when he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around and saw that it was Oscar, who had arrived about half an hour ago and was now ready to join the Partridges on their trip.
“Oscar, what a pleasure to see you!” Henry exclaimed and meant it. He immediately felt positively infected by Oscarʼs good moods and quickly forgave him that he had interfered with Henryʼs love life.
Oscar turned to Sarah, gently lifted her chin with his fingers and examined her face with admiring looks as if she was an adorable painting.
“You look marvelous this morning, young Lady.”
Sarah smiled fondly at him and did not back away at his touch; a sure sign, as Henry found, that Oscar was in fact a secret close confidant to her. Henry almost felt a little bit jealous because of this, although Oscar was only Sarahʼs uncle and therefore did not represent any competition.
Lord and Lady Partridge appeared in the entrance hall and Sarah, Henry and Oscar took a step aside to let them pass on their way to the coach. The lordship was accompanied by their personal entourage, consisting of Roderick and Emily who looked quite miserable after having carried the entire luggage from the top floors downstairs. After all, it had only been a week ago that they had carried everything upstairs when they had all come back from Bournemouth.
Lord Partridge turned towards Henry, taking up position in front of him. Henry straightened his back and stood for attention.
“Mr. Abbott, from now on the responsibility is yours alone,” the lord said. “I trust that this weekend will pass without any scandals which the whole of County Surrey will be talking about on Monday morning.”
“Rest assured that your daughter is in best hands when she is with me,” Henry answered firmly.
Lord Partridge nodded imperceptibly and cast Henry a slightly doubtful glance.
Finally, the lord and the lady climbed in the coach, followed by Emily and Roderick.
“Oscar, are you not coming?” Lady Partridge called over to her brother, who was still standing next to Henry at the door.
“I am, Priscilla, I am,” the doctor called back. “I just want to say goodbye to Sarah and Mr. Abbott.”
And with these words he turned to Henry again and reached out to shake his hand.
“Goodbye, Mr. Abbott, and good luck!” he said loudly and merrily for everyone to hear before suddenly lowering his voice to a whisper.
“Be careful, the walls have eyes…” he mumbled, a roguish smile on his lips. He planted a hasty kiss on Sarahʼs cheek, hurried over to the coach where the others were already waiting for him, and climbed inside. Then the vehicle began to move, leaving Henry and Sarah behind.
The two were standing at the door, quietly looking after the coach until it disappeared beyond the main gates of the estate.
“And off they are...” Sarah said cheerfully.
“Off they are...” Henry repeated after her.
And then, a mischievous grin on their lips, they turned around and went back into the house.
* * *
Inside it was pleasantly cool. It was strangely quiet too, except for the distant sounds of rattling dishes coming from Thelmaʼs kitchen.
“And now?” Henry asked when they had closed the main door.
“Well, Mr. Abbott,” Sarah replied coquettishly, “you are my personal caretaker. What plans do you have in mind?”
Henry raised his hand and let his fingers gently run along the girlʼs cheek.
“I am planning to make this weekend the most wonderful one that you have ever had in your entire life,” he whispered. And with an impish smile on his lips, he slowly bent to kiss her.
“We still must be careful, Henry,” Sarah whispered, slightly backing away. “Oscar is right. We are not entirely safe. Thelma and her girls are downstairs…”
Henry looked at Sarah yearningly as she loosened herself out of his embrace and light-footedly crossed the entrance hall, every now and then throwing teasing glances over her shoulder. A silly grin on his face, Henry quickly follow her as she danced away from him and into the library.
Having arrived there, he saw Sarah walking over to the window and opening it. He was staring at her mesmerized as she began to slowly pull out the pins from her hair. One after the other she took them out, destroying Emilyʼs laborious work, until her curls fell loosely over her shoulders, inviting the slight breeze which came through the window to play with them.
And suddenly Henry didnʼt know at all how to proceed. He felt a nauseating nervousness rising in his stomach. Now that all the outer hindrances had so unexpectedly disappeared and there was nothing else to concentrate on anymore but Sarah, he suddenly felt entirely at a loss and didnʼt know how to behave as he was afraid to make a mistake.
“Henry,” Sarah said softly and turned around to face him. Henry could sense that she was nervous. “Would you play that tune for me again? The one that you played when we met here a couple of nights ago.”
Henry welcomed the idea of filling the embarrassing silence which threatened to arise with music.
“I will gladly do so. It is your song anyway,” he said. Then he walked over to the piano and lifted the fallboard.
Sarah looked at him puzzled.
“My song?” she asked, sitting down on a chair next to the window.
“Sarahʼs Dream. That is its title. I named it after you.” Henry answered.
“No one has ever written a song for me,” Sarah mumbled, appearing confused.
“Well, it is high time then,” Henry said merrily. Then he started to play.
He got the impression that the song sounded so much nicer now than on the night he had played it for the first time. Back then, it had only been a random arrangement of tunes, not meant to be a real piece of music, hardly meant to even have a title. The latter had only come to his mind seemingly by accident.
This time it was different. This time he was fully aware that the song was dedicated to Sarah. And so it was filled with all the love that he had developed for the girl within the past days; filled with all the emotions she evoked in him.
Eventually, the song came to an end.
Henry looked over to Sarah. She had put her feet up on the chair which she was sitting on, her arms wrapped around her knees, a melancholic expression on her face.
“Are you alright?” he asked uncertainly.
Sarah nodded and hesitantly turned her head towards him. Henry noticed that her eyes were slightly moist.
“It was wonderful,” she whispered.
“It is as wonderful as you, Sarah, because it is inspired by you.”
Sarah frowned and let her empty gaze wander out of the window.
“Henry, I am a nasty girl that does not know how to behave. I will never fit in anywhere, and most people despise me. I honestly believe that I am not good enough for this world and that I do not deserve a song like this...”
Overwhelmed by an enormous amount of pity for the girl who looked so sad and tantalized that it almost broke his heart, Henry immediately got up from his chair and walked over to Sarah.
“Donʼt you ever believe anything like that,” he whispered, taking Sarah's face into his hands.
Sarah sadly lowered her head. Henry raised her chin with his fingers to make her look at him again.
“You know,” he began carefully, caressing her cheek with his thumb, “when we are very young and something cruel happens to us, something we can not fathom such as the tragic death of someone dear to us, then our mind begins to play little tricks on us, making us believe that we are guilty and inadequate, and that we deserve that others are treating us in a bad way.”
“Why is that so? Why do humans function like that?” Sarah asked.
“It is an attempt to outsmart fate. Because if we truly admitted to ourselves that we are not guilty and inadequate but simply normal and vulnerable human beings with natural flaws and with only a limited amount of control, we would hardly be able to handle the fact that we are indeed unable to fight everything in life that could be harmful to us or could make us lonely.”
From Sarahʼs big eyes and the shaken expression on her face, Henry gathered that he had touched a raw nerve with his words, although he had been careful not to address Sarahʼs loss of her mother directly.
“All of this almost sounds to me as if my bad perception of myself does not necessarily stem from my aunt and uncle saying nasty things to me all day, but that it is rather because I have lived in the belief that I was bad right from the start.”
“Well, of course, your auntʼs and uncleʼs remarks do not really add to making you feel better,” Henry said. “But yes, it is true. What others say to us often mirrors what we believe about ourselves in the first place. If we put ourselves down, we will subconsciously draw people into our lives who make us feel miserable, because we believe that we do not deserve any better. It is the law of attraction. If you do not change your thoughts about yourself, and if you just keep rebelling against others, you make others rebel against you again and hence make the overall situation even worse. It is a vicious cycle. The others around you might be unpleasant and unfair, but at the end of the day it is also about you fighting with yourself.”
Sarah frowned. Henry worried that she could have misunderstood his words, which had only passed his lips with the best of intentions. But she remained calm, thinking hard about what he had told her.
“So if I have only attracted negativity so far, how can it be that such a gentle and sweet man like you has come into my life, telling me all these flatteries and even writing a song for me?” she suddenly asked after having been lost in contemplation for a moment.
“I donʼt know.”
“I think I know the answer,” Sarah whispered, putting her hand on Henryʼs cheek, stroking it gently. “I suppose God must have heard my prayer that I sent to him a little while ago.”
“What did you pray for?” Henry asked.
“I just asked him for a little luck and happiness. And just one week later you appear at our doorstep. It is quite strange, considering that I truly believed that God had deserted me ever since my mother died…”
“God never deserts us, Sarah. He keeps sending us miracles when we least expect it.”
“My miracle is happening right now,” Sarah breathed.
“Trust me, you are a miracle to me, too…” Henry bent down and kissed her gently, relishing the warmth of her sweet lips.
They clung to each other and kissed each other so passionately that Henry completely ignored the fact that there was a major risk of being detected by someone of the staff. He only found back to reality when Sarah slowly freed herself from his grasp.
“I know a place where we can be a little bit more at ease,” she said, her eyes twinkling.
Henry grinned at her.
“I do recall you having said something like that before. And from experience, I know by now that it is always a good idea to follow you then.”
“So let us go then, you will not regret it…”
Henry followed Sarah out of the library, and together they crossed the entrance hall in an unsuspicious tutor-and-student manner, when suddenly Thelma, Heather and Ada were coming up from the kitchen downstairs, fully equipped with water buckets and cloths.
“Just in case you are looking for us: You will find us on the upper floors cleaning the windows, as the honorable Lady has assigned us to do,” Thelma muttered. She was unmistakably angry. After all, it was the so far hottest day of the year, and now she was supposed to wipe the twenty-five windows in the top floors again because Lady Partridge had not deemed them clean enough after the last wipe the maids had given them.
“Alright, Thelma. Miss Partridge and I will take a little walk in the garden,” Henry said matter-of-factly, noticing to his amusement that he had become just as good at lying as Sarah.
“Great! Some exercise will surely do her good and will keep her from thinking up new tricks,” Thelma scoffed, then she and the girls went upstairs while Henry quickly ushered Sarah towards the door.
Having arrived outside, Sarah suddenly grabbed Henry by the sleeve and pulled him back.
“I am afraid, we can not go now. Jeremy might see us,” she whispered, looking over to the stables where Jeremy was busy chopping wood.
“You go ahead, and I will follow you a little bit later,” Henry suggested.
But Sarah just vigorously shook her head.
“It is too dangerous, Henry.”
“Where is this place you want to take me anyway?” Henry asked.
“It is over there, hidden behind the hedges.” Sarah pointed her finger across the lawn and over to the far end of the garden. “But believe me, if Jeremy sees us going there, it will be as clear as a day to him that... that we are in love...”
Highly curious to find out what kind of place Sarah had in mind for them to pass the following hours, Henry racked his brain in search of a flash of inspiration. The latter wasnʼt long in coming.
“I will distract him. And when he is not looking, you will quickly cross the garden and run over to the hedges. I will be with you in no time.”
Sarah wrinkled her brow and only hesitantly agreed to Henryʼs plan, worried that it might fail. But then she did as he had told her and hid behind the door while Henry made his way over to the stable boy.
Jeremy quickly glanced at Henry from the side when he saw him approaching, but other than that he ignored him and continued doing his work.
Henry cleared his throat to get the boyʼs attention.
“Please excuse my interrupting, but did you happen to see Miss Sarah anywhere?” he asked politely and looked around, pretending to search the area.
Jeremy grabbed another piece of wood and positioned it on top of the wood block before smashing it with the axe.
“No,” he said. The tone of his voice was aloof and cautious.
“Miss Sarah and I intended to go for a walk in the garden. But she tricked me and ran away,” Henry said to keep the conversation going for another while. “I wonder where she is…”
“Well, she is not here anyway,” Jeremy answered, finally looking at Henry. And as the boy's back was facing the mansion, he didnʼt notice that in this very moment Sarah sprinted at breakneck speed from the mansion door across the garden and over to the hedges. Henry, who was watching her secretly, worried that her feet might get caught in her long skirt and that she would tumble. But she arrived safely and unnoticed.
Henry helplessly shrugged his shoulders and let out a long sigh, pretending to be frustrated.
“Well, just in case you see her, please be so kind to tell her I was looking for her.”
Jeremy sneered.
“I will, although this would be the first time ever that she comes running when someone is looking for her.”
For a moment, Henry quietly looked at Jeremy. It had never been his intention to do anything else but distract the boy. But now that he was there, he found that he might as well try to bury that hatchet that Jeremy so obviously had dug out.
“You do not like me very much, do you?” Henry asked warily.
Taken aback by Henryʼs straightforward question, Jeremy stopped his work, put down his axe and spat on the ground, an eerie and calculating look in his eyes.
Henry found that the boyʼs reaction to his question pretty much served as an answer, but then Jeremy suddenly began to speak.
“Have I given you any reason to believe this?” he asked frostily.
“Not really, it is just a general sensation which I believe to have in your presence; a sensation that is telling me that you would rather see me dead,” Henry said, forcing a smile.
Jeremy gave a mocking laugh. “Killing you is not worth going to prison.”
Henry frowned and nodded quietly, something which Jeremy did not notice as he had already grabbed his axe again and continued with his work, ignoring Henry.
Having other more pleasant and alluring things on his mind, Henry decided to quickly try and forget about the dissatisfying talk with the stable boy. Still, he was somewhat angry at himself because of his good naturedness and because he had been so stupid to believe that he could be friends with Jeremy. Not that this wish had not been fueled by some ulterior motive; the motive to at least not be enemies with Jeremy. After all, Damian had already taken over this part. And Henry found that one of his kind was more than enough.
Once out of Jeremyʼs sight, Henry arrived at the hedges where he had seen Sarah disappear. There he discovered a tiny path which led a little bit further away from the mansion and towards a part of the garden which he had never set foot in before. Here everything was overgrown with lilac and rose bushes, and there was a sundial and a little pool with goldfish in it. Henry heard some frogs croak and cicadas chirp and found that the place was quite peaceful.
And romantic.
“Henry...” he suddenly heard Sarahʼs voice, “I am here...”
He beamed at her when he saw her stepping out from behind the lilac bushes. And as soon as her little fingers wrapped around his, he had completely forgotten about Jeremy. All that reminded of the stable boy were the distant thuds of his axe as it landed on the pieces of wood. But even this sound was gradually fading into the background as Henryʼs senses began to fully focus on Sarah, on the wondrous smile that blossomed on her face, on the dazzling fragrance that emerged from her.
Sarah quickly dragged him behind the lilac bushes where she had hidden shortly before. Henry noticed with surprise that behind the bushes there was a small pavilion with ivy and roses twining around it. And inside the pavilion, there was a narrow bench, leaving just enough space for two people to sit on.
Sarah entered the pavilion, sat down on the bench and patted with the palm of her hand on the seat next to her, inviting Henry to equally sit down.
She didnʼt need to tell him twice. He was hardly sitting when Sarah already flung her arms around him. He embraced her happily and kissed her favorite spot on the neck again, which immediately made her sigh.
“Kiss me, Henry… Kiss me more…” she breathed.
And he kissed her more, buried his hands in her hair, pressed her ribcage to his body, felt her heartbeat, heard her moan; and very slowly he threatened to drown in her dazzling vanilla scent and in the sensation of her succulent lips and believed that he was about to die the sweetest death he could imagine.
Eventually, he noticed her hand slowly slip off his shoulder, glide over the length of his arm and down to his thigh where it remained rested. Visions of her naked body moving against his appeared in front of his mindʼs eye, and hundreds of butterflies were beginning to dance with wild abandon in his stomach.
“Sarah… Sarah…” Henry croaked breathlessly, “I must urge you to stop if you do not want me to go too far…”
Sarah momentarily paused to look at him, pensively, consideringly. Then, a mysterious smile creeping over her lips, she took his hand and placed it on her bosom. His heart began to race excitedly in his chest. His pulse threatened to leap up to the skies.
Then Henry bent to kiss her, and soon he succumbed entirely to her sweetness and to his fantasies, which were becoming more and more sinful with every moment of their togetherness.
They spent almost two hours in the pavilion, entwined, their lips locked, their minds blank, but their hearts filled with almost uncontrollable desire for each other.
Suddenly, they heard laughter coming from afar.
Startled, Sarah freed herself from Henryʼs embrace.
“I think weʼd better go,” she said.
Dreamily, Henry watched Sarah as she got up, checked her hair, and smoothed her dress. Then he reluctantly rose from his seat on the bench, and together they left the pavilion. They followed the path along the rows of rose bushes and when they arrived at the hedges, they secretly peered over to the mansion to see what was going on.
Ada and Thelma were standing in the yard at the pump, laughing merrily as they were squirting water into Jeremyʼs face. The stable boy in turn tried to grab them by the sleeves of their dresses, which caused the maids to shriek and run around in a circle like startled geese in their endeavor to escape him.
“When the catʼs away the mice come out to play...” Henry mumbled with a smirk, wondering why Jeremy wasnʼt content with wooing Ada and Heather. After all, they were nice girls. But he guessed that everybody just wanted Sarah. It was like a curse.
Then he saw Thelma coming out of the house, carrying a huge basket.
“Come on, lasses, give me a hand!” she called.
Immediately, Ada and Heather stopped in the middle of tickling Jeremy to death, rushed over to Thelma and took the basket, which appeared to be quite heavy. Then they all, including Jeremy, crossed the garden, opened the gate which led outside, and followed the path leading away from the mansion.
“The coast is clear,” Sarah whispered when Thelma and the others were finally out of sight.
Henryʼs stomach suddenly began to rumble, which made Sarah chuckle.
“I am starving, too,” she said. “It must be around midday. Let us go and get some food.”
Henry and Sarah left their little hiding place and hurried over to the house. Having arrived there, they went downstairs to the kitchen where Sarah sat on the table, picked some grapes from a bowl of fruit, and began to shove them into her mouth, one after another. Apart from the grapes and some bottles of lemonade standing on the sideboard, the kitchen looked pretty devoid of anything to eat. Everything was tidy and clean, and all leftovers from the day before had been fed to the animals.
“Would you like a grape?” Sarah asked Henry. With a grin, he opened his mouth and let Sarah feed him. Whenever she offered him a grape, he tried to bite her finger. It made her recoil quickly and then laugh out loud, before she made another attempt to stick the fruit into his mouth without leaving him any chance to snap at her.
Suddenly, they heard the front door bang upstairs. Then there was the sound of footsteps on the staircase leading down to the kitchen.
Sarah froze in the middle of shoving yet another grape into Henryʼs mouth. A terror-stricken expression on her face, she hopped off the table.
“Calm down, Sarah, we have not done anything wrong. We were just hungry,” Henry whispered, trying to appease her. Deep inside, though, he felt quite tense and immediately moved a little bit away from Sarah to demonstrate a polite distance between them.
The next moment, the door opened and Thelma stood in the frame. She let out a little shriek of surprise upon seeing Henry and Sarah as she had not expected anyone loitering in her kitchen.
Henry and Sarah put up their most innocent smiles.
“We do apologize for intruding in your kitchen and giving you a fright. We were just looking for a tiny bit to eat,” Henry explained.
Thelma pulled a grumpy, suspicious face.
“So, you found her after all,” she grumbled. Henry guessed that Jeremy had, of course, spilt the news to her that he had been looking for Sarah.
"I did indeed,” Henry answered, sounding all casual. “She had not been too far at all. It was in fact some kind of… how can I put it… misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding...? Well, then...” Thelma scoffed. She walked over to the sideboard and grabbed the bottles of lemonade.
“Forgot them beverages,” she muttered, stuck the bottles in her basket and added, “We are having a picnic down at the lake. If you want something to eat, you can join us if you want. There should be enough sandwiches and apples for an extra pair of hungry stomachs.”
Sarah pulled a face behind Thelmaʼs back. Henry guessed that she wanted the sandwiches but obviously not the company of the others. She wanted to be with him only. He could see it in her longing eyes.
But Henry had other plans.
“I actually think this is a marvelous idea!” he said cheerfully. “A little merry gathering will do us good, donʼt you think, Miss Sarah?”
Henry threw a secretive glance at the girl, trying to tell her that he found it better if they joined Thelma; simply for the sake of making the others believe that he and Sarah had no interest in spending the whole time together. Henry hoped that this would scatter the assumption that they were connected by more than just school books.
Sarah didnʼt appear amused but obviously saw his point and nodded at him, a sullen look on her face. Henry guessed that she too knew that they would still have enough time to be together afterwards. And apart from that, Henry had to admit to himself that he welcomed a little break because he dreaded that otherwise he would be in high danger of entirely losing his mind.
And the weekend had only just begun.