Chapter 17: Chapter 17

The fateful Sunday arrived. Servants went to mass and sat in the back pews, or stood, while nobles and lords clustered on pews in front of the altar.

At the end of the rite, it was common for the lords to talk before returning home, some even going to visit the others. So no one noticed when the Dubois left, along with the other servants, who always had to arrive before their employers in order to get lunch ready. Paul watched as Louisa and her family walked away and excused himself, following them. Neither his parents nor the Dankworths minded his absence, as he became more and more reclusive by the days.

Paul caught up with Louisa and escorted her to her house. He, along with the servants and the girl's parents, said goodbye to her, who climbed into the Smiths carriage, along with her small suitcase.

"You're taking my address with you, right?" He asked Louisa, while still holding her hand, after having helped her into the carriage.

"Yes." She took her hand from his and opened the small purse she was carrying, showing him a small paper he had given her weeks before. "I will write as soon as possible. For you and for you, too." She looked away from Paul and glanced at Dani and Kate, as well as her parents.

Paul hoisted himself up a little to give Louisa a brief hug. Olivier Dubois observed his daughter's intimacy with this young man, who he knew very well had spent a lot of time with the girl lately.

"Take care, my daughter!" Eva said through tears as the carriage began to move.

Louisa held back her tears so she wouldn't cause her parents any more grief, allowing herself to cry when the carriage turned the corner and could no longer be seen.

The Smiths were a family that lived nearby. Mr. Smith owned a small business that was doing very well, providing his family with the ability to afford a carriage of their own. Eva was very well regarded by everyone, and when they learned that her daughter would need to go to London, the Smiths promptly offered to accompany the girl. If it weren't for that, Louisa would end up going either in a mail carriage or in a stagecoach.

Dani and Kate walked into the kitchen, heads down as they had to take care of lunch. They immediately went to the small room where the aprons were kept and each took one, then put them on.

Dani, of course, was grumbling about Louisa having to leave, as well as not being able to say a better goodbye to the girl and, as if that wasn't enough, still having to pretend everything was okay because of the 'old rag, Mrs. Judith'.

"I don't know how Mr. Dankworth can endure the woman!" Dani commented, peevishly.

"These rich families usually get married by arrangement. It's a business for them. And once they're married, it's not like there's any escape, is there, Dani?" Kate explained calmly, looking at the kitchen door that led to the rest of the house, afraid someone would hear them.

"At these times I am very grateful to be poor and to be able to choose who I want to marry." Kate nodded, agreeing with what Dani had just said.

When Eva entered the kitchen, the two turned to her.

"What are you doing here? We both can handle everything, Eva." Kate said, but Eva shook her head and pulled on her apron, going to join the two women.

"I need to distract myself, or I'll be thinking about how much I miss Louisa already." She sniffed. As much as Eva tried to hold back, tears leaked from her eyes.

The three worked in silence, until lunchtime arrived.

Benjamin noticed how sad Paul looked. 'Trouble in paradise, my friend?' he thought mischievously. Maybe Louisa had sent Paul to find another girl to bother, instead of her.

The last few Sundays, Paul spent the afternoon with Louisa, so when he got up from the table and went upstairs, Benjamin followed him.

"Not going to the beach today?" He asked before Paul could enter his own room. "Did she finally dump you?"

Paul tensed, but didn't respond. He opened the door and went in, but Benjamin didn't let the door close.

"What do you want?" Paul asked in the meantime, already out of patience.

"Answer what I asked you. That's all I want." Benjamin said, with a smile on his face.

"I don't have the slightest bit of patience for your mockery, Benjamin. You can stop being sly. You know very well that Louisa is no longer here." Paul looked seriously at the floor, with an expression of defeat. Benjamin stopped smiling as Paul spoke and now he was frowning.

"What do you mean 'she is no longer here'? What the hell are you talking about?"

Paul looked up and Benjamin saw that his former friend was definitely not kidding.

"Enough of your games! You know what your mother did: she kicked Louisa out the same day Jacqueline lied about the tea incident!" Paul approached Benjamin, who instinctively took a step back. "Today the best person in this world is gone from this house and you, supposedly her friend, did nothing to prevent it!"

Benjamin thought that maybe Paul was just being bitter, after Louisa didn't want anything to do with him anymore, however, with those words, he saw that he was wrong. His brain seemed to freeze with shock. Paul took the moment to close the door in Benjamin's face, leaving him staring at the wood but not really seeing anything.

"Ben?" Jacqueline's voice was heard, but Benjamin only noticed her presence when she placed her hand on his arm. He looked at the girl and shook his head.

"I... have to..." He didn't finish saying the words properly and walked past Jacqueline, who stood there confused.

Benjamin went downstairs and went after his mother. Usually she went to the yellow parlor with Miss Russell after Sunday lunches, to talk.

"Absolutely." Judith was talking to Emily when Benjamin appeared at the door. The two women looked at him, surprised, as he never went there.

"Mrs. Russell, would you please be so kind as to leave me alone with my mother, just for a few minutes?" He asked and Emily didn't ask, she just looked at Judith and then at Benjamin and stood up. She bowed and left.

As soon as Emily was gone, Judith narrowed her eyes at her son.

"May I know the reason for such a lack of kindness on your part?" She asked.

"Where did you send Louisa? Why didn't I hear anything about it before?" He didn't even bother to answer his mother's question, he was there to get answers himself.

"This is none of your business." Judith said after a few seconds of silence. She took a deep breath and turned her nose up in the air. "I take care of the servants problems, by order of your father. If you came here with this attitude towards me on account of that little girl, then that confirms that I did the right thing to banish her from these lands for good!"

Benjamin felt his blood boiling, but he didn't want to respond rudely to his mother.

"Very well." He said and turned around, leaving the room.

Judith smiled triumphantly, even reaching for one of the cookies laid out on the platter, but then a thought crossed her mind. He was probably going after his father. She got up quickly and ran in search of the boy, before he spoke to Harry.

"Benjamin!" She called when he had his hand up, ready to knock on his father's office door. "I forbid it!"

"Forbid what? Me to talk to my father?" From Judith's expression, Benjamin sensed that something was wrong there.

"Your father already has a lot to worry about. Don't bore him with this petty problem!"

"This is definitely not a 'petty problem' as you try to make it out to be. It's something that hits me directly."

Judith swallowed hard. What did Benjamin mean by that? Before she could ask, the office door opened, revealing an unsatisfied Harry Dankworth.

"What's the fuss in front of my office for?" he asked, frowning.

"Benjamin nonsenses, as usual. He is being intransigent with his own mother!" she complained and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The two men rolled their eyes slightly. "He's questioning the way I take care of this house!"

Harry took a deep breath. Ever since Benjamin returned from Eton two years prior, for the holidays, Judith and he didn't seem to get along at all and this gave Harry a headache.

"Benjamin, come in." He said and held the door open for his son, who obediently entered. Judith opened her mouth to object, but Harry looked at her seriously, and she knew that look in his eyes meant he wouldn't accept her saying anything at all. She fell silent and watched as he walked in behind Benjamin and closed the door.

"Dad, moth-" Benjamin started saying, but Harry cut him off.

"Sit down!" Benjamin obeyed. "Now, I want to know what the fight is about and why can't I have a peaceful Sunday."

"Louisa is gone." Benjamin answered, dryly.

Harry went to the other side of the table and sat down in his chair.

"I thought she was going tomorrow. I didn't even say good-bye to her." He shook his head and Benjamin's mouth dropped open in disbelief. Did his father know, too?

"Did you already know that?" He asked.

"Yes, your mother told me."

"And you did nothing to prevent this nonsense?!" To say that Benjamin was furious was an understatement.

"Prevent? That decision was not up to me, boy." He said, placing his clasped hands on the table.

"Are you telling me that you have no voice in this house? That you have no control over the decisions made here?"

Harry stood up calmly, his face getting redder by the second.

"Don't you dare to speak in that tone with me, Benjamin!" He slapped the table with his flat hand. "You're getting out of this office right now and I better not catch you picking fights with your mother again! Otherwise, you might even be eighteen, but I'm going to spank you so you'll never forget it! Do we have an understanding here?"

"But, fat-"

"Get out, now!" Harry sat back down, picked up his quill and started writing on his books. Benjamin understood that it would be useless to say anything. At that moment, because he would definitely still try to reverse the situation. He bowed and headed for the door.

Judith had stayed outside and managed to hear the end of the conversation as they were yelling. When Benjamin questioned Harry's power in the house, she knew the conversation would be over. Harry gave a lot of freedom, but if there was one thing he wouldn't admit, it was people questioning his power, even more so within his own house. She backed away from the door just as Harry told the boy to leave.

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