“And then Mr.Clayton said why is the devil riding a mouse like one and the same thing? Because it is synonymous!” Arabella said with a chuckle, while Aunt Belle let out a hearty laugh. “Did you hear that, Grace? Sin-on-a-mouse? Isn’t Mr. Clayton humorous?”
“Hm?” Grace asked, glancing up from the paper she was reading.
It was early, far earlier than when the house usually took breakfast, but as it was the day Grace was to take her monthly visit to Gallowgate with James, she had to be up and ready before the sun. Aunt Belle and Arabella, who had felt that Grace was working too hard, had decided to wake up so that they could share breakfast with her.
Unfortunately, Grace wasn’t very good company, as she had become used to having a simple breakfast of fruit slices, whether it be damson, apple, or gooseberries, toast, and tea while she read the paper alone. The morning headline was particularly interesting too, as it said there were two more disappearances that were reported on the past week, bringing the total to fourteen missing persons in the course of two months.
“My dear,” Aunt Belle began, having to cover her mouth with her bejeweled hand as she yawned. “It isn’t very polite to read the paper while you’re in company.”
Grace dropped the paper and gave her aunt and Arabella an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, truly. I’ve just become rather used to taking my breakfast alone.”
“Which is exactly why we’ve decided to wake up with you now, although,” Arabella said, covering her own yawn. “This cannot be a sustainable way to live, waking so early. The sun is barely up.”
“I agree,” Aunt Belle said, taking a sip of tea as she stared deliberately at her niece. “Too much work and too little sleep will lead to an early grave.”
“Yes, but there is an argument that oversleeping can do just as much harm. There was a German doctor who wrote a book about the topic of sleep. I believe it was Dr. Ackermann,” Grace countered, finishing her own tea. “He said that one cannot sleep peacefully without expending a certain amount of energy throughout the day. If I didn’t work, I’d likely never sleep, and that would be worse than waking up a little early.”
Aunt Belle shook her head.
“You are my least favorite of your sisters to argue with, you know. Always so practical and precise with your list of facts and footnotes. It’s a bore, really.”
Grace smirked as the grandfather clock chimed from the hallway. Six o’clock. She stood up while wiping the corner of her mouth with the napkin as she smoothed out her skirts as Penguin came sauntering into the dining room. She bent down to scratch him behind his ear as he purred loudly, but she didn’t have time to waste today. James’s carriage would be pulling up in exactly two minutes, as he left his own residence at exactly this time.
“Enjoy your time at the Milton arcade today, and do take details of everything. I wish to be well informed before attending Mr. Milton’s ball next week.”
“We should do no such thing,” Aunt Belle said, her chin up high. “You should come with us and see for yourself.”
“I cannot abandon Dr. Hall in Gallowgate.”
“Did he not venture to Gallowgate alone before you arrived in Glasgow?”
“Actually, he took Virgil to assist him, but Virgil’s leg bothers him when it rains and,” a crack of thunder boomed around them, highlighting Grace’s point. “I’m afraid duty calls.”
“Well, do not feel envious when you return home and find that we are not here,” Belle said pointedly. “Because after the Milton Arcade, I plan on taking Arabella to visit the Baroness Glengirth. It’s a few miles outside of the city and we shan’t be home until late in the evening, if we come home at all.”
Grace brought her hand to her forehead in a faux salute.
“I promise, I will not sulk.”
“And Mrs. Stevens is coming with us, so I gave an extra day off to the rest of the staff.” She paused, as if to let her words sink in. “I hope that will not be too troublesome for you? But considering how independent you are, I doubt it will cause you any issue.”
Grace’s brow scrunched, confused as to why her aunt seemed so intent with this information.
“I promise, Aunt Belle, I will be perfectly fine alone.”
“We will come back, I’m sure,” Arabella offered, seemingly worried as she glanced at Belle. “We cannot let her spend the entire night alone in an empty house.”
“Nonsense,” the elder woman said, waving her hand in the air. “Grace is perfectly capable. Now go.”
Belle turned her cheek up, so that Grace could kiss it and once she did, Grace hurried out of the dining room, shaking her head at her aunt’s strange behavior. Mrs. Stevens had her coat open and ready. Grace quickly donned the garment and tied her bonnet under her chin as a footman hastened to follow her out of the house while keeping an umbrella above her head until she reached the open door of James’s carriage. She was quickto climb in and sit across from him and glanced up to see him, stoic and silent, dressed in his usual black suit and sat slightly off center, as he was too tall to sit straight.
It was a wild, bracing sensation she felt in her chest, every time she looked into the doctor’s eyes. After her last biting words, she half expected that he might go to Gallowgate without her, or that he might be angry with her, but as she gazed back at him, all she saw was something that didn’t make any sense.
Yearning.
It was instant, and disappeared in a flash, but for an entire second, Grace could have sworn that she saw a longing in his eyes that matched exactly how she had felt the night before, when she had stared out the window of her room. After her brother-in-law had left, she had retired to her room and spent the better part of the evening trying to read, although every few minutes she had stopped to gaze out at his dark house. Had he gone home after he left her house yesterday? It didn’t seem so. No one appeared to be home which had caused her a great deal of curiosity. If he hadn’t gone home, where had he gone?
