After a rich reading session with Arabella, Ada was completely over the moon. All starry eyed, reiterating how easy and fun it was to read and write with her help.
Throughout their ti in the library, the maid would offer short lived, apologetic glances at the young woman, but it wasn’t until the two of them walked the hallways that she’d plucked up the courage to voice her thoughts.
"I am really sorry," her expression went from a bright smile to the grimace of one.
"What are you apologizing for, Ada?" her eyes had widened a tad.
"I keep raving about how I wish I learned to read this way sooner and not once did I ask you...," Ada trailed off montarily, biting her bottom lip before continuing, "You know... About how the eting with your father went down," she then launched into a frenzied series of gestures and justifications, "I ant to ask sooner, but I thought there’d be a better ti. I just don’t want you to think that I am skipping over the fact or that I don’t care about you. You know I do and-"
"Ada," stopping in her tracks, Arabella held a hand up, "Calm yourself, please," she uttered in a steady voice, "Your kindness truly is touching, but I fear your heart will give out if I don’t stop you," her feature wore a feeble smile.
"I am sorry. I don’t an to blabber," the maid had both hands hovering over her mouth while speaking in the littlest of voices, "I can’t be helped,"
"There’s nothing in you that needs changing. To , you are just perfect,"
Arabella could’ve sworn there were tears in Ada’s eyes.
"Thank you, Miss," she smiled.
"My eting with my father went about as well as I expected it to," the young woman resud walking.
"So, it was that bad, huh?"
By then, their tones were no more than mutters, marching down the hallway that led to the music room.
"Quite nasty, yes,"
Ada pushed a long and heavy sigh before speaking again, "I must admit, I was really worried you’d leave," she cast her eyes onto the floor.
"Leave?" Arabella was taken aback by her admission.
"Well yes. I’d known there was no way he’d be able to drag you out of here against your will, but that doesn’t an that was his only plan," the maid shook her head, "I worried he’d sohow convince you or hold sothing over your head that would force you to return with him,"
"Oh, my dear Ada...," she too sighed, "Had there been sothing he could’ve held over my head, I would’ve never dared leave to begin with," she grimaced a smile.
Silence slipped through the cracks and hoped to stay, but after a little mont Ada shattered its aspiration, "Now what? Will he leave you alone?"
"I, very much, doubt that," she paused, "Reubon Sterling stops before nothing to obtain what he desires,"
Ada’s entire body shivered violently, forcing her to freeze in place and rub her hands up and down her arms aggressively.
"No offense, Miss. I know he’s still your father, but that does sound nasty," she huffed.
"None taken," Arabella let out a hearty chuckle.
Not many words were exchanged between them after that. Arabella carried on their path, eager to press on those magical keys that birthed the most magnificent of lodies.
But before their feet could reach their destination, another component entered the equation and ensnared the young woman’s senses despite truly only affecting one of them.
A garland of flowery scents invaded her mind, tugging at her heart strings with such talent, such precision, it left the rest of her no room to fight its calling.
She took a good whiff of it and announced, "Oh my! Can you sll that, Ada?"
"Goody! It must be coming from the gardens,"
"I want to go by the gardens first,"
At the end of her sentence, Arabella noted that Ada’s smile had vanished, "What is it?"
"Are you sure, Miss?" her facial features, sort of, winced, "I an, Edgar would be there and...,"
The young woman imdiately took the hint and reassured Ada, "Oh... I understand, but from what I’ve gathered, the Master only acted out of sorts due to hunger. He wouldn’t obsess over for no reason,"
The maid did not seem particularly assured, but relented nonetheless, "If you say so then alright,"
To call it art would’ve been an understatent. The many colors scintillating under the blessing of the sun painted serenity without letters. Better than a dream, it almost swept her feet off the ground, carrying her entire weight with the breeze.
"It is absolutely amazing,"
Once outside, Ada’s vocal cords untwined first.
"There you are!" the familiar masculine voice that’d addressed them turned their heads over, "I honestly feared I wouldn’t see you before long,"
"I couldn’t stand not to visit the gardens," the young woman simpered.
"The last full moon before Ostara is nigh. It’s no wonder most flowers have already blood," Ada chid in, eyes flickering between one plant to the next.
"Indeed, they have," the man ushered towards the hedges with the bag of manure he carried, "Speaking of flowers, please co. I’d like to show you sothing,"
Arabella’s heart nearly leapt out of its cage upon hearing those words. She clutched at the skirt of her gown and practically floated after Edgar while Ada trailed behind them.
"Oh dear!" wide as saucers her eyes were, sparkling with a million little stars, "They... Oh... They are..." the words failed her, arms stretched towards the white rose hedges, waving and flapping about as though they spoke their own language.
"The first white roses blood soti early this morning," he smiled, following her ecstatic figure, "I’d cut a few of them to be sent to you in case you couldn’t co,"
"Thank you, Edgar!" Arabella simred down a tad, "You made this day a thousand tis better," she then imdiately turned to Ada, "Do you see them, Ada?"
But Ada’s attention was elsewhere. The maid eyed the manor with a lot of apprehension on her traits.
And when the two other souls next to her followed her gaze, they were relieved to spot no figure up there on the balconies
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