Katie Anderson's Site

It had been raining all morning. It was mid April and even though yesterday seemed to have promised the day such high hopes of a beautiful sky it was evidently not. Disappointed, Mr. Matthews sat in the drawing room writing an Email to his brother who was away visiting relatives in New York.

Thomas read over his letter and was quite satisfied for it was longer than his last and that should please his brother. He gazed out of the window pondering upon ridiculous notions such as; how could so much sunlight shine through so dark of clouds?

“Mr. Matthews!” yelled Miss Maggie for a third time.

“I’m sorry Miss Maggie. I did not hear you.”

“So I noticed, sir. Whatever were you thinking about?”

“It is of no importance. What is it that you are wanting?”

“Lunch is ready sir and the new servant has arrived.”

“So soon? Good. That is very good. Tell him to meet me in the parlor after I have finished my lunch.”

Miss Maggie stood in the doorway looking almost afraid to speak.

“Mr. Matthews…sir. It is a woman who comes to join us.”

“But I sent for a man.”

She could hear the anger and impatience in his voice.

“Yes sir, I know, but Madam Lydia wrote me saying that she has no more men to send. She supposed you might object to it sir if she did send a woman to you. So she asked me not to tell. She said that she will send half of your money back since you are not receiving exactly what you asked for, but that it is a great loss to her indeed for what you are getting.”

After some thought, Thomas plainly said, “Very well then,” and Miss Maggie left him to be alone.

Thomas sat reading the paper as his lunch was served to him. After he was finished eating he went to Miss Maggie to have her relay orders to his other workers and to send the new servant to the parlor to wait for him. After Miss Maggie had left he remained standing in the hallway. He knew that she would go to the new servant first so he waited a moment before making his way to the parlor. After a few minutes, he began walking very slowly to the parlor. He wasn’t that disappointed in the fact that a woman was sent instead of a man. He was in dire need of the extra help around the house and he knew that Miss Maggie would appreciate it as well. He came to the parlor doors and paused, taking a deep breath and exhaling before opening them, reminding himself that this would be a good thing.

Chapter 1

Elizabeth sat nervously as she waited to meet her new boss. Though, she has had much experience and worked in many different homes, she had never been in one so large or beautiful, except for one…The door opened and she jumped to her feet immediately. Thomas entered the room and she didn’t even look at him. She instinctively bowed to him. When she stood back up and looked at him she could not believe how handsome he was.

She is a pretty woman indeed, he thought, but her dark green eyes were what really made her beautiful. They were so hypnotizing. There was a long pause between them and as Elizabeth started to speak, Thomas realized his mouth was half opened in amazement and closed it quickly.

“Mr. Matthews, sir. My name is Elizabeth Myers.”

He said nothing, he stood there watching her, observing everything that she did.

He noticed that she was biting her bottom lip. Obviously something she did when she became nervous.

“You have a lovely home sir.”

“Thank you.”

“Madam Lydia informed me about your request for a man. I am sorry that your wishes could not be met.”

“Thank you.”

Is that all you can say you fool, he thought to himself. He noticed that he was still staring at her. Immediately realizing it, he unwillingly turned his eyes away from her as he started to walk around the room.

“Miss Maggie is the head maid as I presume you already know. She will show you around the house and tell you your duties. Do whatever she asks of you for every order comes from me. She will show you to your room as well.”

Elizabeth stared at him wondering what he was thinking for the tone in his voice varied from the expression on his face. Then, she noticed him staring at her through the mirror. As she opened her mouth to speak, he quickly and quite sharply said, “You may go now Miss Elizabeth.” She bowed to him and then she left the room. Thomas continued to stare into the mirror unable to think of anything else other than her eyes.

“This is the kitchen as you can see,’ Miss Maggie explained, “And that concludes our tour.”

“Thank you madam,” Elizabeth replied.

“Oh, there’s no need to be proper with me dear. Miss Maggie will do fine.”

Elizabeth smiled sweetly at her. She could already tell that she was going to like her.

“Well, since it is raining we shall go upstairs and clean for that is what needs to be done.”

Miss Maggie lead the way as Elizabeth followed her with wandering eyes. There were so many sculptures and paintings through out the house and she was trying to take them all in.

“Do you enjoy working for Mr. Matthews, Miss Maggie?”

“Indeed I do. Very much. He is a kind person even though he doesn’t always seem like one.”

“How long have you worked for him?”

“Oh, I’d say it’s been close to twenty years now.”

“Twenty! My, that is a long time. You must like each other very much to have stayed in each others company for so long.”

“Indeed we do miss. I think of him like a son. I have been with him since he was born and when his mother became ill, I practically spent every moment taking care of him.”

They were silent when they entered the room. Then Miss Maggie began to explain to Elizabeth what needed to be done and how to do it. As they cleaned Miss Maggie kept talking. Although Elizabeth preferred to work alone and in silence, she said nothing. She decided that Miss Maggie was either one of those people who just couldn’t stop talking or that she had been alone working in this house for far too long. Nonetheless, Elizabeth did enjoy her. She seemed so happy and full of life, even though Elizabeth was sure she was at least fifty years old.

Once they were done cleaning the upstairs rooms they returned to the kitchen to begin cooking dinner. Elizabeth did most of the cooking to let Miss Maggie rest. After all, she was the only maid in the house. To do everything herself in such an enormous place must be exhausting. Miss Maggie served Thomas his dinner. She was afraid to let Elizabeth do it thinking that he might still be upset about her. As Miss Maggie did this, Elizabeth started to clean the kitchen. She was done by the time Miss Maggie had returned.

The sun was starting to set on the horizon and Elizabeth could see that Miss Maggie was already tired. She felt sorry for the old woman. She imagined that Mr. Matthews probably worked her practically to death everyday. In her experience in the other homes that she had worked in, that is what they usually did.

“You look tired Miss Maggie.”

“Oh, I am a bit dear. When you get to be my age nearly everything wears you out.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and go on to bed. I can finish up what needs to be done tonight.”

“No, I couldn’t do that to you. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“It’s fine really, I don’t mind. Besides, I think you’ve done enough work to last a lifetime. You go on and get some rest. I’ll finish everything up.”

“Well, if you are sure.”

“Of course I’m sure.”

“Alright then dear. Thank you so much. The downstairs rooms need cleaning and that’s all that needs to be done. You just do it the exact same way we did the upstairs rooms and that’ll be fine.”

“Alright, Miss Maggie, you go on and get some rest now.”

“I believe I will. Thank you again.”

“It’s no problem.”

Miss Maggie left and went upstairs to her room for the night. Elizabeth remained sitting in the kitchen, staring out the window and watching the rain. It reminded her of home when she was a child. The way she and her brother would play outside in the rain. She missed him terribly. She would give anything to see him one more time. But she knew that wasn’t possible. She gave up that hope a long time ago. Shaking her head to stop the tears that were coming, she stood up and made her way to the hallway to begin dusting and polishing.

Almost an hour later and she still had three rooms left to clean. She knew which room Mr. Matthews was in and she was saving that room for last. She wanted to avoid seeing him again at least until tomorrow. He seemed very uneasy with her and that made her feel uneasy towards him. The way he had looked at her had frightened her because she was afraid that he realized who she was. She reminded herself again that there was no possible way of him knowing that. Trying to get her mind off of this, she began to clean faster. She scrubbed everything until it shined and fluffed the pillows on the couch until they were quite plump. She shook out the curtains and straightened up books. She dusted until all the decorations were gleaming. Room by room she went hastily working until she came to the drawing room where she knew he was. As she started to knock she prayed that he would not be in there. For a moment, she thought she might be lucky, but then she heard him say come in, and wincing, she slowly opened the door.

“I’m so sorry to disturb you sir. I can come back later to finish once you have gone.”

“Why? That would be pointless. You are not disturbing me and I won’t be going to bed for some time yet. If you stay here long enough you will come to learn my habit’s the same as Miss Maggie has. Please continue with your work.”

He waved her inside and went back to reading his book. She was annoyed with him but politely smiled and started to dust and polish. She worked even faster than before now trying to finish everything as quickly as possible. She hoped that he wasn’t watching her but dared not to look to see if he was. After she was done with the half of the room that was opposite him she began to slow down her pace, to take her time in getting to where he was.

It began to bother him that he repeatedly looked up from his book to watch her. He couldn’t help but smile at how fast she was working to hurry up and get out of the room and away from him. He found it amusing. As she began to slow down, he noticed how tired she was, and felt a small tug inside of him as her hair began to fall out of it’s pins.

“Where is Miss Maggie?”

“She went to bed already sir.”

“What? Why?”

“I asked her to sir. She looked so very tired and there was no reason why she shouldn’t since I could finish everything up down here by myself.”

“I see. Well, that was very kind of you.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Thank you? There’s no need to say thank you to that. I’m sure you already know that it was a kind gesture.”

“Still, it is nice to hear it sometimes. It’s been a long time since anyone has paid me a compliment or even said something nice. It can make a person feel…” she stopped, realizing that she was having a conversation with him and immediately began to feel awkward.

“Is some thing wrong?”

“No sir, it’s just that, w-well I wasn’t intending to pour out all my feelings on you. I am sorry.”

“That’s all right. I don’t mind. Besides, it’s nice to hear someone else talk other than myself or Miss Maggie.”

She tried hard to hide her smile since she understood what he meant but he still caught a glimpse of it. She continued cleaning and within a few minutes she was finally done.

“Well, if you don’t need anything sir, I’ll just be off to my room for the night.”

“Actually, I do need something. Stay.”

“Excuse me sir?”

“Stay. Stay and sit with me for a moment.”

She looked at him puzzled but obliged. She sat on the couch across from him and folded her hands neatly in her lap. Unsure of what she should do, she looked around the room studying everything, anything to keep her eyes from meeting his. After she did this several times she finally sighed and looked at him. He had been sitting there waiting for her to do it, she could tell by the smug grin on his face.

“How do you like it here Miss Elizabeth.”

“As I said before sir, you have a beautiful home.”

“That’s not what I asked you. I said, how do you like it here?”

“I like it just fine sir.”

“You seem to be a hard worker, that’s a good thing, something that won’t go unnoticed I promise you. I am not like most people. I pay my workers well if they do well and if they don’t then I won’t let them work at all. I don’t have time for lazy people who just want to make some quick money. But I don’t think that will be a problem with you.”

“No sir it won’t be. I do what I am told and I do it the best I can. You’ll never hear me complain over any chore and I don’t mind working more than others.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes sir. I’m so sorry sir, I am rambling, I should probably just leave you be now.”

“No. It’s nice to hear you talk or ramble as you call it. Please stay, I really don’t mind.”

“Okay.”

“So, Miss Elizabeth, where are you from?”

“I came from Madam Lydia’s home sir.”

“Yes, I know that but how did you come to be in her care?”

“I…well I didn’t have much of a choice. You see, my mother died when I was very young and my father left to go overseas and he never came back.”

“I am sorry to hear that.”

“Oh, no it’s alright. I don’t believe he is dead. I’m sure he just found something or someone to give him a reason to stay there.”

“It seems to me that you would be a reason to stay here.”

She gave a half-hearted smile but remained silent. He noticed that she was biting her bottom lip again and narrowed his eyes at her wondering what was making her feel so uncomfortable.

“I must say Miss Elizabeth that you seem to work very hard for your age. You look so young. How old are you?”

“I’m twenty sir.”

“How long have you been in Madam Lydia’s care?”

“For three years.”

“So I assume your father left you when you were seventeen?”

“Yes sir.”

He began to tap his fingers on the small round table next to his chair, saying nothing as he stared at her, trying to form an opinion of her. He decided that her father had probably abandoned her because he did not want the responsibility of a daughter any more or perhaps he never had. Then again, he might have had a reason to travel overseas, it could have been for business or family, but seeing as how he left his daughter behind, he seriously doubted that. Then there was the chance that she could be lying. Her eyes continuously wandered around the room, never once looking at him, and then there was the way she was messing with her fingers, and the chewing on her lip. He didn’t want to suspect her of being a liar, she seemed so sweet and innocent. So very fragile. She looked at him then, with the fire dancing off of her dark green eyes, he couldn’t help it, he had to do it. Swallowing hard, he leaned forward and placed his hand on top of hers. He felt her go tense at his touch.

“Elizabeth…I”

“Mr. Matthews!”

He let go of her hand and stood up.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said to her very coldly and then left the room to find the man who was shouting his name.

Elizabeth remained sitting in the parlor, staring at her hand and where the tingling sensation was where he had touched it so gently. She could hear the two men talking in the hallway. She decided that she should probably go to bed. She got up and headed for the door hesitating as she heard Thomas raise his voice. Then she quickly opened it and the two men stared at her as she politely bowed to them and then went upstairs to her room. Once she got inside and looked at the bed, all the questions she had about the two men downstairs went away. She finally realized how tired she truly was and although her bed was somewhat lacking, to her, it looked like heaven. She changed her clothes and brushed out her hair. Then she laid down and within seconds she was asleep.

Thomas waited until he heard Elizabeth’s door close before he began to speak again. He turned back to the man who had rudely intruded into his house demanding his presence. Thomas wasn’t a man who was easily angered but there were certain things-and certain people-which got his anger boiling quite quickly.

“I’ll only ask you once more Thomas, where is it?”

“As I have said, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“You know damn well what I am talking about! Don’t lie to me!”

“Patrick if you do not leave immediately you will force me to take serious action. Now get out of my house!”

“Mark my words Thomas, someday soon you will be wishing that you would have taken the chance when you had it and when you realize that, it will be too late.”

“Is that a threat Patrick? You should be more careful with your words. Now get out.”

Patrick let out a huff and turned and left the house. Thomas went upstairs to his room and tried to go to sleep but he wasn’t able to. He let out a quiet curse and then got up and walked over to his closet. He had to see it again, to make sure it was still there, still safe. He walked across his closet to the mirrors on the other end and gave his thumbprint on the pad that was hiding behind his clothes. The mirrored doors opened and there he seen it. Still safe in it’s glass casing, gleaming brightly, stood his families life’s work, and now he had it. It had been done. He smiled as he pushed the button to close the doors on his treasure. It was his now. His Excalibur.

Chapter 2

Elizabeth woke to the sound of Miss Maggie’s voice. She thought alarm clocks had been annoying but she was most definitely going to be getting one after hearing that.

“Miss Elizabeth!”

“I’m awake now Miss Maggie, thank you.”

“You only have an hour to get ready. Meet me downstairs in the kitchen when you are.”

Elizabeth looked at the clock hanging on the wall and let out a small whine when she seen it was four o’clock in the morning. She forced herself to get out of bed and into the shower. She pulled on some pants and through on a plain white t-shirt. She slipped into her flip flops and quickly brushed her hair, leaving it down so it could dry before she put it in a pony tail. Then she hurried downstairs to the kitchen to find Miss Maggie there already preparing breakfast.

“Is Mr. Matthews an early riser then?”

“He usually wakes around seven, this is for you and me. Now, since you did the cooking last night and let me go to bed early, I don’t want to hear a word. I am going to cook this and you’re going to sit down and enjoy before we have to get to work.”

Elizabeth laughed and gave in to the temptation to give her a hug.

“Alright Miss Maggie, you talked me into it.”

“How did you sleep last night dear?”

“Well enough, Mr. Matthews kept me up a bit later than I’m use to but I slept fine.”

“Did he have you do more work?”

“No. He just wanted to talk and I sort of felt like I didn’t have a choice in the matter so I stayed. Then a man came and I got to go to bed.”

“A man? Who?”

“I’m not for sure, I didn’t catch his name. He was almost as tall as Mr. Matthews, skinny, he had black hair and extremely blue eyes. He was actually kind of cute.”

“Was he wearing all black clothing?”

“Yes he was.”

Miss Maggie stopped beating the eggs and her head began to hang as she slowly shook it. She let out a sigh and began beating the eggs again more fiercely than before.

“Is something wrong Miss Maggie?”

“It was Patrick Edison that you saw last night Elizabeth. You’ll probably be seeing quite a bit more of him too. He’s not a good man. Ever since Thomas found the…”

She broke off and stared hard at Elizabeth. She wasn’t sure if she should know or not so she chose her words carefully.

“Mr. Matthews has found something of great importance that is also worth quite a bit of money and Patrick Edison is after it. You see, Thomas and Patrick were partners in finding the…this object and when they finally did, Patrick stole it and left without a word or a trace of where he went. Thomas spent almost an entire year tracking him down and then another in getting back what was rightfully his.”

“And so Patrick has come to get it back.”

“Yes. I am sorry you have gotten into this mess. I do fear for Thomas’s life.”

“Why? You don’t think that Patrick would…”

“Like I said, he is not a good man. We suspect that he has already killed someone, though mind you, we have no way to prove it and so therefore we can’t be one hundred percent positive but still…you just be careful around him you hear me. When he comes around you just steer clear and don’t say anything about this matter to anyone, you understand. I probably shouldn’t have even told you but, since you are going to be working here, you have a right to know some details. Just don’t say anything about it to anyone! You promise me now.”

“Yes, Miss Maggie, I promise. I don’t want to get you in any kind of trouble. You have my word.”

“Alright then, oh smells like the bacon’s burning.”

Miss Maggie finished cooking and as they ate they talked on other matters, mostly what needed to be done for the day. Elizabeth was happy that it was still raining since she wasn’t ready to do any yard work yet. She helped Miss Maggie clean up their mess and as Miss Maggie cooked Thomas his breakfast, Elizabeth went upstairs to let him know and to start the laundry.

She tapped quietly on his door at first and when there was no answer she knocked louder. There was still no answer so she quietly opened the door and seen him lying in bed still asleep. She wasn’t quite sure what she should do so she knocked even louder on the door but that didn’t work. She gave a sigh and went inside. She walked up to his bed and stared at him. She couldn’t help it. He looked so peaceful and handsome sleeping, especially with no shirt on. Then she started to wonder if he slept completely in the nude, unable to resist, she bit her lip and, with a quick glance to make sure he was still asleep, she began to pull back the covers to reveal the rest of his body. Slowly inching the blanket back, further and further, and…yes he definitely slept in the nude. She placed the cover carefully back and began to grin until she seen his face and his eyes.

“See something you like?”

Her mouth dropped open and her cheeks became red and hot. With wide eyes staring blankly at him she tried to think of something to say. Anything to say. She knew there was nothing so, like an idiot, she said the first thing that popped into her mind.

“There was a spider.”

“A spider.”

“Yes, and if I hadn’t gone after it, well…it could have bit you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It looked like a poisonous one too.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

“Is that really the best you can come up with? A spider?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about sir.”

He laughed and it made her annoyed with him again.

“So where is this monstrous, poisonous spider? Hmm?”

“Well…it’s, it’s…”

“Yes?”

“Oh alright fine! I was curious! Can you really blame me? I mean here you were sleeping and with no clothes on and you probably know quite well how good of a body you have and…well damn it I was curious! There you happy now!”

He laughed again since she was seriously mad at him.

“Oh Elizabeth, it is going to be a pleasure having you here.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips.

“Your breakfast is ready.”

“Good.”

“Where do you keep your dirty clothes?”

“Want to see my underwear now do you?”

Even more angry now, she took the glass of water that was sitting on the table beside his bed and splashed it in his face.

“Do your own damn laundry then!” she screamed as she started to head for the door. He quickly jumped up and grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to face him. He had her pinned against the wall.

“It seems to me that I should be the one angry here.”

“Well you’re not. I am!”

There it was again, she thought, that arrogant, smug little grin. She hated the fact that if made him look even more attractive.

“You never answered my question Elizabeth. Did you see something you like?”

“Oh!”

She shoved him as hard as she could and when he only laughed more she stomped out of the room, taking care to slam the door behind her. She stomped all the way downstairs and back into the kitchen where Miss Maggie had just finish cleaning again.

“That man is without a doubt the most annoying, arrogant, self-centered ass I have ever met!”

Miss Maggie archer her brows and waited patiently for Elizabeth to calm down. When she finally did she sat down at the table and looked at Maggie with eyes that looked like they were ready to burn a hole in someone’s head.

“Having a bad morning is he?”

“Oh, no I’m sure he’s having a very fine morning! But that still doesn’t change the facts.”

“Well, why don’t you tell me what happened.”

Elizabeth didn’t want to. There was no way she could tell Miss Maggie what she had done.

“He’s just smug jerk that’s all.”

“Good morning.”

The two women turned their heads to see Thomas standing in the doorway, with a wide smile on his face. Elizabeth looked at him with a scowl and Miss Maggie did so confusingly.

“Good morning sir. How did you sleep?”

“Well, Miss Maggie, thank you.”

“And how is your morning going?”

“I have to say, Miss Maggie, I believe this is one of the best mornings I’ve had in a long time.”

He looked at Elizabeth then, who quickly got up and left the room, then turning back to Miss Maggie he smiled even wider.

“Do I want to know what’s going on between the two of you Thomas?”

“When you use my first name Miss Maggie, it usually means you are crossed about something.”

“Oh, I’m not crossed. Just caught my attention is all. What did you do to make her upset?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Thomas. Now I am getting cross.”

“Alright, if you must know. She thought I was asleep and she just got a little curious about how I sleep?”

“What? What do you mean about how you sleep?”

“Let’s just say it isn’t a secret to anyone in this house whether I prefer clothes or not in bed.”

He kissed her lightly on the head and gave a chuckle when he seen her wide eyed and mouth gaping open. Then he left her to her thoughts and went to the dining room to have his breakfast. After he was done eating he went upstairs to his room. He had so much work to do today and didn’t feel like doing any of it. As he came to his door and found it slightly opened he peaked inside and seen Elizabeth gathering up his dirty clothes and smiled when she shoved his boxer shorts to the very bottom of the basket.

“So, I guess you were curious to see my underwear after all.”

She let out an angry huff and then went back to her work.

“I want to apologize to you, sir, about earlier this morning. It was very wrong of me and I promise it will never happen again.”

“Well, now, that’s kind of a disappointment. It was rather exciting to wake up to a woman peaking under my covers.”

“You don’t have to be so rude about it. Don’t you think I’m embarrassed enough as it is?”

“Embarrassed that you did it? Or that you got caught?”

“A bit of both I suppose. I’m also sorry that I got so angry about it. That was wrong of me also.”

“You don’t need to apologize all the time. It gets a bit of annoying.”

“I’m sorry. I mean I’m, oh never mind.”

He watched her as she finished collecting his clothes. When she started to head for the closet he ran over to her.

“You don’t need to go in there. There’s no dirty clothes. It’s fine.”

She looked at him questioningly. “Alright.”

She went into the adjoining bathroom and gathered clothes and towels from in there. She came back out and through them in the laundry basket. Then she began to make his bed. He watched her as she carefully placed his pillows aside and then quite articulately folded the corners of the sheets so that there wasn’t a single wrinkle and it fitted perfectly. How was he suppose to concentrate on his work when he had a beautiful young woman making his bed? He walked slowly over to her until she was right in front of him and when she turned around and bumped into him, he grabbed her arms so she couldn’t back away.

“I must say Elizabeth, it has been a very long time since I’ve smelt beautiful, and you smell absolutely luscious.”

He buried his nose in her hair and then buried a hand in it and the other one went swiftly around her waist. She gave a small cry when he very softly nipped her ear. He began to grin, realizing what he was doing to her, making her confused, emotionally as well as physically, and he absolutely loved it. Then, as he was about to kiss her neck, she put her hands on his chest and very gently started to push him back.

“Mr. Matthews, I don’t think this is a good idea.”

He looked at her, her eyes were apologetic and she gave a sad smile.

“You’re absolutely right Elizabeth. My apologies. I’ll just let you get back to work.”

She picked up the basket of laundry and headed to the washroom. He sat down on his bed and started to slowly shake his head. What was he thinking? What had come over him? She was his maid, nothing more. It was just because she was young and attractive and it had just been way too long since he had a woman. That’s what it was. It’s just been too long. He needed to get out of the house and socialize more. That’s exactly what he needed and exactly what he intended to do