cautious to come in contact with him again. There was something dangerous about him but thinking about Sutcliffe only made her even more anxious about something in her heart she knew she could not

ing between us, she added. As hard as she tried to

d, she poured herself a cup of water from the faucet of the kitchen and made her way to the study. Emily had her letter written to Elizabeth all written down, and she took this letter out to r

r L

t had never been coated with any paint, just stone, and the doorknocker is in the shape of a raccoon. The parents remind me slightly of ours but stranger, he holds her hand as if she were a piece of glass that would break if he'd apply more pressure on her fingers. There are no p

e letter had been shorter than she had expected it to be, no

inly kept to themselves so the house servants they did have were just as strange and eccentric as they were seeing as none of them were willing to show her the way at first. There was not a lot

reassured her that she could travel. The town was within walking distance, so she decided that it might as well take her time walking. The letter was t

rly gentleman smiled back. Emily handed over her letter with the receiver

elderly man and fished out

stamps and delivery service and walked out of the

nd the tea parlor, she seated herself by the window at the very end of the room and inhaled the air that smelled of jaffa cakes and macaroons and other cakes she could not name. She had looked over the menu and ordered the Middleton Valley sub sandwich which s

lternating between getting rid of the thought and keeping it to keep her busy with the other things on her mind. Emily glanced outside the tea parlor only to be met with trousers and a short tailcoat when her eyes reached his face, she was greeted by

l," he said g

n't expecting to see

here either," he said with g

spite trying t

t me to be ill-ma

t." He replied, look

fancy place?" Emily asked as she met his eyes. "Well, it's

osition of a governess?" Asked Sut

em. Emily was at least thankful that there were no o

offend Ms. Blakewe

still did not look up to his, she was too embarrassed once her family was given the news, and she did not wa

for just one person. Emily looked down at her feet in shame but with a

yet," Sutcliffe said, break

ily as she prepared to mu

r, she could be mischievous t

lacing her orders, Sutc

h toasted eggs

waiter who left once he fin

his eyes even more unmistakably painstaking to watch. She looked away and chose to take a piece of her macaroons and bite on it. She was always fond of s

said, again breaking t

up into his eyes. "I'm not like my sister, and yo

ttractiveness?" Asked Sutcliffe with a chuckle.

ied Emily again. "You're to

s Elizabeth more deserving of such an honor and she was not? She had several missteps along the way as she tried her best to go through with it. Obviously, by the time she was twenty-one and had failed her teacher's license exam she was heartbroken, and it had taken her years to recover. Now t

but no' that would be rude to him, she wanted to let him down gently but how? Had the timing and the circumstances been better for her she would have answered differently but would she e

cliffe's low voic

n her lips but it did not last long. Sutcliffe tried to remedy this by trying to steal her sandwich which in return made her laugh. She had never laughed out loud in quite a long time, still, she was thankful that it was

orders

mind. Emily was glad to be interrupted, she felt that she had spent too much time in

rm or too cold for him? She could never tell with him, he was like a mythical creature whose weakn

u waiting for someone?"

ly," said she, not yet givi

ick whichever you prefer." and paused and asked o

waiting f

just as interested. Emily was by no means trying to catfish him, she was, after all, sitting oppos

e to wait for you?" He ask

ps one