Page 9 of Unlikable

I spend over half an hour in the estate’s beautiful garden. Strange how a house can be so chilly and ominous, while its garden produces the complete opposite feeling, one of warmth and security.

When I walk back to the house, Felix is already gone. Inside, it is darker than outside. I wish I could carry the sun with me, bring it to spaces where just that little bit of sunlight is so desired.

Staff and chambermaids roam the corridors here and there, too busy with their duties to notice me. When I walk upstairs out of sheer boredom and into a corridor, I hear my father’s voice coming from a room. The room is at the end of a poorly lit corridor. There are no staff in sight. The door to the room is closed, but my father’s voice is clearly audible.

It is not my intention to overhear his conversation with Mr Clifton, but my father’s serious tone catches my attention.

“I understand this is not what you wanted, Philip.” Mr Clifton’s voice, already as serious as my father’s. “But you’d better stay a little longer, so you can be sure you’ll return to a safe house soon.”

“I had no idea,” I hear my father say. “No idea the house was in such bad shape. I shouldn’t think of it falling over later. That the foundation is so bad, I never thought.”

“My men will take care of it. Until then, you and your children will simply stay here. You know you are welcome as long as you want.”

“That’s very kind of you, Theodor. Mary also really liked it here.”

I don’t think my mother would have found this a nice place. We had similar tastes.

“Mary…” There is pity in Mr Clifton’s voice. “She is still missed.”

Father is silent.

“Come, come, Philip. Be proud of what you have achieved. Mary would be proud of you.”

“She’s in a better place.” It sounds like Father is trying to convince himself. “Along with your wife.”

“I’m sure Isabel and Mary are watching over us over a glass of port.”

“How do you do it, Theodor? How do you stay so positive?”

“I am good at pretending. When I lie in bed at night, it feels like a victory. Another day survived without her, but I never get used to it.”

Father makes an understanding sound. “Again, that is why I am grateful that you are making sure the house will soon be habitable again and will last for years to come.”

“I promise you it will be fine, dear friend.” A silence. “You have my word.”

And then the door opens.

Father steps outside, his eyes moist, a deep frown on his forehead. At first he is startled when he sees me, then the expression on his face changes to something akin to amazement.

“Father, I didn’t mean to—”

“I thought you were going to London today to get your safety collar?”

“I would have loved to do that, only Everett is not feeling so well.”

Father snorted. “That boy pretends to be dying when he has a cold.”

Mr Clifton also enters the doorway, opening the door further, and I can see that the room has been converted into an office. There is a large oak desk bearing a green top. Behind the desk are cabinets full of folders and books. Mr Clifton smiles warmly at me. “Eleonora, a good day. Were you able to sleep a bit?”

“Like a rose, Mr Clifton,” I lie back with a smile.

“Excellent.” Theodor Clifton looks at my father for a moment and then back at me. “Indeed, it looks like you’ll be spending the winter with us as well.”

A lump forms in my throat. Would Felix already know about this?

“Go wake up your brother,” Father urges. “Theodor, I’m going out for now. I have work to do. I’ll see you later, dear.”

We say goodbye to Mr Clifton, who walks back into his office and closes the door behind him.

“You heard Theodor,” father begins softly, holding out his arm for me so that I can hook mine through. “We’ll stay here for now.”

I hook my arm through his, and together we walk down the corridor. “Do you think it will take long?”

“Theodor is arranging the renovation for us. He says his men estimate that they will need both autumn and winter. The house is slowly sinking into the ground.”

“I never noticed any of that.”

“Because it’s slow going. Felix has been kind enough to look at the foundation with me. The guy has a real talent for architecture. He immediately came up with a solution. They are going to put pillars in the ground that—”

“Forgive me, Father,” I interrupt. “But none of this means much to me anyway. I trust it will be fine.”

Father nods. “No worries,” he says steadfastly, but it sounds more like he is trying to convince himself. “Before you know it, we’ll be home and dining under your mother’s portrait again.”

· · ·

Why I make another attempt to pull my brother from his room during the afternoon is beyond me, but what else am I supposed to do?

Arriving in the corridor adjacent to my brother’s room, I see Jonathan still standing at the door.

Doesn’t the poor guy have anything better to do than play watchdog?

A chambermaid appears and walks up to Jonathan. They get into a brief conversation, after which Jonathan walks directly with her, out of the corridor.

There is no one left in the corridor but me. This is my chance.

I lift my skirt to walk faster. In front of my brother’s door, I come to a halt. I knock and wait.

Nothing.

Then I put my hand on the door handle, expecting it to be locked. However, when I push the latch down, the door opens with a soft creak.

Without further thought, I step into the room.

It is chilly in my brother’s room. The first thing I notice is that the bed is empty. Everett is nowhere to be seen. The second thing I notice is that the window is wide open. A rope, consisting of curtains tied together, is tied to the leg of the bed and runs from there to the window, from which it disappears.

What is going on…

“Miss Prime!” I hear Jonathan say behind me in a panic. He steps into the room, wanting to grab me, but then remembers just in time that touching me is totally out of the question. “You are not allowed in here. Your brother has asked me to…” He stops talking when he sees the empty room. “Where is your brother?”

I run to the window and come to a stop with my hands on the frame. Looking out of the window, I can just see my brother letting go of the rope, making the final jump down and landing on the ground. Again, he is wearing a dress and the wig and hat from before.

“Everett!” I call out to him. “What on earth are you doing?”

Caught off guard, he looks up at me.

Meanwhile, Jonathan has also come up beside me and, like me, sees my brother in a woman’s clothes. When Everett sees that Jonathan, too, has caught him, he turns and runs away.

“I had no idea,” Jonathan tries to excuse himself. He shakes his head defeatedly. “I really thought he wasn’t feeling well. He begged me to…” His voice dies away.

I look at Jonathan sideways and give him a compassionate smile. “Don’t feel too guilty. This is what my brother is good at. Fooling people. Scheming to get his way.”

“What is he doing?”

“I’d like to know that too.”

“And what are you doing?” Felix enters the room and stares at us with raised eyebrows. Then his gaze falls on the empty bed and the curtains tied together. “Interesting.”

“The brother ran away,” Jonathan explained.

“I can see that.”

“I’m going after him,” I say more to myself than to the men. As I want to walk out of the room, I change my mind. It’s not that I necessarily want Felix and Jonathan with me. With Jonathan, for that matter, I would have no problem at all. It’s just…I can’t just leave the house alone. Someone has to come with me. If someone were to see me on the street, without a chaperone…If Father were to find out…

“What are you staring at me for?” Felix puts his hands in his pockets. “You don’t think we’re coming with you, do you?”

“I don’t care who comes with me,” I say quickly. I look at the men one by one. Every second I wait longer is one more second for my brother to run further away. God knows what he’s up to, but it doesn’t feel right. This doesn’t feel right at all.

“Jonathan and I do have better things to do.”

“If you let me go alone, how would Mr Clifton react?”

Felix eyes narrowed to slits. “Is that a threat, Miss Prime?”

I keep looking at him sternly.

If looks could kill, I would have been in the grave next to my aunt right now.

“Felix,” Jonathan begins somewhat nervously, “we can’t let her go alone.”

“Miss Prime will stay here.”

“Miss Prime will do whatever she feels like,” I respond gruffly and turn away from him before walking out of the room into the corridor.

Before long, I hear an exasperated growl coming from the room, followed by footsteps following me.

I can’t help grinning triumphantly.

I know I am breaking Felix’s “rules”, but right now I don’t care. My brother is up to something, and my gut feeling tells me it is something serious. Something dangerous.

Why else would he escape from the house in the middle of the night? And now even during the day?

“Women,” I hear Felix exclaim behind me.

Jonathan comes walking up beside me and looks at me briefly.

I nod at him gratefully.

I make a quick stop at my room first, where I put on my thin gloves and grab my cloak from the hook on the door, before slipping it over my shoulders. Outside the door, I hear Felix sigh again.

When we reach the front door, we bump into Mrs Jones. She looks a little feral, as if managing the chambermaids has sucked all the energy out of her. “Milady, where is the journey going, if I may ask?” Then she also catches sight of Felix and Jonathan. “Under good escort, I see.”

“We’ll be right back,” I inform her. “We’re going to buy a safety collar.”

“Very sensible of you.”

When we have left Mrs Jones and the mansion behind us, I set off running.

“Who would have thought women could run so fast?” echoes Felix’s voice behind me, a little out of breath.

“We’d better have a carriage brought up,” Jonathan suggests once he has caught up with me.

I shake my head. “We don’t know where my brother has gone. We might be faster on foot than by carriage. If Everett went down an alley, the carriage can’t reach him there. Besides…” I look ahead of me, at the large gate shielding the Clifton estate. Behind the gate is only uninhabited land. I didn’t see much as we drove through the storm to the estate, but I do know that the next village is a while away. “My brother can’t be far from us. What’s first on the route?”

“That depends on which way your brother went.” The gate is open. Walking through it, we are at a fork in the road. Jonathan points to the left, where the cobbled road turns into a sandy road, winding across the countryside, fenced in with trees and bushes. “This route leads to Vauxhall, and then if you walk over the bridge, you will end up at Victoria.” Then he points out the other path, which looks exactly the same. “This path will take you to Waterloo.”

I look from left to right and back again. I really have no idea which way to go.

“Just for today, Miss Prime,” sighs Felix. “I have better things to do than go on a scavenger hunt.”

“We go left,” I decide.

And I just hope I have guessed correctly.

Felix and Jonathan look at each other fleetingly, but they keep quiet. They come walking beside me. Felix walks to my right, Jonathan to my left. We walk briskly. After about fifty metres, my feet start to bother me. The slippers I am wearing are not exactly made for walking long distances, and certainly not at such a fast pace. However, I clench my teeth to ignore the pain. In the distance, dark clouds appear in the sky, beginning to cover the beautiful autumn sun.

The walk is very uncomfortable and almost unbearable. The boys don’t say a word, don’t even look at me. As a result, I can only stare ahead. What on earth have I got into my head? How could I have blackmailed these men? It seemed like such a good idea, a strong plan. However, I still have to spend two more seasons with them. This is definitely not a good start.

Not that there even was a good start.

After about ten minutes of walking, the dark clouds in the sky get closer and closer, and before we know it, we find ourselves in a heavy downpour.

My cloak and dress get soaked. My hair sticks to my head like a second skin. Walking is suddenly a lot heavier with the soggy fabric I carry with me.

But I keep my mouth shut.

Felix, on the other hand, has no problem expressing his frustration. Words come out of his mouth that I dare not even repeat. Some of whose meanings I don’t even know.

Jonathan makes an attempt to calm him down but then immediately gives up, only to hum a happy tune, something that makes Felix even angrier.

“The eternal optimist,” Felix snarls.

“One of us has to be.”

Before Felix can reply to that, we are startled by the sound of horses’ hooves. Horsemen are coming from behind us. Three in all. They have their heads bowed against the rain and are galloping at a swift pace, probably to find shelter as quickly as possible.

We come to a stop and take a step backwards, on the verge to let the riders pass. Ahead of us is a large puddle of rainwater. The rider riding closest to us steers his horse straight towards the puddle.

“Watch out!” Felix shouts, and he grabs me by my shoulders.

To then push me in front of him.

The horse’s hooves clatter into the rain puddle, raising the water and giving me a second shower.

The riders disappear from sight, and when Felix lets go of me, he breathes in relief and looks down on me with satisfaction, I am livid.

“Who do you think you—”

“Spare me your tirade.” His bright green eyes bore mockingly into mine, and a small smile appears contentedly on his face. “Now we’re even.”

Furious, I take a step in his direction, my finger held out menacingly. “You…”

“Let’s leave the formalities for what they are?”

“You…” I shake my head. “I don’t have time for this.”

I walk away from him, growl once to express my frustration and continue on my way to God knows where.

Behind me, I hear Felix utter a puzzled, “What the heck?” to which Jonathan mutters something unintelligible.

Despite the downpour and my sodden state, I begin to sweat. My feet ache, the cramp in my lower abdomen plays up and my mud-covered clothes pull heavily on my body. Still, I walk on. I refuse to admit that this was a bad idea.

Because I’ve figured that out by now.

Is there any chance I can find Everett? In the heart of London? Among all those people?

Forget it.

With every step I take, my spirits sink further. The rain has stopped, but that doesn’t make the situation better or worse. When the sun comes out from behind the clouds again, it is cold comfort. The warmth of the sun’s rays help a little against the cold that the rain has caused, but it will still take hours for my clothes to dry again. My shoes are probably going to be damp for days to come.

The first house comes into view, then the second. A carriage drives by. The dirt road turns into cobblestones. We have reached civilisation again.

“This is Vauxhall,” Jonathan says. To my surprise, his voice sounds friendly. “Where do you want to look first?”

“I…I don’t know. Maybe we can ask passers-by if they have seen my brother?”

“Excellent idea,” Felix introduces sarcastically. “I guess we’ll have a clue by the end of this year.”

“I don’t think we’ll have to wait that long,” Jonathan suddenly responds excitedly. He sticks out his finger to point at something in the distance. No, not something. Someone.

Everett.

My brother—still in disguise—stands with his back pressed against the wall of a bakery. He looks around nervously. He watches passers-by closely. Then, before we can even take a step in his direction, he moves away from the wall and gets moving.

Relief rushes through my body.

“Why does your brother wear women’s clothes?” Felix wants to know.

I shrug my shoulders, sighing and embarrassed, then resume pursuit.