Reality is only an Illusion

Is the Sea Monster the true villain?

A/n: Sorry, this is a very late chapter, but a lot has been going on. It's still raining a lot over here, making it take longer to build my home, but it will be ready sometime in November. I'm so ready to have it done and have a good work area for writing.

I also got another cat, so Ciel (my other cat) is not taking it too well. Sassa Belle and Ciel don't fight, which is excellent, but they love to growl and hiss at each other. I think when they have more room to move around each other, they should get along better.

Also had computer issues. Having to use my laptop as the desktop is all packed up and in storage. The charger was giving me problems, but I went to Best Buy and picked up another magsafe charger, and it has fixed the issue once I had the spear time.

I'm thinking of starting a page on Facebook or something to keep people up to date with where I am on all my stories and maybe giving a few sneak peeks of chapters from their favorite stories.

Chapter 4: Is the Sea Monster the true villain?

Once all the introductions were made, William announced that dinner was ready. The family filed out of the drawing-room and made their way to the dining room. Mary was placed next to Matthew with Lilly on his other side. This was a different setup than the show Lilly thought, but since Mary was next to Matthew, Lilly let it go.

"Do you think you'll enjoy village life? It will be very quiet after life in the city." Robert led the conversation as he looked at Matthew from across the table. Thomas being the first footman, began to serve dinner, starting with Isobel.

"Even Manchester." Violet thought almost as if she disapproved…well, Lilly knew she did, but more along the lines, she didn't approve of him being the heir as she wanted to see Mary inherit everything. Thankfully Isobel jumped in to save the conversation before Violet could say another thing that would undoubtedly be slightly rude.

"I'm sure I'll find something to keep me busy." She stated delightfully. Cora smiled at this. Lilly liked how Isobel could find the bright side of things and wished she could do the same thing.

"You might like the hospital," Cora said as she leaned forward towards Isobel, trying to be helpful with her suggestion. Her midnight plumage that was placed in her copper hair bobbed a little as she spoke. This piqued Isobel's interest.

"What sort of hospital is it? How many beds?" Isobel inquired wide-eyed wonder. She comes from a medical family, Lilly reminded herself. So, of course, Dr. Clarkson's cottage hospital would be her main focus point in the village.

"Well, it—it isn't really a hospital," Violet chimed in before Isobel could get her hopes up as Thomas came to Violet's side so she could serve herself.

"Don't let Dr. Clarkson hear you. He thinks it's second only to St. Thomas's." Robert interjected before his mother could say another thing. Lilly had always admired Dr. Clarkson on the show. She could tell he did care for his patients and took pride in his work and his little cottage hospital in a minuscule village. Lilly felt that if someone couldn't take pride in what they do, they needed to find something else because it reflected poorly on the individual.

"It's a cottage hospital, of course, but quite well equipped," Cora added quickly before her mother-in-law could add more of her two cents into the conversation.

"Who pays for it?" Isobel inquired as she looked up from her plate to Cora. Of course, Violet wasn't too happy with the talk of money. She believes money should be discussed by the men and behind closed doors as ladies had more important things to spend their time on. Lilly looked down at her empty plate. She was never one for numbers. A solid B minus student in math. She was ok with that, but she was more than advanced in what any of these ladies knew during this time. Probably even more than most men, which kind of made her feel  better about her math skills.