The Earl's Kitten

Chapter XX

July 13th 1887, 21:00 PM

By the time that nine PM rolled around, I was starting to yawn. Alois and I were sat in the study, keeping to ourselves but at the same time spending time together. We had eaten a small dinner, taken a tour around the manor, and been out to the gardens. Somewhere along the way, I had lost my shoes – simply because I had gotten fed up of them and kicked them off. A fire was lit in the fireplace, warming the room nicely. Jackson had been quick to place a blanket over my shoulders once I stopped moving around, and I was slowly nodding off because of the warmth. However, the sun hadn't set and I only kept opening my eyes due to that.

"Would you like the curtains shut, Rose?" I blinked tiredly, and then shook my head.
"No, Alois. It's okay." I smiled and rubbed at my eye before proceeding to look outside. Seeing the sun setting made me stand up and walk over to the window. "Do you have any high ground on the estate, Alois?" I turned to him, pulling the blanket further over my shoulders.

"Ah, yes. There is a hill just to the left of the manor. Why?"

"I'm thinking about going to watch the sunset from high ground." I tilted my head, looking back out of the window. I frowned as my ponytail began to pull at my scalp and make it hurt. Taking the blanket off, I folded it up and put it back on the chair I'd previously been sitting on. I then pulled my ponytail down, rubbing at my scalp with a frown.

"By all means." Alois smiled and I smiled in return, nodding thankfully at him before walking out of the room.
"M'Lady, would you like me to accompany you?" Jackson spoke from the corner of the room, his blue eyes watching my movement as I walked towards the door. I paused, mulling it over before shaking my head.
"I shall be quite alright, Jackson." I walked out of the drawing room and up to my own room, stripping off my dress and changing into my peasants outfit. I then made my way quickly down to the stables and walked in front of Diamante. At first she panicked, not recognizing me under my cap. I soon calmed her and mounted her bareback, gripping her mane gently and spurring her, directing her out of the stables and towards the hill. I brought her to a gallop, reaching the top of the hill soon enough. We stopped there and I dismounted, sitting down to watch the sun set. Diamante wandered off a little to graze on the grass, but stayed relatively nearby.

Once the sun had set, I stayed out to watch the stars. It wasn't long before I was joined, as I heard footsteps trudging up the hill and then stop a few feet back. I turned to see one of the Triplets – Thompson. I smiled and patted the grass beside me, in a gesture for him to join me. He hesitated at first but eventually sat down beside me. He wrapped a blanket around my shoulders, watching me for a moment before looking up to the stars.
I blinked in surprise, pulling the blanket tighter around my form before raising my gaze to the heavens as well.

"Why do you like to look at the stars? They never change." Thompson murmured before looking down at me. I frowned, my gaze panning across the night sky.

"There's just something ethereal about them. Beautiful. Calming." I sighed softly, closing my eyes for a moment. "A constant, I suppose. The stars will always be there. They will never change, unlike the world around us. We lose people, we gain people. The landscape changes. Our status changes. Education changes. The monarchy changes. The stars don't, and I like that about them." I opened my eyes, finding Thompson staring at me.
"How old are you, Miss?"

"Eleven, Thompson."

"Your thoughts are quite deep for an eleven year old, Miss. Wouldn't you be classed as too educated by society?" I couldn't help but chuckle at the question before shaking my head.
"They don't question eleven year olds. And besides, even if I was older I wouldn't be classed as too educated since I am ultimately observing beauty in nature. Even that is something that females are allowed to do." A gust of wind blew passed and I shivered, pulling the blanket tighter around myself.
"We should go inside, Miss. The temperature will drop quickly now." I nodded, standing along with Thompson. I whistled for Diamante and she came running, and then walked down with us to the stables. I kissed her nose before following Thompson inside, retaking my seat in the drawing room. Alois looked up at me and smirked.