The light in Beth Whitlock's life was the fire burning all around her.
Her family was incredibly poor, working as servants even for families who weren't upper class. She was the only daughter to her parents, having six brothers. Marriage, for Beth, seemed out of the question. She, as a servant, had been deemed undesirable by everyone in the ton. Servants weren't people to them, it seemed.
She had no friends, not even her family. Her parents were constantly fighting, always too busy to notice their children, and her brothers didn't want to be seen talking to her. She was completely alone. She was, of course, bitter about how awful her life was, but she still made an effort to be nice to people.
She tried very hard to be nice to everyone, she really did. But sometimes, it just didn't work out.
-----
On one grim evening, the family whom Beth had been working for had fired her. For what reason, she wasn't entirely sure, but she knew it probably had some thing or another to deal with how they were slipping into debt and couldn't afford so much.
They had only fired Beth and a few of the many cooks, none of Beth's family. They had all been living in the servant's quarters of the family's estate, but now Beth could no longer live there.
She had nowhere to go, and her family didn't really care all that much, so she took to wandering around the city, London. After a while of walking, she found herself in a park, a large field with grass as green as the rich fabric that made the dresses that she had seen so many other girls wear.
She had been out for a long time, and the sun had already begun to set when she had left, so by now, the sky was almost completely black. All this time, even though she'd been on her own, there had been many people around her. As it had gotten later, though, everyone else had started to leave, to go back to their parties or their houses or their castles, she supposed. Now, here she was, completely alone.
...At least she had thought so.
"Hey!" A voice, male, yelled out, rather angrily, followed by a loud clatter of objects. "What're you doing here this late?"
Beth didn't think he was talking to her. After all, she wasn't used to being spoken to directly, other than to be given orders. She just ignored it and kept walking, chalking it up there just being somebody else here, other than him, though she couldn't see them.
She hadn't seen him before, but once she looked into the direction that she'd heard him speak from, she saw him, and he was staring her in the eye, sitting on his horse. He was quite handsome, she thought, but when at realizing that she was thinking this, she pushed it out of her mind immediately.
"I said what're you doing here?" he repeated. "It's late!"
"Me?" Beth asked him.
"Of course you! Do you see anyone else out here?"
"Um, no sir," she said, not sure how to answer such a question.
"Well, aren't you going to answer my question? Why are you here?"
"I was just on a walk."
"On a walk? At this time of night? That's a laugh," he said, scoffing. "What are you really up to?"
"Really, I'm just on a walk... sorry if I disturbed you," she told him, both confused on why he cared and annoyed at how he was acting.
"Why would you be on a walk in the middle of the night? I don't believe that for a second," he said primly, sliding off of his horse and going over to where Beth stood.
"I just... wanted to go outside?" Beth lied, trying to think of a reason why a normal, non-servant woman would be on a walk in the middle of the night. Unsurprisingly, she couldn't think of any. She herself was a non-servant woman too, she supposed, but she had been a servant for most all of her life, and likely would be one again soon, so she didn't really count.
"Do you really think I'm going to believe that?" he slowed to a stop a foot or two ahead of her. She couldn't really tell though, she didn't know any measurements or math, really. She didn't know much of anything at all, actually. Having been a servant all her life meant that she had gotten little to no education, only knowing the basics of reading and writing and the tiniest bit of math.
She wasn't sure what to say to that, so she stayed silent.
"Who are you, anyways?" He asked her, walking in a circle around her, inspecting. "A poor maid?"
"Beth," she answered him, this time honestly.
"Beth," he said, enunciating every sound. "I know of at least a hundred Beths, and you definitely aren't one of them," he completed his circle around her, stopping to stand back in front of her, where he had been before. "Tell me, Beth, what are you doing here, really?"
"I'm just on a walk, as I said," her annoyance shone through her voice, even though she tried to hide it.
"Well, I think you're lying, but even if that is so, I am a gentleman, so I will bring you to my estate."
"No thank you, sir." she told him.
"Do you know, Beth, who I am?"
"I don't,"
"Well, I am Ian Bridgerton, and it is in your best mind to respect me and to listen to what I have to say!" He burst out. "You will let me take you back to the Bridgerton estate, and this will be over with. Do you hear?"
Beth said nothing, not knowing if she was meant to answer.
"Do you hear?" he repeated.
"Yes," she answered quickly.
"Follow me," he said angrily, as he walked briskly back to his horse.
Beth trailed behind him, reluctant and not as fast. He helped her onto the horse, grumbling about his night being ruined.
"Well you don't have to bring me back to your estate," she told him, as he was blaming her for all of this mess, when it was full well his doing.
"And you didn't have to be out at midnight," he shot back, climbing up onto the horse himself.
"Well I'm sure you didn't either!" she said curtly.
"I have my reasons," he answered annoyedly, grabbing the reins.
"And maybe I do too!"
"You'll have to hold on," he told her, as the horse started to walk, back towards the Bridgerton estate.
Frowning, she rested her hands lightly on his shoulders. A second later, the horse jerked slightly and she nearly fell off.
"You'll have to hold on tightly," he added in a tone that made it sound like it had been obvious. It might have been, but Beth had never ridden a horse before. She tightened her hands around his shoulders, but he just sighed, annoyed, and moved them so that they wrapped around his stomach.
And, just like that, they rode back to the Bridgerton estate.
