Open Sea

The Butler

The carriage came to a stop in front of the large mansion. The door opened and a tall lanky man came out, he held the door open and held his hand out to help the next passenger.
A small hand in a white silk glove reached out and grabbed his hand, slowly a beautiful young woman stepped out from the carriage. Her face covered by her large hat, her beautiful lilac dress complimenting her pale skin perfectly.
She looked up towards the mansion, her short red cherry hair bouncing as her head moved. It was a beautiful summer evening and the sun brightened her sea blue eyes making them sparkle and shine.
"Miss, shall we?" The man said as he held his arm out to escort her into the house.
She smiled sweetly and took his arm. He walked to the door and knocked.
The door opened and there stood a young butler. Dark black hair and a strong face complimented the young butler's physique. His green eyes shined at the young miss.
He smiled, "Ahh Miss Ashwood I assume, the talk about your beauty sure wasn't just talk." The Butler said with a flirty smile.
Miss Ashwood blushed, "Ahem, excuse me we are here to see the Duke. Would he happen to be home at the moment?" The older man said.
The Butler turned his attention towards him, "Yes of course right this way, he has been waiting for your arrival, Mister...."
"Sid, I'm accompanying the Miss in order to make sure the arrangements go as planned." He said.
"Of course, of course, please follow me Mister Sid" they followed the young butler, into the house and into a a beautifully decorated lounge area. On the couch with a book in his hand was an older looking gentleman, handsome and strong. His blond hair perfectly combed and moustache trimmed neatly, he looked up at Miss Ashwood.
"Sir, Lady Ashwood and Mister Sid have arrived."
The man stood up, "What a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance at last Miss." He walked over to her, gently grabbed her hand and planted a kiss on it. She smiled.
"The rumors seem to be true your beauty truly compares to nothing." He said.
The Butler chuckled.
"Ahhh Duke Francoise what a pleasure to meet you, I am Sid, Miss Ashwood's Father most trustworthy assistant. I have a letter from the Captain himself." Sid took out a letter and handed it to him.
Francoise took it, "Well sit, let's start these negotiations that the Captain has in mind." He said.
Miss Ashwood and Sid both sat on the couch across from the Duke' s chair. He sat down and opened the letter and began reading it to himself. Miss Ashwood removed her hat, and was about to place it down when the butler came out of nowhere and grabbed it.
"Allow me, I'll put it in a safe place do not worry miss." He smiled at her, for some reason she couldn't shake a certain feeling about him.
"Why thank you." She said politely.
"Alexander go get our guests some tea, they must be tired from their long trip here."
The Butler nodded, "Right away sir"
He walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.
"What an interesting young man, is he new Duke I had never seen him before." Sid asked.
"Alexander? Yes yes he got here a month ago, he's been very useful and keeps to himself. A very good addition to the staff." He said.
He folded the letter and placed it on the table in front of them.
"So they've been getting worse by the looks of it." He said.
Sid nodded, "Captain Ashwood is in desperate need of more warships to protect the cargo. The number of attacks have gone up tremendously and we can no longer take so many losses."
Miss Ashwood stared off into space not paying any attention to what they were talking about, all she was worrying about was the crushing sensation she felt whenever she wore a corset and how she had absolutely no say in the agreement her father and the Duke have come up with. She looked out the window and saw birds fly freely, freely to wherever they'd like. Free to choose.
"I can tell the Captain is desperate, offering his beautiful daughter for marriage in exchange for a partnership with my company and few of our warships." The duke looked at Miss Ashwood, his stare for a second turned lustful but quickly turned back to normal.
"Well tell Captain Ashwood that I accept his terms, and that he not only will get warships but he'll be getting my newest version of warships. It's a lil something we've been working on, fully armored and weaponized ships." He said with a wide smile on his face.
"Ships out of metal? But won't they sink?" Sid asked.
"That's what I thought but no they won't, they also won't need sails and reason to rely on the wind, they'll be fully steam powered."
The doors to the room opened and in came in the butler, he had a plate with tea on it and a few biscuits.
He placed it on the table.
"Alexander, take Miss Ashwood to her room, Mister Sid and I have a few more issues to discuss in private and I can imagine the Miss would like to rest for a while before supper."
"Understood sir." He said.
Miss Ashwood got up and turned towards the door, she stopped and turned around again. "It was a pleasure to meet you." She said towards the Duke with a smile on her face.
"Trust me Miss the pleasure is all mine."
Alexander walked out the door and Miss Ashwood followed behind.
They walked up the stairs and down a hallway, they reached a door and the butler pointed at it.
"Here we go Miss, this one right here will be you room."
"Thank you very much" she said. She reached for the knob when the butler grabbed her hand. Startled she looked up and found herself staring into the butler's eyes.
"Your eyes remind me so much of the sea, such beautiful eyes yet they're so sad and are missing that certain sparkle." He said softly.
She began blushing and trying to get away but something about him, he didn't scare her, he intrigued her.
"Don't worry, we'll be able to change that very soon." He said.
"Wha.. wha.. what do you mean?" She stammered.
He ran his finger through her hair and down her face towards her chin. He was extremely close now and she could feel her heart beating harder and faster.
He smiled, "I like you." He chuckled and walked away.
Miss Ashwood stood there still paralyzed and confused about what had just happened. That butler the nerve of him, all she could think about were those dangerous and adventurous green eyes he had. She shook her head and went into her room.
She walked towards the window and opened it all the way, a warm sea breeze blew in. She looked out and saw the ocean, the mansion was right on the shore and from here she could see the ocean. It was immense and full of adventure and danger but she was stuck here. A caged bird not given a single chance to open her wings. The pretty canary who sings and looks good, that's all she ever has been. She didn't want to marry the Duke but it was for her family so it was the right thing to do.
"Maybe i should just sail away into the ocean." she thought to herself.