Under heaven

Chapter 14: The Pen Becomes the Bla

A cold morning broke with heavy frost, casting paisley like patterns on the edges of the window panes. The onset of winter turned my thoughts to the trenches and gave me a feeling of guilt to be where I was.

I did the best I could trying not to think too much about it, and set to work washing and dressing. No sooner had my suspenders gone over my shoulders, Elise was at my door.

"Good Morning," she said with sleepy eyes. Her lack of powder and simply braided hair gave her a look of simple beauty. Every tiny blemish on her face seemed to be in the right place to accent her fine natural complexion.

"Where are we going?" she asked excitedly.

"Follow me," I said with a devilish smile.

We walked through the door that led to the kitchen and the ladies hard at work. I had told them I was having a friend for breakfast but didn't tell them who. They both turned with a huge look of shock. I turned to Elise, the look of shock even greater on her face.

"Our day begins here," I said calmly, as I pulled out one of the two chairs at the small servant's table.

The whole time, the kitchen maids seemed to hold their breath.

"It's OK," I told them,"this is the friend I told you about. Treat her the same way you treat me every morning. No 'Madame' and nothing special."

Elise gave the two ladies an approving smile and a sense of ease came over everyone, myself included.

Breakfast was quiet at first, but to my surprise Elise seemed to take the lead.

"How long have you worked for my parents now?" she asked the cook.

"Fifteen years," she answered proudly.

From that moment on, Elise and myself spoke with the cook and maid as if we were close friends. We learned how the cook had lost her husband to a bad heart years earlier and came to work for the household. We were told how the maid lost her brother on the Marne in the same way Elise had lost her fiancé.

In the hour or so we sat there, I noticed a change in Elise. A new found understanding of how class did not amplify feelings of hope, and was no sheild against the pain of loss. But I wasn't finished yet.

After breakfast, we dressed in warm clothing and took a walk in the still cold air. No footman to help with the simplest coat she could find, no doorman to hand me my simple cane. I had told them all of my plans.

We walked through the streets all morning. My leg hurt like hell but I didn't let on. I was determined to show her what she so desperately wanted to see.

We passed wealthy streets and tenement alleyways, out onto broad promenades and narrow paths. All the while, no one took notice. For the first time in her life, she was alone with no attention from passers-by. She held onto my arm the whole time and enjoyed the great views unobstructed by angry and disapproving looks.

I returned at noon with a different woman. Changed irreversibly for the better by simple gestures. No lunch with hot tea awaited us. I told the kitchen staff to enjoy the afternoon and hoped Elise would not be upset.

She was not, but felt a little out of place when it came time to hang her own coat and return to the kitchen.

I began to rifle through cupboards for bread and meats. All the while Elise standing behind me looking lost.

"Lunch isn't going to make itself," I said with a smerk.

Realising it was an invite to join in, the two of us were soon side by side making a simple meal. Laughing and talking like two friends who had grown up with each other.