Trapped in Time ~Viscount Tewksbury~

Camouflage

The next morning, we were off to London. We had gotten a lift from a man with a wagon of sheep. We were squished together, Tewksbury had his hair cut and the short version suited him better. Tewksbury was in the middle and I was grinning at the sheep. Petting the ones that came over, I grinned and then looked over at Tewksbury and Enola. 

"Of course you would say that." Enola joked at a sheep made a 'bah' sound. I giggled and Tewksbury chuckled. We arrived in London, the carriage stopped and Enola hopped out. I smiled at her and Tewksbury moved over a little bit to give me space. 

"So, this is where we part?" Tewksbury asked, I smiled sadly. I had grown fond of Enola in the small amount of time I spoke with her and I think so has he. 

"It is." Enola nodded and dusted herself off. I smiled at her and she returned one back. 

"Then, thank you, Enola Holmes, for helping me here." Tewksbury smiled, Enola grinned and I patted his back proudly. They both chuckled and then Enola spoke, with a playful look. 

"You were supposed to have forgotten that name." I looked down and then smiled as I looked back up. The carriage halted, ready to start moving along. 

"Then you'll have to find another." Tewksbury stated and I waved to Enola as we went off. I took a shaky breath and Tewksbury rubbed my back. 

"We'll find you a store so you can fit in more. Then we'll find a place to stay, does that sound alright?" I nodded and we continued to ride in the wagon, after ten minutes the wagon stopped, there was a dress store right where we stopped. Tewksbury and I got out, I looked at the sign and then back at Tewksbury. 

"I cannot go in there looking like this. I do not believe they'd be as accepting to the clothes as you and Enola were." He rubbed my back and then smiled gently at me. 

"If anything happens, I'll be out here waiting for you." I nodded, smiling uneasily and walked in, the floorboards we creaking at my footsteps. The dust was visible in the light shining through the window and spiderwebs were in every corner of the room. I walked towards a blue dress, it looked stunning and I went take it but a voice stopped me.

"My dear! What happened to you?" I spun around and saw a young looking lady, she was looking at my dress and I remembered it was pretty much destroyed. 

"I have money, I was hoping I could get this dress, a pair of shoes and a whale bone corset." I remember reading about them and internally grimaced as I spoke because I didn't want to wear one. She nodded and grabbed a corset then a pair of shoes that would match the dress. 

"Just go behind that changing partition, just come ask for me if you need me." I nodded with a smile, she handed me the items and I thanked her before walking over behind it. I changed out of my grimy, torn dress and placed the corset on. I pulled on there strings, tightening it so it would not fall down. I got the dress on and then the shoes, I swapped my purse to basically the same design, just more of this era. I walked out from behind the partition and the lady smiled softly. 

"You look stunning, any man would be lucky to have you." I thanked her and handed her the money then walked out. I looked for Tewksbury, my eyes trailing over the area. I saw him slightly jogging over towards me. 

"How long have you been waiting?" He asked worriedly, I smiled and shook my head gently. He took a breather and smiled at me looking me up and down.

"Not too long, just walked out really." He sighed in relief then gently grabbed my hand, I looked at our hands  and then up at him. 

"You look really nice, I found us a lodging we can stay at." We started walking, pushing past the people in the crowd. It was harder to breathe in a corset and I don't know how women did it. We arrived at the lodging, which was called The Ritz. Tewksbury and I walked up to the counter, I felt a bit weird and it confused me because I didn't know why. 

"Could we rent a room for two please?" Tewksbury asked with a smile, the lady at the counter looked at the two of us with a raised eyebrow. Right, times are different. What to do? I thought to myself. Tewksbury had a bit of unsureness in his features, the lady nodded and handed him a key and he handed her some money. 

"Diane! Escort these nice young folk to their room." Diane, was walking past as the lady barked the order at her. She nodded meekly and then gestured for us to follow her. We climbed up the stairs, Diane stopped at a door and bowed her head a little before scurrying off. Tewksbury and I shared a look, I shrugged my shoulders and he opened the door. The room was nice, two beds and a window. 

"You may choose your bed first." I took the one furthest away from the window and took my shoes off. I placed them at the foot of the bed and sat down awkwardly on the bed. Tewksbury sat on his bed but facing me and spoke first. 

"May I have a look at this box?" He asked kindly, his eyes had a warmness in them and he looked genuine. I nodded and took my purse off of my shoulder and placed it in my lap. I took everything out, the money, the books, a possible map and the box. I carefully handed Tewksbury the box and he started looking at it. tilting his head from side to side. 

"It's very odd." He thought aloud, I giggled quietly and his eyes met mine with a chuckle escaping his lips. 

"Are these things normal in your time?" He curiously asked. 

"No, they are certainly not. But I will agree it is quite odd." He smiled with a nod and handed me back the box.