Kings College

Chapter 3

A/N Hiya! I just wanted to let you know that I did my best research into gardening and hospitals in the year 1801, but stuff is limited and I'm trying my hardest to be historically accurate but still have the fluff and love of a Fanfiction. I also have a reference to a favorite musical of mine in here :)

The June air was beautiful and I stood in our garden for a second in silence, just to breathe it all in.

A few yards from the back door, we had an archway lined with pink roses leading to the garden itself. The roses were so thick on the top you only knew it was made of wood when you walked underneath. That was perhaps my favorite part. Mother loved to read there. She would sit on the ground next to the tree that sat near the archway and read Jane Austen's Juvenilia. She loved Jane Austen's work. She often told me Jane was to become the next Shakespeare and would change female perceptions forever. I can't say I love Jane Austen's work, it's a tad flowery for my tastes.

I walked past the archway into the garden itself. The greenery lay in a grid pattern, half being vegetables and half being flowers. Jane came by my side ready to garden with me as I requested.

"Jane, I think I would love to collect some bouquets for Father's banquet tomorrow evening. Would you please gather some vegetables for supper tonight?"

Jane nodded and walked towards the carrots. We both held woven baskets in our hands, tokens an old maid crafted when I was a child.

Rather the delicate fabrics and ornate designs I tried for in regular Regency fashion, I settled for a simple stays and smock for gardening purposes. The large fences piled round the house reminded me that no one was to see but Jane, and that poor woman had seen me naked.

As I settled amongst the honeysuckles, I watched Jane for a moment. She was very new to our household, though she adapted well. I coveted her auburn hair, mine was simply black which while lovely doesn't shine like auburn.

"Where are you from, Jane?"

"Pardon, mistress?" She looked like a deer caught in the lights of a carriage.

"I asked where you originated, Jane."

"Oh." She chewed on her cheek for a moment, holding an unusually large carrot in her gloved hands. "I was born in Ireland, mistress. At about 3, Mother and Father brought us over to avoid England."

"Where did you live here?" The honey suckle got sticky in my fingers and I smacked my two fingers together for a moment in curiosity.

"Boston for a while, on a farm. My parents got a lot of hatred though, so we moved here maybe five years ago."

I thought her story over in my head, fascinating how different lives can be. "What made you decide to be a maid?"

Jane smiled sadly. "I didn't really have much of a choice, mistress. My family needs the money and no school is going to take in an Irish."

My heart dropped. Logically, I could have come to that conclusion on my own. Hearing it spoken from a real individual is sad in its own right.

"What would you be if you could be anything?"

"I love the opera. The stage. Those dazzling lights and frilly costumes. I would sing if I could, mistress."