Stormy Seas Part 3

  The parlor had once been such a comforting place. When I was young I had wanted to join in when mother and father held dinner parties and then the ladies went to the parlor afterward. All the ladies would come in in lovely dresses and sit on the pretty chairs, doing needlework and chatting.

I sat there now alone with Aunt.

“New York was fascinating, didn't you think so Viv?” Aunt was the only person in the world who called me Viv.

“Lovely,” I lied. I had insisted on returning home to visit, but when we arrived we found that mother and father had left on a business venture to Germany. I was more than angry with Aunt and had begun to think that she was keeping some of their letters away from me.

“Christmas in Venice would be most fitting after seeing Spain,” Aunt was saying.

“I had hoped to spend Christmas here, with mother and father,” I said pointedly.

Aunt ignored me. “I spent a lovely Christmas in Venice a few years ago, you'll love it, I'm sure!”

I had to escape. She was going to drag me all around the world until I was an old bitty like her. “I shall see you in the morning Aunt,” I stood. “I'm very tired.”

“Of course Viv. We should go to London tomorrow and spend a few days shopping so we'll be ready for France!”

“Goodnight Aunt,” I said. I left the parlor and then hurried down the hall to my room. Tonight was my only chance. I would have to get out and away before Aunt dragged me out of the country again. I shut my door and leaned against it as I thought. If I could get away long enough, mother and father would come home, and if I could tell them that I was tired of traveling with Aunt they were sure to be reasonable about it.

There was a knock at the door and the maid chirped, “Miss Vivian, are you in?”

I opened the door and let her in. She was a sweet girl and I had missed her while I was gone. “Come in Sarah.”

“I overheard your conversation,” she said. She knew how much I could not stand my aunt. She had confided in me before I left that the servants did not like her either. She had been especially cruel to the butler once, no one would tell me what she had said to him.

“It has to be tonight,” I said. Sarah began helping me unbutton the back of my peach colored dress.

“There must be another way,” Sarah whispered.

“I've already made up my mind,” I whispered back to Sarah. She gave me a disapproving look. “Can't you write to your parents?”

“Aunt has been intercepting them,” I said. “Did you ever hear them say anything at all about me coming?”

“No,” Sarah said sadly.

“And tomorrow will be too late,” I sighed.

“You'll be drowned. Or worse,” Sarah insisted.

“I'll be fine,” I assured her.

“Will anyone try to stop me, other than Aunt?” I asked.

“The groundskeeper might if he catches you,” Sarah said.

“I can get past him,” I said. “That leaves only Aunt then.” Sarah helped me out of the dress and then draped it over her arm.

“I suppose you'll want me to distract her and risk my employment?” Sarah asked. She put her hands on her hips.

“Not at all,” I said. I walked over to the closet in my undergarments and began pulling out the things I would need. “You'll just do your usual duties.”

“Help her to bed and tell you when she's gone to sleep?” Sarah asked.

I nodded and pulled a blue cotton skirt over my head.

“I'll do my best,” she said. “I still think there must be something else you can do.”

“If I wait to figure it out I'll be halfway to Venice looking forward to spending another miserable six months with her,” I insisted. I buttoned on a white blouse and sat down to put on stockings and my new riding boots.

“Shall I pack you anything?” Sarah asked. “She won't go to bed until she's had us bring up a bedtime snack.”

“I'm not certain of what I'll want.” I finished lacing up the boots and decided I was pleased with them. “What do you think I should bring?”

“I was thinking of food,” Sarah said.

“I'd appreciate it,” I said with a smile.

“I'll inform you when the time comes then,” she said. Then she hurried out of the room to find and attend Aunt.

I stayed seated near the closet prepared for a long wait.