The directions Jack had been given led him to a part of the city he had never been before. It was the most extravagant and luxurious area. The houses were enormous and all perfectly kept. Jack walked slowly looking carefully at each house he passed, searching for the house number that he had been told over the telephone. It had been a very promising phone call. They seemed very eager to interview him and asked him if he could come in right away. This felt like a very good sign and he was hoping that maybe his luck had changed. He came to the biggest and tallest house that he had seen on the street, so many families could fit inside that house. But he knew it was just some rich family living inside. He checked the house number. In big bold gold numbers he saw 444. This was the house he was looking for. Knowing he was at the biggest house on the street suddenly made him feel nervous. He was a commoner and didn't bother with the news of high society and the social elite, so he had no idea who Lord Albert Herrington was. He hoped he was a kind man who would be willing to hire him. Jack walked up to the front steps and looked up at the house. All of a sudden, he felt very small, the house was absolutely colossal. It cast a huge shadow across the street and standing near it he felt very cold, a shudder ran down his back. 'That was weird', he thought. Jack took a deep breath, marched up the steps and rang the doorbell. Right away, as if they had been specifically waiting for him, the door was answered. It must have been a very old house for when the door was swung open there was a loud 'Crreeaaakk'. It was extremely dark inside the house and Jack couldn't see anything inside, only shadows. Suddenly, a large hand emerged from the shadows, reaching out towards Jack. Startled, Jack instinctively took a couple steps back, leaving room on the front porch as a tall, gray-haired man with a mustache stepped out of the house to greet him. The man wasted no time, grabbed Jack's hand and shook it very strongly. With a big smile on his face, the man said
"Hello! I am Lord Albert Herrington. We spoke on the phone earlier. I can't tell you how pleased I am to meet you!"
This was definitely bizarre for Jack, a lord, answering his own door personally? Didn't he have servants or a butler to do that? Most wealthy families had servants. Jack bowed his head slightly out of respect as they shook hands and Jack said
"Hello, I am Jack Clemins, nice to meet you Lord Herrington" His greeting felt so stiff compared to the over eager and warm welcome Lord Herrington had given him.
"Thank goodness you are here! Please come in my boy, come in!" Said Lord Herrington happily as he began to pull Jack into the house with the hand he had never stopped shaking. Jack felt very warmly welcomed but also as if he was being dragged away at the same time. Once Jack was inside, Lord Herrington stuck his head back outside the front door and looked down both sides of the street, scanning the surroundings. Jack watched as he did this and asked
"Are you expecting another person?" thinking perhaps there would be someone else also interviewing for the job. Lord Herrington flinched and coughed, quickly pulling his head inside and closing the door.
"Ahem! No, no one else..Please come this way" Lord Herrington led him down a long hallway and into a very elegant study covered with books from the floor to the ceiling and gestured towards a chair saying
"Please have a seat" and then Lord Herrington took his own seat behind a large dark wooden desk. He sat there for a moment staring at Jack, completely quiet as the mood became very serious. In the long quiet, Jack started to feel agitated, the kind welcome had thrown him off, a lord would never have been that friendly with a common person, common people were so far beneath them, there was no reason for them to be kind, Jack gulped slightly and began to feel even more anxious as he waited for Lord Herrington to speak. Finally breaking the silence, Lord Herrington asked
"So…Mr Clemins…How much do you know?" Jack was confused as to what he was talking about.
"Know? Sir? Is there something specific you'd like to ask me about?" Lord Herrington looked at him very intensely and said
"How much do you know about my daughter?" Jack felt even more confused and said
"I am sorry Lord Herrington but I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of meeting your daughter." Lord Herrington abruptly started coughing and choking and then composed himself.
"Ahem-hem-hem!" A pleasure you say? Then you really must not know about her at all…hmm" He stared at Jack and stroked his mustache as he looked to be deep in thought. Suddenly there was a light in Lord Herrington's eyes and he began to get excited again, and rubbed his hands together, saying
"Oh but this could be good…this could work" Lord Herrington asked. "So you have never heard anything about my daughter?..Have you been abroad? Are you in society?" At this point Jack had no idea what was going on but he answered the questions as best he could,
"No Sir, I am sorry, but I have never heard of your daughter. I haven't been aboard, and I am not in society. I am a common person.. I don't ever keep up with what is going on in high society, I've been too busy working or finding work.." Jack worried if him not knowing about high society gossip would ruin his chances of getting this job. 'maybe I should have kept up on gossip better..' he thought anxiously to himself.
Lord Herrington nodded slightly and said,
"Ah, so you are a hardworking young man. That is good! That is a good quality to have. People gossip too much, don't bother listening to gossip!" Shaking his finger as he spoke, as if he was scolding all the people who gossip. Jack felt relieved to hear him say that, but also it felt like Lord Herrington was trying to convince him of something too.
"And what does your family do, Mr. Clemins?" Lord Herrinton asked.
"...My father, is a teacher." Jack said quietly. His heart started to beat rapidly in his chest and he felt a cold sweat run down his back. He took slow breathes to relax himself.
"Oh, a teacher?" Lord Herrington continued, "that must be nice." Jack said nothing, but nodded his head. "And what does your father teach?" Lord Herrington asked. Jack knew this question was coming so he had some time to prepare and calm himself in advance.
"My father teaches Combat and Discipline at The Defense Military Academy." Jack's hands trembled as he finished speaking, he clenched his hands into fists to stop the quivering.
"Oh my!" Exclaimed Lord Herrington. "I have heard of that school, quite strict there aren't they?" Jack could feel his cold sweat break out over his entire body, he felt it running down his forehead and his face paled. To distract himself from the reaction he was having, he took out his handkerchief and began to dab at his forehead and gave Lord Herrington an apologetic look for appearing so unkempt in front of him. Lord Herrington took notice of how Jack was reacting. He looked carefully at Jack and asked,
"Did you go to school there, Mr Clemins?"
Jack nodded weakly and replied
"Yes, I did."
Lord Herrington's face became serious as he studied Jack for a moment and said
"Hmm. I see. So you have some combat experience. I suppose you could hold yourself in a fight,, if you had to…theoretically speaking of course"
Lord Herrington's eyes shifted back and forth. Perhaps deciding at that moment whether or not Jack was hired. Jack felt extremely anxious, he hoped he could still get the job and that this didn't reflect poorly on him. He wasn't always like this. This was just a small physical reaction he had to that topic. His everyday life was just fine now. As long as he didn't think about it too much, he was just fine. Jack coughed and tried to move passed this subject.
"Ahem! Yes, I did attend a military academy, I found it wasn't for me…I have since left and I support myself..I've been doing various jobs and also bookkeeping and accounting." Lord Herrington seemed eager to change the subject from this awkward topic as well, jumping at the chance Jack gave him
"Aha! So you are a fan of maths and books, that is good! If you end up taking this job you will be around a lot of books." Lord Herrington smiled warmly. Jack asked
"So what is this job exactly? I am not sure I understand." Lord Herrington sighed and answered
" Well…What you would be essentially doing is helping me…keep an eye on my daughter.." quietly Lord Herrington mumbled "As distantly as possible I would suggest.."