His eyes narrowed "In a dumpster."
"Why?" She asked with a frown.
She liked the coat, its colour intricates and length, if he didn't want to wear it, she could, and it signified their union he shouldn't have just thrown it away because he got someone killed and the blood probably stained it.
Smartly avoiding her question he asked his own "Do you like it?" He cocked his head to get a closer look at her face but she deftly turned around and started helping him into the coat she'd picked from the hanger, their first day after marriage and he is going out.
The atmosphere is tense and heavy.
He stretched his left arm and she started from there, placing the opening beside the shoulder in front of his long fingers, he helped himself into the grey coat.
"Yes, I loved it" she confessed, trying not to focus on the way his warm body drew her to curl into him, he stretched his right arm, helping her slip the coat in with ease.
She turned to her front and started with the top buttons, refusing to relish the warmth.
"I could bring it back, but we both know that's not the reason you suddenly look like a cart of realization hit you off the road" he stated as she finished with the buttons, looking at his now gentlemanly figure, grey trousers, white dress shirt, grey coat with black shoes no socks, she could do better than this.
A beat of silence.
"Did you kill somebody last night?" Her heart thundering as she waits for his answer.
Lydia stared at her husband with bated breath, his answer would determine how she'd live around here, she needed to know if she could trust him. If she is being honest with herself she does not know what answer she is expecting but whichever one he gives she would take and she'd watch for the reaction she'd give.
Theodore's eyes widened for a fragment before he reigned on it, he had never felt as uncomfortable as he feels right now before
"Last night…" he started
"Lord Theodore, it is time" Blanc the coachman announced swiftly drawing the lord's attention from the conversation at hand.
"I have to go… we shall talk when I get back" he dropped a kiss on her now cold cheeks the weather was unforgiving
"Do not leave the mansion without me" he yelled as he got closer to the cart, offering her a side of his view and the sluggish smile he held.
She smiled back, she's now a married woman and must keep an open mind.
*
**
*
Afternon
Theodore Mansion
Critic Arley, Critic-Ishire.
******************
"Gooseberry I'm home!" Theodore's voice thundered in the mansion announcing his arrival, Lydia who'd been lighting the house with arrays of candles at her every ten steps, dropped the one in her hands and rushed to the front door, and there stood Lord Theodore with a smile so charming she almost believed she knew him, he was so painfully beautiful, she contemplated rushing over and throwing her arms around him but he moved and the guest he came with came into view.
A middle-aged woman with a plush belly stood quietly behind him, her shoulder carrying a small green tote bag, that looked to be carrying yards of fabrics, she had her brown hair in a big bow and a scarf around her neck, tugged in her white brown straight gown. The dressmaker.
Theodore had simply felt the irrevocable urge to announce his arrival in that manner and now watching Lydia go red like she ate a bowl of overly peppered pork, he felt content with his behaviour, notwithstanding she stood at the end of the hall while he was at the beginning, she started to move towards them gingerly, so he met her halfway, she smelled like apples and something delectable, he smiled.
"Welcome home Theo" she sounded breathless making him smirk, she averted her gaze from his lips to the visitor who looks half excited and half about to piss her pants.
"Is that the dressmaker?" Theodore moved to stand close, a foot behind his wife so he could keep her warm and send her alive despite being fully aware that even if he didn't get to sniff Lydia for more than a decade he would remember her smell.
She didn't have a specific smell before their marriage though, his brows furrowed.
"The young women couldn't come because their parents or supposedly better halves wouldn't take that too kindly" he narrated "but Ms Janet here is free and open-minded to some extent" The dressmaker visibly went rigid at that, making Lydia wonder if she didn't want to come and was perhaps forced here.
"Ms. Janet, if this is not something you'd like to do you can leave the mansion" She glanced at the door "You will not be forced to work for whom you do not wish to work for"
"No, my Lady…." She gave a nervous laugh "Of course I want to be here" she added with a nod
"I'd hate for my husband's money to go to waste if you end up making a bad dress" Theodore watched his feisty wife with a proud smile, he didn't know he would like the idea of someone having equal power as he in his mansion but now it brought him a strange sense of satisfaction, that he would not dwell on the reason why at the moment.
He would most likely be in his mansion's office or at work by now but he stood behind his wife like a protective animal not only because he didn't trust those who agreed to come to his mansion but because he liked staying wherever she was.
"I assure you I would provide my Lady with the best type of clothing, most expensive and new dress materials without doubt" Ms Janet defended with determination gleaming in her ordinary eyes.
"Alright then come inside, I'd tell you to make yourself comfortable" she spread her arms "but that'd be hypocritical because I know you won't be comfortable"
"So just focus on your work" Theodore completed
They are so in sync, the dressmaker thought.
Ms. Janet, if she looked past her slight fear and human belief of rumours this man looks absolutely charmed by his wife and the wife is as comfortable as she can be, he does not strike her as a monster. His aura and stance prove otherwise but she had met a lot of men in her life and that didn't mean they were monsters because they held power even in their postures. She liked their dynamics and had decided to be a tad more open-minded so she could be comfortable enough to provide a good work, just as the lady had suggested.
Lydia led the woman into the guest parlour while Theodore took another path in the mansion, she didn't ask where he was going to, because she didn't know why she'd wanted to ask in the first place.
"Wait here, I would be quick to get you something to drink, coffee or tea?" She asked the woman as she took her seat on the cushion.
"Oh dear, it will be to my utter disgust to bother you, what about the maids?" Ms Janet asked with a warm smile
"There are no maids in the mansion yet, what would you like?" She replied smoothly
"Coffee please" Ms. Janet gave in.
Ms. Janet watched as Lydia walked out with a small smile, the young ladwasis beautiful she thought, Critic Arley is a land that thrives on rumours and now she has a small story to tell it.
She headed out to the kitchen, having been treated like an employee in her family's house, the happenings of the kitchen came easy to her, so coffee wasn't a stone on the fire.
The kitchen is empty.
Lydia stared baffled at the empty jars, cupboards and pots in the space, there was nothing she could use to make any edibles in the room. She knew the mansion lacked life but this kitchen was a different situation, it was practically empty, with no foodstuff and she was sure they did not have a store either.
How had Hound made breakfast in the morning?
Had he gotten that from an inn? A brothel they would know, she nodded to herself.
She needed to talk to Theodore so she went in search of him.
The mansion was too large, the stairs too strenuous, she had used quite an amount of energy to get downstairs earlier now she had to go back up in search of her husband. She does not even know where his office is situated in the mansion, and why is it so dark. She scowls as she gripped the bars of the staircase.
A mansion that has life but isn't alive.