At the strike of ten, as the short hand of the wall clock in the Lancaster living room aligned with the hour, Knight stood in the inside of the Lancaster mansion door, his eyes intently wondering why Lady Victoria had not yet retired to bed. She sat engrossed in a brown-covered book, flipping each page undeterred and smoothly.
His eyes traveled from her now freely flowing wavy black hair to her forehead, which was deeply furrowed in concentration as she was engrossed in the book. It was a pity he couldn't get a full view of her face; he would have delighted in watching her, as the words of Lord Hordy captured his mind, "There is Lady Victoria, but she is conversant with many." And the last part, "And your brother, Prince Edward has already gotten the lady's attention?" He frantically wondered how many, in number, those admirers were – forty, a hundred?
"From Lord Andrew?" The voice of his fellow guard broke his thoughts, causing him to turn his head coldly away from Victoria. With him, the guard was holding a rolled small piece of paper.
Knight extended his hand forward and took the paper as the guard went back to his right doorstep, standing at attention.
'Am at the back door, make Victoria head to sleep and then come here. She need not know where I am!' The little writing stated, as Knight rolled it back and shoved it into his front-left trouser pocket, as he eyed Victoria who was still flipping the pages of her book.
He looked at his fellow guard, who seemed curious about what was in the paper, and then looked back to Lady Victoria, swallowing hard to at least clear his growing tension on how he would approach her.
He then, courageously, walked himself to the large table, towards where Lady Victoria was seated – third seat on the left, from where the Earl sat during serving time. She was engrossed in the book. Knight could not quite glimpse the name of the book, but it sure would be some poetry-based book. 'She loved reading,' he denoted.
"Yes…" Lady Victoria called out, now eyeing Knight, whose eyes melted when her ladyship's blue eyes met his. He slightly averted his gaze from hers, down to the book, in order to ease his nerves, and then back up to hers. In respect, he stated,
"Lord Andrew…"
"Brother wants me to go to bed?" she interrupted, and Knight nodded.
She sighed slightly at being interrupted in her reading, then rose. "Alright, and where is he?"
"Your ladyship_" Knight respectfully added, as he gestured with his hand, offering to escort her.
Up the staircase they went, and upon reaching Victoria's room, Knight opened the door for her. As she entered, and he began to close it, Victoria spoke looking through her window.
"The night is beautiful tonight. The weather is calm, but it's a pity I can't see the stars like in Lancaster. The city lights are overly embracing the sky!" Knight did not know what reply she needed to hear or whether she were talking to her.
In truth, Victoria needed no reply. She was always free in her conversations with guards, her maids, and most especially her brothers—except for current Andrew, who was starting to get on her nerves. She knew deep down that if Andrew didn't stop intervening and embarrassing her admirers, she might have no long line of suitors and could end up like Lady Hardington's first two daughters—introduced the previous season, with still no prospects in sight.
"I like the night light in London skies, though! It makes the skies light up differently. And where are you from?" she questioned, now sitting on her small chair next to the same window she overlooked London's skies from, with a lamp lit on the right side of the table –her eyes deeply attentive to Knight's covered face.
"Wales," Knight replied, nervously, caught between the conversation with Victoria and Andrew waiting for him at the other gate.
"Is it cold as here?" Victoria curiously asked. She was just trying to be friendly, as she was with the previous guard, who apparently Knight replaced.
"Quite, but not as this!" Knight shortly replied, his index finger scratching on his thumb. He was nervous!
"How do you think curtsey plays on a lady?" She honestly questioned, and Knight smiled underneath his headgear. Victoria's only part she would see of Knight was just his eyes.
"Andrew is overly playing his role as a brother, I feel like exploding when he sends them away. What if I end up being a spinster, and suffer the fate of all other women? Ending up being married to overly old men like Lord Beming. Brother calls him too old! And indeed he is," she quietly laughed to that, as Knight still stood there listening to her,
"Do you think they would get tired of brother? However, I liked Prince Edward's flowers; he seems quite a lovely gentleman!" Lady Victoria spoke, still eyeing Knight, whose heart thumped hard, after hearing his brother's consent by Lady Victoria.
It was appreciative of him to be happy for the brother, but happiness was not what he currently felt; he felt overtaken by a potential competitor.
He glimpsed at Lady Victoria now, who was now suddenly engrossed in her book. The monologue was already over, in a minute, as Knight slightly pulled the door and, before closing, said, "Good night, Lady Victoria."
This made Victoria squint her eyes towards the now closed door, puzzled. No guard before, even the last one, had ever wished her goodnight in such a respectful manner. She, however, dismissed the thought and returned back to reading her book.
Concurrently, Knight hurried down the stairs, his co-guard's curious gaze following him. "Lord Andrew needs me; I shall be back later!" Knight declared confidently, already having forgotten his guard's tone.
He stepped out into the cold breeze, finding his way through the Lancaster compound and into the back gate they had previously used.
Outside the gate, on the left side of the road, stood the two and one-carriage, with Lord Andrew seated at the front, who exhaled a satisfied breath on seeing him as Knight hopped on the seat beside his.
"I thought the paper quite got onto wrong hands," he remarked as he urged the horses forward.
They swiftly departed from the Lancaster mansion, up, and away, towards London's dark marketplace.
Upon arrival, Lord Andrew guided the carriage to the same spot they had parked the previous day, as he quietly muttered, "perfect."
After both hopping out, but instead of Lord Andrew leading the way to the same brothel as the previous day's, he chose a different door, same hallway.
On entry, they ascended some wooden-made staircase and onto a room full of lads and courteous men. It was a place where men of high social standing bonded – no whores or ladies in sight, just drinks and refined company.
In one glance, Knight noted a few lordships he had observed at that Lord Winchester ball, and at the corner table, was Lord Hordy, who had overly drunk himself out and was lying on the table alone, with him some ink and a piece of brown paper. It seemed he was writing something.
"Sit," Lord Andrew commanded, and Knight agreed to it, despite knowing this as a bad idea – subjectively.
"Are we drinking with your face overly covered? Feel free, drink anything…on me of course, you are my protector. And I can't have you stay like those other guards on the door, whose lords cannot buy them even a drink." Andrew added, laughing as he eyed the guards who were standing at the corners waiting for their lords to finish "partying."
With that, and for the first time, Knight removed his balaclava, revealing his short, uncombed brown hair resting on the left side, while the rest lay neatly aligned with his head. He kept his scarf on, pulling it down just enough to partially obscure his face, preventing Lord Hordy from seeing him – the only man who knew his true identity.
A jug of beer was placed in front of them, as Lord Andrew poured Knight one and himself another. "You see, these lordships barely know what my sister wants…" Lord Andrew blurted after six cups of drinking. Knight had barely touched his one cup despite the night slipping away. He was wondering when this "socialization with Andrew" would end.
"I want a perfect man for her. A gentleman like me! Who knows when she needs something, when she is afraid of something, when she is in pain! A man like me." Paused, hiccupped, and, "all these gentlemen, want her for a sire! They cannot even think of if she desires love first then a sire or whatever. I would never marry a girl for the sake of duty…, I want someone I can love, cherish and admire! Like my…," he smiled to that, and slept on the wooden table as Knight denoted probably he was talking about that Lady actress of his.
"What are you doing here?" Lord Hordy whispered in Knight's ear, making Knight quickly look at the sleeping Andrew after designating the voice, and then back to Hordy, shaking his head, denoting he should leave him be. Instead, Lord Hordy sat on the third seat and slightly shook Lord Andrew's hand,
"You've drunk quite a lot there, Lord Andrew!" This made Andrew wake, and then smile,
"Two Welshmen…" he remarked, waving casually his index finger to Lord Hordy before suddenly standing up.
"Let's leave, tomorrow shall be a big day – to meet another set of suitors for my sister!" He added with a sarcastic smile. In the moment, Knight was hastily adjusting his scarf and wearing the balaclava.
After, he stood, Hordy discreetly slipped a well-folded piece of paper into Knight's back pocket, unnoticed by Lord Andrew. With that, Knight and Lord Andrew departed. Lord Andrew left to spend some time with his lady, as Knight was dismissed to go back to the Lancaster mansion.