Chapter NineCome on Abigail, why are you dawdling'?'I'm not '!'Yes you are''Are not'! 'Are too'!'Are not'!'Are too'! Abigail opened her mouth to respond and i quickly injected in. 'Look, you're doing just that by sitting down there and arguing with me. Now we really do need to go, Mrs Stanley needs-''I know, i know, but i don't feel like shopping' she flopped back on her bed, lying on her back with her arms spread up.'Why ever not'? I sat by the edge and played with the skirt of her gown. 'It's always so rowdy with people every where-' 'But that's your elements'!'And the place carries and awful odour''Ahh, so it's the smell', she wrinkled her nose up in the air.'You could just endure it a little, couldn't you? And anyway, we're not going to the worst parts of the market'. 'Yes we are, you know we are' she harried. 'There'd

            Days past, four months was drawing near and summer was here. Which meant traveling was a lot easier than in winter.If hadn't  mentioned it before, the Stanley had a large plantation of grains, but not only that, they also cultivated cotton. Summer also meant harvest and so many of my days were taken up in either of the fields. This certainly explained why the Stanley's and others like them, felt the need to buy a lot of slaves. But i didn't know how i felt about that now; if u blacks were meant to work in the fields and houses as servants and do other strenuous works, why then had the Stanley father and son, and mother of course, chosen me as an abigail for their Abigail?The sun beat down on us, soaking into my dress and heating up the threads that made up my cotton dress. Was i getting more brown? I always had a light skin completion which had mayhap gotten lighter before from frequently staying in doors more

'Good  bye mother. I can't believe you are already leaving, we haven't even seen half of London yet. Why? There is the-'Mrs Stanley let out a breathy laugh, interrupting Abigail's prattle. 'Oh Abigail, i believe we had stayed here enough and you'd have enough time to see the whole of London, just not with me.' She took a hold of her daughter's cold hands in her gloved ones and squeezed them. 'Take care of yourself. And you to papa', she moved to kiss Mr Maxwell's weathered cheek. 'Oh yes dear. It really is a pity to see you all go so soon'. And then he smiled what was to be sadly.Mrs Stanley moved to say goodbye to her sister and Abigail to her father and grandfather.Soon they were bundled comfortably in  the warm interior of the stage coach and we waved goodbye as it rolled away till it made a bend and we could not see it again. It was as i watched the tail of it disappear that i did wander about Mr Maxwell's strange smile. The tip of his mouth ha

I woke up with a start and sat up straight on my bed. It couldn't be, could it?. My room was still covered in pools of darkness but I knew it would be filled with daylight soon. I got down, made my bed; straightened my blanket and puffed the pillow. Dressed in the dark and stepped out to the servant's wash room which was thankfully not in use. I stepped out of the wash room and my day began.All morning, i was not myself. When I heard a deep voice, I jumped,when I heard heavy foot steps coming my way I swerved around only to see a male servant walking by. 'You're acting very strangely today'. Stated Abigail in the presence of lady Georgiana and her abigail, Gloria, a slim girl in her twenties with long black hair like her mistress and barely there eyebrows - I always knew there was something odd about her face.   We were up in the solar where Abigail and lady Georgiana were engaged in a compilation embroidery making. 'It's the nerves my

From now know, I'll make sure such encounter never happened again, as long as I can help it.°°°°°°°°°°°°°°That was unfortunately, not what happened. After that day, he seemed to always be everywhere, almost. He was soon a regular visitor, I don't know if I can call him a visitor still, to the baron's household.What was it with this man? I grumbled after another, recent taunting from him. Was it that he had done all the work for his life time when he was much younger? And now he was as free as any man could wish. He should take his free time some places else like play chess or checkers with some older men or whatever it was. Although I was not the brunt of his availability. No, that is not correct. Although I was the brunt of his sudden free time with which he used frequenting the baron's home, Abigail was suffering a similar plight. 'Can you believe'! She exclaimed, as she was once again pacing around her room while I sat on a stool, studiously sewing. A lot of unbelievable thing