by Bella Bryce
“Yes, Sir, a little,” she admitted.
“Are you happy to stay for your interview or would you like me to have you taken home?” Brayden asked.
“I want to stay, Sir, please,” Alice said.
“Of course. Well it looks like Celia has taken good care of you. There are a few spots on your pinafore that need to be tidied. Take Miss Alice to be properly cleaned up please and then bring her to my study when you’ve finished.”
“Yes, Sir,” Celia said, and took Alice by the arm out of the room.
Several girls who had witnessed the conversation rolled their eyes or indicated their annoyance with harsh comments toward Alice.
“Perhaps if I make myself ill I will get special treatment as well,” a girl named Gemma mumbled.
“Might I just remind everyone that whilst rude comments about another girl will not disqualify you, they will earn you a good smack? Mind your manners, young ladies, or I shall have to make you mind them. Regardless of whether or not you stay here, you are currently under my authority. Do not disappoint me.”
Most of the girls felt guilty and looked at the floor whilst the rest of them took an immediate dislike to Alice after Brayden had put his hand on her back.
“Now then, Annie Hamilton, you will come with me in Alice’s place for the time being,” Brayden said.
Annie followed Brayden up the stairs to his study, although the interview halted when Brayden informed her that before a decision could be made she would need to consent to a pregnancy test. Annie had been outraged.
“If you’ve been living with your boyfriend you are not exempt from testing for my piece of mind. I will not be responsible for your poor decisions,” Brayden stated, very plainly.
Annie felt judged and proceeded to tell him so in an elevated tone of voice, until he stood up and walked around his desk and towered over her. He pulled Annie up out of the chair and across his lap whilst perching on the edge of his desk. He flipped up the skirt of her pinafore and smacked her bottom twenty steady times over her knickers.
“You dare to shout at a perfect stranger, in his home, when it is YOU who needs to straighten her life out,” he said, in a calm and serious manner, before he let her up. Brayden took her chin in his hand and looked directly into her eyes.
“Stop sleeping with any bloke whom you refer to as ‘boyfriend’. Save what is left of yourself for the man you will eventually marry. This interview is over and you are excused from my study.”
Brayden had been seriously disappointed in Annie; he thought she might have been one of the right girls. He then reminded himself that he had at least given her advice she obviously hadn’t ever heard before, and smacks on her bottom she more than needed.
A knock on the door interrupted Brayden’s thoughts.
“Come in,” he called, and stood up as Alice entered the room and closed the heavy wooden door behind her.
“Let me see,” Brayden said, as he walked around his desk and looked at Alice’s pinafore. “Much better. Celia is very good at removing marks from clothes.”
“I’m sorry, Sir,” Alice offered again.
“There is no need to apologise. Come and sit down,” he said.
Alice sat in one of the wing chairs across from Brayden as he followed suit behind his desk. He didn’t bother looking at her application.
“Alice, why did you apply?”
“I want this, Sir,” she admitted. “I want to live here with you. I don’t know anything about formality really, or which fork to use, but I can learn. I just want someone to love me,” Alice said, honestly. She didn’t know if sharing so much personal information straightaway would work against her.
Brayden beamed inside. But he didn’t show it.
“Where are you living right now?”
“With my Mum. She works all the time. She brings men home a lot. I hate being there but I can’t move out. I’m not eighteen until tomorrow.”
Brayden’s eyebrows rose. He hadn’t expected that.
“You wrote that you are currently eighteen,” he said, looking at her application.
“Because I knew if I said I was seventeen, which is only for another ten hours anyway, you wouldn’t have given me an interview.”
Brayden looked at Alice and then sat back in his chair.
“I’m sorry, Sir,” she said, concerned that her sudden honesty was an automatic disqualification.
Brayden turned and placed her application into a file folder along with several others who had already been interviewed.
“Go and wait with the other girls in the drawing room, please. You’re excused,” Brayden said.
Alice wanted to ask him if she was in trouble or if she was still going to be considered, but something told her she’d best just do as she had been told. “Thank you, Sir,” she said, and left the study feeling insecure.
Alice returned to the drawing room and quietly reclaimed her chair.
“How was it?” the girl beside her asked.
“I seriously haven’t any idea,” Alice answered.
Chapter Three
Brayden had a dilemma. He looked at the photos of Elisabeth, Alice, Sophie and Ella. They all had similar characteristics that he realised he valued... They were all genuine. They were not arrogant; they had a cheeky side to them and were on the younger side of twenty (all of them were eighteen or nineteen in fact, with the exception of Alice). None of them had overbearing or involved families as far as he’d discovered. Most didn’t have a (proper) father. None of them knew what they wanted to do with their lives.
“It’s gone half three, Sir. Would you still like to announce your decision at 4:00 pm?”
“No. I will do it now,” Brayden said.
“Very well, Sir,” Wellesley said, and walked with his young master down to the drawing room.
When Brayden entered the room all conversation ceased and every pair of eyes were on him.
“Girls, first I would like to thank each one of you for waiting here patiently whilst I conducted all of your interviews. I realise you must be tired and I hope you haven’t felt neglected. My staff has done a fine job in keeping you fed and taken care of, I made sure of it. Now then, when I call your name please stand up. Elisabeth Warner.”
Elisabeth’s eyes widened visibly; several other girls rolled theirs. One girl swore under her breath. Elisabeth stood up, nervously.
“Alice Oliver.”
Suddenly, the room seemed to have been lit with a hint of life. A few girls looked at their neighbours and said as if by way of silent communication, ‘he’s choosing more than one.’
Alice timidly stood up, her hands folded in front of her.
“Sophie King.”
Sophie stood up and couldn’t help but smile.
“And Ella Grey.”
Ella stood and gave Sophie a discrete high-five.
“You four please follow me. The rest of you girls are dismissed. Wellesley will see to it that you are immediately taken home.”
“Don’t we get any feedback?” one girl asked, annoyed to be left without closure.
“No. I’m afraid I said that if you were unsuccessful that there would be nothing further.”
Alice looked at Elisabeth. It was awkward having been chosen. They knew they were going to be hated, but at least none of them would ever probably see each other again.
Brayden left the drawing room with his four selected girls following him. When they reached his study he asked them to stand beside each other with their hands behind their backs in the centre of the room.
“I was not expecting to call four of you back, but it was the case that I was very pleased with all of your interviews. What I need to ask is one final question. How would your family feel if you were not home for Christmas in the foreseeable future?”
Ella and Sophie looked at each other and then at Elisabeth and Alice.
“Elisabeth?” Brayden said.
“Nothing, Sir. They don’t notice when I am home,” she said.
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br /> Brayden nodded, although he wasn’t sure that was a good answer. He didn’t want to find himself in a situation where the families felt as though their child had been kidnapped. But he also couldn’t allow them to have a foot in each world. Either she would be part of his family, or she wouldn’t.
“Alice?” Brayden asked.
“My Mum wouldn’t be sober long enough to know the difference.”
Ella began to worry. “My family would be devastated. That’s the one time all year we enjoy being together,” she said.
“Would you be comfortable choosing to stay here?”
Ella’s heart sank and Brayden saw it in her eyes.
“I understand. I don’t expect you to abandon your family. Any of you. But you cannot live here in this lifestyle and then simply go on holiday to your old life. You would find it very difficult to re-integrate and then at some point you may want to leave altogether. Then this entire process would have been a waste of time for both of us. .”
Ella nodded. “I’m sorry, Sir,” she said.
“Not to worry, my darling. Go and wait downstairs.”
Ella very quietly left the study without realising that the three remaining girls and Brayden had all watched her exit.
“Sophie?” Brayden asked, after the door had closed behind Ella.
“I don’t think my family would care, honestly. But we can still text them, right?”
“No mobile phones. No laptops.”
Sophie’s mouth dropped open.
“I can’t live without technology.”
“I assure you, there is the latest technology to be found on my estate. But in your place in this household I will not permit mobile phones or Apple products of any kind. You do not need them.”
“I’ve spent a lot of money on my gadgets. I can’t just give them up.”
“You can if you want this,” Brayden said.
“No, thanks,” Sophie said.
“Right, you’re excused then,” Brayden said, nodding toward the study door and with a noticeable amount of abruptness compared to how he had spoken to Ella moments before.
Sophie made a very vocal noise of displeasure from the back of her throat and rolled her eyes at the two remaining girls; Elisabeth and Alice, before letting herself out of the study.
Elisabeth looked at Brayden. “When would we have to move in?”
“Before the end of the week,” Brayden said.
“Would I be able to keep drawing?” Elisabeth asked.
“I will allocate appropriate times. It will not be whenever you like, I’m afraid.”
Elisabeth shook her head. “I draw at least four hours a day.”
“Not whilst you are here,” he said.
“Then I can’t stay,” Elisabeth replied, with half a laugh.
“You mean you won’t stay,” Brayden corrected her.
Elisabeth shook her head, frustrated that Brayden didn’t seem to share her passion and dedication to such a hobby. “I can’t. Drawing is my life,” she said.
“Then you’d best get on with it. You may go,” Brayden said, nodding toward the door.
Elisabeth left the study feeling betrayed. She couldn’t understand how he had seemed interested in the interview prior and then quickly dismissed her when she refused to live a life that didn’t include it on his terms.
Alice looked at Brayden.
“I don’t have anything to contend, Sir. May I stay?” she asked, after Elisabeth had closed the door behind her.
Brayden signalled for Alice to approach him, and Alice did so. She looked up at him, unsure of what he was going to say or do.
Brayden leant down and kissed her forehead.
“Welcome home,” he said.
Chapter Four
It had taken over an hour for Brayden to ask Alice further questions, all the while realising he really had found the right girl. Not only was Alice pleasant to chat with, she was anxious to move in. He couldn’t have melded a better girl out of clay had he been creating one.
When it came time to finalise details before her expected move in the following morning, Brayden felt it of the utmost importance for Alice to leave things properly and to end well with those who were closest with her.
“Despite your situation, I expect you to go home this evening and say a proper goodbye to your mother. I will not condone you leaving on negative terms or being ungrateful to her in any way. She is your mother. Are you comfortable doing so on your own, or would you like me to come with you?” Brayden asked her.
“No, Sir, I can do it. She can’t really afford her alcohol and me anyway. This will make everything easier for both of us,” Alice stated.
Brayden felt a sting in his heart for the woman who had such a pleasant and lovely daughter, and didn’t even know it. What Alice’s mother had been taking for granted would be welcomed in Waldorf Manor.
“Tell me how you intend to put closure to things this evening then?” he said.
“Yes, Sir,” Alice started. “When I get home tonight I’ll pack my room up first. Most things I’m happy to donate to charity. There are a few bits, which I would like to keep. Then I’ll phone my friends, my Aunty and my Nan to tell them I’m moving out of Mum’s. I need to deactivate my Facebook page, too.”
“Yes,” Brayden said, and nodded.
“Mum won’t be home until around nine so I will let her know straightaway before she opens her bottle of Vodka and has a go at me,” Alice said.
Brayden was horrified, but he didn’t say anything.
“Alice, perhaps it would be best for you to return this evening rather than tomorrow morning. I don’t like the sound of how this could turn out if she becomes cross with you,” Brayden said, frowning.
“What’s one more night?”
Brayden was immediately concerned with Alice’s nonchalance.
“No, absolutely not, I’m afraid I cannot allow it. I don’t know how you’ve managed to do so for this long. Say your goodbyes to your mother promptly and my driver will be waiting outside at quarter past nine. Bring any personal belongings you wish to keep, but I will be going through them. You are going to have a very, very different life,” Brayden said, before pausing. “If for any reason you did find yourself in trouble before my driver arrives, ring me immediately. These are both of our mobile phone numbers,” Brayden said, giving Alice two business cards.
“Thank you, Sir,” she said, looking at each one in turn before slipping them into the pocket of her pinafore.
“I will see to it that your room is prepared once you have gone. You will not need to bring nightclothes or a dressing gown. I have those things here to start with,” Brayden said.
Alice was more and more impressed with each passing moment. She had never met a person, much less a man, who was so organised and had quite obviously thought of everything. Alice couldn’t wait to move in that evening and wished she didn’t have to return home to say goodbye at all. She was only doing it because Brayden insisted it “the right and proper thing to do.”
“You will ring if you need to be collected earlier, won’t you?” Brayden asked Alice, upon her departure.
“Yes, Sir,” Alice said, as she obliged Wellesley holding out her coat and slipped her arms into the sleeves.
“Good girl. I will see you at half nine then,” Brayden said, watching her. She needed a selection of formal coats that were appropriate for a young lady living at Waldorf Manor. He decided that would be one of the first things he replaced.
Brayden directed Alice to kiss his cheek before she left, and then he watched the car pull down the drive and out of the electric gates. He returned inside to the foyer to find Wellesley rather solemn as he closed the double doors.
“I daresay you found the right girl, Sir.”
Brayden visibly smiled for the first time that day. “Indeed I have. Thank you, Wellesley,” he said, before putting his hands in his trouser pockets and pensively strolling into his drawing room.
Brayden looked out of t
he large picture windows as darkness crept across the wintery front garden. Before too long, he ascended the staircase to the first floor in search of Celia. He needed to find out from the busiest and most prominent housekeeper which rooms would be suitable or available for Alice. He hadn’t any idea.
“There are eight empty rooms on this floor and six on the second floor, Sir,” she said.
“I would like her bedroom on the first floor, with mine,” he said, turning away from the second floor staircase as if to reject it.
“Of course, Sir. There are five rooms on this side of the staircase and three bedrooms on your side of the staircase,” Celia said, as she led Brayden toward the west wing. Celia promptly unlocked the door at the far end of the corridor.
“It’s been a very long time since I’ve been in here,” Brayden said, looking up at the gilded ceiling and the walls as if willing his memories of the place to return. “The last time was when Cousin James and I played football in here on a rainy day and my father took his belt to us. Perhaps it’s put me off,” he said.
“This room is quite far from the staircase and that much further from your room, Sir, if I may say,” Celia suggested.
“Yes, you’re right. Can you show me the next one along, please?” he asked, dismissing the memory of his younger self in a position he hoped never to find Alice in.
Celia unlocked the adjacent bedroom door and lead Brayden inside. The room was covered in gorgeous ivory and gold striped wallpaper. Put plainly, it was elegant without pretense. A chandelier hung from the ceiling and three window seats with matching upholstery tied back with curtains on either side created an instantly attractive feel.
“This one. This will be perfect for her,” Brayden declared, turning to Celia.
“Yes, Sir,” Celia said. “And we did this room this morning as part of our rota, so unless there is anything you wish me to tend to, I should think it is ready.”
Brayden performed a short inspection, checking more for aesthetics than anything else. He knew he wouldn’t ever need to do a white glove test in his own home; his staff was top notch.
“I can’t believe I hadn’t realised how lovely this room is,” Brayden said, as if he were seeing it for the first time.