The Glass House

by Bella Bryce

  Alice grinned and received the bouquet in her arms. "What are they for, Uncle Damian?"

  Damian glanced at his brother and then back at Alice. "Does their need to be a reason?"

  "No, Sir, I suppose not," she said, grinning.

  Damian averted his eyes.

  "But is there?" Alice asked.

  Damian hesitated.

  "You're leaving again," she deducted, without a doubt. Alice looked up at Bennett. "Make him stay."

  "Are you?" Bennett asked, realising Alice's instincts seemed correct.

  Damian's hesitation lingered.

  "He is!" Alice proclaimed. "I knew it! I knew you wouldn't listen to me! Why can't you just sort your life out instead of running away all the time?" Alice pushed the flowers back at Damian.

  "Alice," Bennett warned, firmly.

  "Leave me alone," she whimpered, as she turned and ran from the foyer.

  Damian looked away and shook his head as he limply held onto the flowers that had been thrust back into his arms. Alice disappeared up the grand staircase as Bennett exhaled and turned back to his brother with his hands on his hips.

  "Don't say it," Damian shook his head.

  "Say what?"

  "That's she's right."

  "Isn't she?" Bennett inquired.

  Damian looked away.

  "Stay, don't stay – it's your decision. Just go about it properly, won't you?" Bennett told him, in a manner that was as un-judgemental as it would ever be. "Speaking of which, Alice will be back down to apologise momentarily. Don't go anywhere just yet, if you can help it."

  "No. Don't make her. It's best if I go now."

  "She most certainly will come down and apologise for her rudeness, and for running out on you," Bennett replied, seriously.

  "Just deal with her," Damian replied. "I don't need an apology."

  Bennett stared back at his brother, his hands still firmly on his hips.

  "It's only for a little while," Damian said. "I'm going back to Berlin to help my mate from boarding school; he's returning to England with his job and needs some advice for his investments. I've been on Father's board for a while now, so I think I can be useful. He hasn't any family," Damian explained.

  "I'll be home after I've had dinner here. We can chat then. All right?"

  Damian nodded, and then looked down at the roses.

  "Can you make sure these are put in her room?" he asked humbly. Damian felt awful for upsetting Alice.

  Bennett took the bouquet as Damian turned, "I'll see you tonight then," and let himself out of Waldorf Manor.

  Bennett heard Alice sniffing from beneath her bed when he arrived in her bedroom, and looked up at the ceiling momentarily.

  "You have three seconds to come out from under there, young lady."

  Alice wiped her eyes and sniffed again, then exhaled exasperatedly and crawled out from beneath.

  "Come here," he said, indicating with his index finger.

  Her eyes fell to the floor as she timidly approached. Bennett remained at his six foot six inch height looking down at his niece; he never bent down except to greet and depart from her with a cuddle. He wasn't her equal, and he wouldn't lower his height to make it appear so, but especially in moments like that.

  Even when Alice frowned, she looked like such a sweet girl, which might have seemed a strange default, but with Alice that was precisely the case. Her neat and tidy pinafore and Peter Pan collared blouse with a satin ribbon tied at the neck made it more believable, even when she was naughty.

  "Your behaviour was completely out of order."

  Alice sniffed again and looked up at him. "Yes, Sir, but –"

  "Do not even think about justifying your behaviour, young lady."

  Her shoulders dropped.

  "You know what I'm about to say, don't you?" he asked, expectantly.

  She glanced up at Bennett from her downturned head.

  "You were arrogant in your manner toward Uncle Damian. You ran away without being excused, and you told me to leave you alone."

  "Yes, Sir," Alice practically whispered.

  "None of those behaviours are acceptable."

  She knew full well Bennett was right. If Brayden had been witness, he would have said the exact same thing.

  "I understand you're upset that Uncle Damian is leaving again, but you are not his friend or his equal, young lady, and you have no right to tell him off for making decisions you disagree with."

  "Yes, Sir," Alice replied quietly, and wiped one eye with the back of her hand.

  "Your father will hear about this and will deal with you later, but he wasn't there when you misbehaved – I was – so I will deal with you now."

  Alice followed her uncle obediently as he took her by the arm over to the fireplace seating area. He sat in one of the four Louis XV chairs surrounding the area and pulled Alice to his side, then straight across his lap. She didn't answer back or squirm as Bennett pulled her pinafore up, then her bloomer shorts and plum coloured tights down. He had already decided he was going to give Alice the maximum that Brayden gave her when she misbehaved, which was twenty-five. He used his left arm to hold Alice securely across his knees, then his right arm raised and came down deliberately and slowly, giving one smack every couple of seconds.

  Alice whimpered by the twelfth one, knowing there were still just over that many left. If her uncle hadn't slowed down by twelve, then he wasn't stopping at fifteen or twenty, either. She just knew it. She stared down at the rug as she hung across Bennett's lap. She frowned with each smack and she couldn't take it without crying. Bennett's spankings always ended in tears, although that one was more emotional than most others, because it involved a grave disappointment in someone she looked up to.

  When Bennett reached twenty-five he stopped, promptly redressed his niece and helped her to stand in front of him. "I want you to go and sit on your bed until you're told otherwise."

  Alice wiped her eyes and looked back at Bennett for a moment before she walked to the king-sized bed behind her. It was nearly a metre off the ground so she was sure part of her bloomers peeked out as she climbed upon the bed, and turned to sit down.

  "Sit up straight and fold your hands," Bennett said.

  "Yes, Sir," she replied, quietly.

  When the door closed, Alice jumped off her bed and ran to the nearest window seat. She knelt down and pressed her hands to the glass of the large windows, knowing Damian would have already left although she had hoped to catch a glance of his car pulling out of the gates. The only scene before her in the distance was the long green gardens in the front, and part of the gravel drive she could see from her window. Alice dejectedly turned away.

  * * * * *

  Brayden wasn't surprised in the least. "She adores Damian," he replied, as he poured himself and Bennett a drink.

  Bennett had been drumming his perfectly manicured fingernails on the arm of the Chesterfield sofa but stopped as he looked over at his best friend. "I don't want to hear about the favourite uncle."

  "He isn't her favourite. She loves you too, Bennett." Brayden raised an eyebrow as he brought their drinks to the seating area. "Alice is fiercely loyal, and it often comes out in anger when she feels rejected."

  Bennett took his drink from Brayden and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure that is the case considering the mess of a childhood she endured, but she's your daughter now, and rejection or not, her outburst was disrespectful."

  Brayden swallowed with a bit of a frown. "Absolutely it was, and I am going to speak to her about it very seriously. She can sit in her room for a little while though and think about it. I'm just not surprised by her reaction. If all of us were honest, I'm sure we would have liked to say the same things to Damian. Aren't you tired of him leaving?"

  "I'm tired of his restlessness," Bennett replied, as he brought the crystal tumbler to his mouth again. "It makes me restless."

  "My daughter is very observant. She just doesn't know how to channel that talent properly yet. She'll l
earn."

  Bennett nodded. Alice certainly would learn!

  "I'll go in a moment and chat to her." Brayden glanced at his watch. "How long has she been in her room?"

  "It'll be an hour, in five minutes."

  "She should have a very well-thought out apology, then."

  "I certainly hope so," Bennett replied.

  After dinner that evening, Elisabeth was excused to have a bath instead of going to the sitting room with Brayden, Bennett and Alice for tea and a chat. Alice was quiet because she had no one to speak to, and she was thinking about her Uncle Damian. She just wanted to shake her head at him. Or her fist, although the latter would have earned her much more trouble than she'd already received for her response to him.

  Bennett and Brayden exchanged conversation and made no effort to invite Alice to contribute, which was part of her punishment. She was expected to sit still and look charming without comment unless first spoken to.

  Upstairs, Elisabeth was rather numb.

  "Your flowers from Damian look lovely," Celia said, glancing at the beautiful crystal vase holding them on her dressing table.

  Elisabeth smiled and looked in the mirror as Celia carried on pulling the Mason Pearson rake comb through her wet hair. "They are."

  It was quiet again between them. Celia was an employee at Waldorf, and it wasn't her place to ask personal questions, unless it respectfully concerned the emotional or physical health of the person. She knew Elisabeth was all right and she wouldn't be the hundredth one to ask that question regardless. The poor girl had been asked repeatedly how she was, every hour for the last several days.

  A knock raised Elisabeth's eyes to her bedroom door reflected in the mirror. Bennett appeared and closed it behind him, causing Elisabeth to smile gently at the corners of her mouth. She watched him in the mirror as he walked across the spacious bedroom and approached from behind, his waistcoat and blazer getting closer and closer in the mirror until Elisabeth looked up as he stopped beside the dressing table.

  "Thank you, Celia," he said politely.

  Caught rather off-guard, she stopped combing and placed it on the dressing table before acknowledging Bennett's inference and left the room. Bennett picked up the comb and carried on where Celia left off.

  "How are you feeling about tomorrow?" he asked, looking at her in the mirror.

  Elisabeth looked back at him whilst her chin was pointed downward as he combed the very back of her hair. The fact Bennett stood behind her in his tailored and flawlessly pressed three piece suit, combing her hair was enough to make her want to ask him to carry her over to the bed.

  "Elisabeth?" he asked, tapping her on the shoulder with the comb.

  "Mm?"

  Bennett met her eyes in the mirror. "Did you hear me?"

  "Sorry, Sir. I was daydreaming."

  "About?" he asked, as he placed the comb on the dressing table and stepped beside her.

  "You." She blushed.

  Bennett stepped aside and crouched down beside the upholstered bench she sat on. He was still slightly taller than Elisabeth even as he crouched down in a gentlemanly fashion that very nearly drove her off the bench. He had such a way about his mannerisms that could stir up the most spectacular butterflies in her stomach.

  "I wish tomorrow was the wedding instead of me saying goodbye to my parents."

  "Don't say that," he said.

  Elisabeth looked down.

  "Emma, Aggie and Lucy replied to my email. They will be there as well," Bennett said.

  "I don't want to see them," she exhaled.

  Bennett lifted her chin to get her attention.

  "You've known them most of your life, and for obvious reasons, they haven't seen you since November."

  Elisabeth pressed her lips together.

  "It isn't normally my prerogative to organise a female meet-up, but I think it's important for the girls to be there tomorrow. Don't you want to tell them we're getting married?"

  Elisabeth pulled her chin away. "Of course I do," she said, frowning.

  Bennett raised his eyebrows and rose to his full height. He could tell from Elisabeth's tone that she felt completely comfortable answering him in that way.

  "I've just had to put Alice across my knee for being naughty – do I need to deal with your tone as well?"

  Elisabeth pushed her teeth together and shook her head.

  "Hmm?" he asked.

  "No, Sir," she replied dutifully.

  Bennett watched her for a moment, then removed his hand from his pocket and held it out to her. Elisabeth looked up at him and then accepted it. Bennett pulled her off the seat and led her across the room to the area in front of her fireplace with various pieces of furniture arranged into a seating area. He sat down and pulled Elisabeth to sit across his lap, leaving her slippered feet to dangle above the ground. His dramatically lengthier height made Elisabeth look like a child on his lap – precisely one of the many things Bennett loved about her.

  "You're worried about tomorrow." He could clearly see the uncertainty in her eyes.

  Elisabeth stared back at him. "I thought I'd been hiding it rather well."

  "You'll never get much past me, darling."

  Elisabeth's eyes travelled down to the knot of his tie and stared at it, then she leant sideways and curled her legs up onto his lap until she was fully cuddled against him. Bennett naturally put his arms about her.

  "I don't want to go tomorrow," she said, quietly.

  Bennett looked down and kissed the side of her head. "Perhaps not at the moment, but come tomorrow you'll want to," he replied, equally as quietly.

  "I can't do it."

  "I will hold your hand the entire time," he replied, as he held Elisabeth on his lap. Bennett was himself – his no-nonsense, factual, business-like self – at all times, no matter whom he was around. There were times when Elisabeth needed that part of him, not even that she loved and was completely smitten by it, but she needed it. In her eyes, Bennett was a wall of strength and behind his suit was a posture that held her when she felt weak, and she definitely felt her weakness had come and gone in waves. The first few hours after finding out about her parents was a mix of relief and shock; relief that their worldly suffering had finally ended, and shock that they both died on the same day and on a morning she would have woken to put on a spring dress and spend the day with Bennett. It seemed wrong that they could just disappear like that. She had been angry and felt the weight of injustice of how people could go in the blink of an eye, or rather, her father was taken in the blink of an eye. Her mother had chosen to follow just as quickly.

  Leaving Elisabeth at Waldorf that evening wasn't easy for Bennett. Not in the least. He frowned as he sat in the back of his limo and looked out the window into the blackness at silhouettes of the passing trees, as his driver took them down the country lanes toward Barton-Court House. He knew Elisabeth would be all right; she just needed a good rest that evening, and Bennett did too. Rather, he needed to return home and speak with Damian. They'd been like ships passing in the night for the last week, and whilst he had significantly backed off from his earlier opinions about Damian's future and his place in life as a Fowler, he wanted to speak wisdom into his life. Damian clearly needed direction. Still.

  "Thank you, Sullivan. Is my brother at home?" Bennett asked, as he let the butler take his coat.

  "Yes, Sir. He's in the Great Room."

  "Tea in five minutes."

  "Yes, Sir."

  "Thank you," Bennett said, and tucked his mobile phone into his inside blazer pocket as he walked toward the circular reception room between the base of the double staircases before him. Sullivan abandoned the foyer as Bennett did.

  Bennett entered the Great Room and noticed Damian sitting across the room in front of one of the fireplaces. He had a brandy in one hand, and it rested along the arm of the Chesterfield. Bennett stopped beside the sofa with one hand in his tailored trouser pocket.

  "How is she?" Damian asked, bringing the cryst
al tumbler to his mouth.

  "Which she?"

  Damian turned and looked at Bennett. "The one I keep hurting," he replied, quietly, then turned back to facing the flames.

  "Alice is fine," Bennett replied, as he walked around the sofa, pulled up his neat trousers and sat beside Damian. "She will be after she recovers from her spanking, anyway. Your baby sister-in-law is fine too."

  Damian took another drink of brandy. "She'll always be all right. She has you."

  Bennett looked over at his brother. "When do you leave?"

  "In a few days." He swallowed another sip.

  Bennett rolled his eyes at the ceiling.

  "I wasn't going to go until the end of the month, but since you haven't set a date yet and I'm obviously no use, I'd rather go now."

  "Damian," Bennett started.

  "Don't try to protect me." Damian turned to Bennett. "I appreciate it, Bennett, I really do. But I'm a terrible uncle and I'll be an even worse big brother-in-law. I'm not good at this." Damian rested his glass on the table in front of them.

  "If you were such a terrible uncle, I doubt Alice would have risked a thrashing to make her point as blatantly as she did," Bennett answered, flatly.

  Damian had rested his elbows on his thighs as he leant forward and turned to look back at Bennett.

  "Don't you think?" Bennett asked.

  Damian shook his head and looked forward again.

  "She told me back at your engagement party that I don't care about this family anymore because I keep leaving. She thinks I hate my life."

  Bennett let his brother's words float through the air for a moment, so that he could let his own voice resonate their meaning.

  "Is that why she was so upset this afternoon?"

  Damian nodded. "Undoubtedly."

  "Is she correct?" Bennett asked, after another pause.

  Damian waited a beat before nodding. In the moment of quiet between them, Bennett's phone vibrated.

  "You should answer that," Damian said, without even looking.

  Bennett looked at his iPhone.

  "I need a moment," he said, offering a nod. Bennett knew that look and that nod and it meant that he'd heard a good chunk of wisdom, and he wanted to accept it but needed time to digest it more thoroughly.