by Bella Bryce
"Darling," Harriet said, as she appeared.
Elisabeth gasped when Harried held up a short white fur cape with a marigold satin ribbon to tie it closed at the neck. Elisabeth covered her mouth with one hand.
"Is that a yes?"
"I love it!" Elisabeth exclaimed.
"That's a relief. I wasn't sure what you would say. Bennett asked for the girls to have something to cover up their bare arms." The cape was quite short and was only meant to cover the shoulders and stop in the middle of the bust so as not to cover the satin ribbon sash that tied at the back.
"All right then, Kate, put this on Emma and we'll see how it fits her."
Elisabeth watched Kate wrap the fur cape around her best friend's shoulders and tie the ribbon into a loose bow. Even without the dress being finished, the look they were going for was easy to see. The girls would also be wearing patent marigold flats and white tights and carry a small bouquet each of lily of the valley. They would definitely look younger than society's fantasy of bridesmaids, but it was important to both Bennett and Elisabeth that the girls satisfied their ideals, and not anyone else's.
Elisabeth wanted her friends to enjoy the last shred of their young femininity in their fashionable (with a nod to juvenile undertone) frocks and handmade shoes, before they returned to the world that expected them to dress more provocatively and 'grown up.' Elisabeth was grateful she was safe and secure in a relationship and family where no one would ever put that on her. Her friends, however, would go back to their own lives and habits after the wedding.
Emma, Aggie and Lucy stayed for luncheon at Barton-Court that afternoon and it was more than a little impressive for them to watch Elisabeth so comfortably navigate her way through the formal meal. They'd all previously celebrated milestone birthdays at what they referred to as a "posh restaurant" but it wasn't the same when that was normality in someone's home. Elisabeth's posture, her nature and ease amongst all of it caused the three of them to quietly regret thinking negative thoughts about their friend after seeing her leave Starbucks that morning five months ago with Bennett.
Emma hadn't really had five minutes alone with Elisabeth, not even at her parents' service, and she was grateful when Bennett suggested they go out into the gardens for a walk.
"Do you girls know how to play chess?" he asked, looking at Aggie and Lucy.
They shook their heads.
"Come along then, I shall teach you," Bennett said, as he held open the door to his Great Room. They both looked a little shy in the dresses they wore to Barton-Court that day; Bennett had invited all three for their fitting and for luncheon, but he'd asked them to dress appropriately.
"I look like a right idiot in this." Emma rolled her eyes as she scooped her arm through Elisabeth's, and they walked round the back of Barton-Court House toward the formal gardens.
Elisabeth laughed and nodded toward her coat. "Do up your coat, Em, it's chilly," she said, and paused their stroll.
She rolled her eyes as she zipped up her coat.
"I had to buy this dress just for today, you know," she joked unbelievingly.
"I know," Elisabeth said, chuckling. "You wouldn't last a moment here." She shook her head.
"And these tights."
"I know," Elisabeth said, nodding. "You look adorable. I love it."
"And these shoes. Ugh," Emma said, and shook her head as she finished zipping up her coat then put her arm through Elisabeth's again.
"Bennett will pay for them before you leave, trust me. He just wanted to see if you would respect his wishes." Elisabeth looked at Emma with a small smile.
"Well, I wouldn't say no to that. I'm poor," she said, as they turned the corner of the estate and approached the walking path Elisabeth and Bennett took every day, sometimes twice a day.
They walked down the set of small stone stairs and toward the tiered fountain and tall hedge walls arm in arm until they reached the iron bench. She and Bennett often sat there for private chats away from the ears of his domestic staff. Not that they would be surprised or intrigued anyway. Emma and Elisabeth sat beside each other then turned inward, although Emma's eyes wandered about the garden.
"It's really nice here, Lissy. I can see why you love it."
Elisabeth looked around and smiled. "Yeah. Although, the gardens are secondary to what I love."
Emma looked back at her friend and smiled. "I never would have picked him out for you, you know."
"I don't think I would have picked anyone out for me. It happened pretty unexpectedly." Elisabeth shook her head with a knowing smile.
"How long were you here, before you two?" Emma raised her eyebrows.
"Slept together? We haven't."
Emma raised her eyebrows. "You live in a house with a millionaire who dresses almost like the models for Ralph Lauren –
"Just like, actually," Elisabeth interrupted.
"Just like, yes, and you're telling me you two love each other, are engaged, and you haven't slept together?"
Elisabeth chuckled and looked back at the house. "Yes, Em. Is that so hard to believe?"
"Not with him, I suppose." She shrugged.
"Em!"
"I'm just saying, he's a bit uptight." Emma put her hands up innocently.
"That's why I love him," Elisabeth replied, as her chuckling faded. "He told me I'm worth waiting for." Her voice turned solemn. "I don't think I've ever heard a man say something like that before." She looked down and raised an eyebrow as she straightened a few of the pleats on her woollen coat. "That's why I don't live here anymore. I live half an hour's drive away with his best friend, my Uncle Brayden. I'm moving in after the honeymoon."
Emma's unbelieving smile faded to an admiring one.
"It's like a fairy-tale. No one deserves it more than you."
Elisabeth shook her head humbly. "That's not true. Everyone deserves a love story. You just have to hold out for it, and whatever you do, don't settle."
"Wise words." Emma nodded.
"So heed them," Elisabeth replied.
Emma glanced across the garden. "So what is this about you being an aunt? Can you explain all that to me?"
Elisabeth smiled and stood up off the bench. "Yes, and this is quite a long story," she started, as Emma stood up and followed her. "It goes all the way back to this time last year when I went to Waldorf Manor in response to a "disciplinary solicitation." Elisabeth used her fingers to signal quotation marks. She was, after all, repeating words from Brayden's original online post.
"Disciplinary solicitation?" Emma grinned.
"Questions at the end, please," Elisabeth replied, as she linked arms with her friend and they carried on walking away from Barton-Court House and further through the trails of the formal garden.
* * * * *
"They're good girls," Bennett said, later that evening when he and Elisabeth were in the limo on the way back to Waldorf.
She smiled and looked up at him. "Yeah, they are. They've always been," she replied, pensively. "Thank you for bringing them to Barton-Court." She rested her head on Bennett's woollen coat.
"You're welcome."
He hadn't expected Elisabeth to be expressive about her gratitude toward him inviting the girls to be fitted at Barton-Court, for them to stay for luncheon and to spend the day there. Bennett Fowler was a very private man anyway, but especially to those outside of his social circle, he was even more so. Elisabeth knew that, and his willingness to invite them into his world spoke louder than any words.
"It was just as good for you to see them as it was for them to understand how you've been living over the past five months. And I daresay, good for those girls to wear a dress and eat a proper meal without the distractions of television and mobile phones."
"Emma still texted," Elisabeth replied automatically.
"I'll make sure to take her phone at her next visit."
Elisabeth chuckled. He was so very particular that it tickled her at times. "You're right, it was good for them." Elisabeth cu
ddled Bennett's arm as she lay against it and pulled her feet up onto the seat to curl beneath her.
When they returned to Waldorf, Bennett escorted Elisabeth up to her room, where Celia was running a bath. He looked at his watch and told her he would return in half an hour. On his way down to Brayden's study, he passed Alice's door ajar, and walked in. She turned her head from the glass house and sat up on one elbow.
"Uncle Bennett."
"You're supposed to be sleeping, young lady," he said, as he walked into the otherwise dark room. The fire had settled down, but the small light from the glass house cast a glow on Alice's face.
"Are you still cross with Father?" she found herself asking.
"I'm not cross with your father," he replied, as he stopped beside the bed and bent down over her.
"It feels like it," Alice replied, as she looked up at him. She knew better than to speak so casually to her uncle, but she could sense when something was off. Her father and her uncle not sharing a brandy and a meaningful discussion multiple times a week was suspicious enough.
"Sometimes we disagree, but nothing has changed."
Alice nodded.
"Be a good girl, and go to sleep." Bennett kissed her forehead, then stood up and left the room. Alice smiled to herself in the dark. She was relieved to hear that.
Brayden was in his study typing when Bennett knocked twice on the door.
"We just got in; Elisabeth is taking a bath, and Alice has had another kiss goodnight."
"Thank you, Bennett," he said, as he finished typing his sentence, then hit 'send'. He turned away from the LCD screen of his computer and looked at his friend. "I need to go abroad tomorrow." That hardly seemed typical for Brayden. "Can you take the girls?"
Bennett closed the study door behind him and approached the desk.
"I'll be away until Monday, so only three days," Brayden said, as he avoided eye contact.
"Is everything all right?" Bennett wasn't sure how much he should pry.
"Yes. I just need to go and take care of a few things, and I can't take Alice with me."
Bennett nodded. It seemed Brayden didn't want to divulge specifics; most unlike their friendship.
"Well, Elisabeth can't stay with me, but I'll ring my parents; they would love to have her all to themselves. I'll take Alice to Barton-Court."
"Thank you, and I apologise for the short notice. My flight is in the late afternoon, so I will make sure the girls are there just before luncheon."
* * * * *
"Where is he going?"
"Celia, I think Elisabeth's hair is long enough for you to plait it," Bennett remarked, ignoring the question.
Elisabeth looked up at him in the mirror as she sat at the dressing table. Bennett had a pleased look in his eye as he stood by, supervising.
"Two French plaits for bed this evening, I think. White ribbon will do."
Elisabeth inverted her eyebrows. "Bennett, I'm – "
"Was that a 'yes, Sir' I heard?" he asked, putting a finger at the edge of his ear.
She raised an eyebrow at him in the mirror. "I'm not sure you did. It must be your age, dear."
Bennett clicked his tongue in disapproval and walked a few steps closer. "Thank you, Celia, I'll take it from here." The head housekeeper gave an acknowledging curtsey and left the bedroom.
"I didn't know how else to get rid of her," Elisabeth offered, innocently looking at Bennett in the mirror. "Back chat seemed my only option."
He shook his head and held his palm up, indicating the comb on the dressing table in front of her. Elisabeth glanced at him and then placed the comb in his hand.
"It was my full attention you wanted, was it?" Bennett asked, looking at her in the mirror. He parted Elisabeth's hair with the comb and reached for one of the two small hairbands on the dressing table. Bennett secured one side of her hair in the hairband so it was out of the way.
"You know how to French plait?" she asked, starting to turn around to look at him.
Bennett turned her head back to face the mirror and met her eyes there.
"I'm going to be married to a girl I wish to see in French plaits. I had to learn in the case that one of my maids is ill." He gave her a look and then began braiding at the top on the left side.
Elisabeth had tried to be funny with her previous comment, but once Bennett handled it with calm authority and began to braid her hair, she felt rather shown up. She sat quietly as Bennett expertly braided down to the bottom and secured it with the hairband, then a white satin hair ribbon. He moved to the other side, only gaining a few glances from Elisabeth in the mirror. When he finished, Bennett signalled for her to get up from the stool. She stood in front of him and let her eyes rise only to the perfect knot of his tie.
"Now then, who answered me back in front of the staff?" Bennett lifted her chin.
Elisabeth's cheeks burned red. "I did, Sir."
"Hmm. And who's just had her hair done as though she were still in junior school?"
She averted her eyes even though Bennett held her chin.
"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Me, Sir," she replied quietly.
"Indeed." Bennett let go of her chin and put his hands behind his back. "And who is going to be a good girl whilst she stays with my parents?"
Elisabeth pressed her lips together, pretty certain her organs were melting – he really knew how to make her squirm. "I will, Sir." Right before Elisabeth had asked where her Uncle Brayden was going, he told her she would be staying with his parents when he was out of town. Much to his secret delight, Elisabeth would be under the watchful eye of his parents.
"I would like to be certain of that," he said, indicating with his index finger as he pulled his hands out from behind his back. Elisabeth's heart wasn't racing, it was more like jumping up and down.
Bennett sat in one of the Louis XV chairs near the fireplace as it blazed a calm, warm glow – similar to what Elisabeth knew she'd be feeling across her backside soon enough. He pulled her to stand beside him.
"This is the first time you will be alone with my mother and father, and I expect you to behave properly." He raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Sir," she replied shyly.
"Perhaps I'll phone and check on you after I know you've been put to bed."
She shook her head sheepishly.
"No?" he asked.
"No, Sir," she murmured. Elisabeth really wished Bennett would wait until they were married before he said those sorts of things, it wasn't helping to avoid thinking about snogging his face off.
"They are your parents, too. You understand that, don't you?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir."
There was a strange arousal at his words. Bennett wished they'd been married that night as badly as Elisabeth did. What he was about to put in place was awkwardly delicious.
"I would like you to start referring to them properly, starting from Friday when I take you there." Bennett looked as though he'd been thinking about it for a while, and in that moment came to a final decision.
"Will they like that?" Elisabeth wasn't being rebellious. She was concerned it might be offensive. What if they didn't want to be called 'mother' and 'father' by her?
Bennett pulled her one step closer. "They always wanted a little girl," he said.
"Yes, but – ", Elisabeth tried to explain.
"This is a matter of obedience, Elisabeth, and nothing more," he replied, and guided her across his lap. He pulled her nightdress up, and her knickers down. "I expect you to let them look after you. Don't push them away, Elisabeth."
She stared at the floor and felt a little tug in her chest at the idea of Bennett being disappointed in how she responded, or didn't respond, to his parents. She hated disappointing him, and she didn't like the idea of pushing them away. It wasn't flattering that she had to be told such a thing.
"Now, this is for forgetting my title during the dress fittings, and then answering me back in front of Celia just now," he said, and gave her one good, h
ard smack across her bottom.
"What are you being punished for?" Bennett asked.
"Forgetting your title, Sir, and answering you back," she replied. He'd caught her off-guard; he didn't normally play questions and answers during punishment. He pulled his hand back and brought it down again, and repeated it until he reached twenty. Elisabeth didn't cry, although her eyes watered from all the stinging.
"With regards to my parents, am I made perfectly clear on how you are to address them from now on? Starting with your stay over the weekend?" Bennett asked. He loved the way it felt to mandate Elisabeth call his parents by the same formal titles he'd grown up using.
"Yes, Sir," she replied. She could almost feel the arousal in the air. She was attracted to Bennett more than she'd ever been, on a subject that would have otherwise made her blood boil. If Bennett hadn't been the kind of man he was, Elisabeth probably would have walked right out of the room.
"If you disobey me, or if I don't hear their proper titles, what will happen?"
"A jolly good thrashing?"
Bennett brought his hand down on her backside again.
"Ow!" she whimpered.
"You sound unsure about that."
"I wasn't positive those were the right words, Sir," Elisabeth whimpered, again.
"They're quite precise. Get along into bed," he said, as he pulled up her knickers and replaced her nightdress.
"Yes, Sir," she replied. Elisabeth couldn't prevent the huge smile that crossed her face as they walked to her bed. Yes, their wedding night was going to be a wild ride. Whenever that was. She could hardly wait.
Chapter Eighteen
Alice, who didn't like any kind of change, was the first to give Brayden random morbid facts about flying and travelling abroad, at the breakfast table no less.
"Darling, that will do. Uncle Bennett is going to look after you, and Elisabeth will be staying at Greystone. I will be back on Monday."
Alice waited until Bennett arrived to collect them both before she delivered her final rebuttal. "But we've never been apart."