“Hmm...” Henry mumbled in agreement, trying to control his breathing. He was on the verge of hyperventilating with excitement because of Sarah lying so close to him, their arms and hands only inches apart from each other.
“That one up there... it looks like one of Thelmaʼs apple pies, donʼt you think?” Sarah pointed her finger at a little fluffy cloud in the sky.
“Very much so,” Henry replied.
A wasp was circling around Sarahʼs head. Sarah watched it for a while, but when the wasp threatened to come closer to her face, she raised her hand—the one that had been lying so close to Henryʼs—and tried to chase the insect away.
Henry reacted quickly. While Sarah was busy defending her face from a wasp attack, Henry secretly moved his hand and positioned it at the exact spot where Sarahʼs hand had lain before, hoping that his sly plan would work out.
It did, because when Sarah let her hand fall back onto the ground, it landed right on his hand.
“Oh, I am sorry...!” Startled, she quickly let her hand slip down from his.
But not entirely.
Their little fingers were still touching. Henry was sure this was no coincidence.
“It is alright,” he said, trying to sound casual. He instinctively knew that this was the moment he had been waiting for. He also knew that if he didnʼt react now, he would never be granted a similar chance.
And so he waited a short while until Sarah had calmed down again, then he ever so gently let his little finger slide over her little finger. He was worried she might back away, but she didnʼt move, and not a single sound was coming from her mouth. He noticed, however, that her breathing had become quite shallow.
He slowly turned his head to face her. She appeared shaken and didnʼt dare to look at him. Still, she didnʼt back away.
Carefully, he let his other fingers slide over hers. And then, after yet another while, he covered her whole hand with his.
At first, there was no reaction from her side. But then, after only a few seconds, her fingers slowly and hesitantly curled around his thumb.
Henry wanted to scream out loud. He could not believe that all of this was really happening to him.
It must be a dream, he thought. Just a wonderful dream…
But when after a couple of minutes he felt how Sarah suddenly nestled her head on his shoulder, he realized that he was not dreaming at all.
Good Lord… he thought excitedly.
For a fleeting moment, Henry found that this was more than he was able to handle right now. Despite the fact that he had been the one to push all of this forward in order to finally make Sarah open up, he suddenly saw himself completely overwhelmed with fear because of her unexpected, straightforward manner. He got scared because of the effect she had on him. He got scared because his feelings for her made him weak and depending. She took away all of his strength, all of his control—a new sensation which he first had to get used to. He had never felt like that in the presence of a woman, had never felt entirely at a womanʼs mercy.
He wasnʼt granted much time to recover from his emotional turmoil, because suddenly Sarahʼs whisper broke the silence.
“Last night, Oscar told me that you are in love with me.”
Henryʼs heart missed a beat. A pleasant heat began to spread in his stomach. His ears got hot. His toes tingled.
“Did he?” he croaked, swearing to himself that the next time he met Oscar, he would strangle that little would-be Cupid for letting out all of Henryʼs secrets after having promised complete discretion.
Sarah remained silent for a moment. Then she whispered, “I am in love with you, too.”
Sarahʼs highly unexpected confession made Henryʼs heart hammer so strongly in his chest that he feared his whole body would burst. She slowly raised her head, her chin still resting on his shoulder. Then she looked at him longingly, as if she was in terrible need to hear what he had to say in reply to her declaration of love. She wanted to hear if Oscar had told her the truth.
Henry knew he needed to respond, but he was unable to. His mouth was terribly dry and his brain refused to come up with anything but gibberish. But as he needed to react in some way, he did the only thing that came to his mind, something that he had been desperate to do ever since Sarah had come to see him in the library at night, something that would be worth so much more than plain words, something that would give her the assurance she desired to have.
He raised his hand to touch the girlʼs face, his fingers gingerly stroking her cheek and exploring the feel of her soft skin. Then he carefully lifted her chin and bent to kiss her.
There was a glow in her eyes which he had never seen before. Her breathing accelerated, just as his, and her body trembled, just as his. She craned her neck, closed her eyes, and then, finally, their lips touched.
Henry noticed that her lips were lush and sweet like the pieces of peach which he got served up as a dessert every day. Only that the taste of the peaches was nothing compared to Sarahʼs sensual kiss. He sensed her inexperience, her insecurity, and found this sensation extremely exciting. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her closer to his body and kissed her, again and again, until she began to melt in his aura of warmth and passion, and until he believed to go insane.
“I am supposed to bring you to your senses,” he croaked breathlessly in between kissing. “But instead, it is you making me senseless...”
“What you do to me is much worse than that... I am just dying...” Sarah whimpered.
Henry smiled at her.
“You will not die,” he whispered softly. “I will gladly save you from all the bad things in the world if you let me...”
Sarah cast him a puzzled look as she was reflecting on the deeper meaning of his words which had sounded a little like a wedding vow.
Henry was puzzled himself. Two days ago, he was convinced he would leave Partridge Mansion and never return. But this option was, of course, completely out of the question now. Happily, he embraced Sarah and held her tight, his hands gently sliding up and down her back, while the girl went in eager search of his mouth again. Her lips locked with his, and he felt her incredible hunger for love and affection while she was taking her unfulfilled desire out on him. Every now and then, Henry felt that he had to keep Sarahʼs and his own passion a little in check before they threatened to do any foolish things which they could possibly regret later on. But they managed to not entirely lose their minds, although Henry secretly wished they wouldnʼt have to restrain themselves for so many reasons, one of which being Damian Cox.
Still, Henry burst with happiness, and looking at Sarah he realized that she felt the same because an angelic, blissful smile was playing over her lips. He had not really deemed her capable of a smile like that, especially not on the day when he had met her for the first time. Thinking back to that moment, he realized that what he had seen then had not been the real Sarah at all but a distorted version of hers, the result of a life lived in unhappiness and despair.
But now it seemed that she had opened up her heart.
He had opened up her heart.
Time went by at speed of light, though. When, much later, Henry threw a glance at his pocket watch, he noticed that it was already half past eleven.
“I am afraid we have to go,” he whispered into Sarahʼs ear. For the past hour, she had been lying in his arms, dozing happily, her head nestled at the hollow of his neck.
“I do not want to go…” The despair and longing in her eyes almost broke Henryʼs heart.
“We will be together again tomorrow,” he said softly, stroking her head with his hands, trying in vain to readjust her messy hair.
“We will be together, but not like this…”
Henry kissed her again, pulled her close to his body and embraced her.
“I swear I will always be near you in one way or the other...” He smiled at her reassuringly even though he had not the slightest idea how to fulfill his promise.
Hesitantly, Sarah let go of him
, got up and removed some grass and flower petals from her dress. Then Henry took her by the hand, and when they slowly made their way back home, he suddenly found that Oscarʼs decision to play Cupid had not been too bad after all.
All too soon, they reached the edge of the forest, and when the mansion came in sight, ominously towering in front of them, Henry saw himself immediately overcome with revulsion. He had never been able to better comprehend Sarahʼs urge to rebel in the face of this massive epitome of pressure and gloom than now that he had spent a couple of carefree and cheerful hours with her in the solitude of the woods.
But there was also the sensation of worry; worry that it indeed might have been too daring to leave the mansion grounds. After all, they had been gone all morning. Not that he regretted the little excursion in any way, but he wondered if it would bring certain consequences if Lord Partridge heard about their ʻBiology lessons in the open;ʼ and Henry was certain that Lady Partridge would inform her husband about it.
“Sarah,” he mumbled thoughtfully, “would you do me a favor?”
“Anything you want…” Sarah breathed and was just about to cling to him and kiss him again, but he took her hand and led her over to a tree trunk where they both sat down.
“I want you to listen carefully to what I am going to tell you now, and then I want you to learn the things that I am going to tell you by heart,” Henry said, insistently. “All of this will be much more important than the names of the kings. Do you understand me?”
Sarah nodded eagerly.
“I do.”
“Good.” Henry let out a sigh of relief. Then he began to hold a short Biology lecture while Sarah attentively listened to what he had to say, trying to memorize every word.
“Do you think you will be able to remember this later on?” Henry asked uncertainly after a little while.
But when Sarah eagerly nodded again, he felt safe enough to finally return with her to the mansion, praying to God that everything would work out the way he hoped it would.
* * *
They entered the mansion as tutor and student, displaying a decent distance between them. They parted with the politeness appropriate for two people who know each other only from sharing a couple of hours of lessons every day. And they both spent the afternoon going after their tasks like two people who are so occupied with other things that they almost forget that the other one exists.
In their hearts, though, they were like two people who feel as if they have known each other all their lives and as if the world has no meaning to them anymore unless they can be together; two people whose minds are filled with fantasies about exploring the loved oneʼs body and mind, and who are thirsty for the next possible occasion where they can be together.
During dinner, Henry forced himself not to look at anyone, as he was sure that the glow in his eyes would give away all his feelings for Sarah. The latter was blankly staring at the plate in front of her, occasionally risking a shy and quick glance at Henry. But he didnʼt dare to look back at her.
Sitting at the table with the Partridges now, it occurred to him that by being in love with Sarah he was playing with fire. Not only did he risk her welfare, he also risked being dismissed—and hence put their few moments of togetherness entirely at stake. He knew they had to be careful, no matter how much in love they were; or else, all would be lost and he would never be able to see Sarah again.
Lord Partridge was struggling with a chicken leg. The meat was as tough as a piece of leather as Thelma had overdone it a little bit. Henry guessed that because of all the stress with the laundry, she had forgotten to pull the chicken out of the oven in time. He didnʼt care, as he wasnʼt hungry anyway. He was far too nervous and excited to eat something and constantly caught himself thinking back to the hours he had spent with Sarah in the forest, thinking back to the moment of her sweet confession.
I am in love with you, too...
“It has come to my attention, Mr. Abbott, that you did an experiment today: holding class in the open.” Lord Partridgeʼs voice tore him out of his stupor.
“Indeed, Lord Partridge,” Henry answered politely. “It was very warm in the classroom, and Miss Sarah did not feel very well due to this. And, to be quite frank, neither did I. So we decided to go outside.”
“And for what reason did you not stay in the garden?”
Lord Partridge cast Henry a slightly suspicious glance.
“Well, as I found that it would be good if Miss Sarah got some physical exercise, I ultimately decided to combine the latter with Biology lessons. This form of education was a common practice at elementary school in London where I taught before,” Henry lied.
“You went to the forest in London?” Lord Partridge asked in a doubtful tone. “As far as I know, there is not a single forest in London for miles around.”
“We went to the park, of course,” Henry answered, hoping that Lord Partridge would eventually stop with his interrogation as Henry gradually began to run out of plausible arguments. He pondered if he should also mention that it would have been impossible to learn in the garden with the laundry riot going on and Lady Partridge shouting like a sergeant major. But of course he didnʼt say a word.
“Well, it is an interesting approach. I told you before that I am not entirely against reforms, as long as they are within reason,” Lord Partridge said, still sounding slightly sceptical. “And what exactly did you teach her?”
Henry threw a quick and secretive glance at Sarah.
Hadnʼt he known all along that this would be coming?
Sarah understood the message which he sent her with his eyes and knew that it was her turn now to speak.
“Mr. Abbott explained to me how photosynthesis works,” she said.
Henry remembered that it had indeed taken her ages until she had been able to pronounce the word ʻphotosynthesisʼ correctly and wondered if she had secretly written it down on the palm of her hand so that she wouldnʼt forget.
“Is that so?” Lord Partridge asked, curiously looking up from his plate. “And can you explain to me how it works then?”
Donʼt let me down, Sarah...
“Well...” Sarah began a little pompously, “just like us, plants and trees need something to eat, but they can not go and get their food like animals or human beings because they do not have feet.”
“Obviously,” Lord Partridge remarked, not appearing very impressed at this stage.
“But nature has equipped them with special leaves which have pigments called chor… cholera...”
Sarah looked helplessly at Henry, who promptly reacted and secretly mouthed the word in order to help her.
“Chlorophyll!” Sarah continued. “And these leaves have tiny slits at the bottom through which they suck up air. And then the pigments with the terrible name extract carbon dioxide out of the sucked-up air with the help of sunlight. After that, the carbon dioxide gets together with the water that is in the tree, and then they both create an energy called glucose. And that is what the plants and trees eat. Of course, this is just a highly simplified model. In reality it is far more complex.”
Henry could not refrain from smiling a little to himself. He found that Sarah had done very well although her lecture had sounded pretty much cited from the heart—which it had been after all. Still, it seemed to have the desired effect.
Lord Partridge appeared slightly dazzled. He took a sip of his wine and remained silent for a moment. Despite the unmoved expression on his face, Henry could sense that the lord was impressed. Still, it would not have been typical for Lord Partridge to say anything to acknowledge what he had just heard. But Henry didnʼt care. This wasnʼt about acknowledgement. This was about pretending that they had spent the morning doing serious studying instead of doing other things which they shouldnʼt have done.
“And you needed four hours to teach her that, Mr. Abbott?” Lord Partridge finally asked.
Henry didnʼt fail to notice the sarcasm in the lordʼs voice. But he had seen this comin
g, too. He realized that he was a really quick learner. It had only taken him a few days to get a feel for the distorted minds of the Partridges and to find out how to react accordingly to their nagging questions.
“Well, we also looked at various types of plants and trees, which might be useful to know,” he explained. “And apart from that, we also tried to improve Miss Sarahʼs knowledge on British history by talking about former monarchs.”
“I do not consider all of this as particularly important in terms of Sarahʼs introduction into high society,” Lord Partridge said matter-of-factly. “Nobody there will be really amazed by the news that plants and trees do not have feet.”
“I thought it would be good to broaden Miss Sarahʼs horizon in general. I generally share the view that it helps to know which monarchs reigned our country in past centuries and in which way they contributed to the state that our nation is currently finding itself in. After all, we learn from the past and hence can create a better future by avoiding mistakes that our predecessors might have made.”
Henry & Sarah Page 16