The temperature in the room felt as though it had dropped to match that of the world outside the door. I wanted to run to the coat hook and slip my jacket back on to try and fight the cold, but the cold had little to do with the season. It merely matched the atmosphere between myself and the Ealing's. We could have cut the tension in the room with a teaspoon had we wanted to, though that would have only added the awkwardness of the situation. I hadn't wanted to see the Ealing's until I felt ready, yet there they were. They stood right in front of me without so much as saying a word. No one even wanted to acknowledge I was standing there.

I drew the inventory book closer to my chest and wrapped my arms around it as though it had become my only line of defence were anything to happen. James watched me out of the corner of his eye, and I knew he expected me to say or do something, but I just stood there. My mind told me to run, but I didn't, and I certainly didn't know what to say to them. Everything just went blank and I found myself just staring at them hoping they would either turn their attention to James or leave. I longed for the latter.

"Mother, it's Rosie!" Charlotte said in a not so hushed whisper. She leaned forward as though she were about to take a step towards me, but Mrs Ealing tightly gripped her shoulder to keep her from moving.

"Remember your etiquette lessons, Charlotte," Mrs Ealing snapped. Her nails seemingly dug into Charlotte's shoulder as Charlotte dropped her head to the floor and allowed her arms to swing by her sides.

"Why don't you go and see if you can find my sketchbook, I think it's in the office," James said, turning to look at me.

"Good idea," I muttered

With the inventory book hugged tightly against my chest, I walked past James and trained my eyes to the ground so I wouldn't have to make eye contact with any of them. We both knew where James kept his sketchbook, the right-side drawer of his desk. He had simply used it as an excuse so I could make my exit and spend time in the office until he called for me again. When I reached the office, I closed the door slightly behind me, dropped the inventory book onto the desk and sunk down into the chair behind it. I sighed loudly and pressed the palms of my hands against my face.

In the month since I left service, I had tried to figure out what I would say to them were I to ever see them again and every time I had drawn a blank. There didn't appear to be any way I could explain myself, were the opportunity to come up, without having to tell them about Mrs Ealing hitting me with the cane or the note from Robert. Both of which were things I did not want them to know about, the note more than anything else. Mrs Ealing had been beyond angry when she thought I had feelings for Robert, if she knew how he felt I almost knew how she would react. I didn't want to be the one to ruin his relationship with his own mother.

By the looks on their faces, I knew none of them were happy to see me and even Esther – who had lingered in the back – didn't look happy. I didn't blame, I blamed myself for thinking I would be able to offer a decent explanation to them when I knew they did not want to hear. There would be nothing I could say or do that would make up for what I had done. All I wanted to do was hide away in the office until they left, but I knew I could never do that. They had seen me, they knew I was there, and I couldn't escape that. I just had to avoid eye contact until they left.

That was always easier said than done.

"Rosie! Did you find my sketchbook?" James called from the shop.

"Yes, I'm coming!" I replied. I pulled over the drawer and grabbed the sketchbook, stacking it on top of the inventory book and standing up. James muttered something incoherent as I grabbed the two books and pushed the door open with my foot. "It was in your desk drawer."

"I knew that," James mumbled, accepting the book.

I returned to the collection of small drawers to finish the inventory I had started when the Ealing's had walked in. Kitty lingered near the door but scurried over to join me as James took Mrs Ealing to the sofa and began to discuss the style of the outfits she wanted. She reeled off three dress and three suit jackets, all of which she wanted by Christmas. As far as I knew, Mrs Ealing had never bought a single thing from James, nor had she seen and of the dress or dinner jackets, he had made. It felt odd that she would ask James for these things when I knew she had a different tailor who made most of her clothes.

"Our current tailor is travelling to India and a family friend, the Blacklock's, told us you were on par and I don't have time to go to a mediocre tailor. The Blacklock's are trustworthy people which is one of the reasons we plan on uniting our families. Their Maisie is the same age as our Robert and this dinner will be imperative, so we must look our best."

Kitty stopped me from shutting my finger in one of the drawers as I listened to the conversation taking place just a short distance away. I heard James stumble and stutter to find a response to something that came out of the blue and was a surprise to all of us. Even Doctor Ealing made a noise of discomfort in reaction to his wife's seemingly odd comment. She had mentioned it purely to get a reaction out of me and I had almost given her the satisfaction by slamming my fingers into a drawer. At least I understood her reason for turning up at James' shop when there were plenty of other tailors that she could have used, regardless of what she thought of them.

She had never been all that pleased with the possibility of me being sweet on Robert and by making her announcement in such a way, she had made it clear he had never felt the same way. Of course, I knew the truth, but I would turn around and admit that to her face. I didn't know if Robert still felt sweet towards me, but I did know that whatever the arrangement in merging the two families may have been, it would have been Mrs Ealing's idea and not Robert's. Her plan to unite the family with the Warrington's had fallen flat when their link to the factory had been discovered. Marrying into the Blacklock's would solidify Mrs Ealing's place in society and that mattered more than the happiness of her children.

James worked quickly to move the topic of conversation back to the outfit designs that Mrs Ealing seemed rather set on. The designs were more extravagant than anything else James had worked on in the past and even Kitty gave me a raised eyebrow. She wanted as many embroideries and extras as she could possibly have and no amount of interruptions from James could talk her out of it. He had never turned away a customer before, but the longer Mrs Ealing talked the more he appeared to be debating it.

"Can you do beadwork? Our other tailor designed dresses for the girls with beading along the embroider at the top and bottom," Mrs Ealing said.

"That depends on whether or not we have any beads. Rosie? How is our inventory looking?" James turned around to look at me and I watched Kitty scramble to the other side of the room, so she didn't look as out of place.

"Let me have a look," I said. I grabbed the small wooden draw labelled beads and pulled it open, the small collection of glass beads within rolled around. "We have about twelve of them."

"Ah, probably not enough for beadwork."

"If it's that important, I could always add it to the order form. It will take about two weeks, though."

"Two weeks?" Mrs Ealing exclaimed.

"We could work on the design, choose the fabric and begin the embroider in that time, it'll just take a little longer than usual," James said.

"Hm, very well."

I glanced to James who offered me a small nod in confirmation of adding the beads to the small list of orders we needed. We had never ordered beads unless we needed them since they were a rare addition to most designs James' ended up for filing. A large majority of his customers wanted something simple, an everyday dress that could be worn around London. Since Christmas had approached, there had been more orders for extravagant material but very few which involved intricate work such as beading. The embroidery just involved a needle, thread and a sketched-out pattern to go onto the fabric but beading always involved a little more. If Mrs Ealing intended to show off, beading would be the best way to do that.

He turned the conversation back to the overall design of the outfits and I closed the small drawer and walked to the stack of paper from that morning that reminded on a table beside the sofa. Robert, who had perched himself on the edge of the sofa, watched me pick the order form up, add on the addition of beads and place it back down. The edge of his mouth made it seem like he had something to say, but he didn't say it. Instead, he just watched me gather the stack of papers into my arms and take them into James' office so I knew where they were by the time, we could shut up the shop for the evening. I just needed James to sign the order form.

After placing the stack of paper into the office, I returned to the inventory list and checked the cloth bolts on the wall and the line of thread reels we kept in a glass-fronted cabinet. There were threads of all colour, most of which matched the rolls of fabric in some way or another and if they didn't, we order some. Since an order we placed several weeks prior had arrived, we did not need extra thread. The only thing missing was a small reel of gold colour thread that James had squirrelled away for the dress he was making for me. I didn't think I needed a new dress, but James seemed adamant I needed something to wear for Christmas, and my birthday.

"We might be here for a while would you mind putting the kettle on? You know where we keep the biscuits as well," James said, tilting his bead to look at me as I noted the thread we had.

"I know where they are, but I can't guarantee there are any in there," I said.

"You're as bad as Christopher, stealing all my biscuits. Go on, go!"

He waved me towards the back room, and I grinned at him, placing the book down on the side table and disappearing into it. Christopher and I were always stealing his biscuits when his back was turned and since he was always leaning over his sketchpad, that happened to be most of the time. I filled the kettle up with water and lit the stove. Whilst I boiled, I reached up to the cupboard and grabbed the small, flower-covered jar that served as the storage for the biscuits. There were biscuits in there, but not that many. Christopher had almost eaten the entire jar the last time we were left on our own in the shop. I put a few of the leftover biscuits onto a small plate and returned the jar to its rightful place.

Since returning from America, Christopher had originally been helping me reorganise the shop and move things from place to place whilst my knee healed. He wasn't at all like I remembered him to be and had relaxed a great deal since we were children. He didn't ask questions about the factory or the Ealing's and had even bought me a collection of paints and pencils so I could get back into drawing. Once the shop was on the verge of completion, he put all his time into opening up his own law firm in the city centre and spent most of his time there. Accommodation hadn't been on the top of his list of things to do so he was staying with us until he could find his own housing.

All we needed was Matthew and we would all be under the same roof for the first time in seven years. Not that it seemed to make any difference, Matthew, Lily and Sebastian spent more time at the house then they did anywhere else. Sebastian was none too pleased with that arrangement, he didn't like spending time with the rest of us. Still, I liked being back with my family.

The whistle of the kettle broke through my thoughts and I pushed myself off the counter to grab hold of the kettle handle with a cloth. I poured the water into seven mugs which already had tea in them before setting it aside and giving each of the cups a stir. I placed all the mugs onto a large tray and added the plate of biscuits to the tray. Then, grabbing the tray by its handles, I pushed the door open with my foot and slowly walked over to the Ealing's.

"Ah, so there were biscuits," James said when I put the tray down.

"Hm, it seems we missed some when we raided the cupboard the other day," I replied.

"It seems you did. Go on, go and do something else, we have work to do."

"Fine." I grabbed a biscuit from the tray, hooked my fingers on the cup and carried it to a wooden chair at the far side of the room. I wrapped my fingers around the cup and took a sip whilst staring at James from across the room.

"Mother, I'm bored!" Charlotte declared, jumping up from the sofa and throwing her hands up in the air.

"Manners, Charlotte," Mrs Ealing said.

"This is going to take a while so why don't the twins go into my office and do some drawing to keep them occupied?"

"We couldn't intrude."

"It'll be no bother, Rosie can clear some space and I'm sure your servants can watch them. They seem a little lost over there."

Mrs Ealing sighed loudly as though realising she had no choice. Her idea to bring the twins to the shop appeared to have backfired if she wanted me to stay out of there way whilst they were there. She had never taken the twins to a tailor's during the time that I had worked for her and the day she decided to visit my brother's shop she bought them with her. An odd situation for anyone to be in but I didn't question it out loud. Instead, I took her sigh as acceptance to James' plan and once again crossed the room to the office and started to clear some space on the desk for the twins.

They shuffled in not long after and stood in the doorway watching me as I moved the piles of paper from the desk to an assortment of shelves and a wooden chair that sat in the corner. Neither of them said anything and I knew their mother had most likely told them they were no longer allowed to talk to me. Behind them followed Sarah and Esther, but Esther refused to make eye contact and Sarah wasn't entirely sure where to look. I didn't blame her all that much, she had been bought in to replace me after I left and had to deal with the fallout and no doubt the awkward atmosphere that followed.

I moved the last of papers onto a nearby shelf and grabbed a handful of blank paper from the drawer and placed it on the desk alongside some pencils. The twins had done a fair amount of drawing in the time I knew them so I knew it would keep them occupied just long enough for Mrs Ealing to finish designing the outfits she wanted.

"There we go, you can stay in here until your mother's done," I said.

"How long will that be?" Zachariah asked, looking at the stack of paper on the desk.

"Not too long. It will only be half an hour or so and then you can leave."

"That's too long."

"This will make the time fly by. I have to finish my inventory of the shop, so have fun."

Esther and Sarah parted ways slightly as I walked past them, stepping back into the main shop to finish the inventory that appeared to be taking a lifetime to complete. Mrs Ealing looked up and I watched her eyes follow me across the room to the chair I had been standing by when James had decided to send the twins to the office. My tea had cooled significantly, and I drank the entire mug in one sitting before grabbing the book and staring at the numbers that marked the fabric shelf.

Kitty crossed the room to join me, looming over my shoulder and reading the inventory list and watching me mark things off as I moved from shelf to shelf. We both listened to Mrs Ealing talk, no one willing to interrupt her. Not even Doctor Ealing cut in to offer a say on what she had been suggesting but I felt as though he had been keeping an eye on me more than anything what his wife said. There were a few times I glanced over from the shelf and caught him before he had a chance to look away. Were his wife not there, he might have even mentioned my leaving but he didn't and so it just hung in the air and almost made it suffocating.

I wanted someone to just come out and say it so it could stop walking on eggshells, refusing to look at them in case they took it the wrong way. It had never been my place to mention it to them, it had been my decision after, but I wanted someone to say it. Doctor Ealing and Robert both looked as though they were on the edge of mentioning it but Mrs Ealing wouldn't let them get a word in edgeways, so they just sat there in silence and watched me from the corner of their eyes. Matilda wouldn't even look at me and I knew why. When I had taken the job at their house, she said I couldn't hurt him, but I did.

The rest of James' meeting with Mrs Ealing felt like it went on for hours, but it didn't. I stretched the inventory out for the entire time and when they were done, I couldn't wait for them leave so I could finally breathe. It didn't feel like I had taken a breath since they had walked in.

"If you come by on Monday, I should have some new fabric in and we can make a decision, I'll do the measurements the same day and get to work," James said. He closed his sketchbook and gripped the ends of it tightly, looking to Mrs Ealing.

"I'll be sure to. You will have the beads in two weeks, as promised?"

"Yes, if we send the order today it should be two weeks, but it may be delayed. Two weeks is my best estimate."

"Very well. Charlotte, Zachariah! It's time to go!"

From the office came a cacophony of noise as the twins scrambled over their chairs to leave the office. They came running out whilst Esther and Sarah trailed behind them, the drawings seemingly forgotten in the office. Mrs Ealing muttered a word of thanks to James, glared at me and pushed the twins towards the door. Robert and Matilda followed with Doctor Ealing offering a smile to James and what might have been a smile in my direction as well, though I couldn't be certain. Once they had walked through the door, James slumped back against the chair and sighed.

"That was one of the worst meetings about clothing I have ever had." He turned to look at me. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, just a little stunned," I said.

"I expected more of an explosion if I'm honest but Mrs Ealing hardly looked at you and none of them spoke to you. Maybe you should go with Christopher next week, or until I've finished their outfits."

"Why? They know I'm going to be here, and it will just look as though I'm avoiding them. I'll just keep myself busy."

"If you're sure. If you change your mind, tell me and I'll discuss it with Christopher"

"I will." I paused. "I should go and clean up the office, I expect it's a bit of a mess."

"Alright."

I left James to collect himself after a seemingly tough meeting with Mrs Ealing and stepped into the office. Sheets of paper covered the desk and the stack of pencils had been knocked to the floor in their desperate attempt to leave. On the desk, only one sheet of paper had something on it and it wasn't a drawing.

It was four simple words.

Why did you leave?

~~

A/N - And we are back! You'll be pleased to hear I am now Eleven chapters deep into this story so as Uni work increases, I'll be able to keep up my updates going. 

Also, as you can see from the image above, I have a new book up! It's called Belle and is another Historical Fiction. I would love for you guys to check it out and see what you think!

Anyway, thoughts and questions on the chapter? Do you think Mrs Ealing crossed the line? Will Robert talk to Rosie and what do you think about the note left by the twins?

Comment below!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to FateFury who I saw reappear in my notifications to vote on the last remaining chapters of TSG!

First Published - January 28th, 2020