VIVIENNE CLEARED HER plate of food before retiring to the parlour. Many of the ladies were huddled around the room, mostly doing needlework or gossiping about the upcoming London season. She settled into one of the chaises near the front of the room and listened to the others around her. The conversations were quite boring, and she found herself woolgathering on more than a few occasions.

"When do you think the gentlemen will be back from their hunt?"

Vivienne blinked her eyes as the chaise dipped with pressure and Lady Fiona settled in beside her. "Pardon?"

"I was asking if the hunt normally takes long?"

"I don't know," Vivienne said quietly. The duke hadn't exactly stated the time they would be back, but it was assumed that supper would be served together while they gentlemen would have lunch in the gamekeeper's cottage.

"Hmm," Fiona mused. "It's getting quite boring here, shall we go on our own adventure?"

Perplexed, Vivienne asked, "Where would we go?"

Lady Fiona's eyes twinkled with mischief. "We could always go to the village. Have you been yet?"

"No," Vivienne said softly as she thought about the idea more. "It would be nice to take a walk down the village and see the various shops located there."

Lady Fiona grinned. "I knew you would agree."

"Are we going to go ourselves or invite other ladies to join us?"

Fiona paused for a moment, and she looked at the lady in front of them who seemed to be quite absorbed in her needlepoint. "Miss Julia, would you like to come with us to the village?"

Miss Julia looked up from her work, scrunching her nose. "What would there be to see except peasants?"

Vivienne's eyes widened at Miss Julia's comment, but she held in her remark. Her and Lady Fiona exchanged a glance and Vivienne knew they had both arrived at the decision to not invite anyone else.

They both stood, and walked to the doorway, catching the attention of the dowager countess who was just entering the room.

Lady Torrington narrowed her grey eyes, "and where do you two think you are going?"

Before Vivienne could answer, Fiona started speaking. "Just for a little walk around the manor. It was getting quite suffocating in here."

Lady Torrington looked at the two of them suspiciously before she looked past them inside the parlour. "I suppose there isn't much going on here at the moment, so I do believe it is fine for the two of you to go."

Vivienne smiled, "thank you," as Lady Fiona grabbed her by the arm and began tugging her away.

"Why didn't you tell her we were going to the village?" Vivienne said in hushed whispers, weary of anyone else overhearing them.

"Do you really believe the dowager countess would allow us to go to the village without a chaperone?"

Vivienne's eyes rounded, "I thought we would be taking a chaperone with us," she said nervously.

"Oh, they'll only be a spoilsport!"

Vivienne imagined Chrissy coming along with them and she knew right then that Fiona was correct. Having a chaperone would be an unnecessary burden. Besides, they were only travelling to the village, which wasn't that much of a distance from Chalcott manor—or so she believed.

The two of them walked up the stairs before Fiona spoke, "Grab your travelling cloak and bonnet. We shall meet at the front door."

Vivienne nodded. She slipped into her room and began looking for her travelling cloak. Because she didn't use it quite often, it wasn't with her normal day gowns. She sighed as her body filled with dread. She might have to ask Chrissy where the maid had placed the cloak, making it one of the last things Vivienne wanted to do. Luckily, a stray cloth caught her eyes and she yanked it forward to see that it was indeed her cloak. Slipping it over her body, she switched into riding boots before walking to the front door where Lady Fiona already waited.

"Ready?" Fiona asked, as she approached.

Vivienne glanced at her forest green cloak and nodded. Martin stood at the door as always. "Leaving again, Lady Vivienne?"

She gave the butler a sweet smile. "We were hoping to visit the village. Neither I nor Lady Fiona have had the chance to do so yet."

"Enjoy your trip," Martin said solemnly. "Although most of the horses have been taken for the hunt, there should be a few available in the stables."

"We shall check with the stable master." Fiona said before she tugged Vivienne out the door once more.

They walked the path to the stables where most of the stalls were empty. Normally, it was crawling with stable boys, but they must have taken off because they thought nobody else would come.

She exchanged a glance with Fiona, "Hello?" she called out.

There was no reply.

"I don't think anyone is here."

Vivienne nodded her head in agreement. She walked towards the stall where normally Honeysuckle resided but was surprised to see it empty. She did not believe that Honeysuckle's temperament made her the correct horse to take out on a hunt, but who was she to know?

"What do we do now? I don't believe we can walk to the village."

Fiona brushed off her concerns. "It won't be too far away. Besides, it is much better to breathe in the fresh country air before you travel to London—it can be quite horrid there."

Vivienne was still nervous; she wasn't used to walking long distances and it frightened her to do so alone. As if noticing her state, Fiona walked closely to her before placing her hands-on Vivienne's shoulders.

"Breathe. Close your eyes and feel the wind whipping about. Feel the grass beneath the souls of your riding boots. It will be quite the adventure, and if you get tired or feel uncomfortable, we can always turn back."

Vivienne's eyes popped open, and she glanced back at Fiona. Her bonnet was tightly tied but she saw the trust in the lady's eyes. They could do this.

***

"I see it!" Fiona shouted in excitement as she ran up the hill, leaving Vivienne to trail behind her.

They had been walking for what seemed like hours however, it hadn't felt that way. Fiona had a way of making things more exciting than they actually were. They had stopped to smell wildflowers along the path, hummed pieces of music, and laughed and joked as they spoke about an array of topics. Vivienne felt as though she had finally made a true friend and there was a sense of warmness she felt whenever she was around Fiona.

"Race you till the bottom?" Fiona asked, her eyebrows raised.

Vivienne smiled, "certainly."

Before she could finish the sentence, Fiona began running down the hill with Vivienne chasing behind her. Vivienne laughed as the wind picked up Fiona's bonnet however, the lady was determined, and she didn't stop for a moment. Strands of red hair flew through and Vivienne tugged on her own bonnet before letting it flee in the wind.

Both panting heavily, they reached the cobbled roads.

"I won," Fiona said, as she bent over panting heavily.

"That's because you started a few seconds before me!"

Lady Fiona smiled, "Now, don't be such a spoilsport. There is always next time for you to win."

Vivienne was slightly disappointed however, she smiled at her friend. If Fiona was saying there would be a next time, it meant that they would see each other again. As they walked through the village, a pang of sadness washed over Vivienne. She remembered her own village and the many times she would walk along a path similar to this one to reach the cottage she shared with Agatha.

As if noticing the change in mood, Fiona turned to her. "What's wrong?"

Vivienne shook her head, while avoiding her gaze. "It's nothing."

It looked as though Fiona was thinking of saying something else, but she held her tongue. Suddenly, she grasped Vivienne's arm who became immediately alarmed, "what?"

Fiona's eyes closed as she took a long sniff. "Do you smell that?"

Vivienne watched as a couple of people walked through the path giving them curious looks. She pulled her friend to the side, "No, what do you smell?"

"Freshly made bread. There must be a bakery somewhere!"

Vivienne looked at the various shops on the streets and sure enough a couple of steps away from them was a bakery. "Let's take a look."

Fiona linked her arm through Vivienne's as they stepped into the bakery. It smelled absolutely divine. They purchased some bread to share amongst themselves while chatting with the short bald baker who told them he ran the place with his sons.

"Is there anything else special in the village?" Fiona asked him, giving him the coins for their purchase.

"Not much here, but the lads do like to check out the tavern. There is some dancing there on certain nights, you ladies might enjoy it." he gave them a wink and a toothy grin which Fiona returned.

As they stepped outside the shop, Vivienne saw Fiona's eyes glinting.

"Absolutely not, we are not going to the tavern!"

"Come on Vivienne," she pleaded. "I know you've always been curious to see one. We can have one drink before heading back to the manor."

Vivienne really didn't have a good feeling about the idea, but Fiona's pleading gaze caused her to relent. "One drink, and then we head back," she echoed.

Fiona burst into the largest smile before she began tugging Vivienne along the cobble path. They entered the tavern, and Vivienne shrunk while gripping Fiona's sleeve tightly. Although nobody looked up when they entered, as they passed a group of burly men, they leered at them, making Vivienne's skin crawl.

"Ignore them, keep your head high." Fiona whispered to her.

"Easier said then done," Vivienne mumbled.

She tried avoiding everyone's gaze as Fiona thankfully selected a table in the corner of the room. A barmaid came towards them a few minutes later, her dress indecently cut, allowing everyone a view of her ample bosom.

"What can I get yer fin' ladies?"

"We'd like a drink." Fiona announced to her.

The barmaid cackled. "Oh, my lovelies, first time here, ain't it?"

Vivienne and Fiona exchanged a look, "is it that obvious?"

The barmaid looked them over once before nodding. "It is, I haven't seen such finely dressed ladies in a long time. Did you get loss or somethin'?"

Fiona cleared her throat, "We didn't get lost. The baker recommended us to visit the tavern and so we decided to get a look."

"Hmm," the barmaid said nonchalantly. "Do yer know what you wanna drink?"

"I'm sure anything you have will be fine," Vivienne said before Fiona could ask for a list. She wanted the drink and to get out of the tavern as soon as possible. A part of her knew it was getting very close to suppertime, the dowager countess would be worrying about them soon enough.

The barmaid smiled wickedly. "I believe I have just the drink for yer ladies. Give me a moment and I'll bring it over."

Fiona reached into her pouch to place a few shillings in the barmaid's hand, "does this cover it?"

The barmaid quickly pocketed the money, "Aye."

She left then to bring them their drinks. Fiona was glancing around the room, "It's quite exciting, isn't it?"

Vivienne watched as a few men played cards and drank from tall frothy glasses, "Yes, it's different," she admitted. The forbidden aspect, of not being allowed to see such an establishment added an air of excitement.

The barmaid returned with two glasses of an amber-coloured liquid. "Enjoy," she said with a glint in her eyes.

Vivienne took a sip of her drink and immediately began coughing. Goodness it was atrocious. Across her, Fiona was struggling to swallow the drink as well. However, something in Vivienne made her keep drinking until the glass was empty and there was no amber liquid left.

The world began spinning slightly and she giggled as she looked at Fiona, "There are two of you!"

Lady Fiona laughed, "I see four of you!"

Vivienne slammed her glass down on the table and it clattered loudly, "Bring us more!" she shouted.

Some of the other patrons looked at the two of them but Vivienne ignored them, she was feeling warm and cozy. She wacked the glass off the table and glass shards covered the floor, "oops," she said with a toothy smile.

Lady Fiona looked at the floor in horror, "You broke the glass!"

Vivienne glanced at the dirty floor and laughed, "I guess I did." She grabbed Fiona's glass, "Want me to break yours as well?"

Fiona grabbed the glass back from Vivienne, "No! I want to do it."

She made way to drop the glass, however it was caught at the last moment by the barmaid. "Yer two have been naughty."

"We are having fun," Fiona informed her haughtily.

The barmaid looked at them wryly as she passed them another drink. "Here is what yer requested, just make sure to not have too much fun."

Fiona and Vivienne shared a smile, "We wouldn't dream of it."

-----------------

Oh no, what kind of trouble are the ladies going to get into ;)