"As I said the other day, this is your decision to make Rosie," Doctor Ealing said, turning around to look at me. Mr Greyson stood awkwardly in the doorway, his hand grasped the edge of his hat whilst the other was still heavily bandaged after the incident with the hammer.

"I know, Sir," I said, pulling the cloth off of my shoulder and tying it around my hand.

"You can do it," Robert muttered, placing his hand where the cloth had been and giving my shoulder a squeeze.

"Rosie? What are you going to do?"

"I'll talk to him, Sir. As long as you don't mind, I wouldn't want it to interfere with my work."

"You've earned a break, you may use my office to talk."

"Thank you, Sir."

Doctor Ealing nodded and gesturing Mr Greyson inside, closing the door behind him before motioning him down the corridor and towards his office. Behind me, Robert released his hand from my shoulder and gave me a little nudge down the corridor, I turned around and glared at him. He turned his head and whistled to himself, retreating back into the drawing room but standing just within the doorway so he could watch what was going on. I watched from the far end of the hallway as Doctor Ealing gestured Mr Greyson and turned to look at me, raising an eyebrow as though he wasn't really sure what I was up to. I didn't blame him. I wasn't too sure either.

Taking a breath, I took the few steps down the hallway towards Doctor Ealing and Mr Greyson. The cloth was still knotted around my hand and I twisted it tighter and tighter as I entered the room, my fingers going numb the longer I kept it tied up. Mr Greyson slowly entered the room and glanced around at the shelves that lined the room. I followed close behind, continuing to twist the cloth as I stepped into the room. Doctor Ealing watched me from the doorway, his eyebrows furrowed together as he noted the cloth wrapped around my hand.

"If you need anything, I'm sure Robert will be willing to assist. Since he isn't studying now, I doubt he'll start any time soon, right Robert?" Doctor Ealing said

"Probably."

"I need to head into the office, I'm late enough as it is unless you want me to be here?" Doctor Ealing glanced at me.

"No, Sir, you should go."

"If you insist. Mr Greyson, it was good to see you again. I'll want to see you in my office in a week, so I can see how your hand is progressing."

"Of course, Doctor Ealing. My son really wants his treehouse."

"And he will get it soon enough. I'll leave you two to it."

Doctor Ealing nodded in my direction before turning and closing the door tightly behind him, leaving Mr Greyson and me in the room alone. The two of us stood facing the doorway without saying a word, neither of us really knowing what to say or do. My heart hammered away in my chest and I thought it was loud enough for Mr Greyson to hear it, but he just chewed on the inside of his cheek and glanced around the room. The silence felt as though it was buzzing around us like a swarm of bees, as though they had gotten stuck in the cupboard.

Without making a sound, I started to unravel the cloth from around my hand and loosening up my fingers to try and regain feeling. Shaking out my hand I crossed to the other side of the room and took a seat one of the chairs, rubbing each of my fingers. Mr Greyson watched me from the corner of his eye but remained rooted to the spot, I wasn't even sure he was still breathing. He had been the one who came to me, but he was refusing to say anything or even look me in the eye. We were both just as scared about what to say as the other and I wanted nothing more than to bolt from the room and return to the safety of the kitchen.

Drumming my fingers on my knees, I took a breath and glanced towards Mr Greyson. My heart was still hammering away against my ribcage as I watched him brush his hair off his forehead and slowly walk towards one of the shelves at the side of the room. He ran his fingers along the edge of the shelf and across the top of a small stone that rested on the shelf. Doctor Ealing had a lot of strange things in his office, and rock was one of them. I was sure there was a meaning to it, but I never asked, all I knew was that it was a pain to clean.

After several minutes, Mr Greyson took his hand off the shelf and sat down in the chair opposite Doctor Ealing's office. It was several seconds before he spoke.

"James didn't believe it was you." He turned to look at me. "When I told him, he thought I was mad and for a little while, I was inclined to agree with him. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence for me to end up in the office of the man you work for, on the day you were there."

"How did you know it was me?"

"I didn't, not at first. You looked familiar, but I thought Luke was right, that I had read about the factory fire in the newspaper and that was where I knew you from. It wasn't until you were named that I started to connect the dots. You look so much like Mother that once the dots were connected I was more than certain." He paused. "You've grown up so much."

"It's been seven years, children grow up."

"I know, I know. James, Christopher and I had no idea what had happened to you. We tried to find you, really we did, but Father wouldn't tell us anything and we were only children, we could only do so much."

"He never told you?"

"No. The two of you went out and only he came back. He said that he had left you at an orphanage, but Christopher and I checked, and we couldn't find you. We knew he had lied, but he would never tell us the truth. If we had known about the factory then we would have come to get you as soon as the opportunity presented itself, but it never did."

None of them had known.

For years, I had hated my brothers for allowing Father to leave me at the gates of the factory for nothing but a few shillings that would only fuel his drinking habit. I thought that they would have known what he had done but did nothing to help and just allowed me to suffer at the hands of the foreman for seven years. Only they hadn't known anything. None of them knew what he had done to me and where I had ended up. I had hated them for seven years, resented them even, but I had no reason to. They had tried to find me when I thought they abandoned me, they did everything I thought they didn't do.

I ran my hands along my dress and looked up towards Matthew. He had pitched himself forward to press his elbows into his thighs whilst his chin rested on his hand. The other hand was still heavily bandaged, so I watched as he played around with the frayed edge, pulling strips of cotton out and watching them drop to the ground. As much as I disliked him for ruining the floor I had cleaned the previous day, watching him pull apart the bandage was the exact same thing I do. We both had a tendency to tear things to shreds when we were nervous or agitated. That was all the confirmation I needed that he was who I said he was. He used to play with the fringe on his pillow as well.

"So, you're a carpenter?" I said, trying to break the silence.

"Seven years and counting, it turns out I was rather good at it. James works as a tailor in the city, one of the best. Well, according to him anyway but I try not to trust a word that comes out of his mouth if I can help it. Christopher, on the other hand, is doing well for himself. He's working in America, as a lawyer if you can believe it."

"Wasn't he apprenticed to the bakery? How did he get into law?"

"I'm not quite sure, he said he had been studying through the night whilst at the bakery and before we know it he was sitting an entrance exam and working to become a lawyer."

"You've all done well for yourselves."

"So have you. Doctor Ealing seems like a nice a man and from your interaction with his son, both earlier and at the office, you've landed on your feet."

"They've been kind to me even if I didn't deserve it. I'm just lucky they took me in after the factory, without them I don't think we'd be having this conversation."

Matthew went silent and I knew I had overstepped the mark. As soon as the words left my lips, I wanted to take it all back and pretend as I had never said it. His face dropped, and he pressed his cheek harder into the palm of his hand, curling his fingers and digging his nails into his cheek. Watching him, I took the cloth from my lap and once again started twisting it around my right hand. I pulled it tighter and tighter watching my fingers change colour the more I tugged on the edge of the cloth. After a few seconds, I unravelled it, shook out my fingers and repeated the process. It was methodical and allowed me to pull my thoughts together before Matthew spoke.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Matthew asked. He lifted his head and watched as I twisted and untwisted the cloth from around my hand.

"A little, I don't mind though," I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Why do you do it?"

"It's calming." He gave me a puzzled look. "I know, it sounds strange but by doing something repetitive it allows me to collect myself a little more. Tying the cloth around my hand is the one constant I have, given how hectic this job can be."

"Hm, interesting. Perhaps you shouldn't tie it so tightly, though."

"Robert says the same thing, but I don't listen to him if I can help it." Matthew laughed slightly but relaxed a fair bit, leaning back against his chair and rubbing his hands along his thighs. His nails had left small crescent-shaped indents in his cheeks.

"My legs have gone to sleep," he groaned.

"Perhaps we should go somewhere else. It must be nearing lunchtime, and I am starving."

"Do you not have to serve the family lunch?"

"Not today, they eat after we do anywhere, and Esther should be about done," I said, glancing up to the clock that ticked away on the wall.

"I wouldn't pass down a bit of grub."

"I'm sure Miss Jenkins won't mind."

Pushing myself out of the chair, my legs screamed in protest as I walked towards the door and hauled it up, resting the palm of my hand against it for Matthew. He closed the door behind him and followed me down the hallway and towards the set of stairs down to the kitchen. As we went, I turned my head back towards the drawing room and spotted Robert poking his head around the doorway with a rather large grin on his face. He raised an eyebrow and I watched as he poked his thumb around the door and gave me a thumbs up. I nodded in response before leading Matthew down the stairs and towards the kitchen.

The low hum of conversation carried up the stairs as Matthew and I made our way down. Sounds of clattering plates and cutlery knocking together drowned out the words being spoken so it was impossible to tell who was saying what. Our footsteps carried down the stairs and the sounds of movement and conversation fell silent, as though Miss Jenkins and Esther were listening out. I didn't know whether they were aware of Matthew being in the house, but something told me Robert may have informed them judging by how quickly they fell silent at the sound of our movement. Matthew turned to me and raised an eyebrow and confusion, all I could do was grin.

Leading him down the rest of the stairs, I gestured down the hallway and watched as Matthew approached the kitchen. He stood in the doorway and waited for me, his eyes fixated on the kitchen rather than where I was. I fought back a smile as I approached him brushing past and stepping into the kitchen where Miss Jenkins and Esther were staring at the doorway and at Matthew, neither of them quite knowing how to react to the strange man standing in the doorway. I didn't blame them, I would have thought it to be strange as well.

"Rosie, who is this?" Miss Jenkins asked, gesturing a cloth to Matthew.

"This is my oldest brother, Matthew," I said. 

"The one you were telling us about the other day?"

"Yes. We've been talking."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr Greyson. I would say we've heard a lot about you but that would be a lie."

"Matthew, please. Mr Greyson makes me sound like an old man and I'm only twenty-five." He chuckled to himself. "I don't blame you for not knowing all that much about me, it has been a long time."

"I take it you are both here for food? It is past lunch after all."

"You know me too well, Miss Jenkins," I said, grinning.

"Take a seat, there are so leftovers from the family luncheon and I might have a pie tucked away somewhere."

Matthew turned to me and grinned before shuffling into the room and pulling out one of the chairs to take a seat. I pulled out the one beside him and dropped the cloth onto the table, seeing as I no longer had any need for it, and drummed my fingers on the wood of the table. Miss Jenkins laid several plates onto the table and followed it up with the sandwiches and meat pie that had been left over from the family luncheon. Once all the food had been laid out, Miss Jenkins and Esther took their seats on the opposite side of the table and started to pass around spoons and pieces of pie.

Within minutes of having been given the food, Matthew had finished it and sat with his back pressed against the chair and his feet tapped away against the stone floor. He watched as the rest of us finished his eating, his eyes scanning around the room and taking in everything that the kitchen had to offer, which wasn't much. Miss Jenkins looked at Matthew with wide eyes and furrowed eyebrows, clearly stunned by how much he had eaten in such a short period of time. It was as though there had never been anyone on his plate in the first place, but the crumbs from the pie suggested otherwise.

"I've never seen anyone eat so much so quickly," she said.

"You've never met my brother. James could eat an entire cake in five minutes given the opportunity. At least we actually ate food, though, unlike Rosie here," Matthew said, he smirked at me and leant forward on the chair, pressing his elbows into the wood.

"I was four and what I got up to as a child is not a topic of conversation at this time."

"I think it is, Rosie-Posie. How much do they really know about you and your strange habits as a four-year-old?"

"Don't you dare! And don't call me Rosie-Posie, I'm not a child."

"Strange habits? I'm interested now!" Esther exclaimed, slumping backwards in her chair and raising an eyebrow at me."

"Don't encourage him!"

"Come on, Rosie, don't be such a spoilsport. When she was younger, she'd eat anything she could get her hands on, even if it lived and grew in the garden. I once caught her trying to eat a stick."

"I was four and if I remember correctly, which I probably don't, you were the one who was supposed to be keeping an eye on me."

"Hm, true." Matthew shrugged and brushed his hair off of his forehead. "Might I say, this was some of the best food I've eaten in a while. Just don't tell my wife I said that."

"Wife, eh?" Miss Jenkins said.

"Yes, wife and a young boy. Three years old and a right pain."

"So that makes me an Aunt?"

"It would." Matthew smiled at me. From his pocket, he pulled out a small, bronze pocket watch and flipped it open. "I should get going, I told Lily I'd only be gone for a little while."

"Well, it was nice to meet you Matthew and you are welcome here any time."

"Thank you, both for the hospitality and for the food. Not many people would be willing to feed someone they've never met before."

"We fed Rosie and now she's part of the family."

"I'll show you out," I said, gesturing towards the stairs.

"Thank you again."

Matthew nodded towards Esther and Miss Jenkins before heading towards the door and disappearing out of it. I followed close behind, muttering a word of thanks to both of them as I stepped from the room and led Matthew back up the stairs and towards the main hall. As we crossed into the hallway, Robert's head poked out from the drawing-room doorway and watched as I took Matthew up the hallway and towards the front door. Pulling it open, Matthew stepped with through the threshold and onto the top step where he turned to face me with his hat grasped in his hand.

"I'll see you again. James will probably want to see you as well, and Lily," Matthew said.

"One thing at a time. This was stressful enough," I said, smiling slightly.

"I understand. One step at a time. Would you mind if I wrote to Christopher? He won't receive the letter for a little while and he's the only one not here to see you in person."

"Yes, he has a right to know."

"Great, I will write to him this evening."

The air around us felt uncomfortable, neither of us really knowing what to do now. Whilst the interaction hadn't entirely been comfortable, saying goodbye seemed like the hardest thing to have to do. I want to learn more about my nephew and find out whether Christopher and James had families of their own. There was so much I wanted to ask him and more I wanted to find out but that would have to wait.

"It was good to see you again, Rosie. It really was."

"You too, Matthew."

"I'll be in touch, I promise."

"Alright."

"Goodbye Rosie-Posie."

"Goodbye Matthew."

Matthew smiled at me, turned and headed down the steps and up the gravel path and away from the house. I watched him walk up the path and further away from the house, the mist that had set in hiding him from view. I stared out into the distance long after he had faded away. For the first time in seven years, I had had contact with a family member. Maybe being in contact with them wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. 

~~~

A/N - Chapter Four is here! We have finally had a better introduction to the one and only Matthew Greyson, and it won't be the last time we see him... Also, as a note, I am working on a new project for the Wattys! More updates on that as it happens xD

So, what do you guys think about Matthew? Was Rosie right to be nervous or should she have been more positive from the start? What do you think will happen now that Matthew has promised he will return and that James may also appear to?

Comment your thoughts!

Dedication - This chapter is dedicated to aygmonney who has been voting on both The Factory Girl and The Serving Girl :) It means a lot!

First Published - June 18th, 2019