The Serving Girl // Book 2 in the Rosie Grey series

Chapter Ten

"You should have seen this one when he came home after seeing you for the first time. He looked as though he had found one-hundred pounds on the floor outside," Lily said as we walked down the busy London street. Matthew and Sebastian were just ahead of us, Sebastian giggled whenever Matthew lifted him in the air.

"I wish I could say the same thing. To tell you truth, I was a little unsure about everything, especially when Matthew turned up at the house," I replied, knotting my fingers together in front of me.

"It's understandable, after so long it must feel a little strange. I hope you don't mind me saying, but I wasn't sure you would agree to join us, especially after Matthew put you on the spot like that.

"Hm, I wasn't sure I would agree, either. However, it was going to happen sooner or later and it's a change of pace from usual Sunday afternoon."

"James will be pleased to see you, he's been trying to convince Matthew to take him to the house for days now."

"I hope he doesn't have high expectations," I mumbled.

I may have agreed to meet him, but something inside me told me to turn around and run in the opposite direction. Spending my Sunday down at the river with the reading material Doctor Ealing had given me still felt like the favourable option compared to spending my afternoon sitting across from James. Meeting Matthew happened by chance, something I never expected to occur but this time I had agreed to a meeting with James and his wife. No one held me to my decision, I made it on my own, yet I was starting to wonder if I had made the right choice.

Still, it was too late for me to back out and I would have had nowhere to go expect hang my head and return to the Ealing house knowing I had missed the opportunity to speak to my brother. As much as the fear gnawed away inside me, I knew it was something I had to do if I were ever to develop a relationship with my family. Knowing they had all become somewhat successful in their chosen line of work whilst I was simple a servant, working for a family where I was constantly threatened by infractions, certainly didn't help matters. If James had expected big things, he was going to be extremely disappointed with the person he meets.

Matthew led us through London's twisting streets and through the people milling around after the various church services throughout the city. We passed by the school where Suzanna and Lucy were as well as Doctor Ealing's office, it felt as though we were going into the heart of London; somewhere I had never been. As we walked, I found myself occasionally craning my neck to see if I could spot the factory. Though most of it had been destroyed in the fire, the building that acted as Mr Thompson's lie was still standing high and proud as though it had done nothing wrong. Doctor Ealing said there were plans to knock it down, but nothing had been done yet.

"Almost there! James was unable to attend the service today because of work so I told him we would meet him at a café not far from the shop," Matthew said, turning back to face me with Sebastian tugging on his arm.

"Is his shop always busy?" I asked.

"It can be, he's always looking for an extra pair of hands though I think that's mainly for cleaning. His office organisation, or lack of, needs a little bit of help. Even Kitty has given up trying to help him. Sometimes I think it's his lack of organisation that leads to the shop being so busy."

"Kitty is his wife?"

"Yes, they married last year and no little ones as of yet, but she's always around to help out at the shop if needs be."

"Right."

"Don't worry yourself so, Rosie. Both Kitty and James have been excited to meet you ever since I told them, everything is going to be fine. Out of all of us, James always liked you best and that hasn't changed over the past seven years."