The Bitter Taste

Chapter 10: Unwanted Stay

"Earl Chichester will be moving in with us." Said Mr. Barnett. Everyone in the table completely gawked at the news. The old man looked stern, and his wife knew that there would be now way she could change his decision.

"Darling, what would be the reason?" She asked. Mrs. Barnett definitely was one of the people who despised the Earl, and above all her inner rage, she demanded an explanation.

Jane simply sat and looked nervously at the two. "Yes, Mr.Barnett. What could possibly result to this?"

The old man gently put down his tea cup to speak. "All your questions will be answered once he arrives."

Jane and Mrs. Barnett looked at each other, both their jaws still slightly open. But as she had already expected from her husband's firm attitude, she just sighed and continued on with her breakfast. There would be no more freedom in this house, Jane thought.

"However, there will be no worries whatsoever." Mr. Barnett smiled reassuringly as he looked at both his wife and niece. "It won't be a vacation for him."

---

The September afternoon air was cool like it was any other day during the month. With his chin up high, he adjusted his over coat around him and got off his carriage. The night before had been extremely unpleasant for him, mainly because of his mother's urgency to make him leave the house accordance to Mr. Barnett's instructions. How his mother knew about their conversation during the Grand opening, he didn't know but it certainly welcomed him to yet another grouchy mood. Whatever that old man was planning, he thought, must be useless along with the other annoying people who tried to get in his way for some certain things.

He gave out a rusty groan and stepped forward to the residence's porch, battling in his head whether he would press the door bell or simply leave while his mother's eyes couldn't catch him. However, he thought it much further and decided that it'd just make him look like a coward and so, he went ahead and rung it. As the despicable noise was heard inside the manor, he suddenly noticed footsteps coming closer to open the door. These footsteps sounded nothing like Mr. Barnett's though, he thought to himself. It was much more lighter and somewhat soft spoken - if he were to compare it to an awkward boy.

"A maid?" He mused to himself.

The footsteps suddenly came into a stop and without any sense of grace, the wood of the door smacked him in the face harshly and he had to step back a couple of times with his hands covering his nose.

"What the bloody hell!?" He exclaimed, his eyes demanding to see the person standing in front of him. But as his vision had fallen steady at the gaze, the horrifying gaze of the girl, he too stood in shock at the lady who has shown herself to be Ms. Hackett.

The lady put her right hand on top of her gaped mouth and used her other hand to reach out to the Earl who was equally surprised. "A-are you alright, Milord?" She said, her face twitching slightly at what seemed to be the most unexpected and awkward meeting since her trip here in London. "Your nose, it's..."

The Earl fisted his knuckles to his sides and abruptly picked up the suitcase on his left. Without any other word to be exchanged, he huffed and let himself inside while pushing Jane slightly off her feet. The young lady growled ever so lightly so she could not be heard, but they both knew how they felt since the ball last night. "Marvelous Physique my arse." She muttered.

"What did you say?" The Earl halted and turned around a bit to look at Jane who was scowling at him.

She simply continued to walk towards the study room of Mr.Barnett and did not share a single glance towards him. "Nothing, Earl of Berkshire. Absolutely nothing at all." And then she opened the doors to let herself in.

"Mr. Barnett, the Earl has arrived." She said. The old man in front of her seemed extremely busy at the moment but looked up to her from his desk at the sudden acknowledgement.

"Oh I see, well uh..." He looked over at the piles of papers scattered around his desk and then looked up at Jane with a goofy smile. "If you don't mind, could you please uh, guide him around the manor for a while? I promise you I'll be back but right now, as you can see..."

Jane felt a murderous wave of dismay rushing inside her as she had caught the message of her uncle. If they were the only two people in this residence and she was already at the edge of being bored to death, arriving with a last resort to converse with that arrogant swine would be unlikely. But seeing as it was needed, and she still felt ever grateful towards them, she figured this was the least she could do.

"Of course, I don't mind." She said, giving a wide grin as she turned around and opened the door to leave.

"Oh, I know you do dear." Mr. Barnett whispered to himself as the door had come to a close, smiling a little as he continued with his work.

As Jane had left the study room and closed the door slowly, she leaned against the expensive mahogany and looked left and right to see that the Earl had gone elsewhere. Curious yet rather less caring, she went ahead and took initiative to find him. The young woman walked towards the dining room to see if he had gotten carried away with the beautiful furnitures adorning the corners of the room, but then she thought again and doubted that notion. He was an arrogant noble after all. So far, the worst she has ever encountered and maybe ever will. After a few minutes looking around the dining room, she found herself walking down the marble-stoned pathway towards their garden. It was still a little foggy for a Saturday afternoon but nevertheless, she waved her hands around and squinted her eyes to search for the noble. As she continued to walk nearly in circles twice, she finally heard a sound coming from behind her. It was a sound of footsteps getting closer in the midst of the foggy air,and as instinct took over, she immediately turned around with her hand above her head. Before Jane knew it, her hand landed on the man's face - particularly his nose. As the fog had cleared between them, she was once again shocked to see the Earl groaning in pain once again.

"What is wrong with you?!" He said. "This is the second time already, Ms. Hackett."

She fisted her knuckles and pressed it against her chest, feeling quite guilty over her actions. "I-i am sorry, I shouldn't have done that Milord."

"Haha, well you know who you're addressing to, Ms. Hackett. It's good that your commoner brain cells can handle at least that ." He said, smirking the same way he had done during the Grand opening. Although, this expression did not serve to be pleasant towards Jane.

"How dare you!" She said. "What makes you think that you could just insult other people because of their social standing? And don't act like you're from Royalty, because you are not." This time, Jane really had enough of his insults and stood up to be more daring. At least once she returns home, she could say that she had actually done the most brave thing anyone would have thought to be a death wish, yet still survived it.

"Now watch it Ms. Hackett, I beg to say that you are very ignorant to the things I am capable of doing to you." He furrowed his eyebrows and stepped forward. But Jane did not step down at all. No, she also took a step forward and now they were scowling straight at each other's eyes.

"Then beg some more. I hate to say that my ears can't hear your obnoxious character." She spat and boy was she proud of it. For good measure, she also spit on his overcoat.

"T-that is!" He started.

"Something you deserve." She added lastly and smirked wider than he did to her. "How does it feel being degraded now, oh Earl of Berkshire?" She said and headed back towards the manor's garden entrance, laughing horrendously un lady like that it even scared herself.

The Earl simply furrowed his eyebrows and began ranting over what power he has over Jane and how he could make her life miserable for spitting on his expensive overcoat. It was something amusing rather than threatening, Jane had to think.

"Thats very silly, Earl. Haven't you already caused enough trouble in your own county? Im sure that wasting all your malevolence on me would be such an utter waste." She said, chuckling at the man walking behind her.

"Don't you go walking around like you're happy because if something is for sure, it's this." He speeded up towards Jane and grasped her shoulder so she could look at him. He gave a very stern, stone-like gaze that gave the most bitter aura and Jane had no choice but to look right back at it. "I will make you very unhappy."