Alice Windsor | BRF Story

29.

Highgrove House, Gloucestershire

2005

Friday arrived with a peculiar and ironic change in the weather. 

The previous night Alice had spent the better part of the late evening curled up in the drawing room, watching television and in front of the lit fireplace. It had seemed like the cold months had finally arrived after many days, too many days, of hot and bothering weather. That morning, however, Alice woke up uncovered and sweeting like she still in the late stages of her pregnancy and suffering through it in the hottest days of the summer months. 

Opening the windows and wearing light dresses didn't seem to make a difference as Alice sat in front of the open door that lead to the back garden with baby Alfred in his pram, wide awake, like the sudden heat was also bothering him in a way that he obviously couldn't describe. 

Alice's wasn't sure when things would start to move, but everything seemed a little different when she first walked into the House's kitchen that morning, everyone seemed to be moving a little faster than usual, and even Tiggy was by one of the counters, preparing something that Alice couldn't see from afar. They all greeted her as normally, and made her breakfast as she would normally would have it, laying it out under the shade in the back garden, while Tiggy took over feeding Alfred. 

After breakfast, when Alfred was taking his midmorning nap in the drawing room, Alice went to her room to find two ladies already midway to packing everything and cleaning the room of any resemblance that Alice had spent any time at all in that room. Alfred's room, right beside her own, wasn't that far behind, with Tiggy and another lady taking care of seeing what would be going with the baby and what wasn't, like the beautiful and antique bassinet by the foot of the grand bed, as the room had been converted from a guest bedroom originally. Alice could't say she was caught by surprise, of course, she knew that would be happening today, and since they didn't have time to pack anything the previous night, right now everything seemed a bit obvious even if Alice was still a bit hurt by seeing both her things and Alfred's being packed away, in different luggages that would be taking two completely different routes to two completely different final destinations. 

She couldn't be mad, she couldn't even be sad in reality, but she would be lying to say it didn't hurt to see people move so fast to pack everything up, pack everything under her father's orders of course. And when it dawned on her she ran, down the stairs and out the doors. First to the front of the house and then, as there was no real place to go, she ran around it and into the back garden, and through the well kept area into the edge of the estate, running as fast as she was able on her condition, until she reached the very edge of the estate and found a small sitting area that much reminded her of a temple to the old pagan gods, with an opening at the front and a very majestic bench on the covered area. 

And there she stayed, she wasn't sure for how long, maybe for an hour or two, maybe for more, long enough for her back to start to hurt due to the bench and for her to catch her breath, however, long enough for her to cry about everything she hadn't been able to cry while under the dutiful gaze of the House's staff, of her father's staff. She was able to let out everything she had been holding inside since the beginning of her pregnancy, things, tears, she hadn't been able to put out for the lack of privacy she had found herself in due to her unfortunate situation.