7 — A Narrow Escape

7 — A Narrow Escape

There are currently two families living at the Fisalis estate. My husband, however, is still away on a military campaign. The cottage is currently occupied by my mother- and father-in-law.

...And yet.

Here they are outside catching me off guard while I’m gardening!

“Viola?” My in-laws abruptly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.

It was not the best reaction for someone doing something perfectly normal, but I completely froze. I was no longer holding the shovel that I had been a moment earlier but my hands and the hem of my skirt instead; my rear end (upon which I had so ungracefully fallen) and my face all had dirt on them. I was past the point where I could easily brush it off as ‘admiring the flowers on this fine day, oh ho ho ho ✰’

Oh nooo, I have no idea what excuse to give them! This is the end of the line for me!

“It-It’s good to see you, Father and Mother Fisalis! What fine weather we’re having today! Are you two headed out somewhere?” I clapped my filthy hands behind my back to shake off the dirt while simultaneously trying to discreetly straighten out my skirt as I stood up. I smiled like nothing strange was happening.

“Eh heh, well. We were just about to go into town when we heard laughter coming from this way, so we decided to see what was going on,” my father-in-law said simply. His tone of voice was normal and when I glanced up at his face, he didn’t appear angry or disgusted by what, to him, looked like the servants digging in the garden. I felt somewhat relieved when the smile that appeared on his face suggested that nothing was out of the ordinary and that he had simply found the source of the noise.

“Oh! That makes perfect sense!” I finally replied.

“So then, what are you doing there, Vi?” Lady Fisalis asked with a curious glint in her eye as she looked over the scene around me. It was clear as day that I was gardening, so it would have been pointless to insist otherwise. I stepped away from the flower bed, leaving Mimosa and Bellis behind for a moment, and pointed out the flowers we’d just planted to my in-laws.

“The seedlings that Mr. Fisalis and I bought the other day arrived, so Mimosa and I came here with Bellis to have him help me plant them,” I explained honestly. I expected her to be angry with me: a proper duchess would never get her hands dirty. But I didn’t want her to get angry at Mimosa and Bellis over something that was my fault.

They only looked to where I was pointing with interest, their cheery demeanors never faltering.

“What lovely flowers. He bought these, you say?” my father-in-law questioned, gazing with wonder at the seedlings. The version of Mr. Fisalis that his father knew was probably the kind of man who gave flashy bouquets made with eye-catching, ostentatious flowers to whoever he was seducing that we—COUGH COUGH—I mean, gave elegant bouquets as gifts. Lord Fisalis is probably wondering if Mr. Fisalis bought these humdrum little flowers as a joke or something! Granted, I was surprised when he said he’d buy them, too.

“He sure did. I spotted them in a little flower shop and thought they were cute, so he bought them for me. He said that since cut flowers die quickly, we’d probably enjoy these more since they bloom over and over again.” I smiled as I thought back to our date. I never thought I’d hear Mr. Fisalis say that he would buy such ordinary little flowers, much less that he cared about getting his money’s worth out of them! It really was an unexpected series of events that day, but it made me oh so happy!

“Who would have thought...”

“That our boy would...”

“Yep.” Both Lord and Lady Fisalis seemed shocked to hear what their son had said.

“He did, indeed! Heh heh, aren’t they just the most lovely flowers? The weather is just perfect today and gardening is so much fun. I’m out here a lot, actually. Aren’t I, Bellis?”

Mother Fisalis grinned when her eyes met mine, and then she turned her gaze back to the flower bed, looking at it with something like nostalgia before smiling at Bellis too.

“Yes, Madam. And by ‘here’ you surely mean over there, away from the dirt and filth.”

“Oh, of cooourse!” I agreed, smiling as convincingly as I could. I hadn’t expected Lady Fisalis to say what she had, but I also hadn’t expected Bellis to give me that answer, either.

I had always thought that a textbook duchess like Lady Fisalis would have turned her nose up at gardening, but I guess that was presumptuous of me. Now that I think about it, I don’t know her very well, do I...?

“...Did you like to plant flowers when you lived here, Mother Fisalis?”

“I did. So much so that Dahlia regularly scolded me, saying I would get sunburned! I’m sure Mimosa treats you just the same. Oh, goodness, Vi, you have a speck of dirt on your face.”

Oops. I was just about to ask Mimosa to get that. How embarrassing that I forgot about dirt on my face.

I hurriedly went to wipe my face, but my handkerchief was with Mimosa. Which meant that I only succeeded in smearing the dirt further around my face. Oh, cripes. Lady Fisalis elegantly wiped the dirt from my face with her own handkerchief, but not before giggling at me as I flailed. It was a relief, despite my horror that she felt she needed to do that for me.

“I never thought you’d be one for gardening,” I said.

Lady Fisalis, as I knew her, was always bright and cheery, so I never figured she was self-absorbed, or aloof, but I’m still surprised. Not to mention that her relationship with Dahlia seems to have been a mirror image of mine with Mimosa.

It made for a charming image—Dahlia nagging her like that, and Lady Fisalis absolutely not caring.

“Oh, was she ever! And Dahlia was not happy about it. People are not so strict now, though, and you’re more free to do what you like. They really are lovely, those flowers. I’m sure Cercis will be delighted to hear that you planted these,” Father Fisalis said fondly.

“I hope so, too. My fingers are crossed that I can keep them looking this beautiful for when he gets back,” I replied, looking at the pretty blossoms at our feet.

“I’m certain you will! You’ll take wonderful care of them, Vi!” My mother-in-law took my hand and gave it a little squeeze.

“I’ll sure try!”

“My apologies for interrupting you, dear. Let’s get going, Angulata,” Lord Fisalis said as he gave Lady Fisalis’s hand a tug.

“Yes, yes, dear. Have a lovely day, Vi. See you later!”

“Yes, see you later!”

And so the two of them left, holding hands and smiling back at us.

“Oh, oh boy. That was a close one! I was sure they’d be mad at me for doing something as unrefined as this!” I said with a huge sigh, squatting there in the flower bed after my knees gave way.

“Are you alright, Madam?!” Mimosa rushed over to me.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just wasn’t careful enough—I knew they’d be staying in the cottage and yet I let them catch me gardening on their first day here!”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself...” Mimosa said with a bit of a smile.

Bellis pulled me up without a word, but then said, with his usual expression (or lack thereof), “Lady Fisalis did quite a bit of gardening when she lived here, so Rohtas and I have never tried to stop you. We knew she would not find fault with you.” Of course, he only decided to tell me then. Long after I would have liked to know!

“What? You knew but didn’t tell me?” I sure would have liked to know that a lot sooner, you two! It would have saved me a whole lot of worry! Give me back the years I’m sure got shaved off my lifespan while I was so scared of getting caught!

“Oh well, I’m glad we’ve settled that, though. Anyway, let’s get this place cleaned up.” I turned to Bellis only to find that he had already gotten back to work while I was talking. I didn’t have the guts to scold him, so I just said, “Okay, then,” and joined him in quietly cleaning up around the flower bed.

Later, I ate too much during lunch because I was so focused on not crying over being made to eat alone. As a result, I didn’t get much done in the afternoon.

“I’m just usually so busy with cleaning and laundry and stuff. But since I can’t do either of those things, what am I supposed to do now?” I asked myself out loud. A dance lesson? With slave-driver Rohtas? I don’t think so! Do some embroidery? Nope, just made a whole mountain of handkerchiefs before Mr. Fisalis left! I could read... But it’s so nice out today, I’d just make myself even more depressed if I stayed inside. I stood with my arms crossed, at odds with myself for the first time in quite a while over how I was going to spend my day. This happened right after I got married, too.

Perhaps they simply intended to go along with whatever I wanted, but neither Dahlia nor Mimosa had yet made any suggestions. Yawn.

“I could always do more gardening now that Mother Fisalis has given her approval. But... I know all that’s left is weeding, and there isn’t even that much of it to do, so I’d just be pulling up the lawn by the end of the afternoon. Kind of scary how I know it’ll end up that way. Granted, if I did do that, it’d be hellfire time.”

I don’t have any real experience being either a wealthy young woman or a wealthy wife (huh?), so I’m out of ideas about what’s appropriate for me to do.

I could always... cannonball onto my bed. It’s been a while since I’ve done that, too!

“Oh, that gives me an idea!” No sooner had I landed on my bed with a cushy fwump than a certain word flashed through my mind.

“Are you alright, Madam?” I had stopped moving as soon as I landed on my bed, so Dahlia had come over, concerned that I’d broken something.

“Say, Dahlia— Since Lord and Lady Fisalis haven’t found me out, that means I can just do everything as normal, right? Might you even say, it’s in my best interest to do just that?” I asked her.

“Well, I suppose that is true, but... you almost were discovered earlier today, were you not?” Dahlia slyly replied, pretending to agree with me at first before delivering a painful reminder.

“Oof... Way to rub salt in my wound...” I clutched my chest dramatically and hid under my duvet. Indeed, Dahlia was blessed with the rare skill of being able to motivate me in precisely the right ways! This was no place for me to give up! I had to try harder! “Yeah, I guess I was. So next time I’ll have to be extra sneaky! Right?”

“...What are you thinking of doing?”

“Umm, just everyday stuff.”

“‘Everyday stuff,’ such as?”

“The usual, of course! Decorating and cleaning! I’ll restrain myself from doing the laundry,” I explained with what I hoped was an innocent smile. Dahlia just put her hand to her temple and adopted a pained expression.

“What’s wrong, Dahlia?! Do you have a headache?!”

“No, Madam... I don’t... Er, rather, I suppose I do.”

“Which is it?! Er, well, anyway, if I do it in secret, it won’t be too big of a deal if I get caught, yeah?”

“And what will you do that ‘won’t be a big deal’?”

“Oh, just putting some fresh flowers around the manor, and maybe some dusting.”

“I think the former ought to be fine, but the latter, no.”

“Huh, really?! O-Okay.”

“So even if I object, you’d still do it?” Dahlia said, with a deep sigh woven into her words.

“I promise I won’t cause you any trouble!” I tried, giving her my cutest begging pose. Ah, this was how things went when I first got here. That reminds me, didn’t Rohtas say that “there will be no second time?”

“That shan’t work on me a second time, Madam,” Dahlia shot me down with a smile.

“Oh no, not you, too!” She saw through my puppy dog eyes!