Chapter 73: Chapter 73 – A place to belong

Oscar watched, through the wide window of his private compartment, as the black clouds that filled the sky began to dump what would soon be torrential rain on the fields. And it is that although most of the weekend the warm and sunny weather had prevailed, during the last hours of Sunday the sky was covered with a grayish mantle. So quickly that the Cheltenham site had to be closed earlier than expected, since the storm would not take long to arrive and destroy everything.

In truth, there was nothing wrong with time not being on his favor. That is, in the sense that in any case there was not much left to do in the gardens where such a multitude of people gathered that weekend. With all the outdoor activities over, the fact that it started to rain was only a small incentive for teachers and students to choose to gather what they could in a hurry and, immediately afterwards, take refuge under the roofs of the boarding school.

It should be noted that that Sunday, in addition, there were not as many visitors as the previous day. Well, many of the families who attended on Saturday, either because their daughters did not need to stay to participate in some other activity or because they were in a hurry to reach their homes, chose to leave promptly and not be part of what was happening whatever they had prepared for the last open day.

They weren't missing much, anyway. While Saturday was busy, Sunday felt more like a prelude to summer vacation.

With all the matches and games finished off, all that was left were the usual exhibitions. That, and perhaps the occasional small concert performed by the few students participating in the school orchestra who were still on the premises and whose desire to entertain the populace had not yet diminished.

Of course, whatever they played would be more for the love of art than anything else; since that day it was not only that a third of the public had vanished, it is that in the afternoon they had begun to dismantle the stage and, therefore, there was not a place left in the gardens with good acoustics for visitors to hear the whole of the act without having to get too close to their interpreters.

Perhaps, especially this last fact, bothered some. But it was not the case of Letitia, on the contrary, with how much she liked to be among people...! One could almost venture to say that she had a better time there, among her audience, than on stage with the girls from her class.

Proof of this could be that now, on the train to London, she was quieter than usual. Having shed her energy reserves and also leaving behind the Mullins and the other friends she had met at the Cheltenham compound, she seemed to no longer feel like continuing to act as the perfect hostess.

That's why, as soon as the usual four were left alone on the train, Letitia went from talking up her sleeves to simply letting herself die on one of the seats, saying only a couple of sentences to make sure that the others were comfortable even without her usual initiative to carry on a conversation, before settling down next to his brother, intending to doze off until lunchtime.

It was understandable that she was tired, she had worked more than any of them that weekend!

No, it was not only that she had made an effort to prepare for the festivities, it is that she, unlike Albert and company, did not have a quiet place to retire to after a laborious day. Not until now. Because on Saturday, once the gardens were closed late in the afternoon, Letitia had to return to her rooms at the boarding school, with the rest of the remaining students, while the others were able to retire alone to the same hotel where they continued to stay until Monday morning.

With this scenario, and since she hadn't been able to get a moment alone for days, she couldn't be blamed for wanting to take a break as soon as she had a chance.

Seen what was seen, neither Albert nor Oscar tried to force any conversation, but each one remained mired in their own affairs. The villain began to read a novel that he had brought, in silence, while the other remained observing through the window how a torrential rain saved the farmers in the area from having to proceed with the irrigation tasks of their respective lands.

Theresa didn't seem uncomfortable with the quiet atmosphere either, on the contrary, she seemed happy that she didn't have to force herself to socialize anymore and that she could enjoy one of the few railway trips she could do without her family. Having chosen one of the seats by the window, she looked lost in contemplation of the landscapes that passed at full speed before her eyes. On her lap she still carried the same doll that Letitia had given her on Saturday, when she received it as a prize for having obtained the victory that neither Oscar nor her brother could achieve.

Not that Theresa was still small enough to continue playing with dolls but, as she realized then, she was the first that she could consider exclusively hers. Well, although Mr. Cornell was quite wasteful for some things, he had never been one to spend more than necessary on whims for his daughters -unless they were twenty-four hours a day nagging him about it- . And so, with Theresa's quiet disposition, he always had to settle for used possessions that her sisters no longer wanted.

Oscar could imagine how frustrating that would be, even for someone who wasn't used to complaining.

Either way, the Cornells had been left behind, mired in their own misery. And for at least the next two weeks, Theresa would be staying with the Northrops on their property in the capital. Those would be like a vacation, an ephemeral way to get away from everything that was happening in Snodland with her relatives while keeping company with a friend she hadn't seen for a long time. In the end they were all advantages!

Or well, that was the impression that anyone could have, knowing such a group and knowing how well they all got along. But the truth was that, despite getting a few days of calm after finally leaving that seedy town, one could not forget that Oscar was still trapped in one of the worst stories he had ever read. And so any scene of peace may well turn out to be just a period of false security.

Oscar tried not to think about it too much, so as not to embitter his existence. With how well that week had passed...! Since he said goodbye to his aunt and uncle in town there had been absolutely no incidents. He hadn't heard from any persona non grata since, he guessed, Dianne was busy trying to get her protagonists to drop their tug-of-war, still searching for an immediate solution to her eternal conflict.

He had a better time than he expected in the Cotswolds and now, on the way back to London, he still had that calm feeling he had carried since he left Snodland.

And, thinking about it again, who needed therapy in this time and place? The answer was other people, of course, because he could feel his stress diminishing in proportion to how many meters separated him from certain characters! Why the hell didn't he think of going to the city before...? Oh right. Lack of cash to find a decent place to stay, as the original Oscar's savings were slim and London prices weren't cheap.

But hey, that was in the past. He now had the money and the determination to go where he pleased. Even if someone were to lecture him, claiming that his aspirations were wrong or that he wouldn't be fit to stay in a certain place due to his low social status, he wouldn't stop. He had already held back enough in all those months!

That was how he thought for all those days when he had more opportunities for introspection than usual, without anyone interrupting him, until the day they reached the Northrop home in the capital and someone brought him back to reality by a simple and categorical statement:

"He can't stay," he had said, perhaps showing more brusqueness than necessary, the same clerk who opened the door for them.

Although only Oscar entered this prohibition, it was Albert who they addressed to comment on it. As if, being one of the owners of the place, he was the only one who should know about this information and act accordingly, regardless of what Oscar himself thought about it.

"Mr. Northrop sent us a letter with instructions for his return," continued the same individual as before, perhaps feeling that he owed them a better argument for what he had just said. “You and Ms. Cornell can stay, but he can't.”

"What nonsense is that? I talked to my father about this long before I left and he said that there would be no problem," said the villain, whose face had turned grim in a matter of seconds. “I understand that you don't like him staying for a long period, but we agreed that it would last a week at most. Why can't he stay here?”

"It's what he told us, that we shouldn't let him stay." Perhaps seeing what was coming over him, he hastened to add. “Of course, he is more than welcome to spend the afternoon and even to dinner. But I'm afraid he'll have to find another place to sleep.”

With that last sentence, Oscar understood. Peter Northrop's main fear wasn't that his children would continue to socialize with him, he didn't care otherwise he would have made a fuss if he'd planned to visit the Cotswolds with Albert and Theresa. What made him anxious was the possibility that if he allowed her into his house for so long, he would get too complacent and end up spending the night anywhere except the guest room.

An absurd concern, in short, but not so far from reality.

Be that as it may, Oscar also understood here why that butler had suddenly become nervous, rushing to tell them about these rules imposed by his employer only when the four people were already indoors: The guy had just seen his luggage and, therefore, , understood that Oscar intended to settle there.

Perhaps, if he hadn't seen it, he wouldn't have mentioned anything until later, when it was too late and there was no way to fire him without suffering the inordinate wrath of one of his employers.

"I'd like to take a look at that letter from my father," Albert said, trying to sound as neutral as possible.

The diplomatic route was the best he could use in such circumstances, listening to the opponent's reasons for behaving like this. Well, he knew well the service of that house and he knew that, having been under the command of his father for so many years, it was very obvious that they would obey him before themselves. That is, unless there was a compelling reason not to act as Peter Northrop expected of them.

The employee did not take long to agree to this request, in his case it could be perceived that a weight was lifted from him knowing that the villain was open to dialogue, wanting to know all the points of view before giving his verdict. And well, why kid yourself? It was an unpleasant task to fire a visitor when he had done nothing to deserve such treatment. Not at that time and place, at least.

Any servant would be relieved to have a letter from his employer that relieved him of having to do all the dirty work, making him look like the bad guy in a situation like this.

You are reading story How to survive the worst novel ever written at novel35.com

"I won't accept it," Albert concluded, having read the message his father left, returning it to its rightful recipient. “If my father ultimately backed down, or if he never intended to cooperate, he should have told me before he left. Now, there is no way back.”

Noting this, the employee turned for just a couple of seconds to watch how a couple of maids picked up, exclusively, the girls' luggage and thus cleared the corridor while it was decided what to do with the unwanted guest. It seemed that this butler was trying to find a help that he did not find.

He didn't feel like fighting with Albert, but he shouldn't have felt qualified to go against his employer's orders either…

“As you can see, the master was quite clear about what had to be done. At this point, I will not call the police, since it seems to me a bit of a stretch since they have just arrived in town and apparently were not aware of Mr. Northrop's intentions either. But I would ask you, please, to find another place to spend the night before the sun goes down.”

More than a threat or an order, it sounded like a plea. Ultimately, no one would want to be in the position of this poor guy.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like the villain would take pity on him.

"Not calling the police is the least you could hope for," he pointed out. “Would it really be convenient to make such a scandal for so little? Just prepare a room for him in the guest wing, we won't be here for more than a week anyway. And if it is necessary to inform my father of this, let it be then. I myself will also write you a letter, claiming that it was all my idea and exonerating the service for it.”

“Mr. Northrop said it would probably come to this, and I'm really sorry, but I can't give in. It might not happen today, it might not happen in a couple of weeks, but when he comes back and finds out we let him in…”

“He would take it with the servitude”, one could sense that he wanted to add, although in the end he did not dare. If it was Oscar's turn to be the victim of being shunned and the villain was in for a good rant for inciting the servants to disobey him, those servants would see an even darker future ahead. Perhaps his employer did not have the heart to fire them, but it was possible that part of his trust in them was lost and this was reflected both in the salary and in certain passive aggressive attitudes towards those who disobeyed such a clear order.

"Does he need to know?" Letitia put in, in a futile attempt to calm things down. “A week goes by so fast…! And anyway, my father won't be here for at least a month. He won't know if Oscar was here or not, unless someone tells him.”

And it was obvious that the three people who had come with the aforementioned were not going to say a word about it. The problem was, again, the service. Too many years had passed under Mr. Northrop's wing to throw all that trust away.

"If he stays, it's my duty to inform," the butler murmured.

Apparently, although at first he might seem like he didn't know how to handle the situation, the truth was that he had some well-settled principles in his head.

“Better report, in that case,” Albert said. “We may get into trouble later, but at least we'll have walked with the truth ahead of us.”

"And wouldn't it be better, rather than make an unforgivable mistake, that I heed his recommendation and go find a hotel?" Oscar asked cautiously, then pointed. “Know that I am willing to live like a martyr if that saves me from dying like an idiot.”

"We agreed that you would stay here. Whether my father likes it or not, it's not fair that you should go somewhere else just because he didn't know how to handle a refusal in the first place.”

And it is that, annoying as it may sound, the villain would not have had too much problem making plans to stay in a hotel from the day they arrived in London. It would have bothered him, yes, but it would have been better than to show up at the Northrop mansion and realize at that precise moment that the entrance was restricted. Such humiliation was inexcusable!

Or, so it must have seemed to him, for he was angrier than Oscar himself at hearing this.

"It may not have been fair or the most polite thing to do," he interjected, "but isn't it preferable to obey? If you really want your father to accept me, even if he's just like a family acquaintance, I don't think it's wise to go against his wishes in such a simple thing to accomplish.”

Hearing this, Albert didn't say a word for a few moments. Like a child denied a whim, he was still angry but he was aware that Oscar was right: In the long run, it would be much more productive to play along with his father. Even if it only went for a while and, as on this occasion, only in things that did not affect their day to day.

"You can take it as a staff break," Oscar went on, taking it with humor. “They will save having to prepare another room and look for one more guest for a good part of the day. Not to mention that they will have gotten rid of a scolding from their master.”

And it is that, indeed, if he observed the faces of the servants who had been listening, he could see the relief reflected in their features. It was nice to have a guest who understood at first glance the restrictions he would be thrown into, but it was even better for the guest to assume the limitations on his own, without having to force the matter on him.

"You'll have to find yourself a hotel," Albert pointed out; more than a forceful statement, it seemed as if he was saying it to himself to convince himself that this was the best way to proceed.

“There will be no problem. I've been here before, I know where to go.”

"Do you want me to come with you or…?"

Or help you pay for a room? he was probably going to add before Oscar cut him off.

"You're going to let me come to this house for lunch later, right?"

“Of course, you can come back anytime you want.”

"In that case, it won't be necessary," Oscar said with a smirk.

If Albert agreed to take care of his meals, he had no need to make her pay even a fraction of the cost of a hotel room. Kindness enough was the arrangement they now had, since Oscar would not have to worry about part of his support!

Also, in general terms, things were not so bad. Between the fact that the entrance to the Northrop house was not strictly forbidden to him and that, in any case, it would not take more than a couple of weeks before he could settle with the villain in his own place... Well, that this could be considered a temporary obstacle .

It was uncomfortable and humiliating, yes, but Oscar had been through situations much worse and difficult to repair.

Agreeing with the others that he would return after a couple of hours, after he had found a place to settle, he chose to leave that mansion alone. And it is that, although he would have appreciated the company, he preferred that the villain stayed with his sister as long as possible, while the two of them still did not move in together, and since during those months at the boarding school the Northrops had hardly had occasion to fraternize. In any case, Oscar would borrow the family carriage to bring him to the address he had in mind and then, without further delay, he would return here.

In truth, even though the news that he couldn't stay twenty-four hours at the Northrop house came as a cold pot, he wasn't worried. Especially after seeing how Albert had been listening, defending him to the point of being irrational, he realized that it didn't matter much under what roof he spent his nights: If Albert stayed in that novel with him, he would always have a place to return to.

You can find story with these keywords: How to survive the worst novel ever written, Read How to survive the worst novel ever written, How to survive the worst novel ever written novel, How to survive the worst novel ever written book, How to survive the worst novel ever written story, How to survive the worst novel ever written full, How to survive the worst novel ever written Latest Chapter