Room to Dream, {tag; Alfred}

Clever, clever little girl...

Her nanny would, at the very least, be very unhappy that she'd run off. Jane couldn't handle being trapped inside any longer-- it was far too stuffy and she was bored with things like toys. She wished she could have someone to play with besides her own shadow. So, the little girl of the Carlyle household sought the wide-open space that was the property surrounding Fledston Hall. She took to the grassy lawn at a run, hoping she wouldn't fall and stain anything. She could breathe again--dream again. If she was going to play by herself, at least she'd have wild fantasies to entertain her. And if she wandered just far enough into the fields, maybe she wouldn't be found until dinner.

There was still a touch of summertime in the autumn air. It was like an argument between warm and cold. The breeze coursed over Jane's face lightly, blowing her hair away from her eyes. The sun made her warm, the breeze kept her cool. It was the perfect day. The leaves were beginning to turn the most magnificent colors! She wanted to paint them in all their glorious beauty, but Jane was not a painter. Not necessarily. She longed to write about days like this, describing them in the most elegant language she could think to use. Days like this belonged in stories and novels. Did anyone else experience days like this?

She arrived at the field, welcomed by the hushing noise the trees made as the wind blew through them. "Like faeries saying hello," she whispered to herself. Jane was exactly where she wanted to be right now. Her imagination was already beginning to wander. What kind of adventure would this be? Would she be a pirate or a gypsy? A princess or a peasant? Or something else entirely--? Jane always thought these games would be more fun if she had someone else to join her; a friend to play with. Unfortunately all of the people whom she could call her friends were of adult ages and had other duties to atone to.

Daniel was home for a short term, and she was very excited about that, but father was away and mother busied herself with other things. That left just Jane and her nanny. The same nanny she had outwitted several moments ago by sending her on a wild goose chase for a certain toy she could not find. Jane was supposed to be looking through one half of the house while the nanny looked through the other. Jane had escaped to the fields like a prisoner. 'That's it!' she thought 'I am being held prisoner in a castle, I've been wrongly accused and now I'm going to be free!'

Clever, clever little girl...

On that magnificent autumn day the sun had crept in from the window in Alfred's bedroom, and the warm rays of the sun hit his face directly, which where hidden under the sheets. He awoke, and was surprised how late his rise was. This was probably caused by the sudden change of atmosphere, from the hustle and bustle of London-life to the quiet country manor life, in which one was never awoken by a madman shouting at the top of his lungs about the 'Opening of Hell's Gate' right under your apartment, at least that's what Alfred thought, from his experience of country-life.

The young man had dressed up pretty casually, in a loose white shirt and light blue pants help up by creamy suspenders. He hoped that no esteemed visitor was awaited, or he would make an embarrassing site. So he set out in the as yet unknown corridors of Fledston Hall, a book in hand and his straw boater in the other. As he wandered around the empty corridors Alfred momentarily peeped out of the windows, he was so tempted to run outside of the manor and lay on his back on the soft grass, and do something relaxing like reading, or staring at the slow movement of the clouds in the magnificently blue sky. And so he was to do.

Alfred had a quick cup of tea, and was off into the vast fields of the Manor, holding his boater on as a whiff of wind almost ceased it off. Alfred had forgotten when was the last time that he had taken time to admire nature and its beauties, he was so used to the scenarios of London, which in all ways suffocated nature, and all that is not man-made.

In the green distance of a field Alfred could make out a figure, rather smallish figure, probably one belonging to a child, maybe it was one of the guest's sons or daughters. It wouldn't hurt to go and say hello.he thought, as he strode towards the figure, which Alfred now identified as being a young girl. When he arrived just a few paces away from the girl he cleared his voice, just to make his presence known, and approached slowly. "Hello, May I?" He asked politely, giving a slight nod of his head to the clearance near where the child was sitting. He had a feeling that this wasn't the first time meeting this girl, but he couldn't recall meeting her during the past few days in the manor.

She stopped in her tracks, thinking about how far she might venture into the fields. Just far enough to stay out of sight-- A voice! Jane whirled around where she stood, disturbed by a voice she could not associate a face with. She gasped--a pocket of air catching itself in her throat. "Cousin Alfred!" She shrieked joyously running to greet him. "I didn't know you were here too! Daniel came home and now you! Oh I thought it would just be us and the servants and the guests--! But you've come to visit too!" She wrapped her arms around him. Her favorite cousin! Perhaps she would now have a more interesting time here at the country home.

Alfred Salisbury was, in a nutshell, the single person Jane looked to as a role model, so to speak. An accomplished writer and aspiring playwright, Jane believed he had all the freedom in the world to imagine things until he was content. She envied him. Her small hand took his pulling him into the longer grasses of the field. "I don't want them to find me," she said quietly, knowing trouble was certain to follow when they discovered she had run off. Of course, she wouldn't tell them Alfred had been with her; that would incriminate him, and she least of all wanted that.

"Have you had any success with your plays? Ooh can we write one while you're here and put it on for all the guests?!" Of course, she was merely being hopeful, and Alfred could've told her no and she would have to live with it, but she couldn't write something of her own. Unless it made sense and was crucial to her learning, it was frivolous. But she was itching--yearning!-- to have such a project like this to work out. Jane was sometimes over-hasty with her questions. "I'm sorry...Oh, I'm so glad you're here!"

She abandoned and formality in her thoughts (and really, what child in the world should be so formal?), and let herself drift away from all apprehension surrounding this little adventure she was staging. She would enjoy this moment she had to spend with her favored cousin.

Alfred was deeply surprised by the girl's sudden rush of excitement, and after a few seconds that he was greeted with the joyous name of 'cousin Alfred', he was sure of the girl's identity. "Jane?" he asked, half to himself half to the girl, as he greeted her into his arms and lifted her up. It was very pleasant to see someone so happy to see you. "Yes, yes. I have come to visit, my dear little cousin." Alfred said, in a rather playful tone, poking her on the nose and smiling. "I should think it's more of a short permanence, than a visit." he said, having searched and found the right words to convey his intentions. "You see, my dear old mother, your aunt has sent me here from London." he said, hoping that the young lady Jane wouldn't ask further questions on this subject. Alfred released his hold on Jane and put her back, safely on the ground.

"So, tell me, Who is this Daniel? Eh, eh?" Alfred asked jokingly, raising an eyebrow at Jane. It had been such a long time that he had seen Jane last, probably she was a small toddler, trying to utter her first words. He was pleased of her presence, at least there was someone in the house whom he wouldn't have to try an keep up appearances with. Alfred let Jane pull him from the hand into the other side of the field. "Oh, All Right. You shan't be found then." he said, smiling at the girl's cheeky mischievousness.

"Success?" Alfred laughed lightly, the idea of him having success, especially with one off his plays was rather amusing. "No, Not really. I had written a couple of plays while at school, but they were and will remain completely unnoticed." he said, in a somewhat disappointed tone. It was rather embarrassing admitting failure to a young person, for some reason he wanted Jane to be hopeful in one's life plans, but in his words this idea seemed to be wrong. "Write a play to put up for the guests?" Alfred thought about it for a moment, he really didn't want to disappoint Jane. "Why not? It seems like a perfectly adequate idea to me." he said, smiling at the girl kindly.

"There's nothing to be sorry about." he said, kneeling right in front of the girl, so that he was now face-to-face with her. "I am also very happy to see you, after so long." Alfred said softly, and reaching forwards to give her another warm hug.

"Daniel. Papa took him in after his father died. He's been away at school too. Studying law. He's very smart." She took Alfred's hand. It was true, it had been a long time since she'd seen him, but there were pictures and stories--give or take, Jane knew mostly of him. He was family and she liked what she had been told. Thus, she pretended she had known him her whole life. As they walked along she watched her feet.

"It's musty in the house. I think they're still busy cleaning it. Nanny didn't want to come outside and play, she's inside. Probably looking after my brother," Jane sighed. In her head she added 'And looking for me.' She had been so devious as of late. It didn't make nanny look good and it didn't do too well for her either. She would have to stop soon, before she got into too much trouble.

She fell silent for a long moment until he decided writing a play was a good idea. Jane began to think up ideas. "Hmm...what kind of story should we tell?" For another long moment, she began to wonder and reflect on the best adventures she'd had in her last ten years of life. There were so many dreams and fantasies! What did she choose? The trip from the house in Bath to Fledston Hall had been a good one...

There was an idea! They could write about a trip to a big party--like the ball--it would be perfect. Guests could relate to it. They would enjoy it because it was so relatable. Oh, this was going to be absolutely fantastic, she thought.

"Oh, I see." Alfred said, nodding his head sightly. He remembered knowing a certain Daniel in school who aspired to study law. It was quite a long time ago now, and there are probably so many Daniels who yearn to work in law. He had known so many people at school that he forgot more than half the faces, but he had always remembered their names, which was odd and deeply impractical.

Alfred rubbed his head in a somewhat dumb and clueless manner. He looked around, which was what he used to do in his apartment to get some inspiration. The first thing his eyes met was the forest, a thick forest, the roots slightly hidden with mist, and he was suddenly reminded of 'A Midsummer's night Dream', he wondered if Jane knew the play. "Do you know the story of the play 'A Midsummer's night dream', by Shakespeare?" he asked, putting a curious hand on his chin in a thinking manner, surely, a ten-year-old girl couldn't possibly have already studied or read the famous Shakespearean play.

"Want to sit down somewhere?" he asked, having noticed that they have walked pretty far away from the Manor. "I'm sure no one will spot us." he added, seeing the somewhat worried face of Jane, who most probably didn't want her nanny to see where she had wandered off at.

"Ooh! Shakespeare! I think I've seen some of that in Papa's library. I'm afraid I haven't read any though..." She made a mental note to check the next time she visited the room with all its magnificent shelves of books. Jane was particularly fond of the smell of the library. Somewhat musty from waterlogged, old texts as they had aged, combined with the smell of newer leather and the glue from the bindings--it was the smell of age and wear. A smell Jane rather hoped she would not possess as she aged, but all the same she enjoyed.

In observation that they were indeed, quite far from the manor, Jane looked back at it's stony structure and then up at Alfred. "I suppose that would do just fine." She smiled so brightly up at him, pleased that she had managed to escape so far. At the very least, she was not alone, and thus in no danger. However, she would not incriminate her dear cousin for fear that he might be thrown out or worse. She did not suppose such drastic measures could be taken, but all the same she would not risk it.

Jane took long strides over to a shady patch, covered by trees where the longer grass was a bit thinner and sat with her feet in front of her. Jane rested her back against the bark of the tree. From where she sat, she could hear the creek babbling down further between the trees. It sounded like it must be a small stream, but she made another note to herself to investigate this at a later date. Now was the time to speak of things like plays and Midsummer night's dreams...whatever those were....

Alfred followed his little cousin a bit further on, and when he saw that she had sat down comfortably on the ground, so did he. He crossed his legs and placed his palm on the ground behind his back. A soft wind seemed to blow from the thick woods towards them, Alfred let the the breeze hit him squarely in the face, eyes closed, and for a few seconds the smell of pine trees seemed to fill the air around them.

The young man opened his eyes, and looked at his side, where Jane was sitting, gazing wondrously at the forest in front of them. "Oh, You would love Shakespeare," Alfred said, and for an instant flashes from his college years, locked willingly in his room, studying hard seemed to appear in his head. "Especially A Midsummer's Night Dream." he said, he knew this from experience with other children of Jane's age, he remembered having to sort of replace a school master while he needed to leave the city for important matters, he had decided to start acting out A Midsummer's Night Dream for the children, and was amazed at how much they had enjoyed it, and surprisingly for him, how much they had understood it.

Alfred lay down on his back lazily, his gaze fixed on the sky, and the occasional cloud which covered the sun and put him and Lady Jane in the shade. He suddenly remembered about something, or someone, but wasn't sure about what or who. Alfred tried to think hard on what or whom he had so tragically forgotten about, but nothing seemed to come to him.

"I should read it, or play it out for you some day," Alfred said, without any slight movement from his lazy position "But I warn you, I am the most horrible actor known to this glorious land of our old King Eddy." Alfred said, laughing. He remembered the nickname which him and his former schoolmates had made up for the great King Edward, 'Kind Ed the sad head', there wasn't really any sense in this nickname, just a playful and childish play on words.