Page 87 of Waking Roslyn

The following day, I had to fight the constant urge to go and find him, knowing that I had to focus on packing and preparing for my walk into the mouth of the lion. So I was ecstatic when I walked out onto the terrace after dinner and almost immediately heard a whisper from the bushes at the bottom of the stairs.

“Rose!”

I jumped a bit, but it only took me a few moments of searching the darkness before I identified John’s large form crouched in the shadows, looking very much like a boulder.

I glanced behind me to be sure no one inside the house was looking out and then slipped carefully and quietly down the stairs. “What are you doing?” I asked.

He greeted me by putting a hand to my waist and pulling me in for a quick kiss. I nearly floated away even in those brief moments before he pulled back with a grin. “Coming to get you, of course. Will you come with me?”

“Of course,” I responded without hesitation and happily took the hand he offered.

We hurried across the lawn, sticking close to the deeper shadows of the house as he towed me behind him. He didn’t speak as we neared the stables, but I was too curious to keep quiet any longer. “What are we doing?”

He waited until he had a hand resting on the handle of the stable door before he answered. “There are some people who wanted to say goodbye.” He opened the door and there was an immediate shout from within.

“Happy birthday!”

I stumbled back a step in surprise as lanterns were lit and I took in the smiling faces of Emeline, Cecily, Beatrice, Gretchen, and Tyson all shining in the lamplight. There were also several other people I didn’t recognize or whose names I could not recall.

“What are you all doing?” I asked once I’d recovered a bit from the shock. “It’s not my birthday,” I said in dismay, worried that they had misheard or misunderstood.

“Oh, we know that,” Gretchen said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. “But you’ll be gone for your actual birthday, and we couldn’t let you go without celebrating you.”

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. “You didn’t have to.”

She tilted her head back and let out a dramatic scoffing noise in the way only a twelve-year-old could. “Just say thank you, Rosie.”

I laughed even as I fought back tears and yelled, “Thank you!” before engulfing her in a hug.

She pulled back with a grin. “Let’s dance.”

“Dance?”

“Yes. Someone,” she said with a pointed glance at John, “told us that you like to dance.”

Another laugh escaped me. “I would love to dance. Especially if the dances aren’t stuffy and formal.”

“We couldn’t be formal if we tried,” Tyson muttered.

“Speak for yourself,” Gretchen countered, and everyone laughed.

John’s hand settled on my back, but he called out to two men sitting in the corner with a pipe and a drum in their hands. “Pryce, Mr. Kenton, give us a tune.”

“Before we start the dancing,” Cecily said as she stepped forward with a bundle in her arms, “we must do presents first.”

My face went numb, so profound was my surprise. They were giving me a gift? I stared at the bundle she held out to me, a look of excited anticipation on her face. Then I blinked back tears.

Gretchen tugged on my arm until I leaned down enough for her to whisper (very loudly) in my ear, “This is another time when you just say thank you.”

I laughed but reached out to take the gift from Cecily. “Thank you,” I said with deep sincerity. I was so humbled that a woman like Cecily, who worked as a servant and certainly didn’t have much to spare, and who hadn’t known me for very long, would think to give me a gift.

I unfolded the plain cloth that had been wrapped around it, and a pink garment of some sort fell into my hands. John took the wrapping from me, allowing me to unfold the fabric and see that it was a beautifully knit shawl. “Oh, Cecily. Did you make this?”

She grinned and nodded her head. “Beatrice helped as well.”

“Don’t let her fool you,” said Beatrice from somewhere in the crowd. “It was all Cecily.”

“Did you do this just since yesterday?” That’s when I had told John about my birthday, but surely this had taken longer than just a day.