Heidi and the Lord

Chapter 30: Enslavement- Part 1

Apparently the Lord wasn’t lying when he said he had errands to run in the town. When they had reached the town the Lord had taken off in the carriage, leaving Heidi and Stanley, the butler to go ahead with what they had come for.

Heidi noticed this was a different town and not the ones she had visited or seen previously. There was a wooden board that read ‘Welcome to Isle Valley. ‘The town had developed buildings and not one small house in the vicinity. It wasn’t hard to know that this was a town which was made just for the high class society. She saw two women who walked out of the shop and into the carriage which stood right in front of the shop. A man came out, whom she believed was a servant of on of the women that got into the carriage as he went to sit next to the coachman.

At one side she could see squares like structure which overlapped with each other to form a fountain, he clear water fell down from the top. Flower beds surrounded the dark stoned fountain and even though she was far from where it was she knew that the sound of the water was peaceful. The town was neat and clean, women and men dressed posh. Before she had left Woville she wasn’t given any money and she had arrived at Bonelake with not a single penny in her pocket. Heidi wondered if it was right to let Warren spend money on her clothes. As true as it was of her going to be his wife she didn’t feel it right, after all they weren’t married yet and at the same time she had no clothes to wear if she was asked to attend another party.

With the internal conflict in her mind, she walked with the butler towards one of the shop and heard the butler speak as they made their way there,

“Ms. Curtis, there are a wide range of clothing stores here in the town. We can make a stop at all the shops and see if there’s anything that suits your taste.”

When Heidi stepped inside the shop, she was greeted with the smell of the fabrics. There were boxes stacked at the side of the walls, two headless mannequins were placed at the entrance while few young women were heeding to the customers request in the shop. She had to agree that the butler was really smart when it came to talking and asking to bring various styles for the lady, which was her. When he hadn’t found anything good, he had taken her to another shop and in time they had visited two more.

While on their way to the next one, she noticed how they avoided going to few of them when they had good clothes. As they crossed roads, she caught sight of a woman giving her a sharp look inside the glass made shop with her hands folded. At first she had thought she had mistaken the expression but as they walked ahead she realized there were few more shops along with the people on the streets who gave her a distasteful look as they passed her. It reminded her of her time at the Meyers mansion. Strangely this town of Bonelake was on some decree similar to the town she lived in. No matter how much word of peace would be spread, there were still some who were intolerant to the other kind. She was a human with appearance they didn’t approve of.

“You seem well aware on the fabrics of a woman’s clothes. Did you have a sister?” Heidi asked him seeing that the butler was well equipped in it.

“I am an orphan, Ms. Curtis. I don’t have a sibling,” he answered her.

“Oh. I am sorry for asking,” she apologized and saw the butler frown slightly.

“You apologize a lot, miss. You should be careful with whom you apologize. People will turn it around to their advantage. I sometimes escort master’s guests here and therefore am familiar with the clothing lines that run here,” the butler explained before adding in, “And it is one of my few talents, when it comes to knowing what suits the lady better.”

“I see. I am glad you are accompanying me today, Stanley.”

“Why? Do you have bad taste when it comes to clothes?” he asked her bluntly to which she smiled.

“My sister Nora was the one who shopped. For both of us of course. She has good taste,” Heidi nodded her head, so good that she had the habit of keeping all the good things for herself while leaving the rest she didn’t feel worth to Heidi, “I am not sure if I would pick the right one.”

“You don’t have to worry about it. Rest assured, I will pick the best ones,” Stanley placed his gloved hand on his chest solemnly, “Most of the ladies keep their personal maids to help them in making choices. Mr. Lawson’s mother has a maid herself so you needn’t worry about it. By the way would you want to rest for sometime? After all we have been making rounds for a while now.”

“I am fine,” she assured him. She wasn’t sure when was the last time she had gone around like this, “I think I would like to go straight back to the mansion after we are done.”

“Of course, milady. Master is here!” At those words her head whipped to her right to see Lord Nicholas sauntering, making his way to where they stood. His long legs took no time to come and stand where she was. Since last evening Heidi hadn’t exchanged a word with him not because she didn’t want to. She had come in terms that the Lord was more than odd in her book.

“I see you haven’t bought anything yet. Waiting for me to join?” Lord Nicholas asked her, noticing both his butler and her with empty hands.

“Pardon me for intruding master. We didn’t find anything worthy that Ms. Curtis could wear.”

“What about the one which Venetia goes to? I believe that’s the one which has decent clothes.”

“That is true, master. But it is also the one that wouldn’t welcome Ms. Curtis if I were to go with her,” the butler answered promptly not missing a beat in replying to his Lord’s questions.

So her thoughts were right, thought Heidi to herself. Not all shops welcomed humans to enter especially not when she was dressed in a simple attire. The Lord then took her to the shop the butler had mentioned. Even though the man who stood at the door gave her a look initially, upon looking at the Lord with his proud frame next to her, he had given a longer bow. It didn’t seem like he was a stranger in this place when he spoke to one of the staff who went in and brought the owner of the shop along with her. The owner was a young female vampire, the color of her eyes a lighter shade of red with her lips painted red. Looking at Lord Nicholas standing there, the owner’s eyes lit up delight.

“Good afternoon, Lord Nicholas,” the woman bowed, her voice like velvet, “It is a wonderful surprise to see you here. Please tell me how can I help you?”

“Afternoon Sibyl. This is Ms. Curtis, a guest of mine,” Lord Nicholas looked at Heidi and then back to the owner named Sibyl, “I need you to find the best and well suited dresses for Ms. Curtis.”

“Of course, Lord Nicholas. We would be more than happy to assist in it. Please, come this way,” the owner said taking them away from the entrance and to the back end rooms which was isolated, “Please make yourself comfortable.”

Sibyl, the owner called three of her female staffs and ordered them to get the dresses from her room. Soon dresses were placed in front of them in a display, one beautiful dress after another and were grand to look at. After seeing them , Heidi wasn’t sure if she was allowed to buy them. When it was only her and the butler she had secretly tried finding out how it each of them costed, and all of the dresses she had seen previously were good but none of them this beautiful. The helper girls only made her nervous, showing her dresses after dresses.