"Welcome, please do come in" Henry urges us as he opens the door.

"Thank you Henry" I politely nod to him, taking off my shoes and enter the house.

"Ohh no, that's no necessary Miss" Henry explains.

You could tell from this point already that the house is very small and petite.

The house was in the parts of the city which where described as 'the southside' it's definitely visible that it's rougher than the main city and streets, it's not very well lit either with a couple of candles lying here and there giving a little light.

As soon as you enter the house you can definitely notice the huge carpet laying elegantly on the floor with sown flowers, leaves  and colors in every corner.

Even though it looks rough and overused it still has a little bit of its original beauty and presence, you could definitely tell it was passed down over the generations.

The walls are bare with nothing hung on them.

There is a small table in a corner with two maroon chairs.

A couple of books are staked ontop of eachother on the coffee table but besides that the room is partially empty with very little furniture.

"Do come in" a voice echoes in the living room as a woman enters about mid fifties with black slicked back hair in an elegant bun, a few streaks on her forehead a clear  sign of stress.

She walks towards us, dress in hand as she curtsies so elegantly and introduces herself.

"Welcome my dear, I am Henrys wife, Maria." she politely explains nodding her head to the side politely.

"Nice to meet you Mrs Brown" I nod my head at her too trying to look respectable.

"That won't be necessary, please call me Maria" she humors and I can feel my muscles relax a little.

Maria guides us to the dining area of the house which consists of a table in the middle with four chairs two on each sides, a couple of candles put decoratively on it and a carpet underneath the table.

The stained drapes that cover the windows are tinted so you can't really see the outside.

We sit at the table which is already made and prepared when Maria comes out with a large pan filled with some delicious smelling soup.

As she fills my bowl with the soup I can't help but keep on scanning the house.

By the far corner of the room sits a couple of old, barely functioning tables with a couple of drawn portraits of a very fair young woman.

Henry must have seen me staring because what he says next makes me blush out of embarrassment as I feel like I intruded on their privacy.

"That is our daughter, Elizabeth" His smile flickers and then he sighs and looks down on his own plate of soup.

Before I can apologize for my rude staring, Maria answers my thoughts and continues explaining.

"She got married to a wealthier man, he was ashamed of us being her family and.. and she loved him, so she left" she says as a tear streaks down her cheek.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean-" I start to apologize before I was cut off.

"Oh no, don't worry Maria can be emotional and sensitive sometimes" Henry tries to push my guilt away but when I look back at Maria it does no justice.

I sigh rubbing my head already agitated and mad at myself for having such manner in someones home.

The minutes pass and the conversation flows from talking about how Henry and Maria met to how they got married and when Maria gave birth to Elizabeth.

Maria fills us with funny stories ahout how Henry couldn't handle Elizabeth at first and was so frightened of the thought of being alone with her.

Bellamy and I tried our best to keep the conversation away from ourselves since we may say or do something that may not be convenient in the 1840s.

After dinner I got up to help Maria with cleaning up, it's the least I can do after they've been so generous with us.

"Thank you for tonight, I'm glad we were able to meet" I politely thank her while drying the dishes.

"It's our pleasure really, Henry has been speaking very fond of you the past couple of days. He has a tendency to get worried about people really easily and he seemed to care a whole lot about you, you reming him of our daughter" she nudges.

"I have grown very frond of Henry too, and I'm very honored to be seen as such an important person as your daughter" I tell her.

"We miss her terribly" she sighs.

"I'm sure she misses you too" I try to lift her spirits but it seems that nothing can achieve that.

Henry shows us to the door and his wife is standing next to him as he says his goodbyes to Bellamy.

Mariar reaches out for me and gives me a tight hug and whispers lowly in my ear "please visit more often" so low that I could barley hear.

When we pull away I nod my head to her promising that I will come by whenever I can.

"Thank you Henry for your invitation tonight, Bellamy and I really enjoyed spending time with you and Maria" I thank him as I dart my hand out waiting for him to shake it.

He looks at my hand, at his wife and then at my hand again.

"Y-your welcome Miss white" he stutters on his words and still looks at me in confusion and shock.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask
dumbfounded, the thick air is suffocating me and I need to know what is going on.

He points to my hands that is still waiting to meet his to give my goodbyes.

"Are you feeling well Miss white?" He asks me, scanning my figure for the second time today trying to find a problem within me.

I stand there for a few seconds trying to wrap my head around what he was saying before it dawns on me.

Women in the 1840s aren't supposed to shake hands..

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Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this part❤️

What do you think will happen next? Do you think Henry will find out Annies secret? What will he do? And what do you think she'll say?

Don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts and opinions xx