Often times, Alice noted, it seemed like Arthur and Alexandra lived apart from the rest of the world. In there time and place there was just the two of them. The room could be crowded with people but for the two of them... none of that existed. Could she someday feel that way too? It was sweet, it was romantic. It almost made one feel like an intruder when watching them this way. Like you were the one who did not belong, the one who was witnessing something that should have been a private moment. Not that it was necessarily a private moment, but it simply had that feeling. It wasn't until the door opened and the footman called out did the two seem to snap back to reality.
Arthur had more or less allowed his figure to collapse and simply melt into the affections of his wife. A small shift in his face when the moment was over indicated a hint of sadness. Alice imagined the Prince would have rather remained in his little bubble. There was never a man more in love, that Alice felt certain of.
The young maid could feel the blush creeping along her cheeks as the Duke was mentioned and of course that the letter was for her. Rather sheepishly, she extended a hand and took the letter into her own. Alice simply stared at it, allowing the letter to rest somewhat weightly on her own palms, as though it were the smallest silver tray in the world. It was like Alice had never seen a letter before, despite having delivered countless hundreds of them to the Princess and the Queen, then Duchess.
"He has such lovely penmanship." Alice uttered, she seemed to have no idea of what one said in these contexts. Alice did not look up or back at the Princess and Prince, she stared only at the letter, after some time had passed she turned the envelope over, her fingers began to trace every facet of the wax seal. Even through gloved hands she could feel the ridges, the rises and falls, it was delicate. Somehow this item was even more precious to her than all of the finery she had worn the night she met Thomas.
It was an odd thing, to feel guilty about breaking a seal, but Alice did. It was beautiful, though only wax, it was wax poured for her, meant to end up in her hands bearing his personal seal. Alice very rarely got anything that was just for her, but this, this meant the world. "I wonder what he's written." Alice commented out loud but really for any particular person, carefully she worked her finger about the bottom of the seal, slightly separating it from the paper of the envelope so she could open it without breaking it. It took time and effort but it would be worth it. Alice opened the envelope and carefully extracted the paper inside.
Unfolding it, Alice began to read it. She read in complete silence, her face however, though angled downward was rife with a series of expressions, all positive, some of surprise. When she had finished, she read it again, and when she finished the second time, she allowed her hand, still holding the letter to drop before her. "It would appear that he wishes to see me again... but as he has been away, he does not know how to arrange such a thing... he would ask your assistance."
"I don't know what to say... do I reply? Do you? I don't even know how things should be done myself." Arthur and Alice were something of an anomaly, they met, they fell in love, but everything didn't happen as it was meant to. It was controversial. "I'll need to buy clothes or something... I can't meet him like this." Alice had precious little in the way of clothing that was not her uniform. In reality, she had very few days off, her entire life was in service to the Princess. Something she enjoyed quite dearly but kept her out of the way of other girls her age, save for other maids.
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